Telegram to Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping [!] Regarding Preparatory Matters, etc.
(November 13, 1958)

Comrades Shaoqi and Xiaoping:

I suggest that in Beijing, within the circle of Politburo and Secretariat members, with the addition of a few other comrades, three to four meetings be held over the next few days: (1) to discuss the two documents drafted in Zhengzhou[21 , presenting them merely as issues for consideration and soliciting opinions; (2) to examine Chapters One, Two, and Three of the “Opinions” section on Soviet economic questions in Stalin’s workl.
The purpose of this is to make spiritual preparations for the Wuhan Conferencem.
Please decide whether this is feasible.
I believe that provincial-level bodies should also follow suit, discussing the same two issues, again only by raising them as questions to solicit views.
If you think this is practicable, please inform all provinces by telephone.
By “raising them as questions,” I mean setting out both the pro and con sides of each issue.
For example, with regard to drawing a line to clarify boundaries, we could pose the question: Is it better to draw the line, or not?
As for the question of commodities, we might ask whether, at the present stage, it would be preferable to have commodities or to do without them.
Other issues can be treated along similar lines.

Mao Zedong
7:00 a.m., November 13, in Zhengzhou｜