preface:
One day in August 1957, a village called Qiaotou Village in Lianhua County, Jiangxi Province, suddenly became lively.
Men, women and children of the village rushed to the head of the village, saying that they were going to meet a "high official."
This "great official" was named Gan Zuchang, his hometown was in Qiaotou Village, and when he was a child, his family was very poor, and he once worked for the landlord's family
Work
(The kind of worker who is on call).
Everyone heard that Gan Zuchang was just awarded the rank of "major general" two years ago and served as a director of the logistics department of the Xinjiang Military Region, which is much more powerful than those township chiefs and county chiefs!
Who knew that when they arrived at the entrance of the village, everyone couldn't help but be disappointed: How come this big official is not at all mighty?
If you don't take the car, why do you still have a group of pigs and chickens?
Gan Zuchang's family of more than 10 people brought a total of 3 boxes of luggage and 8 cages, which contained a number of pigs, rabbits, and chickens.
The villagers inquired again, and it turned out that Gan Zuchang did not come back this time to visit relatives, but to settle down.
"Let the big officials not do it, come back to be a farmer?" This is confused! ”
The masses seemed to have exploded, and no one believed it.
Unexpectedly, after Gan Zuchang settled his family, he directly began to cultivate the land.
Everyone believed that he really resigned from his post and returned to become a farmer.
But what's going on? If Gan Zuchang didn't do a good job, why did he want to come back and become a farmer? Isn't it more important to be a general than to be a farmer?
Major General Gan Zuchang
1. A general who has never fought a war
Unlike other generals, Gan Zuchang has never been on the front line, and from the time he joined the Communist Party at the age of 22, he was almost
Logistics have been done in the rear.
In 1930, Gan Zuchang was transferred to a Red Army arsenal in the Xianggan Military Region, responsible for purchasing raw materials, formulating production plans, and due to insufficient manpower, he also worked as an accountant, cashier, and managed the workers' food.
In 1934, Gan Zuchang's arsenal was incorporated into the Red 6th Army, leaving the Xianggan Border Region and beginning to follow the main Red Army's Long March. When climbing the snowy mountain, Gan Zuchang could not support it and collapsed to the ground, fortunately, Ren Bishi led the road across, allowing Gan Zuchang to grab the horse's tail and go down the mountain.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Gan Zuchang was selected as the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army
359th Brigade
The Chief of the Quartermaster Section of the Ministry of Supply is responsible for the collection of food, weapons and ammunition.
By the way, the commander of this 359 brigade is the famous General Wang Zhen.
In the middle is General Wang Zhen
At that time, although the Eighth Route Army also had its own arsenal, both the manufacturing conditions and technology were far behind, and even the raw materials were difficult to get together.
Take artillery, for example, the Japanese have steel guns and iron cannons, the Americans have mortars, and we only have homemade elm cannons.
The so-called elm cannon is to hollow out the middle of a piece of elm wood, then install an iron pipe, and then wrap the outside with wire. The power of this earthen cannon is naturally inferior to that of the enemy.
Then there are grenades and mines, most of which are also homemade, using wood as the handle of the grenade, iron shells as magazines, and homemade black powder inside.
Even with such a rudimentary weapon, the soldiers had very limited access to it, so many people had to fight with the Japanese for bayonets in order to consume less bullets.
As Li Yunlong said in "Bright Sword":
"If we are as rich as devils, we still need to practice what assassination, one person holds a machine gun, and when he sees people, he will burst out, how painful!"
Yes, if the guns are in hand and the ammunition is enough, who is willing to let the soldiers fight in close combat? At the end of the day, it's still too poor.
The immediate consequence of the lack of ammunition was the heavy casualties of the soldiers
。 As a logistics officer, Gan Zuchang has a heavy responsibility, he is sad all day long, and even dreams of thinking about how to make weapons.
One day, Gan Zuchang received a message: there was an arsenal in the town of Pingyuan in Shanxi, which was originally from Yan Xishan and was later occupied by the Japanese. There were probably more than 300,000 rounds of ammunition, 300 boxes of bombs, more than 1,000 mortar shells and so on.
Gan Zuchang listened, his eyes lit up, this arsenal is not large, the Japanese and Chiang Kai-shek can not see the eyes, but for the Eighth Route Army, which lacks ammunition, it is a big treasure!
Gan Zuchang's heart was itchy, and in the days that followed, he disguised himself as a farmer more than once and went to explore the terrain near the arsenal.
