Anti-lost, accessible by elevator
Safety Island newspaperman Liu Yadong A
Source: Code word craftsman Old Zhan
Author: Hu Qili
Today, April 15, marks the 33rd anniversary of Hu Yaobang's death.
Comrade Hu Yaobang is a great proletarian revolutionary.
This is the evaluation of the Party Central Committee in its eulogy.
Hu Qili's article describes his interactions with Yaobang.
A person's life, large or small, deep or shallow, is subject to the influence of society or others. In the course of my seventy-odd years of life, if someone asks me, who has had the greatest and most profound impact on you? I will answer without hesitation: It is Comrade Yaobang! At many critical moments in my life, Comrade Yaobang used his words and deeds to teach me, subtly pointed out the principles and principles for me to be a person and deal with the world, and supported and helped me walk through the bumpy road of life.
The whole organ of the Central Committee of the League is like a harmonious big family, without any concept of hierarchy or the habit of the people, and it is the organ without officialdom and democratic harmony
Comrade Yaobang and I met in the 1950s. It was August 1955, when the Sixteenth Congress of the All-China Federation of Students was held, and Comrade Yaobang was already the secretary of the Central Committee of the League, and I was just a young man in his twenties who had just graduated from school. At that meeting, I was elected president of the All-China Federation of Students and told that I would be received by Chairman Mao. When I heard this news, I was excited and nervous, what should I say when I saw Chairman Mao? How should Chairman Mao answer any questions if I am asked? What should be reported to Chairman Mao? A thousand words do not know where to start.
Perhaps I understood my mood at that time, and just when I was thinking hard, Comrade Yaobang came to me. He first relieved me of my nervousness, saying that Chairman Mao was the leader of the people, that he was approachable to the elderly, that he was especially concerned about and cared for young people, and that there was no need for nervousness at all, and then he gave me specific and meticulous counseling and help. He inspired me to say that Chairman Mao might ask you what issues were discussed and what opinions and demands your classmates had. I said, then there are more problems, and I don't know which one to reflect. Comrade Yaobang patiently listened to my account and went out of his way to help me summarize several problems: It is necessary to strengthen the study and education of the situation, strengthen social practice, and have ideological preparation for dealing with difficulties. Then he taught me that you are a student representative, and you must ask questions from the perspective of students' requirements, not from the perspective of regiment cadres. So I summed up the opinions of my classmates as wanting to listen to the situation report, but some leading comrades could not invite them; they wanted to visit the factory, but they were not allowed to go for various reasons; they entered the society after graduation, and they were prone to pessimism and disappointment when they encountered difficulties.
When I arrived at Chairman Mao, I reported to Chairman Mao one by one according to the several questions that Comrade Yaobang had helped me to ponder and summarize. Chairman Mao was very happy after hearing this. In view of the problem that young people are not ideologically prepared for difficulties and will be pessimistic and disappointed when they encounter difficulties, Chairman Mao specifically said a long paragraph about how young people should deal with difficulties. Chairman Mao said: "The future of the whole society is getting brighter and brighter, not getting darker, but it will not shine straight into the sky like a searchlight." The road of the revolution is tortuous. In times of war there are difficulties in times of war, in times of peace there are difficulties in times of peace, and difficulties in times of peace are not necessarily smaller than difficulties in times of war, or even greater. When the older generation dies, the difficulties are for the young people, and of course, your conditions will be better then..."
Chairman Mao's words, at that time, I seemed to understand them, thinking that the struggle in the period of revolutionary war is really a sword and a real gun, you are dying and you are going to die, you have to shed blood and even give up your life, then there should be many difficulties, and there will be difficulties in peacetime, but how can it be more difficult than in wartime? Half a century has passed, and only after experiencing the ups and downs of successive political movements, such as the Anti-Rightist Movement, the Lushan Conference, and the turmoil of the "Cultural Revolution," the twists and turns of the revolutionary struggle, and the rise and fall of the world, honors, and disgraces, have I truly understood the weight of Chairman Mao's words.
Looking back, if Comrade Yaobang had not inspired me to raise this question at that time, I would not have heard Chairman Mao's profound exposition on this issue. Comrade Yaobang helped me pass this exam hand in hand, which was the first class I took after leaving school and entering the society.
