The latter is the complete opposite.

Il l
VII
Mao’s note: Very well said, exactly so.
(2
[1]
Tao Lujia’s report states: “Materials from all counties prove without exception that the five-level cadre conference and the great debate among the entire people have played an enormous role in promoting the current production movement. The high tide of the ideological movement has already brought about a new and inspiring high tide in the production movement.” Following this, Mao Zedong wrote this comment in parentheses.
[2]
Zhao Yuting’s report states: “Judging from the situation in recent days, holding meetings not only does not hinder production, but on the contrary, greatly promotes it. The process of holding meetings is the process of implementing the Party’s principles and policies, and also the process of correcting shortcomings and mistakes in our work and mobilizing the masses, and at the same time, it is the process of organizing a high tide in production.” Following this, Mao Zedong wrote this comment in parentheses.

(March, April 1959)
The phrase “old accounts are generally not to be settled” was written into the Zhengzhou speech [2]; it is incorrect and should be changed to “old accounts must generally be settled.” Only by settling accounts can we implement that objectively existing law of value. This law is a great school; only by utilizing it can we possibly teach our tens of millions of cadres and hundreds of millions of people, and only then can we possibly build our socialism and communism. Otherwise, everything is impossible. We must not leave the masses with pent-up grievances. As for the cadres, they will be ruined by us. There are a hundred harms and not a single benefit. If one commune could return over four million yuan in cash income belonging to the original higher-level cooperatives to its original owners, why can’t other communes do the same? Do not be “reluctant to part with goodly wealth.” It must be understood that this is ill-gotten wealth, not goodly wealth. Unpaid appropriation of others’ labor is impermissible.
(March 30)

These several documents [1] are all worth reading. In particular, “The Situation at the Ten-Thousand-Person Conference in Macheng County” is worth reading; the method is very good. What should be returned at the county and commune levels has been promptly returned to the production teams, leaving them clean and clear, and then proceeding to resolve the contradictions between the teams and the commune members, the commune can then develop greatly.
Mao Zedong
April 2, 1959
[1]
Refers to four documents sent by Wang Renzhong to Mao Zedong on March 31, 1959: two reports by Wang Yanchun et al. to Wang Renzhong and the Hubei Provincial Committee on March 27 regarding the situation at the Macheng County Ten-Thousand-Person Conference and on technical measures for cotton; a report by Wang Yanchun on the same day to Wang Renzhong on the issue of poor teams catching up with rich teams; and a report by Hubei Provincial Committee Secretary Xu Daoqi on March 23 to Wang Renzhong, Wang Yanchun, and the Provincial Committee on discussions with grassroots cadres about the issue of “eating without paying.” Among them, the report on the Macheng County Ten-Thousand-Person Conference stated that at the conference, the Party committees at the county, commune, and management zone levels conducted self-criticisms layer by layer, admitting mistakes, which led grassroots cadres to also conduct self-criticisms one after another, thus improving relations between higher and lower levels. After the self-criticisms, emphasis was placed on settling accounts and fulfilling promises, earnestly resolving the problems of egalitarianism, excessive requisition, and withholding funds. Money and materials requisitioned by communes from production teams were immediately returned; those short of grain rations were immediately supplied; poor teams needing support were immediately granted loans.

This document [1] is extremely good; every county and commune should do likewise. Only by settling accounts can unity be achieved; only by settling accounts can cadres be helped to extricate themselves from the sea of embezzlement and waste, leaving them clean and clear; only by settling accounts can cadres be taught to learn methods of operation and management; only by settling accounts can the five hundred million peasants be taught to manage their own communes themselves, to supervise cadres at all levels of the communes to only do good deeds and not do bad deeds, to realize supervision by the masses, and to realize genuine democratic centralism.
Mao Zedong
April 3, 1959

IV
Counties and communes shall not hold large meetings in April. It was originally planned to hold commune and team representative conferences in May; consideration can be given to holding them at the county level in early or mid-May to thoroughly resolve the three issues that were not completely resolved at the March conferences [2]—namely, the delegation of power to lower levels, the thorough settling of accounts, and the output targets—and then to elect the Party leadership organs and the commune and team management organs at all levels. As for the issue of settling accounts, we lacked mental preparation at the provincial and county conferences in March. What was said at Zhengzhou was generally not to settle; this should be reversed—generally, they must be settled.
[1]
Refers to the second report by Wang Yanchun et al. on March 30, 1959, to Wang Renzhong and the Hubei Provincial Committee on the situation at the Macheng County Ten-Thousand-Person Conference. The report stated that in order to mobilize the masses and thoroughly settle the accounts of the production teams, the county committee decided to adopt methods such as holding mobilization meetings, small group meetings, individual talks, conducting pilot projects, and holding broadcast conferences to explain policies and mobilize commune members to participate in settling accounts. During the account-settling process, it was discovered that many production team cadres had serious problems of embezzlement and misappropriation. The county committee required cadres with problems to confess at meetings and admit their mistakes. After returning, accounts were to be thoroughly settled through convening commune member representative conferences or commune member general meetings.
[2]
Refers to the six-level cadre conferences of some provinces and the five-level cadre conferences of counties held around March 1959.