In 1955, our army first implemented the rank system, at that time there were many generals involved in the appraisal of ranks, and there were too many factors considered in all aspects, so it was difficult to achieve a 100 percent balance standard.
Lieutenant General Wang Jinshan
Of course, some people feel that the rank is low, but there are also some generals who feel that their rank is high and take the initiative to give up their ranks, and the more famous ones are Xu Guangda, Xu Liqing and other generals.
After Xu Liqing learned that he had been awarded the title of general, he took the initiative to "resign" from the rank of lieutenant general, and he said to the staff: "The party and the people have given me a lot of honors. ”
At first, Zhou Enlai, Peng Dehuai, Luo Ronghuan, and others did not agree to his awarding the rank of lieutenant general, but Xu Liqing personally did ideological work, and finally let himself successfully award the rank of lieutenant general, Zhou Enlai sighed: "The chairman said that Xu Guangda is a mirror, and I see that you Xu Liqing is also a mirror!" ”
Xu Liqing, a native of Shangcheng, Henan, was born on April 5, 1910 in a poor peasant family, and in May 1927, Xu Liqing joined the local peasant association and actively participated in the peasant movement.
In April 1929, Xu Liqing joined the Peasants' Self-Defense Army and bravely participated in the armed struggle to protect the fruits of land reform, and in August of the same year, he joined the Eyu-Anhui Red Army.
General Xu Liqing
In 1930, Xu Liqing joined the Communist Party of China at the age of 20 because of his bravery in battle and rapid ideological progress, and since then, bathed in the flames of war in the Eyu-Anhui Soviet Region, he has soon matured, successively serving as the secretary of the manager's office of the Thirty-second Division of the Red First Army, the chief of the Organization Section of the Political Department of the Eleventh Division of the Red Fourth Army, the director of the Political Office of the Thirty-second Regiment of the Red Fourth Army, the director of the Political Department of the Red Fourth Army, and the director of the Political Department of the Rear General Hospital of the Red Fourth Army.
He successively participated in major battles such as the anti-encirclement and suppression operation in the Eyu-Anhui Soviet Region, the anti-"three-way siege" and the "six-way siege" in the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Region, and during the Long March, he served as the political commissar of the General Health Department of the Red Fourth Front, saving many wounded soldiers.
In October 1936, after the three main forces of the Red Army met the division, he followed Xu Xiangqian to cross the Yellow River in the west, and after the defeat of the Western Route Army, he and more than a thousand wounded people fought a guerrilla attack in the Qilian Mountains, unfortunately captured, and were escorted to Liangzhou, Gansu Province, together with Qin Jiwei and others, and later escorted them to Lanzhou for detention, and after being rescued by the Party Central Committee, the Kuomintang agreed to release them.
After Xu Liqing was released from prison, he went to work in the Aid To the West Army led by Liu Bocheng, serving as the chief of the Education Section of the Political Department of the Aid West Army; after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Xu Liqing took the initiative to invite Miao to go to the forefront of the anti-Japanese resistance, successively serving as director of the Political Office of the Cavalry Regiment of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, director of the Political Organization Department of the Division, and political commissar of the Eastward Column, and participated in the opening up of the anti-Japanese base area in southeastern Jin.
In 1940, Xu Liqing was transferred to the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to study, and after the completion of the study period, he served as the chief of the education section of the second department of the party school, and in February 1944, he became the political commissar of the newly organized Fourth Brigade of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Left-behind Corps.
In October of the same year, in order to defend the revolutionary base areas in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia and strengthen the defensive forces, the Central Military Commission formed the Sixth Column, which belonged to the Northwest Field Army, with Luo Yuanfa as commander and Xu Liqing as the political commissar of the column.
During this period, Xu Liqing led his troops to participate in the main battles to defend Yan'an and liberate the Great Northwest, in which the bloody battle of Tunzi Town impressed Peng Dehuai with Xu Liqing.
In April 1948, Hu Zongnan and Ma Jiajun launched a counter-offensive, the target was directly at Peng Dehuai's headquarters, Peng Dehuai received the news, immediately led the headquarters to retreat, and when he reached Baoji Tunzi Town, he happened to encounter Xu Liqing.
The pursuing soldiers followed, and seeing that the situation was dangerous, Xu Liqing resolutely asked for orders to lead his troops to block the enemy at Tunzi Town and cover Peng Dehuai and the main force of the Northwest Field Army to cross the Jing River in the east.
When Hu Zongnan's large army arrived, Xu Liqing relied on the terrain to wage a bloody battle with the enemy, reaching Hu Zongnan's army for three days and nights, and finally retreated safely, effectively containing the enemy.