The following year, I was transferred to the Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Regiment as an ordinary cadre. As soon as I entered the compound of the central organ of the regiment, I found that this place was different from other organs. Comrades in organs, regardless of size of men and women, and regardless of their qualifications, all the leaders of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the League, including Comrade Yaobang, are directly addressed by their first names, without official titles, and there is absolutely no title of secretary or minister of so-and-so. In work, between superiors and subordinates, between departments, and between comrades, they also help each other, support each other, unite and cooperate, and are intimate. The whole organ is like a harmonious big family, without any hierarchical concept or habit of the gate, and it is the organ that has the least official spirit and is democratic and harmonious. Like many comrades, I called him Comrade Yaobang from the moment I met him, until he went to work in the Central Committee, and later became the general secretary, I still called him Comrade Yaobang, and I have been calling him this for decades. This title is full of trust, kindness and respect in us, and he is happy that comrades call him this way, without feeling uncomfortable or uncomfortable.
In 1964, Comrade Yaobang actively advocated the training and selection of young cadres in the Central Committee of the League. At the Third Session of the Ninth Communist Youth League, I was elected as the alternate secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League. During the period of peace construction, with my age, seniority, and level at that time, when I came to such an important leading position, whether in the central organs of the League, within the League system, or in society, the shock was not small, and there were many words of praise and encouragement.
At this moment, Comrade Yaobang and I had a pertinent conversation. He said, Qi Li, you are a young cadre who has been promoted out of the ordinary, this is the cultivation and education of the party organization, the trust of the vast number of league members and young people, and the need of the youth cause. This burden is very heavy, and you must bravely pick it up. However, you must understand that the promotion of the position will not have any change in your knowledge, morality, cultivation, and skills, and all of this requires you to learn hard and practice hard to get it. The change of position is like you wearing a Zhongshan suit today, wearing a shirt tomorrow, the clothes have changed, the people in the clothes have not changed at all, you are still you, or the qi li yesterday. Positions, honors, and status are all external things that can be changed at any time, but your own personality, knowledge, morality, and skills will not change naturally. You have become an alternate secretary, but you must be modest and cautious, study hard, and be good for yourself!
These words of his made me take a cooling breath, made me understand the correct attitude toward the status of honor, further established the concept of honor and disgrace as a revolutionary, enabled me to keep a sober mind after taking up the leading post, correctly handled the relationship between the individual and the organization, between the individual and the masses, and between the individual and the cause, always put my mind on work, did not take the promotion at that time very seriously, and also understood that the interests of the party and the people are above everything else, and fame and fortune and status are only external things. With this attitude towards life, when he was imprisoned in a cowshed during the Cultural Revolution and suffered a brutal struggle, he was not so desperate and sad. Thanks to the Party's many years of education, especially Comrade Yaobang's earnest teachings, I supported me through the difficult years of the "Cultural Revolution" for ten years and withstood the heavy blow that in the eyes of ordinary people, it fell straight from nine days to nine earths.
Comrade Yaobang often reminded me: We must free up our main energy to think about big things and grasp big things, we must not be busy with affairs every day, and we must learn to jump out of the pile of affairs
After the "Gang of Four" was smashed, Comrade Yaobang successively worked in the Central Party School, the Central Organization Department, and the Central Propaganda Department. Every time he went to a unit, he carried out his work in a bold and bold manner with full political enthusiasm, fearless revolutionary spirit, and innovative reform spirit. He resisted tremendous pressure, redressed unjust, false and wrongly decided cases, and liberated a large number of veteran cadres; in order to break through the "two whatevers" and straighten out the party's ideological line, he took the lead in organizing and promoting the great discussion that "practice is the only criterion for testing truth." It can be said that before and after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, Comrade Yaobang's merits and contributions were recognized by the comrades of the whole party and were indelible in many major issues, such as rectifying chaos, overthrowing the "two whatevers," rectifying unjust, false, and wrongly decided cases, and realizing the great strategic shift of the whole party. It is precisely because of his outstanding work and achievements that comrade Yaobang was elected as the chairman of the party at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee in June 1981 and the general secretary of the party at the Twelfth National Congress of the Party in August 1982.
In April 1982, I was transferred to the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China as director, and after the 12th National Congress, I joined the Secretariat of the Central Committee. In the more than four years from then until Comrade Yaobang left the post of general secretary of the party in early 1987, I worked under his direct leadership, personally felt and witnessed the work and personality of Comrade Yaobang, and his words and deeds left an unforgettable impression on me for a lifetime.
After arriving at the Secretariat, I felt that I had never worked in such a high position, and I was faced with a thousand and one tasks every day, working diligently, like walking on thin ice, day and night, but how to work, I had no bottom in my heart. In addition to instructing and helping me to do a good job in the work assigned by the Secretariat, Comrade Yaobang often reminded me: We must free up our main energy to think about big things and grasp big things, we must not be busy with affairs every day, and we must learn to jump out of the pile of affairs. He said, what's the big deal? It is the major policy decisions and strategic arrangements of the central authorities, and how to implement the principles and policies that the central authorities have already decided? Think, study; what are the obstacles to implementation? At the same time, we must also consider what new situations and new problems will arise in the process of implementing the central policy decisions, and how to deal with them. At the same time, we must also consider what we should do next, and every year our central authorities always have to accomplish several major things. One of the major issues that the central authorities should grasp in the near future is economic development, reform and opening up, and at the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to the party's work style, correct unhealthy trends, and grasp major and important cases. This is also something that Comrade Xiaoping has repeatedly stressed.