A few days later, Gan Zuchang and a group of fighters took advantage of the night to dig a hole in the wall of the arsenal.
On the first day, there were few people, and Gan Zuchang stole only a dozen boxes of ammunition. The next day, Ganzu Chang brought more people, and in order to facilitate the transportation, they even rushed to a donkey cart.
Every time Gan Zuchang stole some ammunition, he restored the cave entrance to its original state, and as long as the Japanese army did not look carefully, it would not be easily discovered.
In this way, Gan Zuchang led the soldiers and the masses,
Stolen for 11 days in a row,
The ammunition in this arsenal was almost removed without the Japanese noticing.
A few days later, the common people said that there was still an ammunition depot nearby, and Gan Zuchang was willing to let it go, and quietly evacuated the ammunition depot with the guerrillas and the masses.
These things were done unconsciously, even under the eyes of the Japanese, they did not even notice.
In fact, the Japanese were also careless, they looked down on Yan Xishan's weapons, and these ammunition were naturally useless, so the guards were not strict, and they were just caught by Gan Zuchang.
For a time, the deeds of Gan Zuchang stealing the arsenal were widely circulated.
In 1939, when the Kuomintang plotted against the communists and began to create anti-communist friction, the Central Committee transferred the 359th Brigade back to northern Shaanxi from the front, and Gan Zuchang also had a new task: managing the repair shop, opening a textile factory, a shoe and socks factory...
The repair shop is also good to say, textile factories and shoe and socks factories are really difficult to get.
At that time, there were no factories, no looms, no skilled textile workers, not even raw materials, and it was easy to get it done.
However, Gan Zuchang did not flinch, he first found a warrior who had learned to weave, Tri Milan, asked him to be a master, and opened a weaving training class.
At his request, the brigade commander Wang Zhen specially transferred more than 20 soldiers, imitated 8 looms, and sent people to Shanxi to buy a batch of raw materials, and the textile factory was set up.
Everyone worked hard and successfully solved the problem of dressing more than 10,000 people in the brigade in a very short period of time.
In 1941, Gan Zuchang followed a large army into Nanniwan.
When they first arrived in Nanniwan, the warriors had no place to live, so they had to set up tents with branches, and there was no food, only to dig wild vegetables, find elm bark, and go down to the river to touch fish.
Later, the soldiers cultivated the land and worked hard, from the brigade commander Wang Zhen to the cooks, all of whom devoted themselves to production activities.
Originally, only dryland was planted in northern Shaanxi, and no one ever planted rice.
The 359th Brigade, which had many people from Jiangxi like Gan Zuchang and many Hunan fighters, found that Nanniwan had sufficient water sources and a different geography and climatic environment than other places in northern Shaanxi, so they used the experience of planting rice in the south to try to reclaim rice fields, and finally succeeded.
In less than a year, the warriors of Nanniwan achieved food self-sufficiency.
During the Liberation War, Gan Zuchang served as a minister in the Logistics Department, and in 1949, as the head of the Logistics Department of the First Corps, he followed 100,000 troops to Xinjiang.
The soldiers and horses did not move, and the grain and grass went first.
In order to successfully gain a foothold in Xinjiang, we must first solve the problem of eating and drinking for these 100,000 troops.
If grain is transported from the Central Plains to the frontier, the distance is too far, it takes too long, and there are not enough means of transport.
Far water can not quench the thirst of the near, Gan Zuchang thought about going, can only find a way in the local area.
He asked General Wang Zhen for instructions, and wanted to take the soldiers one step ahead and go to Xinjiang to investigate the situation. Wang Zhen agreed.
Gan Zuchang and his party were divided into four squads, a team of 8 people, and there were translators inside.
Everyone rode their horses and walked in four directions, and it took more than 20 days to walk through the Pastures of the Gobi.
After the teams returned one after another, as soon as they summed up the information they had received, Gan Zuchang happily went to report to Wang Zhen:
"We have a way!" In the past few years, there have been great harvests, and the people have buried grain in the cellar and have not let the Kuomintang troops take it away. ”
The reason why they did not give it to the Kuomintang troops was because they did not collect the wool of the herders, and if they did not collect the wool, the herdsmen would have no money to buy salt and tea.
Gan Zuchang thought of a good idea, he asked someone to consult with the Soviet embassy, let the Soviet side first provide a batch of tea, salt and other daily necessities, and repay them with wool, and then he used silver dollars and daily necessities to buy the wool of the herders.
