Soon after the founding of New China, the implementation of the military rank system was put on the agenda. In order to lay a good foundation for future titles, with the efforts of Luo Ronghuan, then director of the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army and director of the General Cadre Management Department, the Central Military Commission issued the Instructions on The Grading of Cadres at All Levels in March 1952. The cadre level is divided into 9 grades and 21 grades, which is commonly known as grading, and this grade provides the main basis for the large award of titles three years later.
Maybe some friends will ask, is it not okay to award titles according to the position? Why do you have to spend time and effort on grading? In fact, this question is very easy to answer, let's give a few simple examples for everyone to understand. During the Red Army period, there were many division-level formations, and everyone was called a division commander, but the strength of the troops under them may be several times different. Duan Suquan's Qiandong Independent Division had a total strength of only more than 800 men, while Xiao Hua's Young Communist International Division had more than 8,000 men. Duan Suquan's independent division, which was also a division commander, and Xiao Hua's Young Communist International Division were ten times worse in strength.
Another example is the 31st Division of the 11th Army of the Red Fourth Front, at the beginning of the establishment of the division, there were four regiments under its jurisdiction, if you only look at the establishment, it is estimated that many friends will think that this division should have at least a few thousand people. But in reality, this is only a shelf division, with a total strength of less than 200 men and less than 50 men per regiment. The actual size is about the same as an enhanced company. He was also a division-level commander, and the strength of his men was several times or even more than ten times different. If there is no grade, there will be problems when awarding titles in the future.
It is precisely to avoid the occurrence of this situation that the General Cadre Department does not hesitate to spend a lot of time and energy to grade cadres who are still serving in the military. Due to the large number of people involved in this grading, some special circumstances have emerged. One day in March 1952, Luo Ronghuan personally talked to Liu Yongsheng, who was then the deputy commander of the 10th Corps of Sanye, and asked him: "Do you have any opinions on making you a deputy military officer?" Liu Yongsheng joined the Red Army in 1927 and experienced the agrarian revolutionary war, the three-year guerrilla war in the south, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation.
During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, Liu Yongsheng was wounded four times, the most serious of which occurred during the defense of Liancheng Wenfang. In August 1934, Liu Yongsheng, then commander of the guard battalion of the Fujian Provincial Military Region, led his troops to engage in a fierce battle with a regiment of the enemy army in Wenfang. He confronted the enemy head-on with one company, and personally led two companies to detour from the flanks and attack the enemy back and forth. The enemy's position was in disarray, and the Red Army took the opportunity to counterattack. During the battle, Liu Yongsheng was shot in the right leg, and the blood flowed. The guards saw the situation and wanted to carry him down, but Liu Yongsheng let the hygienist simply bandage it, lie down on the stretcher and continue to command the battle, and finally annihilate most of the enemy.
After the Outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Liu Yongsheng was ordered to report to the headquarters of the New Fourth Army in southern Anhui. When he walked to Jiangshan, Zhejiang, he suddenly received an order from his superiors to go to Nanchang. After arriving in Nanchang, Zeng Shan, then deputy secretary of the Southeast Branch Bureau, personally received Liu Yongsheng and asked him to secretly return to western Fujian to continue his work, so Liu Yongsheng missed the opportunity to join the main force. After returning to western Fujian, Liu Yongsheng served as the leader of Wang Tao's detachment and led his troops to fight the enemy many times.
In early April 1945, Liu Yongsheng led his troops on the way to Raoping, but was besieged by heavy enemy troops. He was not afraid of danger, commanded the troops to fight heroically, and forced a bloody road. During the battle, Liu Yongsheng was seriously injured again and recuperated for several months before recovering. After the outbreak of the Liberation War, Liu Yongsheng successively served as the commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army Corps of the Fujian-Guangdong-Gansu Border Region and the commander of the column of the Fujian-Guangdong-Gansu Border Region, and led the troops to liberate more than 30 counties and towns in the Fujian-Guangdong-Gansu Border Region. After the founding of New China, Liu Yongsheng served as the deputy commander of the 10th Corps of Sanye, made Ye Fei his deputy, and made new achievements in the suppression of bandits in western Fujian.
In 1952, when it was graded, according to the regulations, "the deputy commander and deputy political commissar of the corps and the second-level military district equivalent to the corps shall generally be rated as deputy corps level, and individual unsuitable persons shall be reduced as appropriate." As the deputy commander of the corps, Liu Yongsheng should be rated as a deputy corps level. However, he served in the local army for a long time, with limited troops in his hands and not many major battles, so his military merit was not very prominent. Although he was the deputy commander of the Tenth Corps at the time of his appointment, he did not hold this position for a long time after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
In the case of Liu Yongsheng, how should it be graded? Luo Ronghuan also made a mistake. Finally, he personally talked to Liu Yongsheng and asked for his opinion. Liu Yongsheng looked at this very openly, and frankly said that he could accept any level he set himself. Eventually, after comprehensive measurement, he was made a deputy military rank. After learning of this result, many old comrades-in-arms complained for Liu Yongsheng and asked him to go to the old leader Zhang Dingcheng to reflect. But Liu Yongsheng said: Compared with those comrades-in-arms who have already sacrificed, I am very satisfied with the rank of deputy army. In 1955, Liu Yongsheng was awarded the rank of major general, and in 1984 the general died of illness at the age of 80.