Looking back now, Comrade Yaobang took the lead in doing all these teachings to me. As general secretary, Comrade Yaobang took care of every opportunity every day, but he always firmly grasped the theme of "comprehensively opening up a new situation in the cause of socialist modernization," firmly grasped the major event of reform and opening up, and in accordance with Comrade Xiaoping's design, meticulously planned, meticulously deployed, and meticulously implemented, and pushed forward the socialist undertakings step by step in a down-to-earth manner.
He concentrated his energies and grasped several major things that concerned the overall situation.
First of all, he started with the reform of the rural economic structure. It should be said that Comrade Yaobang has always paid close attention to China's agricultural and peasant issues. Every year, I have to go to the countryside to investigate and study. Under his presidency, the Central Committee issued a No. 1 document every year for five consecutive years, specifically to solve agricultural problems. In the early 1980s, Anhui, Sichuan and other places began to engage in the co-production contract responsibility system, which had a good effect and was welcomed by farmers. But some have criticized this as taking the capitalist road. In response to this accusation, on January 1, 1982, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued document No. 1, namely, the Minutes of the National Rural Work Conference Approved and Forwarded by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The document clearly states: "The various responsibilities currently in place ... It is all a production responsibility system of the socialist collective economy, and no matter what form it takes, as long as the masses do not demand change, they must not move. For a time, the production teams that implemented other work division systems also changed to contract production to groups and households, and by November of this year, 78.8% of the country implemented "double guarantees".
The five consecutive No. 1 documents of the central government have successively solved the problem of changing rural management from relying solely on administrative orders to market regulation, and what peasants produce no longer need to rely on administrative instructions, but according to market needs. With self-sovereignty, the peasants have the enthusiasm to start diversified operations and gradually readjust the industrial structure; then they have gradually loosened the constraints on the rural economy, gradually liberalized the unified purchase and marketing, and invigorated and developed the circulation field. Today, these measures and regulations may seem like nothing, but in the context of the time, many obstacles and differences needed to be overcome for each document to be issued. Remember that on the issue of long-distance trafficking of peasants, Comrade Yaobang's opinion is: The old concept that peasants engaging in long-distance trafficking is engaged in capitalism must be broken, and if peasants do not leave the land and their homes, where will the things they produce go to sell? So there is a need for small traders and peddlers, who buy the products of the peasants and sell them to the city, and some people call them speculators and second-way dealers. What two-way dealer? I think it's "Erlang God"! It is the "Erlang God" who communicates between urban and rural areas and invigorates the economy. Without them, peasants cannot develop commodity production. In those years, whenever the No. 1 document was issued, farmers throughout the country rushed to tell each other and rejoiced, just like ganlin in the long drought. After the four years of rural reform being carried out in an all-round way, the rural economy has been invigorated, the rural areas have embarked on the road of shifting from a self-sufficient and semi-subsistence natural economy to a market-oriented commodity economy, the peasants have gradually become rich, the supply of cities has greatly improved, the people of the whole country have seen the hope of prosperity, and the enthusiasm for reform and opening up has been greatly aroused.
While the rural reform is in full swing, Comrade Yaobang keenly feels that if the reform of the urban-based economic structure is not followed up in time, China's reform will not be sustainable, and the socialist modernization drive throughout the country will not be able to achieve final success. Therefore, immediately after making arrangements for rural reform, he began to grasp the reform of the economic system with a focus on cities. According to his meaning, Comrade Wanli and I went to Tianjin to conduct research on the reform of the urban economic system. Comrade Wanli popularly summarized the idea of urban reform as changing "dead, lazy, and poor" into "living, diligent, and rich." Death: It means that all economic activities of enterprises at that time must be carried out in accordance with the state plan, and they must be managed to death, so that a situation has been formed in which enterprises eat the cauldron of the state, and the staff and workers eat the cauldron of the enterprise, doing more and doing less, doing good and doing badly, not rewarding diligence and punishing laziness, not being able to mobilize people's enthusiasm, and even making people lazy, laziness will inevitably lead to poverty; reform is to change the dead into life, enterprise production is no longer bound by administrative orders, gradually decentralization of enterprises, doing more and doing less is different, When people's enthusiasm is mobilized, they take the initiative to strive for more work, so that people will become more diligent, and if they are diligent, they will become rich. Comrade Yaobang is very much in favor of this line of thought, saying that the core of rural reform is to give the peasants autonomy, and the core of urban reform is to give enterprises autonomy; when peasants and enterprises have autonomy, they will inevitably break the rigid pattern that has been formed for a long time and hinder the development of the productive forces and bring vitality to the entire socialist market economy.
