This year’s bumper harvest has made the people happy, hasn’t it? So let’s ask for two days off! It seems that this is indeed a problem. In my view, allowing just two days of rest per month—days when one does absolutely nothing after being on leave—is not excessive; over an entire year, that amounts to only twenty-four days. After November, we could grant a full week’s holiday for proper recuperation. Is this really such a big issue? Think it over. (××: We still have not passed the steel-making hurdle and need another month-long push. Right now, we are alternating between preparation periods and intensive work phases.) Alternating between preparation and intensive effort—this approach works for steel production; might it also work for agriculture? When will the cotton harvest in agriculture be completed? (××: The peach blossoms have yet to open. There remains more than a month before they do.) Since the peaches have not yet bloomed, they are unlikely to start preparing anytime soon. Let the younger generation take care of the remaining tasks. For now, conditions are very demanding, so we should implement rotating rest schedules. Would it be acceptable to allow them to rest for two or three days in November? Are there any grievances among the masses? (××: They complain both about exhaustion and inadequate food; there are some dissenting views.) Indeed! The main concerns are eating cold meals without side dishes, issues with childcare facilities, and sheer physical fatigue—three pressing matters. Adults and children alike must eat; only after eating can they go back to work.

How much income are you generating here? (×××: An average of 80 yuan.) Are there any households earning over 100 yuan? (×××: One household makes 130 yuan.) What is the lowest income level? (×××: 45 yuan.) At 45 yuan, there is hardly anything left after food expenses. (×××: With 45 yuan, there is no wage remaining after food costs.) How many communes are unable to pay wages at all? (×××: Six communes cannot afford to do so.) Could this be due to insufficient cash crops? (×××: All communes cultivate cash crops.) None of your communes lack cash crops; what exactly are they growing? Cotton, pears, Sichuan pepper—aren’t these all cash crops? What about chickens and ducks? If you have surplus grain, you could raise more livestock. Any excess could be exported.

You were formed by merging two administrative regions, comprising nine counties and one city, which makes you essentially equivalent to Shijiazhuang. Last year, your total grain output was 2.2 billion jin, but this year it has surged to 7 billion jin—double that would be 4.4 billion jin. Clearly, your current yield far exceeds even double the previous amount. Surely four hundred jin per person is still insufficient for your needs. Do residents here still have to pay for their meals? What is your planned grain production for next year? (××: We aim for 17 billion jin.) This year you planted wheat across ten million mu; how much was it last year? (××: Seven million mu.) So seven million mu last year, and ten million this year—have you already applied base fertilizer to all of it? Will you be applying topdressing later as well? And how much seed are you sowing per mu? (××: Over 95% of the fields are seeded at a rate exceeding 25 jin per mu.) What is the expected yield per mu? Your region features “two whites and two blacks”: the “whites” are cotton and wheat, while the “blacks” represent steel and coal. You cultivate five million mu of cotton. Besides green hemp, what other cash crops do you grow? Where do the vegetables served in your communal canteens come from? Do you provide meat twice a month? If each person consumes one pig—say, a hundred-jin hog—that averages out to roughly six taels of meat per day, then everyone could enjoy meat regularly. (××: Pig numbers have declined since the establishment of the communes.) Were the pigs slaughtered, or were they sold? Raising pigs certainly helps improve living standards. Next year, we aim for a yield of one thousand jin per mu; even eight hundred jin would be satisfactory. What was this year’s wheat yield? (××: 202 jin per mu.) Reaching 302 jin next year would be quite gratifying. (×× then described Linzhang County’s “Hundred-Mile High-Yield Valley” initiative, which seeks to achieve a yield of five thousand jin per mu.) How far is Linzhang from here, and is the road passable? Traveling by train doesn’t look very dignified; it’s like riding in an old man’s carriage. Switching to a bus would make the journey more presentable.

Is there any county among you that stubbornly refuses to engage in the Great Leap Forward? (××: Not here; it’s Shijiahu County, where the white flag has already been removed.) As long as a white flag flies, there can be no talk of leaping forward.

You have ten million mu of wheat, with large-scale high-yield plots yielding 250 jin per mu. Who is responsible for achieving these high yields? Are they young shock troops, or are older workers involved as well? (×× mentions both youth teams and women’s units named after Mu Guiying and She Taijun.) Having teams like She Taijun adds a certain flavor to the effort. Once these high-yield methods are widely adopted, if we simply follow their approach, we could reduce our cultivated area to four million mu. If each of those four million mu yields ten thousand jin, the total output would reach forty billion jin. By shrinking the acreage in this way—leaving only the central portion unplanted while letting the edges lie fallow—we save water, fertilizer, and labor. This policy was originally proposed by Hebei Province. Previously, farming relied on shallow plowing and extensive cultivation with meager returns; now we must shift toward intensive cultivation and higher yields through more focused efforts.

