Baoding Grain Merchants Under The New Administration (1949-1953)

During the period of the Republic of China,due to the uneven resources between urban and rural areas,Baoding’s grain market formed two groups of grain merchants mainly in the city and grain merchants mainly in the countryside.During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression,the CCP used grain vendors to fight against the enemy for grain,but it exacerbated the contradiction between rural grain vendors and urban grain vendors.After the liberation of Baoding,rural grain vendors led farmers into the city to buy grain in the name of resisting the "class oppression" of grain merchants.In the early days of the establishment of the People’s Government,it cooperated with grain merchants in Baoding.However,the grain merchants often had entanglements and conflicts with grain traders and farmers,which led the CCP to believe that grain merchants were responsible for the repeated changes in grain prices in 1949.The CCP’s attitude towards grain merchants has taken a turn for the worse,and it has continuously taken measures to crack down on grain merchants.Baoding grain merchants declined due to government restrictions,resistance and competition from grain vendors.In 1950,grain merchants regained their strength with the help of the government.However,due to the hostility and rejection of grain merchants by grain cadres,grain merchants had to bribe cadres to maintain their operations.In 1952,when the "Five Antis" movement broke out,Baoding city grain merchants were hit immediately.The power of cooperatives and state-run grain companies continued to expand,and they took advantage of the conflicts between traders to suppress grain traders.Although the CCP has provided assistance to urban grain merchants again,because the staterun grain economy has controlled the grain wholesale and retail market and processing channels,the decline of urban grain merchants is a foregone conclusion.In 1953,when the supply and demand of grain in Baoding was tight,the grain purchases of rural grain vendors led to a serious problem of grain outflow from the city.The CCP realized that the activities of grain sellers had destroyed the balance of urban grain supply and the assumption of industrialization,and started to control it,and the phenomenon of rural grain sellers buying and selling in the city also subsided.