In this way, the herders found the same amount of wool, and exchanged much more here in Gan zuchang than during the Kuomintang rule. As a result, herders exchanged grain for daily necessities.
In this way, not only was the problem of rations for the 100,000 troops successfully solved, but the friendship between the army and the herdsmen was also deepened.
At that time, there were still many Kuomintang agents lurking in Xinjiang, who hoarded cloth and other daily necessities in an attempt to raise prices and take advantage of the opportunity to bring down the new regime.
Gan Zuchang was not soft-hearted, and he called on all the soldiers of the army to save money and increase production at the same time, and he had to rely on the money saved to do one
Military Cooperatives.
The prices of cloth and daily necessities sold in the cooperatives were much cheaper than those of the reactionaries, and the other side had no choice but to follow
Price
。
Then, Gan Zuchang released the news that he planned to transfer 100,000 cotton cloths from Shanghai, and the merchants were even more panicked and had to hurry
Sell the cloth you hoarded
Local prices have thus stabilized.
Because Gan Zuchang had done a lot of work in Xinjiang and made great contributions, the enemy hated him so much that he gritted his teeth and bent on killing him.
One day, Gan Zuchang took a car to inspect the production factory in the suburbs, and when he passed a wooden bridge of more than 30 meters, the bridge plate suddenly broke, and Gan Zuchang and his car fell into the river. It turned out that the enemy had already sawed off the bridge plate.
Fortunately, there were people next to him, and everyone rescued Gan Zuchang with all hands and feet and sent him to the hospital for rescue.
Gan Zuchang was not lightly injured, his lips were split into three pieces, his jaw was broken, and his head was seriously injured.
After more than a month, Gan Zuchang's trauma was basically healed, but he has since fallen into severe concussion sequelae.
After being discharged from the hospital, Gan Zuchang continued to work, and people who knew about his condition advised him to rest more, but he just did not listen. Several times,
Gan Zuchang was busy when he suddenly fainted
Especially after 1953, Gan Zuchang's condition became more and more serious, even if he went to Lushan for recuperation, he never got better.
The guilt in Gan Zuchang's heart is increasing day by day, and he often blames himself, feeling that his work efficiency is low, dragging everyone's hind legs.
As time passed, Gan Zuchang was anxious, and later, a thought suddenly appeared in his mind.
Gan Zuchang and his wife
2. "If it is my father who resigns, I will resolutely oppose it"
In 1954, with the unanimous approval of comrades, Gan Zuchang was selected as a full division, and later reported to the top and was approved as a quasi-military rank.
In 1955, Gan Zuchang was awarded the rank of major general.
On that day, Gan Zuchang was dressed in a general's uniform and was full of energy. But when he returned home, he said to his wife:
"Compared with those comrades who sacrificed their lives, my contribution is really insignificant, and the honor given to me by the organization is too high!"
It was also since then that Gan Zuchang has reported to the organization more than once:
"My body no longer allows me to continue to serve as a leader, please approve me to return to the countryside of Jiangxi, so that I can make some contributions to the villagers."
Gan Zuchang's resignation application
At that time, Gan Zuchang's position was
Director of the Logistics Department of the Xinjiang Military Region
His reports were played again and again, and organizationally none of them were approved. Until 1957, when Comrade Xiao Hua inspected the work in Xinjiang, Gan Zuchang applied to him in person, and this time, the organization finally approved it.
In August 1957, Gan Zuchang and his family set off from Xinjiang to return to Jiangxi. Before leaving, he instructed his family to bring less luggage.
The whole family of 14 people, a total of 3 boxes of luggage, and 8 cages, which are the excellent breeds of poultry and livestock that Gan Zuchang insisted on bringing, including 6 York pigs, 15 pairs of angora rabbits, and 15 chickens.
According to Gan Zuchang's idea, luggage can be brought less, but the excellent varieties of these poultry must be brought back.
After returning home, Gan Zuchang taught the children to pick up dung and mow grass.
There was a tiger-shaped mountain behind the house, and Gan Zuchang felt that it was a pity that it was desolate, so he mobilized the whole family to go to reclamation together.
His younger brother Hong Chang disagreed, saying that the soil on the mountain was not good enough to grow crops.
Gan Zuchang shook his head continuously, not because the soil quality was not good, but because the method used was wrong.
To say that the soil quality, the original Nanniwan is worse than this, and then the crops do not grow well?