With four million mu of wheat, if each mu produces ten thousand jin, the total output would be forty billion jin—far more than the six and a half million people here could possibly consume. We could cut the cultivated area in half, deep-tilled to a depth of three feet, and leave the rest to rest for a year. In Anhui Province, I observed farmers burning crop residues—main roots and weeds—piling them into heaps known as “smoked fields.” After a period of rest, exposure to sunlight facilitates decomposition and sterilization. I believe this is the direction we should be heading: cultivating only one-third of the land, allowing the remainder to serve as pasture or forest. In water-scarce areas, we could dig ponds for fish farming. In the future, rather than facing a shortage of arable land, we may find ourselves with an abundance of it; the key lies in producing more with less. Deep plowing means tilling to a depth of three or four feet. Intensive cultivation encompasses practices such as intertillage, topdressing, supplemental irrigation, and pest control. The principle of “less planting, more harvesting” means aiming for ten thousand jin per mu. For millennia, our ancestors have practiced shallow tillage and wide-spread sowing with low returns.

In addition, we should promote mechanization. Do you have any steel resources here, and are there any machinery factories? (××: There is a small machinery factory.) Could it produce tractors? (××: No, it cannot.) It seems your aspirations are rather modest! Must we rely entirely on tractors? Couldn’t we use ropes or steel cables for traction instead? Should we abandon imported chemical fertilizers in favor of locally produced organic ones? I believe organic fertilizers benefit crops more. What materials do you use to compress human and animal excrement into green manure? (Answer: Black locust branches.) Can this substitute for imported chemical fertilizers? If so, we could depend on it starting next year. Perhaps our country need not fully embrace tractor-based farming; we could adopt a more moderate approach, moving away from wholesale mechanization. Similarly, we should minimize our reliance on imported chemical fertilizers, reserving them only for crops that truly require them. This is my suggestion for discussion. I maintain that it is possible to achieve a yield of ten thousand jin per mu without relying on imported chemical fertilizers. The Soviet Union managed to reach 185 jin per mu using such inputs, whereas we aspire to ten thousand jin without them. The same applies to tractors. Local organic fertilizers can effectively replace imported ones. First, there are human and animal wastes; second, there is green manure derived from plant residues; third, there are traditional soil-based fertilizers—all of which qualify as fertilizers. (××: The entire region has 230,000 fertilizer-producing units.) Very well! These locally sourced fertilizers, created by the people themselves, are superior to imported alternatives.

The Beidaihe conference advocated cultivating one-third of the land, leaving another third as pasture or woodland. Trees hold significant economic value; firewood serves as a raw material for chemical industries, so we should plant more trees.

We should strive for a more measured approach to mechanization, exploring alternative forms—forms uniquely Chinese—rather than blindly imitating foreign models. Similarly, we ought to reconsider our heavy dependence on imported chemical fertilizers. Does mechanization necessarily mean adopting tractors? Must we always rely on chemical fertilizers? After all, we have abundant local resources such as human and animal waste for green manure, traditional soil-based fertilizers, and even materials salvaged from dismantled hearths and walls, along with river sediment—plenty of viable options!

What are your steel production targets? (××: 11.05 million tons, including 70,000 tons of steel.) Where does the raw material for your steel come from? What constitutes low-carbon steel, and what is its carbon content? (××: Unclear. They claim steel has been smelted here since the Yuan dynasty.) How can you be certain it dates back to the Yuan era? How much iron ore do you have available? (××: Surveys indicate ××× tons of ore containing 60% iron, totaling ××× tons of iron.) Have you clarified the extent of your mineral reserves over the past two months? (××: Claims of widespread deposits have become increasingly vague, making it difficult to determine the actual quantities.) From confusion to clarity: let us use this iron to build terraced fields, construct walls, and pave roads. It becomes evident just how rich our country is. If the soil itself is largely composed of iron, why not mine it directly?

Do you have copper deposits here? (×××: Explorations have identified ×××× tons of copper ore.) If copper is present, shouldn’t we develop its extraction?

Finally, there is the question of improving labor organization—to ensure that tasks are completed efficiently while also providing adequate nutrition and rest. Is this feasible? We must liberate women from domestic burdens and consider who should be entrusted with childcare responsibilities. Young people are reluctant to take on such duties, so perhaps we should assign them to older individuals. But is steel production more important than caring for children? Or is it wheat and cotton that matter most? These are issues concerning the next generation. Only when childcare facilities surpass the quality of home environments can the superiority of the people’s communes truly shine. If they are merely comparable to family settings, that superiority remains unproven. This is a critical matter that every province, prefecture, and county must address: we are working hard today so that future generations can step up and carry the torch. We need to ensure that 25% of our population—roughly 1.6 million children—are well cared for. Childcare centers must offer better conditions than homes do.

Then there is the matter of meals: first, having enough to eat; second, eating well. Cold meals are unacceptable. Hot food must include vegetables, seasoned with oil and salt—better than what families prepare at home or what is served in smaller kitchens—for farmers to welcome communal dining. Canteens should be categorized into different tiers, and we should identify a top-tier facility as a model for others to emulate. (××: In She County, there is a canteen that serves corn-based dishes without repetition for half a month, which is doing an excellent job.) Isn’t this commendable? We should treat mealtime as a crucial aspect of labor management: breakfast fuels midday work, lunch sustains afternoon efforts, and dinner prepares one for the next day. Eating well is essential for maintaining productivity. Poor nutrition leads to diminished workforce capacity.

