Chapter 54 Red Soviet Zone, authoritarian rule 1931

Journalist: “As the chairman in Jiangxi, how did you govern?”

Mao: “My Soviet-style rule in this state within a state was like a prison.

There were guards stationed in every village 24 hours a day, and one needed a travel permit to leave the village. There was a money administrator who once attempted to escape, embezzling over 200 yuan to buy a travel permit. His escape failed, and he was publicly executed during a meeting. Even if someone managed to escape from a prison cell, the guard responsible for the cell would also be executed.

Suicides were not uncommon in the Red Zones, setting a precedent for one of the major characteristics of my rule in the future. The number of suicides among Communist Party cadres was also astonishing, leading to public condemnation in the party’s newspapers: suicide is a shameful act of betrayal within the revolutionary ranks!

Even my trusted ally, Yang Yuebin, couldn’t bear it and tried every means to escape. He defected to the Kuomintang and revealed the locations of important Communist Party members to them. When the Kuomintang’s planes came to bomb us, we had no choice but to move everyone.”

Journalist: “Oh, your rule was all about killing, and if people couldn’t handle it, they would either commit suicide or try to escape?”

Mao: “Yes. Those living on the outskirts of the Red Zones had more opportunities to escape. Some grassroots cadres also organized large-scale mass escapes, with hundreds of people fleeing from certain areas overnight. As a result, we moved those cadres with any suspicions to the central parts of the Red Zones where escape was nearly impossible. Most people rose up in resistance only after the Kuomintang’s attacks. In the later stages of the red regime, when the Kuomintang Army approached, villagers wielding long spears would attack retreating Red Army soldiers. To deal with the rebellious populace, we resorted to strengthening the climate of terror. During extreme times, any interaction could bring disaster. In some counties, households were prohibited from accommodating guests. If anyone was found to have accommodated guests, regardless of who they were, both the host and the guest would be executed.”

Journalist: “So your method was to manipulate through terror, and you didn’t care about the loss of lives?”

Mao: “Yes. The Central Soviet Zone existed in Jiangxi and Fujian. During its four years of existence, the population decreased significantly. According to Chinese population statistics, from 1931 to 1935, in the 15 counties under complete control of the CCP in the Jiangxi base area (excluding the partially controlled border counties), the population decreased by over 500,000, accounting for more than 20% of the total population. The decrease in the Minxi base area was also similar. The population of the Central Soviet Zone as a whole decreased by 700,000. Since it was difficult for people living in these areas to escape, these 700,000 people can mostly be counted as deaths.”

Journalist: “Wow, a population decrease of 20%, over of million people. You didn’t care at all?”

Mao: “I don’t care how much it decreased. Even with a decrease of 20%, there’s still 80% left. The capital of the state within a state, Red Jiangxi, was in Ruijin. Ruijin was 300 kilometers away from the Kuomintang’s provincial capital, Nanchang, with no major roads connecting them. The Red government was located in a temple outside Ruijin City. The temple could accommodate several hundred people and was suitable for holding meetings. The ancestral tablet area, now following the Soviet style, displayed portraits of Marx and Lenin. There was a red flag with a golden star and a hammer and sickle. The slogans read: ‘Workers of the world, unite! Class struggle.’ The hall was divided into 15 rooms on both sides for government offices.

Behind the temple, there was a square, the Red Square of the local region. At one end of the square was a reviewing stand, and at the other end was a memorial tower for fallen Red Army soldiers. In the distance, within the forest, there was a large auditorium that could accommodate 2,000 people. Adjacent to it was a large air-raid shelter, with the entrance located on both sides of the stage. The residences of the leaders were situated diagonally in front of the temple. I chose a spacious room.”

Journalist: “Your capital was just a large temple, right?”

Mao: “Yes. The ancestral temple became a Soviet-style Red capital. The entire area was sealed off and ordinary people couldn’t enter. It was only inhabited by the security forces and communication service personnel. The treasury, telephone switchboard, and radio station were also located there. The leaders had little interaction with the local population. I couldn’t speak the local language and had no intention of learning it. When needed, local cadres would serve as translators. On November 7, 1931, Ruijin held a grand ceremony to celebrate the establishment of Red China. After dusk, tens of thousands of people were organized to participate in a lantern procession, with colorful flags and banners everywhere. I and other leaders stood on the podium, applauding and shouting slogans to the crowd.”

Journalist: “You reviewed the procession. Was it your first taste of being a chairman?”

Mao: “Yes. But at this time, I am not yet the supreme monarch.

Although Moscow has made me the ‘Chairman,’ I am not yet a dictator. The highest military command is held by Zhu De, the Chairman of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission. Zhu De received training in the Soviet Union, and the Soviets are familiar with him and trust his loyalty. As the ‘Chairman,’ I still have a superior: Zhou Enlai. He came to Ruijin from Shanghai in December 1931 and became the Secretary of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Zone, replacing me as the acting secretary. After Zhou left, an ‘Interim Central Committee’ was formed in Shanghai, with the young Bo Gu presiding over it, transmitting instructions between Moscow and various base areas. The nominal General Secretary of the Central Committee was Xiang Zhongfa, but in June 1931, someone informed on him, and he was arrested by the Kuomintang and executed.”