Around the urban economic reform, Comrade Yaobang personally did a lot of in-depth and meticulous investigation and research, often discussing and studying with economists, enterprise leaders and provincial and municipal leading comrades. In accordance with Comrade Xiaoping's instructions, he and the leading comrades of the State Council made concerted efforts and went through several twists and turns to finally adopt the Decision of the CPC Central Committee on the Reform of the Economic System at the Third Plenary Session of the Twelfth Central Committee in October 1984.
After the rural and urban reforms were rolled out one after another, Yaobang felt that the development of education was lagging behind and the lack of talents, so I organized my forces and worked with the education department to study the reform of the education system. He held that the reform of the rural and urban areas has opened up a broad road for the construction of the two civilizations on the mainland, and the key to the success or failure of the future cause lies in qualified personnel. In order to solve the problem of qualified personnel, we must start with the reform of the education system; while strengthening macroeconomic management, we must expand the autonomy of schools in running schools, readjust the educational structure, and put the implementation of nine-year compulsory education and the improvement of the quality of the people in the most important position. While strengthening basic education and developing higher education, it is necessary to vigorously develop vocational and technical education and speed up the training of all kinds of professional and technical personnel urgently needed for modernization. It is necessary to reform educational ideology, educational content, and educational methods that are incompatible with socialist modernization. Under his guidance, I and comrades from the education departments conducted relatively comprehensive investigations and studies in several provinces, further clarifying the objectives, tasks, and guiding ideology of the reform of the education system. In May 1985, the reform plan of the education system was finally formed, and after serious discussion by the party committees and governments at all levels and the vast number of educators, after being approved by Comrades Xiaoping and Yaobang, it was issued and implemented in the form of a decision of the CPC Central Committee.
The excellent situation of reform and opening up has put forward new requirements for the building of the ruling party, and the masses of the people have strongly reacted to certain irregularities in the party style. Yaobang is soberly aware of the extreme importance and urgency of doing a good job in party building. In order to achieve the last two of the three fundamental improvements (the fundamental improvement of the financial and economic situation, the fundamental improvement of the social atmosphere, and the fundamental improvement of the party style) proposed by Yaobang on behalf of the Central Committee at the Twelfth National Congress, under the care and guidance of Xiaoping, Yaobang wasted no time in personally presiding over the building of party style, and in October 1983 issued the "Decision of the CPC Central Committee on The Whole Party".
While actively promoting the reform of the economic, scientific, and technological systems, and educational systems, Comrade Yaobang is also thinking about and brewing a new major issue: the building of socialist spiritual civilization. He held that it is now necessary to carry out a program of action, which must clearly expound on the strategic position, guiding ideology, fundamental tasks, and key links in the building of spiritual civilization; specifically, it is necessary to formulate a document, which is to be accompanied by documents on the reform of the economic system, so as to form a general pattern of socialism with Chinese characteristics in which material civilization, spiritual civilization, democracy, and the legal system are promoted as a whole and develop in a coordinated manner. At the end of 1985, he officially put the matter on the central work agenda. To this end, he has done a lot of research and studies, held a series of thematic meetings, and the Secretariat alone has held many meetings. The document lasted for more than half a year, repeatedly deliberated and revised, until it was adopted by the Sixth Plenary Session of the Twelfth Central Committee and became a programmatic document for the construction of our socialist spiritual civilization.
Comrade Yaobang personally did all these important things. From this, I also deeply understood the actual content and far-reaching significance of Comrade Yaobang's so-called "comprehensiveness" and "pioneering" in "comprehensively opening up a new situation in socialist modernization." Here, I would like to emphasize that Comrade Yaobang is completely conscious and proactive in dealing with China's reform and opening up. In every reform proposal put forward by Comrade Xiaoping, Comrade Yaobang has gone all out, concentrated on it, and pushed it forward with all his might. How to treat the SAR is a vivid example.