Lastly, there is the issue of rest. A clear directive is needed: workers must get sufficient sleep and rest. Aren’t we currently operating under military-style discipline? Let us issue an order mandating naps during the day. Why don’t you explore implementing this practice? Sleeping outdoors is too cold in winter, but it is perfectly feasible in spring, summer, and autumn. Failure to allow rest would undoubtedly lead to widespread dissatisfaction. Given the limited hours of sleep most workers currently receive, we should enforce a minimum of six hours of sleep per night. Adequate rest significantly boosts energy levels and enhances work efficiency.

Ensuring good nutrition, sufficient rest, and proper child-rearing are paramount.

Children must be well-fed, well-educated, and well-cared for. Among your six and a half million residents, 25%—that is, 1.6 million people—form a substantial “army” of children. Yet, we often focus on tangible assets like steel and cotton, neglecting the human element. Childcare facilities must demonstrate clear advantages over home environments. If they are merely comparable, they are bound to fail; the same holds true for communal canteens—if they do not offer better meals than households, they too will collapse.

When workers do not get adequate sleep, their personal autonomy is eroded. Even sleep itself becomes a form of private property! If you allow them to nap for an hour at noon, isn’t that contrary to military discipline? Company and battalion commanders should convene a meeting. A good commander prioritizes his soldiers’ welfare, ensuring they have warm blankets, rather than insisting on only five hours of sleep. Allowing seven hours of rest would be far more reasonable. Refusing to comply with this directive would be unacceptable; sleep is a task that must be fulfilled, and enforcing it would be welcomed by the masses. This should be treated as a subject for study, not as a decision already made.

For communes struggling with insufficient cash crops and meager or delayed wages, developing cash crop production should be a priority. Every commune ought to cultivate marketable cash crops to generate income beyond mere pennies or a few yuan. We need to expand such efforts; otherwise, what meaning would communism hold if we remain stuck at this level? Capitalism, by contrast, offers far greater opportunities.

Your commune comprises approximately ten thousand households. Historically, this region was part of the State of Zhao, and Lord Pingyuan once resided in Handan. (××: The “Turning-Carriage Alley” still exists here.) Lian Po and Lin Xiangru famously turned their carriages around to yield the right of way. Unfortunately, some of our cadres lack unity and refuse even to acknowledge one another—such behavior falls far short of theirs!

What major challenges are you currently facing? (××: Large-scale backyard steelmaking, the autumn wheat harvest, and the mobilization of labor for reservoir construction, leaving the masses without adequate rest.) With four and a half million workers engaged in these three critical tasks, how can we organize them more effectively? Simple local measures can help—ensuring everyone gets at least seven hours of sleep per day is a straightforward yet vital task. Please give it a try. Regarding the issue of personnel, there is a notable reluctance to work with people directly. Many teacher-training college graduates avoid teaching positions, preferring to manage objects rather than people—a peculiar reversal of priorities. To be honest, I would gladly serve as an elementary school teacher and work with children myself. Insufficient sleep has real consequences; its effects will manifest in years to come. The struggle continues: securing adequate rest ranks among our toughest challenges, alongside ensuring sufficient and nutritious meals. Let us commit to guaranteeing seven hours of sleep each night. Try implementing this measure and see whether it improves overall performance. I am not convinced that foregoing sleep necessarily leads to failure in completing our objectives. Secretaries of provincial, municipal, prefectural, and county Party committees must prioritize addressing human-related issues. After all, these are fundamentally human concerns.

Military-style organization involves issuing strict orders in some places, while in others, company commanders may resort to physical punishment, verbal abuse, or even binding subordinates as disciplinary measures. Debates and arguments have even become a form of punishment—an approach that blurs the line between friend and foe. However, our Red Army, Eighth Route Army, and commanding officers have consistently refrained from beating soldiers, executing deserters, or mistreating prisoners. They have always maintained a gentle demeanor toward ordinary citizens. Have you encountered instances of physical violence, verbal abuse, or binding of subordinates in your region? The fact that such actions are conflated with struggles against rightists suggests that you have failed to clearly distinguish between contradictions among the people and antagonistic conflicts with enemies. Within the ranks of the people, we should never resort to coercion; with the exception of counterrevolutionaries, landlords, wealthy peasants, and rightists generally should not be subjected to violence or verbal abuse. Even if such incidents have occurred, we must avoid further escalation. Instead, we should seek reconciliation and correction, acknowledging that these actions were undertaken in pursuit of national goals and explaining the situation to the public so that they may understand. Our approach to resolving internal contradictions emphasizes starting from unity, engaging in struggle to forge new foundations of unity thereafter. Strict orders, on the other hand, merely enforce compliance without genuine acceptance; observe what happens when we withdraw our presence—perhaps the resistance will dissipate.