Gan Zuchang combined his experience in the reclamation of Nanniwan,
First dig out five or six inches of topsoil, put it aside, and then dig down more than a foot deeper, and then cover it with topsoil and apply some farm manure.
In the winter of that year, Gan Zuchang sweated like rain, broke six or seven hoes, and forced a wasteland.
By the spring of the following year, large turnips and sweet potatoes had grown in the field.
At first glance, the villagers saw that this method was still quite effective, and everyone rushed to reclaim the barren mountains.
Later, Gan Zuchang took his children to buy some saplings to plant on the mountain, and for four consecutive years, he planted thousands of fruit trees, with a survival rate of more than 95 percent, and the original barren mountain became a "flower and fruit mountain".
It was hard to wait for the fruit trees to grow and bear fruit, but I didn't expect Gan Zuchang to give orders to the children again.
They are not allowed to go to the mountains to pick fruit and eat,
Because he has given these fruit trees to the collective free of charge.
How could a father be so stupid? Although the children did not understand, they did not dare to disobey.
In the winter of 1972, Gan Zuchang set up an agricultural science experimental group in the production team, and then a commune agricultural science institute was formed.
He knew in his heart,
If we want to increase grain production, we must pay attention to science and technology.
Under the leadership of Gan Zuchang, everyone studied and popularized at the same time, and finally successfully increased the yield of grain mu from more than 300 kilograms to more than 700 kilograms.
Just when the people's lives were getting better, some cadres in the county were twisting their minds.
Initially, they wanted to create a "new village map" and let the peasants relocate to the mountains, but they were naturally very reluctant.
When Gan Zuchang heard about it, he rushed to the county in a furious manner and scolded the cadres:
"Now the people are still very poor, it is difficult to live a good life, you have begun to demolish and relocate, do you want everyone to drink the northwest wind?"
Gan Zuchang's words made those cadres with bad intentions feel landless, and other cadres who did not approve of the relocation were all in good spirits when they saw Gan Zuchang's support.
Later, some people slandered Gan Zuchang, saying that he was taking the lead in practicing capitalism by opening up wasteland, planting fruit trees, and raising pigs, and Gan Zuchang roared with anger and scolded them back.
Although he was no longer a general, the state paid Gan Zuchang a salary as usual, and the standard of treatment was the same as when he was in the army.
Gan Zuchang did not regard the money as his own, and he had to weigh it carefully for every penny he spent. He is meticulous about food and clothing, can save money, but he never skimps on supporting the construction of his hometown and helping the people in need.
There is a brigade nearby who wants to repair the reservoir, but there is not enough money and intends to borrow money from the state. After Gan Zuchang learned about it, he took out 600 yuan, and everyone was deeply moved, decided to rely on self-reliance, and finally relied on self-financing to successfully build the reservoir.
That alone is not enough.
In the mid-1970s, Gan Zuchang took out his savings and assisted the commune in setting up an agricultural machinery factory, a cement factory, and a training course for tractor drivers.
Renovate farmland, build reservoirs, build power stations, build bridges and pave roads...
In the 29 years since Gan Zuchang returned to his hometown, he has built a total of 3 reservoirs, 4 hydropower stations, 3 roads, and 12 bridges, and his contributions are innumerable.
By 1984, Gan Zuchang's salary income plus his original deposits totaled 102452 yuan, while the expenditure on national construction was 79,032 yuan, accounting for more than 70% of the total income.
Among the villagers, Gan Zuchang is deeply respected, and at home, the relatives inevitably have some complaints.
If nothing else, the mere fact of resigning from the government and returning to one's hometown is difficult for people to accept.
3, "if you don't help, you can also dismantle the stage"
In fact, after Gan Zuchang had the idea of resigning from the government and returning to his hometown, he was afraid that his wife would not agree. Who knows, after discussing with his wife, her answer turned out to be
"I'll follow you wherever you go"
Gan Zuchang was deeply moved.
His wife Gong Quanzhen is from Yantai, Shandong Province, graduated from the Department of Education of Northwest University, and is a real college student. Gan Zuchang's later resignation report was written with the help of his wife.
After Gong Quanzhen followed Gan Zuchang back to her hometown, many people felt worthless for her. "You came out of a big city and you are a college student, so why did the general say that you would follow you back to your hometown?" How bitter is the countryside! ”
Gong Quanzhen smiled and said, "Returning to his hometown to engage in construction is Lao Gan's wish, and I should support him."