In 1949, the whole army was unified, the sixth column was reorganized into the Sixth Army, Xu Liqing continued to serve as the political commissar, and in June of the same year, the Sixth Army was incorporated into the Second Corps, and Xu Liqing served as the deputy political commissar and director of the political department of the corps.
Before and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Wang Zhen, commander of the First Corps, led the Second Army and the Sixth Army with a total of 70,000 people to march into Xinjiang, and Xu Liqing served as the political commissar of the First Corps and marched toward Xinjiang together.
On October 20, the People's Liberation Army entered Dihua, and he and Wang Zhen spent a lot of effort to solve the remaining enemies who were arrogant in Dihua.
On December 17, the Xinjiang Branch of the CPC Central Committee was established, with Wang Zhen as secretary and Xu Liqing as deputy secretary, at that time the situation in Xinjiang was complicated, some people even colluded with imperialist plots to deviate, in order to make the people's grass-roots political power build a complete system faster, Xu Liqing suggested that a part of the backbone forces be dispatched to the front line, and after he and Wang Zhen discussed, they directly dispatched about 20,000 people to form a squad to go down to the grass-roots level to publicize our party's ideology, so that the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang could more quickly integrate into the collectives of New China.
Under the presidency of Xu Liqing, the Xinjiang sub-bureau held a meeting and demanded that a group of highly conscious and capable masses from among various ethnic groups be selected as soon as possible to strengthen the ranks of ethnic cadres, thus laying a foundation for Xinjiang's stability.
In April 1950, Xu Liqing also organized the establishment of the sub-bureau local cadre training class, with him personally serving as the class teacher, responsible for the training of local cadres, at the same time, he also served as the principal of the military and political cadre school of the Xinjiang Military Region, training and reforming the officers of the uprising troops, under his leadership, the ideological work of the cadres of the rebel troops was greatly strengthened, and this school later developed into the infantry school of the Xinjiang Military Region.
In September 1950, in order to unify the management of cadres in the whole army, the Central Military Commission set up a general cadre management department, and Chairman Mao directly pointed out: "Establish a general cadre department and let Xu Liqing do it." ”
Soon, Xu Liqing was transferred back, Luo Ronghuan concurrently served as minister, and Xu Liqing presided over the work as vice minister.
Under the leadership of Luo Ronghuan, Xu Liqing participated in the formulation of the "Regulations on the Service of Officers of the Chinese people's liberation army" and "Interim Measures for the Appointment and Removal of Cadres", which effectively promoted the revolutionization, modernization and regularization of the Chinese people's liberation army.
In 1952, the cadres of the whole army were graded, and Xu Liqing was responsible for presiding over this work; at that time, Xu Liqing had already served as the political commissar of the corps, and according to the regulations, it could be designated as the "level of the main corps", and the relevant departments reported this "Xu Liqing at the level of the corps", but after Xu Liqing saw it, he changed the "level of the main corps" to "deputy corps level", and specially wrote a report to the general cadre department and obtained approval.
Xu Liqing's "concession" made Luo Ronghuan very moved, and at many subsequent meetings, Luo Ronghuan praised him, saying that he was "a model for leading by example and an example for comrades to learn."
Later, Peng Dehuai, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, also specifically sought out Xu Liqing for this matter, and explicitly proposed not to agree to appoint him as a deputy corps level, and in the end, Peng Dehuai changed Xu Liqing's "deputy corps level" back to "regular corps level."
In January 1955, the Central Military Commission issued the Instruction on The Evaluation of Military Ranks, which gave policy provisions to the evaluation of military ranks.
Because this appraisal work is related to the stability and development of the army, although Luo Ronghuan is in charge of the leadership, a large number of affairs are presided over by Xu Liqing, in order to complete this task, Xu Liqing can be said to be sad.
After receiving the task, Xu Liqing kept firmly in mind Chairman Mao's requirement of "taking care of all aspects, not practicing hilltop doctrine, and leveling the bowl of water." In the work of appraising the ranks of all cadres at and above the divisional level of the general cadre unit, he compared them vertically and horizontally, weighed them repeatedly, checked and studied them one by one, and often worked until late at night.
As for Xu Liqing himself, according to the conditions stipulated by the Central Military Commission, he was fully qualified to be awarded the rank of general, but when he saw that he had his own name in the list of generals, he made a decision privately and quietly lowered his name to the ranks of lieutenant generals.
Soon, this list was sent to Luo Ronghuan's hands, and he personally talked to Xu Liqing and said, "This is determined by the Central Military Commission, and the rank of the zhengbing army is generally awarded as a general, how can your name be crossed casually?" You Xu Liqing are contributing, you are qualified! ”
Despite Xu Liqing's resignation, Luo Ronghuan insisted on adding Xu Liqing's name to the list of generals, and after that, Xu Liqing wrote to the Central Military Commission and Luo Ronghuan, asking that he not be given the rank of general.