Comrade Yaobang proposed after inspecting Shenzhen and Zhuhai in early 1980: We should build a window for opening up to the outside world in Shenzhen, and if the window develops well, we should build a special zone. His remarks caused great controversy. Some people who did not understand the idea for a while said that the SAR is a typical example of "the satellites in the sky and the red flag landing on the ground." They believe that socialism in the SAR has changed its nature, and they weep bitterly and cannot do anything about it. Some comrades even accused Comrade Yaobang to his face, saying that the special zone you are building is actually a "concession." Comrade Yaobang, faced with all kinds of accusations and unmoved, replied that the sovereignty of the concessions of the old society belonged to others, and we began to build a window, and now we are building a special zone, and sovereignty is in our hands. We will carry out pilot projects, and if we do well, we will continue to carry out them, and if we do not do well, we can still collect them; this is not at all the same thing as the concessions of the old society. The controversy over the issue of the SAR's surname "society" and surname "capital" has not stopped. After Yaobang expressed his opinions, no matter what problems arose in Guangdong and Shenzhen, some people said that they were making irresponsible remarks and attacking Comrade Yaobang. With the support of Comrade Xiaoping, Comrade Yaobang resolutely resisted and did his best to support and protect the healthy development of the special zone. At that time, Comrade Yaobang's protection of the special zone and the protection of Guangdong's adherence to the direction and exploration of reform and opening up required great political courage and theoretical courage, and a little selfish distraction could cause setbacks to the overall situation of reform and opening up.
Comrade Yaobang has always maintained the true character of an ordinary party member in his position as general secretary, and has never been arrogant and domineering because his position has been promoted, engaging in a one-line speech, practicing paternalism, highlighting individuals everywhere, and even putting individuals above party organizations
After I went to work in the Central Committee, Comrade Yaobang gave me a prominent impression and feeling, that is, his democratic spirit, democratic consciousness, and democratic style. As the supreme leader of the party, he has always regarded himself as a member of the central collective, with a broad mind, a bright and upright mind, modest and prudent, as good as a stream, paying attention to listening to different opinions within and outside the party at all times, everywhere, and everything, and consciously implementing the party's democratic centralism.
At the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, after Comrade Yaobang was elected chairman of the Party Central Committee, he delivered a speech in which he said that the elevation of my personal position does not mean that the level of ability will be greatly improved at once. He told me this in the past, in fact, he also knew himself in this way, which shows his political calmness and sobriety. Several old comrades listened to his words and said happily, just by virtue of this, it seems that we have chosen the right person! What is particularly valuable is that Comrade Yaobang's remarks are by no means a political gesture, but as a code of conduct for strictly restraining himself. When he said that he had done what he said, in his position as general secretary, he had always maintained the true character of an ordinary party member, and had never been arrogant and domineering because his position had been promoted, engaged in a one-line speech, engaged in paternalism, highlighted the individual everywhere, and even put the individual above the party organization.
The reason why Comrade Yaobang has always remained sober and conscious on this issue is that, in addition to his personal experience and cultivation, it is also directly related to his profound understanding of our party's lessons and lessons in history. He often said: Chairman Mao and his elderly family could not listen to different opinions in their later years, engaged in a cult of personality, made life within the party abnormal, formed a monogamous system, and appeared paternalism, which led to Lin Biao's anti-party clique and the "Gang of Four" stirring up trouble and launching the "Great Cultural Revolution," causing deep disasters to the party and the people, causing heavy losses to our party's cause, and bringing the national economy to the brink of collapse. Comrade Yaobang profoundly summed up this historical experience and never forgot this historical lesson. He always warned himself and others that he could no longer engage in the same system of the past, that he must practice democratic centralism, that he should be able to listen to all kinds of different opinions, and that he should normalize political life within the Party. He said to me many times: Our party can no longer engage in a single-minded and propaganda campaign, and if we fail to do so, we will repeat the mistakes of history and repeat the mistakes of history.
I clearly remember that after I became the director of the CPC Central Committee Office, I went to visit the old leaders and once met Marshal Ye Jianying, and Ye Shuai asked me, "How is your democratic centralism?" I said that Comrade Yaobang is very democratic, he allows people to express different opinions, everyone can speak freely, major issues must be discussed repeatedly, and finally collective decisions are made. Ye Shuai said, that's good. Have you read the Table of Renunciation? One of the passages says, "Pro-Xianchen, Far Little Man, this ancestor Han so Xinglong also; pro-Little Man, Far Sage Chen, after that Han so fell into decadence also." "Democratic centralism is very important, it is a lesson learned by our party at the price of blood, whenever we can uphold democratic centralism, our party will prosper, and whenever our party cannot adhere to democratic centralism, our party will encounter setbacks, failures, and even pay a blood price!" I think that the major political principles of Ye Shuai and Comrade Yaobang's life in the Party are imprinted on each other.
