In order for this to work, though, the peasants had to grow lots of grain and sell it at extremely low prices. This kept inflation in check, and saving was encouraged by the fact that the Five Year Plan didn't have many consumer goods, so there was nothing to buy. For urban workers, living standards improved, and China's population grew to 646 million. So far, Mao's plan seemed to be working. But there was no way that China could keep up that growth, especially without some backsliding into capitalism. So, Mao came up with a terrible idea called the Great Leap Forward. Mao essentially decided that the nation could be psyched up into more industrial productivity.