Xu Liqing also discussed this matter with his wife Dang Xiuyu, who was very supportive of her husband's work after learning about it, and she said: "Let's not compete with others in terms of treatment, fame and fortune, you ask to be awarded lieutenant general, I support you!" ”
At this moment, Xu Guangda, commander of the armored corps of the People's Liberation Army, also wrote a report to Chairman Mao and the Central Military Commission, hoping to be demoted from a general to a general. ”
Xu Liqing thought that he had an example to learn from, and called his former partner Xu Guangda overnight, talking to him about his views on wanting to be given a low military rank, xu Guangda encouraged him: "This is our personal idea, it has nothing to do with others, we must continue to make an example." ”
Late that night, Xu Liqing lay in bed and couldn't sleep, he got dressed and got up, and wrote a letter to the Central Military Commission and Minister Luo Ronghuan again, the gist of the letter was: This time I asked for a low award, because I am the vice minister in charge of the work of awarding titles, and I should be more strict with myself and set a good example for everyone, otherwise I would not be able to strictly demand others, I was born in a poor peasant family, I grew up herding cattle for landlords, it was the party that trained me to become a soldier, but compared with the requirements of the party and the people, The achievements made are insignificant, and I am very uneasy in my heart when awarded to the admiral, and I feel very honored to award the lieutenant general according to morality, talent, qualification, and merit, and I have repeatedly pleaded with the Central Military Commission and the leadership to approve my request.
The next day, Xu Liqing's handwritten letter was delivered to Luo Ronghuan, who took the letter to discuss with Lai Chuanzhu and Song Renqian, and everyone agreed that Xu Liqing should still be awarded the rank of general.
Marshal Luo Ronghuan
Subsequently, they reported the matter to Peng Dehuai, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, who also agreed with them and instructed that it should be awarded to General Xu Liqing.
A few days later, Peng Dehuai called Xu Liqing to his office and asked him to talk to his face about the reason for not wanting to be a general, and Xu Liqing said his thoughts as they were, hoping for Peng Dehuai's support.
After hearing this, Peng Dehuai said with emotion: "Liqing, you don't want to go to the general's business, I think or discuss it and then say, this issue is not up to me alone, this is an organizational decision." ”
Later, at a meeting of the Central Military Commission, Peng Dehuai spoke out about the incident, saying: "Xu Liqing, I understand, people are very good, there is no idea of fame and fortune, and words must be done and deeds must be fruitful. ”
Chairman Mao nodded his head after hearing this, and said happily: "It is not simple, money, status and glory can best see a person's thoughts and character, and this has always been the case!" ”
Although all the leaders insisted on conferring on Xu Liqing as general, he still asked the leader several times to ask for a demotion, and later, Zhou Enlai also heard about this matter and personally talked to Xu Liqing and did his work.
Zhou En: "You have applied for low-level teaching many times, this spirit is worth advocating, it is worth learning from each of our cadres, from the war years to the peace years, you have always maintained the excellent quality of communists, which is rare and valuable, but you Xu Liqing is fully in line with the conditions for awarding the rank of general, do not think that you are a vice minister of the cadre department can be low-level." ”
After listening, Xu Liqing expounded his ideas, and also talked about the issue of some generals vying for the position of officials in the process of this appraisal, without considering the overall situation, he explained: "I am awarded a low title, so that I can do their work, which is entirely for the sake of work. ”
Zhou Enlai did not make a sound after hearing Xu Liqing's words, he was very aware of some bad things in this award, and in the end, instead of doing the work of Passing Xu Liqing, he let Xu Liqing do his own work.
Deeply moved, Zhou Enlai could only agree to Xu Liqing's request, and the day before the award of the title, Zhou Enlai specially sought out Xu Liqing and said to him: "The chairman said that Xu Guangda is a mirror, a mirror for the communists themselves, and I said that you Xu Liqing is also a mirror, a rare good comrade!" ”
Subsequently, Zhou Enlai also called a photographer to take a group photo with Xu Liqing in his study.
On the evening of September 27, 1955, after the award of the title, a grand dinner was held on the lawn outside the Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai, at which Zhou Enlai delivered a toast, and the marshals and generals who had just finished the title were all dressed in Jiang Shuai's clothes and chatted with each other about the arduous course of the decades of revolution.
Xu Liqing, who had been awarded the rank of lieutenant general, also happily raised a glass with the others, and suddenly, he heard Liu Shaoqi shouting his name, and he hurried to Liu Shaoqi, who took his hand and said sincerely: "You are a lieutenant general who should have been awarded the rank of general but not a general." ”
After hearing this, Xu Liqing hurriedly said, "You should have been awarded the title of Marshal, but you will always be an example for me to learn." ”
While the two were talking, Peng Dehuai, who was beside him, also came to Xu Liqing with a wine glass and said to him, "The gold content of your two golden beans is not ordinary!" ”
Chairman Mao spoke highly of Xu Liqing's practice of not seeking fame and fortune and strictly demanding himself, and at a meeting of senior cadres of the whole army, Chairman Mao praised Xu Liqing as a "good comrade and good cadre" of the party. Ye Jianying, Luo Ronghuan, and others also praised him as an example for cadres of our party and our army to learn from.