There is one thing that best reflects Comrade Yaobang's broad mind and conscious implementation of democratic centralism. It was in September 1981 that the Central Committee held a forum of the first secretaries of the party committees of all provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions to discuss the issue of strengthening and improving the rural production responsibility system. After Comrade Yaobang's speech, many provincial and municipal party committee secretaries expressed their approval, but on the spot, a provincial party secretary clearly expressed his dissent, and after speaking a lot of reasons, he obviously said with emotion: "We have a special situation there, and we cannot engage in a co-production contract responsibility system!" You walk your Yangguan Road, I walk my canoe bridge! ”
After the provincial party secretary spoke, the atmosphere of the meeting seemed a little tense. Although Comrade Yaobang was very eager to promote rural reform at that time, and was full of hope that a consensus could be formed at the top of the party, after patiently listening to the opinions of the secretary of the provincial party committee, he calmly said: If you can think about the responsibility system for co-production contracting, you will do it, you can't figure it out, and you are allowed to think about it again. The comrade who disagrees can also "you take your Yangguan Road, I take my canoe bridge", let practice prove which method is good, do you see if this works? Comrade Yaobang's words made the atmosphere of the whole meeting relaxed. Everyone felt very comfortable. The long-lost inner-party democracy is finally back. Not long after the meeting, the provincial party secretary took the initiative to abandon his opinions through study and practice, and actively promoted the household contract responsibility system in the rural areas of the province.
There are many things like this. Comrade Yaobang allowed everyone to express different opinions, and sometimes consciously inspired and encouraged everyone to express different opinions, and even allowed ordinary staff around him to debate with him. He clearly said that it is not normal for a leadership group not to have a different voice. In view of the lessons learned in history that have occurred in our Party that have violated democratic principles, suppressed different opinions, and even suffered misfortunes by expressing different opinions, Comrade Yaobang has clearly proposed that comrades who hold different opinions should resolutely implement the "Four Noes Doctrine," that is, not to grasp braids, not to beat sticks, not to wear hats, and not to pack bags (not to enter the archives). It never happened, at least I hadn't heard of it, because a certain cadre gave an opinion to Comrade Yaobang, and he lost his temper or retaliated against him for being transferred from his post. He allows others to have different opinions, reservations, and even allows others to act first according to their own ideas, but on the overall issue, on the issue of principle, he never gives in, dares to insist on his own opinions, and at the same time adheres to democratic centralism. During Comrade Yaobang's tenure as general secretary, major issues in the Secretariat were decided through collective discussion.
According to my observations and insights, as general secretary, Comrade Yaobang not only regards democratic consciousness and democratic work style as the political consciousness and political qualities necessary for politicians, but also has been thinking about the question of who the Communist Party, as the ruling party, should govern for in the new historical period and how to govern. Comrade Yaobang once said: We must enhance our ability to govern the country and ensure peace in a complicated environment, and we must use the methods of democracy and the legal system to resolve all kinds of complicated social contradictions. Comrade Yaobang actually put forward the question of how the ruling party should correctly analyze and handle various social contradictions under the new historical conditions and how to deal with the adjustment of the pattern of interests among various social strata in the reform of the new period. He has always advocated that it is necessary to distinguish clearly and uphold principles, but he is not in favor of putting the program on the line at every turn, using the past methods of class struggle and political movement to resolve contradictions among the people in the new period, and persisting in taking the road of democracy and the legal system. In particular, problems in the field of thought should be based on the laws of ideological understanding, and we must be reasonable, let people speak, and convince people with reason.
Of course, opening up a new situation in reform, opening up, and modernization is the result of the joint efforts of the comrades of the whole party; in particular, Comrade Xiaoping held high the banner of reform and opening up, united and united the strength of the whole party and the people of the whole country, and formed an unstoppable trend and situation; however, Comrade Yaobang, as general secretary, under the leadership of Comrade Xiaoping, cut through thorns and thorns, charged into the battlefield, and made important historical contributions to the mainland's reform and opening up.
Comrade Yaobang often tells us that hard struggle includes three levels: life, work, and thinking. He put it into practice and set an example for us to learn from in all three aspects
For the sake of the interests of the party and the people, it is another distinctive feature of Comrade Yaobang that he sleeps and forgets to eat in his work, that he is simple in his life, that he is arduous and in-depth in his work style, that he abstains from self-denial, that he is honest and self-disciplined, and that he always maintains the true character of a servant of the people.
Comrade Yaobang often tells us that hard struggle includes three levels: life, work, and thinking. He put it into practice and set an example for us to learn from in all three aspects.
Comrade Yaobang is almost lifeless in his work, he is fully devoted, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he works day and night. Comrade Yaobang almost sacrificed his family life for the cause of the Party. His home is on the south coast of Zhongnan, but he only comes home every Saturday night to have a meal with his family, and the rest of the time, in addition to visiting and traveling, he eats and lives in the office of Qinzheng Temple. In the years when Comrade Yaobang was general secretary, the hall of diligence was brightly lit up at night, and he often worked overtime to approve documents until late at night. Many staff members of the CPC Central Committee Office know that the lights in Comrade Yaobang's office are turned off the latest.