Gong Quanzhen old man
In this way, Gong Quanzhen followed her husband back to the countryside and worked as a village teacher for a lifetime.
More than a decade after Gan Zuchang's death, Gong Quanzhen received a letter written by a small friend with the following sentences:
"Grandma Gong, after listening to Grandpa Gan's story, I admire him... To tell the truth, if it was my father who lost his official position, I would definitely oppose and question him, let alone agree to let him go to the countryside to become a farmer. How hard my life would be if I did that! ”
Yes, what child does not want his father to be a high official? But
With Gan Zuchang's temper, even if he did not resign and return to his hometown, his requirements for the children would be the same.
Gan Zuchang's eldest son was named Gan Jinrong. When Gan Zuchang was still the logistics minister in Xinjiang, Gan Jinrong once came from his hometown to his father and wanted his father to arrange a relaxed job for him.
Gan Zuchang did not say a word, directly sent his son to hit iron, and after half a year, he saw that his body could not be carried, and arranged for him to learn to drive a tractor.
"Initial Heart" Gan Jinrong and Gan Zuchang stills
Later, Gan Jinrong followed his father back to his hometown to see that other people's parents were building houses and buying furniture for their children, he was very envious, and he also wanted his father to build a new house for himself.
His son's request plunged Gan Zuchang into contemplation.
That night, Gan Zuchang called the children and severely criticized the eldest son, and by the way, made his attitude clear:
Leaving behind material wealth and allowing future generations to eat for nothing is the inheritance concept of the landlords and bourgeoisie, and they will never leave a nest of comfort for their children.
The spiritual state behind this realization is probably something that few people can achieve now.
Under the leadership of Gan Zuchang, every child must participate in production and labor, and no one can be lazy.
Gan Zuchang's eldest daughter, Gan Pingrong, wanted to join the army, so she begged her father to come forward to help, and Gan Zuchang not only did not help, but also specially explained to the leaders of the military region, saying that her daughter's left eye was myopic and not necessarily qualified, so that they would strictly check during the physical examination.
If you don't help, you can also dismantle the stage, and Gan Pingrong is angry and crying.
Gan Zuchang's second daughter, Gan Renrong, was recommended to go to college because of her excellent performance, and after Gan Zuchang learned that there was a poor veteran in the village who also wanted to go to college, he changed his daughter's name to the veteran. Gan Renrong was heartbroken, and her mother could only persuade her
"Ren Rong, he needs this opportunity more than you do."
In those years, Gan Zuchang raised more than 10 pigs at home, and the children mowed the grass and fed it every day. Who knew that at the end of the year, Gan Zuchang sold all these pigs to the state, and the family could not even eat meat during the New Year.
Several of Gan Zuchang's younger brothers proposed to split the family in a fit of rage.
They said
Originally, I thought that I could enjoy some happiness with Gan Zuchang, but I didn't expect that I would be worse than others
In 1985, Gan Zuchang's old disease recurred and he was sent to the county hospital for emergency rescue. During his hospitalization, the Xinjiang Military Region sent special people to visit him and offered to build a house for Gan Zuchang in Nanchang and let him settle there.
Gan Zuchang repeatedly waved his hand, saying that he was old and did not want the state to spend more money on him.
The following year, just after the Spring Festival, Gan Zuchang was critically ill. At the end of his life, he still had in his mouth to buy fertilizer, buy pesticides, and not want a house...
On February 25 of that year, the veteran soldier who had fought for the country and the collective all his life ended his glorious life at the age of 81.
postscript:
During the war years, although Gan Zuchang did not personally go to the battlefield, he was a solid backing for the frontline soldiers.
In peacetime, Gan Zuchang laid down his honor to take root in the countryside and led the villagers step by step to become rich.
It is precisely because of our ancestors like him that our country has become stronger and stronger!
I would like to commemorate Major General Gan Zuchang with this article!
bibliography:
1. By Gong Quanzhen. My wife and I, Gan Zuchang. Nanchang:Jiangxi Education Press, 2014.01.
2. Peng Linshan. General Peasant Gan Zuchang Mass Line Education Practice Activity Study Reader. Nanchang:Jiangxi People's Publishing House, 2013.10.
3. By Liu Nanfang. General-level peasant: Gan Zuchang biography. Beijing:PLA Literature and Art Publishing House, 2008.01.
This article was originally published in
@Cottage History
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