Journalist: “Oh, so as the Chairman, you have a superior, Secretary Zhou Enlai?”

Mao: “Yes, under the guidance of Moscow, Zhou Enlai transformed the country within a country into a Stalinist-style authoritarian society. Every village had numerous committees, such as the ‘Expanded Red Army Committee,’ ‘Land Committee,’ ‘Confiscation Committee,’ ‘Household Registration Committee,’ and ‘Red Security Committee.’ Children were organized from a young age, joining the Children’s League at 6 years old, the Young Pioneers at 15, and young adults joining the Red Guards.

I admired and said that this was an all-encompassing ‘web.’ In the past, the Red Zones under my jurisdiction still had some bandit-like tendencies and were not organized as tightly as this. After seizing power, I perfected this system of authoritarian control to be seamless and leakproof, surpassing the Soviet Union under Stalin in terms of meticulous societal control. Zhou was the founder of our KGB (USSR Political Security Bureau). Like me, he used terror as a tool. The difference is that I pursued personal power, while Zhou served the Communist Party’s rule.”

Journalist: “Wow, Zhou Enlai brought the whole set of Soviet things over and helped you establish a complete system of rule?”

Mao: “Yes. When Zhou just arrived in Ruijin, he felt that my methods of dealing with the Anti-Bandit Campaign and other ‘counter-revolutionary’ measures had significant problems. He criticized me for ‘relying solely on prisoners’ confessions and resorting to physical torture’, ‘which created a sense of terror among the masses.’ He implemented a relatively lenient policy and declared that ‘the Anti-Bolshevik League Campaign members could ‘self-reform and surrender without being killed.’

As a result, people began to boldly oppose Communist Party rule. They displayed reactionary slogans and refused to use the paper currency of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Bank. Zhou Enlai realized that if we didn’t kill people, our rule would face a crisis. After a few months, he started to ‘intensify the counter-revolutionary campaign’ again, holding mass meetings to execute counter-revolutionary elements.”

Journalist: “So Zhou Enlai also supported the use of killing to maintain control?”

Mao: “Yes, it was sustained through terror and killings. In the Red Jiangxi, the common people were the source of money, food, labor, and soldiers. To maintain political power, we used various methods to extract from the peasants, forcing them to buy ‘Revolutionary War Bonds.’ We called upon women to cut their hair and donate their silver hairpins, gradually taking away their lifelong accumulations of jewelry and silverware. Some daring individuals remarked, ‘The Communist Party issuing war bonds is even more oppressive than the Kuomintang’s harsh taxation.’ They had to hand over grain as public ration and were even required to ‘lend’ grain to the government, which was never repaid. Adult men were conscripted into the Red Army or forced into labor. Under Communist Party rule, there were very few men remaining in the countryside between the ages of ten to over forty.

Women became the primary labor force. Most of the agricultural work fell on their shoulders, in addition to their various tasks for the Red Army such as carrying loads, tending to the wounded, washing and mending clothes, and making military shoes. Improving the lives of the people was not part of my plan. The common people had no days of rest; instead, meetings replaced rest. I said, ‘Each person will have five full days of meeting life per month, which is a good time for rest.’”

Journalist: “Your Red Zone was like a large concentration camp completely under your control, and only meetings were considered as rest?”

Mao: “Yes. Many former middle schools in the Red Zone were closed and turned into offices. Education was limited to primary schools, teaching students with basic literacy skills to the extent of reading propaganda materials. Children were organized to stand guard and form a ‘Shame Brigade’ to humiliate those who refused to join the Red Army or deserters. Sometimes, children in their early teens even carried out executions against ‘class enemies.’

Under Communist Party rule, the wealthy landowners were thoroughly exploited, and in order to meet quotas, cadres arbitrarily targeted and harassed people. Families who were targeted were forcibly evicted and had to live in cow sheds. The term ‘cow shed’ was used as a euphemism for quasi- prisons, and that’s how it came about.”

Journalist: “Wow, under your rule, even middle schools disappeared, and only basic literacy in primary school was deemed sufficient?”

Mao: “That’s correct. In December 1931, there was the Kuomintang Army’s ‘Ningdu mutiny,’ which increased the Red Army’s forces in the Central Soviet Zone by more than a third, reaching over 50,000 soldiers. After Commander-in-Chief Ji Zhen Tong brought his troops into the Red Army, he quickly regretted it and repeatedly requested to ‘go to the Soviet Union for further studies.’ We knew it was just an excuse for him to escape, so we detained him and later executed him.”

Journalist: “The Kuomintang Army regrets their mutiny, and you responded by killing him?”

Mao: “That’s correct.”