In December 1960, Xu Liqing was appointed deputy director of the General Political Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, presiding over the training and selection of cadres in the whole army, in his work, Xu Liqing paid attention to maintaining close contact with cadres at all levels extensively, he spent a large part of his time and energy to directly contact cadres through various means, and the work style of treating people made the vast number of officers and cadres willing to approach him.
It is precisely because of his work style that both senior cadres of our party and middle- and lower-ranking cadres are willing to talk to him about their work, whether it is working hours, holidays, or rest time at night, as long as someone comes to the door, regardless of the level of his position, he will receive it warmly, without the slightest shelf, and everyone who comes into contact with him will respect him from the bottom of his heart.
In addition to this, he also personally consulted the cadre files of cadres, went deep into the grass-roots level to investigate, and quickly grasped the basic situation of the cadre contingent of the whole army, and he understood the situation in great detail about the situation of cadres at or above the division level Everyone said that Xu Liqing had a living dictionary of cadres in his mind.
Therefore, when studying the appointment of cadres, he can always flexibly appoint cadres according to their strengths and weaknesses, and truly make full use of their strengths and avoid their weaknesses, know and make good use of them, so that the leading bodies are properly matched, and everyone is convinced of this.
In his long-term work as an army cadre, Xu Liqing insisted on Chairman Mao's remarks, treated cadres from all walks of life without distinction between relatives and aliens, engaged in "all corners of the world," and resolutely opposed "nepotism."
At that time, some leaders only selected old colleagues they knew or were familiar with, and did not appoint cadres who were unfamiliar with them or did not like them.
Xu Liqing attaches great importance to young cadres, and he often says that if we want to build a modern army, we must boldly promote young cadres with culture and professional knowledge.
At Xu Liqing's suggestion, a number of young and outstanding cadres were sent to various military academies and universities for further study, and some were even sent abroad by him to study abroad, and some of them were even promoted by him to leadership positions.
During the turbulent years, all his posts were abolished, and it was not until 1971 that he resumed his work, successively serving as political commissar of the Jinan Military Region, deputy director of the General Political Department, member of the Central Military Commission, and first political commissar of the Chengdu Military Region.
In 1980, after the end of the border operations of our army, Xu Liqing, as the first political commissar of the Chengdu Military Region, went to the front-line troops to supervise the work; at that time, his blood pressure was as high as 200/100, and he was still equipped with a pacemaker on his heart.
During his stay, Xu Liqing found that a considerable number of cadres who had performed heroic deeds on the front line were old and underpaid, and he sorted out all these matters into a report and reported them to the Central Military Commission, and all of them were properly arranged.
On January 6, 1983, Xu Liqing died of illness in Beijing at the age of 73, Deng Xiaoping personally inquired and instructed Xu Liqing to raise the standard of funeral treatment to the level of central leaders, it can be said that this is the only case, at the farewell ceremony of the body, Deng Xiaoping was very sad, he said to Dang Xiuyu: "Liqing is my old subordinate, old comrade-in-arms, he is a good comrade."
When Marshal Xu Qianqian, who was still ill, heard the news of Xu Liqing's death, he could not help but burst into tears, and he confessed that he could not participate in Xu Liqing's funeral activities because of his illness, and asked the staff to convey his deep condolences on his behalf.
After learning the bad news, General Zhang Aiping wrote a poem with tears: "Yuanben Liqing went to clean himself, and the road was not counted." Xi Jun's journey was cautious, and there were people who comforted Yingling. This poem is the best evaluation of General Xu Liqing's life, and also speaks to the voice of the vast number of cadres in the whole army.
Before Xu Liqing's death, he was very strict with his lover and children and the staff around him, his lover Dang Xiuyu was an old cadre for three or eight years, and he was born and died after he was born in the Southern Expedition and the Northern War, but Xu Liqing never considered his wife's promotion, but instead stipulated that no one in the family was allowed to mention the issue of personal treatment.
After Xu Liqing's death, Dang Xiuyu returned the house assigned to Xu Liqing and handed over a car equipped with the public, and some people suggested that she did not have to do so, but Dang Xiuyu said that if Xu Liqing was still alive, he would do the same.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xu Liqing has done cadre work for decades, never done anything to use his power for personal gain, he has won people's eternal respect with his high style and bright festival, and the character of the older generation of revolutionaries is admirable!