Considering that he was also a seventy-year-old man, we advised him to pay attention to rest, saying: It is a sin to delay for a minute for the people. Indeed, when we send Comrade Yaobang reports, documents, requests for instructions, etc., he never backlogs and procrastinates, and always gives instructions quickly, for fear of making a mistake.
Being vigorous and vigorous in work, tense and orderly is Comrade Yaobang's consistent style. In January 1984, Comrade Yaobang went to Anshun, Guizhou, to investigate, and after dinner, it was already late. Comrade Yaobang insisted on rushing to Baise, Guangxi Province, overnight. Because the road conditions were not good and there was heavy fog, the leading comrades accompanying the province and the staff around them all advocated leaving again at dawn the next day, but he insisted on refusing. At 12 o'clock at night, the car arrived in Wangmo, and I couldn't walk, so I had to find a place to live. Wangmo that place is very poor, the comrades around to the local guest house to see, the guest house is all large bunks, only the county party secretary office has a few single beds. So he slept for a few hours in the county party secretary's office, and the staff lay on the bench in the conference room for half the night, and then rushed the next morning. At noon, when he arrived in a small town in Guangxi, he saw that the street was very lively, there were many people selling things, and there was a roadside stall selling Guizhou rice noodles, three cents a bowl. Yaobang said, don't find someone else's place to arrange it, just eat on the street. After saying that, he sat down on a stool and ordered a large bowl of Guizhou rice noodles. After eating, the common people realized that it was General Secretary Hu Yaobang, so Hulala came around and warmly applauded, and Comrade Yaobang stood up, bowed respectfully to everyone, got on the bus and left.
Another time, Comrade Yaobang wanted to go to Xisha, and some comrades, out of security considerations, did not approve of him going, and advised him that Comrade Yaobang should not go, because even water was transported from the mainland in that place, and if you went there, it would increase trouble for others. Comrade Yaobang said: I did not go to eat their things. I think that our senior cadres can't always go around in developed areas and central urban areas, and the borders of our country and poor areas must go to see these places when they have the opportunity. Comrade Yaobang took the lead, and since then, the central authorities have formed a tradition of going to places where the old and the young are poor, economically backward or in disasters, and the masses are still in difficulty every New Year's Festival to comfort and experience and understand the people's feelings.
In April 1985, I went on a trip to the Countries of the South Pacific with Comrade Yaobang, and in 12 days I traveled to 5 countries, and all the foreign affairs activities were fully arranged, and the talks followed by the talks, the communiqués followed the communiqués, and I was too busy to take care of him. When we came back, the staff who followed us on the trip quipped that we followed the general secretary to Australia and came back without even seeing what the kangaroo looked like.
After becoming general secretary, how to do the party's affairs well, build the country well, and let the masses of the people live well, Comrade Yaobang is really exhausted. He was eating and thinking, walking was thinking, he was thinking on the train, he was thinking on the plane, his mind was non-stop. Comrade Yaobang attaches great importance to investigation and study at the grass-roots level, and as soon as he has the opportunity, he runs to the factories and rural areas to understand the real situation among the masses, to observe the sufferings of the masses, to find out the emotions of the masses, and to listen to the voices of the masses. In the four years that he was general secretary, his footprints covered the borders of the sea frontier, ethnic villages, and poor areas, and he even went to the snowy plateau of Tibet to investigate. Before going to a place, he had to take time to read relevant materials, check local chronicles, read history books, and make clear the situation, characteristics, and advantages of this place; when he arrived at the place, he opened his heart, exchanged views with the local cadres and masses, and discussed the development plan together.
In order to be able to communicate directly with the masses and hear the true voice of the masses, Comrade Yaobang has always advocated light vehicles and simple obedience, and he is particularly opposed to hugging before and after when traveling, being heavily guarded, and making a huge motorcade. For this reason, he did not know how much temper he had thrown at the staff around him: Why do you want to make me like this? This is a favor for me! Do you know that it is the real danger to separate me from the masses! In order to avoid this situation, Comrade Yaobang took the lead in taking a bus out to investigate, and when he went to the place where the province was sometimes arranged, he did not go, and temporarily decided to go to a certain unprepared township and village to investigate. He also often said to the staff around him, you should try to understand the real situation at the grass-roots level.
