Among the more than a thousand founding generals in our country, there is a lieutenant general named Zhang Nansheng, who is not too well-known in the history of our army, but his experience of lieutenant general Zhang Nansheng and participating in the revolution is quite legendary.
Looking back on his experience in the first half of his life, Lieutenant General Zhang Nansheng once summed it up: "I overheard three sentences under an old banyan tree in my hometown, and I opened up the trick and embarked on the revolutionary road from then on. ”
Who exactly said these three sentences to him? Which three sentences are specific?
This has to start from Zhang Nansheng's family background, especially his father's situation.
In 1905, Zhang Nansheng was born in Beicun, Xinquan Township (now Xinquan Township) in the south of Liancheng County, Fujian Province.
Although the ancestors of the Zhang family were poor peasants for several generations, his father Zhang Zhirui responded to a sentence: "Poor and strong, do not fall into the ambition of Qingyun." ”
What is "The Ambition of Qingyun"? To put it bluntly, it is to get ahead and change his destiny, and in Zhang Zhirui's eyes, the way he most desires to get ahead is to become an official.
Zhang Zhirui was originally just a farmer who farmed in agriculture, raised fish in his spare time, and put wooden rows for a living, so why did he want to be an official?
The reason is very simple, tired and tired all year round, the harvest is not enough to pay rent to the landlord, and from time to time he is bullied, so that Zhang Zhirui is eager to change this fate.
He thought about it, planning to sell his property and take the road of spending money to donate officials, and there was only this way to go at that time.
To this end, he made a fierce effort, sold half of the house handed down by his ancestors, and used the money to donate a meritorious name of "Wu Xiucai".
However, having a meritorious name does not mean having an official do it, and Zhang Zhirui has been unable to realize this wish for a long time.
To make matters worse, it wasn't long before his wife suffered a postpartum stroke, but she died because the family didn't have the money to treat her.
Such an encounter made Zhang Zhirui doubly devastated, even close to a state of mental disorder.
Later, in order to pass on the lineage, the family helped him to arrange a family affair. In the years after the second wife passed the door, zhang Zhirui gave birth to three sons and a daughter, and the eldest son was Zhang Nansheng.
Because of the sale of houses and donations, the family has been impoverished, and Zhang Zhirui is forced to make a living and has fallen to the point of giving away his children in pain.
Locals regard this incident as a negative teaching material, lamenting that Zhang Zhirui sold his property and spent money to donate officials, which harmed the whole family.
Zhang Zhirui's dream of becoming an official was shattered, and he could only hope for the next generation. He worked all day, saved money, and wanted to let his eldest son Zhang Nansheng take the road of studying and becoming a scholar.
However, after Zhang Nansheng finished middle school, his family no longer had money to send him to continue his education, so he could only become a mr. accountant.
Seeing that his son had also lost hope of becoming an official, Zhang Zhirui was mentally weak from then on.
One day in May 1929, the 24-year-old Zhang Nansheng ushered in a major turning point in his life.
At that time, the Fourth Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army entered fujian territory for the second time, passing through the north village of Xinquan Township.
Everywhere the Red Army went, it never forgot to carry out propaganda work with the local masses. When they arrived at the North Village, they set up the venue under an old banyan tree by the river at the mouth of the village.
This old banyan tree has been alive for more than 300 years, its branches and leaves are extremely luxuriant, and the canopy covers an area as large as several acres of land. Usually, villagers often gather under this big tree to cool down and chat.
Zhang Nansheng saw so many people in the village, talking and laughing, singing and dancing, and also ran to the big banyan tree to see the liveliness.
A Red Army cadre saw that more and more people were gathering, so he went to the big banyan tree and stood on a large rock to give a speech to the villagers.
He spoke a lot about the Red Army, and Zhang Nansheng was most impressed by three sentences:
"The Red Army is a team that fights the world for the poor and poor people."
"The poor people of the world are one family, and we must unite."
"The poor have all come to the revolution and overthrow this cannibalistic society together!"
Zhang Nansheng listened more and more excitedly in the crowd, and these three sentences also made him open up, and he suddenly understood what kind of road he was going to take.
At that time, the Red Army organized many self-defense units and peasant associations at the local level, and Zhang Nansheng immediately joined the self-defense forces after his speech, joined the peasant associations, and actively participated in the revolutionary struggle activities.
After a period of tempering, his ambition to join the revolution became more and more determined, and he made the decision to find troops to join the Red Army.
In order not to involve his family, Zhang Nansheng deliberately left a note before leaving, asking his family to delete his name from his household registration.
Subsequently, he walked out of the house without hesitation, went to the revolutionary base area in western Fujian, and joined the Red Twelfth Army.
Since then, Zhang Nansheng has gradually grown into an excellent Red Army cadre, and has made outstanding achievements in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the War of Liberation, and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
In September 1955, Zhang Nansheng became the founding lieutenant general of the People's Republic of China, awarded the rank of lieutenant general of the People's Liberation Army, and was awarded the Order of August 1 of the Second Class, the Order of Independence and Freedom of the First Class, and the Liberation Medal of the First Class.
In his later years, Zhang Nansheng recalled his career as a horseman and sighed: "It was the three sentences I overheard under the big banyan tree in my hometown that made me find the direction of my life, embark on the revolutionary road, and change my destiny." ”