A collective has a head, a squad has a squad leader, a company has a company commander, and three Party members form a group, which must have a group leader. It won’t do without a collective, but having only a collective won’t do either. Where there is a collective, there must be a head; otherwise, there is no strength. The Anshan Steel Plant is different from farming—farming can be a bit slower or faster without much consequence. Factory technology is so complex that it requires obedience to commands. It is like an orchestra: without a conductor, a group of people would be at a loss. This is the order of production, what the order of production requires. Traffic police are indispensable. Decades or centuries from now, discipline will be even stricter; going out on the streets may require queuing. If you don’t believe it, pay attention to your health, live another hundred years, and you will see. Meetings require someone to send notices and maintain order; adjourning a meeting also requires someone to announce it. This is necessity. As for whether the person presiding is surnamed Zhang or Li, that is contingency. Necessity manifests itself through contingency. Unified command is essential for social struggle and the struggle against nature. The anarchist Proudhon and the Blanquists were extremely “Left.” The Paris Commune was initiated by anarchists, but the masses went beyond their will and were compelled to act. Those who oppose are not entirely unaware that a ship needs a captain and a group needs a group leader; it is simply that they want to engage in factional activities and oppose rival factions. In Lenin’s time, the Political Bureau had only five members. During difficult times, some opposed him, saying he was undemocratic and did not convene meetings. Lenin said the meeting had not yet been held, but the revolution had already triumphed. The comrades on the Standing Committee are all getting on in years; there must always be a handover, and new people must take their place. It cannot be anarchistic; there must always be organization and leadership. The bourgeoisie opposes destruction; the proletariat cannot build without destruction. If you want to talk about destruction, I cannot be modest. Lenin said you are bourgeois and petty-bourgeois factions, and it won’t do to let you take charge. This problem also exists at the local level. Provinces, prefectures, and counties must all establish a leading core, but this requires a process; otherwise, it won’t do. Every county and commune must do likewise. The Changli County Party Committee in Hebei lacks a leading core. It is very necessary to consciously strengthen our leading organs and push back the winds that blow against us. Peng Dehuai’s letter of the 24th was not circulated for discussion. I told both sides to brace themselves and hold firm. We are fair. Up until yesterday, XX was still bracing himself and holding firm.

This conference has gone very well, developing step by step. In the middle and later stages, major problems were resolved, while work was not held up at the same time. I suggest that local meetings need not wait until everyone has arrived to convene; they can start when half the people are present, with both veterans and new recruits. This conference has been a victorious conference. It averted a major split in the Party and averted a big saddle-shaped curve. The Great Leap Forward was determined by the objective situation and was the demand of the masses. The two movements of revolution and construction, intertwined, involve relations among people and relations between people and nature. Take the issue of agricultural machinery, for example. The Northeast is an industrialized region and can resolve X percent of the problem during the Second Five-Year Plan; other regions must also strive for it. The domestic situation is good. Some comrades welcome central comrades to come and take a look; some comrades do not go to look. The same thing can be viewed in two ways. If there are shortcomings, they can be corrected, and it is not difficult to correct them. The international situation is also good. India and Indonesia want peace, but if they do not prepare to seize political power, they will make mistakes. This is different from the new stage of peace and democracy, because that stage was for buying time and preparing to seize political power. Japan surrendered a bit too early; with one more year, we would have been better prepared. In the socialist period, there are also two lines: one is the line of one transformation and three reforms, and the other is the current line of construction. From the Second Session of the Eighth Party Congress last May to this Lushan Conference in July, just over a year, there was trouble—wasn’t it said that the line was no longer workable? After this conference, it is said to be workable again. The question of the line must undergo testing; it is not a matter of peace and quiet. There will still be storms in the future, but the general trend is good. No matter what trouble arises, the proletariat and the laboring people will always prevail; even if they do not prevail, it will only be temporary. Now construction is guaranteed. The vast majority of the Central Committee is united and of one mind, but we must also reckon that it will not be so calm and tranquil. Typhoons in nature come every year; when political typhoons will come is unpredictable, but within a certain period, they will always come, because classes exist. We must be mentally prepared. The possibility of world peace is very great, but it is not that there is no possibility of war; we absolutely must be prepared.