In principle, our army is not permitted to confiscate any shops or solicit donations from merchants anywhere it goes.
As for bureaucratic capital, once the area has become a base area, it may only be taken over and operated by the democratic government; the army is not allowed to confiscate or destroy it.
The army’s supplies should be obtained from enemy warehouses, the landlord class, land taxes, and the legitimate business taxes and customs duties collected by the government from merchants.
Confiscating the property of the families of enemy officers and noncommissioned officers is also entirely wrong.
The disciplinary violations that occurred in Gaojiabu must be investigated and those responsible held accountable. Policy and disciplinary education should also be conducted throughout the entire army.
Printed from Mao Zedong’s manuscript on January 9.
Note [1]: This is a directive written by Mao Zedong in response to a report dated January 2, 1948, submitted by Xi Zhongxun, Deputy Political Commissar of the Northwest Field Army and Political Commissar of the Shaan-Gan-Ning-Jin-Sui Joint Defense Force, concerning disciplinary breaches that took place when our forces captured Gaojiabu.