Comrade Yaobang has always been very strict with his own requirements and has never used his position of power to seek any benefit for the family and individuals. Comrade Yaobang's brother has been working as a farmer in the countryside and his life is more difficult, and once came to Beijing to find him, hoping to help find a job. Comrade Yaobang told him that there are more than 800 million peasants in our country, and if one person in every family can come out to work and earn wages, it would be good. I've already come out of our house, and if you want to come out, then I have to go back. What do you think? After persuading his brother, he gave his brother 200 yuan from his salary, and his brother returned home and continued to work as a farmer until his death. Comrade Yaobang also has a nephew who has been arranged by the province to become a cadre. Comrade Yaobang knew this, and specifically called the province: You can't do this, you can't arrange for him because I'm the general secretary, you have to rely on himself to struggle. As a result, I had to go back again.
Comrade Yaobang has always opposed leading cadres using public funds to eat and drink heavily. He ate strictly according to the prescribed standards and was very simple. I remember that at a meeting, Comrade Yaobang stood up and said excitedly, this time I went to the province, they gave me bear paws, how did I get it, how can I eat it! I have repeatedly said, eating and drinking is not OK, let's talk about the price is not good, snacks and small drinks are not OK? Maximum I give in to eating and drinking ok? But below still do not listen! Later, Comrade Yaobang went down to the bottom again, and he changed his method: just two or three dishes, he grasped to eat, three times five divided by two, the back dish was not finished, he had eaten enough to put down the chopsticks and got up and left. As soon as he left, of course, the entourage followed, and the banquet had to end unless it ended. Usually, cadres and masses in some places sent local products to Comrade Yaobang, and he always handed them over to nurseries or canteens.
Comrade Yaobang's family lives in an old-style courtyard. Before he moved in, the comrade in charge of logistics offered several times to build him a two-story floor, but he refused, and finally simply renovated it. Comrade Yaobang lived in that old house until his death.
As the old saying goes, we'd rather cry as a family than cry all the way, and fight corruption, we'd rather offend a few people than a billion people.
Comrade Yaobang is selfless in his heart, open-minded and frank, bright and upright, and is a model for treating others and dealing with the world.
Comrade Yaobang has always had a strong belief: to be a thorough historical materialist. Comrade Yaobang joined the revolution as a teenager, experienced the tests of the cruel war years and political movements of all sizes, and personally encountered all kinds of hardships and misfortunes, but this did not make him smooth and sophisticated, on the contrary, he always maintained a pure and childlike heart for the party, the organization, and the comrades. For cadres, he advocated that there be an account on the table and on the table, and what opinions should be said in person, and not to engage in face-to-face set behind one set. He never engages in conspiracies and tricks in dealing with others, never engages in power tricks, never calculates others, he treats people with himself, and he never has the heart to defend others. Once, when I reflected to him some rumors that were unfavorable to him, he said that I worked for the party and the people, and I had no shame in my heart, "Gentlemen are frank, and villains are often related", as long as I do things properly and walk right, what are others afraid of? You don't listen, and don't be afraid of these things.
Comrade Yaobang is a man of few words and is upright and upright, and he deeply resents such acts as engaging in small circles and forming gangs and factions. I remember that in the spring of 1982, when I was the mayor of Tianjin, I received an order from the central government to work in the CENTRAL Office. At that time, I was grasping the demolition of the earthquake shed and the introduction of luan into Tianjin, which were directly related to the lives of the citizens, and it was too late to hand them over. At this time, I received another call from Comrade Xi Zhongxun. Comrade Zhongxun urged, "Why haven't you come yet?" Comrade Xiaoping called you by name, and you immediately went to the Central Committee to report. When I received the call, I did not dare to hesitate and immediately went to the Central Office to report to perform my duties. After working in the CPC Central Committee Office for a period of time, in order to strengthen the strength of investigation and study and drafting documents, I would like to transfer some cadres to work in the CPC Central Office. For this reason, I went to ask Comrade Yaobang for instructions. Comrade Yaobang agreed, but he particularly told me that in selecting cadres, we must go from all over the world, select the best and the best, and have a broad vision, and we must not choose only from the circles we are familiar with.
According to Comrade Yaobang's explanation, we discussed a method. Let the party committees of various provinces and cities recommend them, and then select some young and outstanding cadres from them to be seconded to the central office. In this way, dozens of comrades from various provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions were successively seconded to the CPC Central Committee to help in their work. Practice has proved that this method has not only strengthened the cadre strength of the CPC Central Committee Office, but also strengthened the ties between the central authorities and the localities, and also trained and tempered a number of cadres. Many of those comrades who worked in the CENTRAL Committee Office became the backbone of the local party and government departments after returning home, and some were promoted to important leading posts. This incident vividly shows that Comrade Yaobang has a broad mind on the issue of cadres, adheres to principles, has a public heart to learn from, and has never engaged in small circles or reused private individuals.
Comrade Yaobang's innocence is also reflected in the consistency of heart and mouth, the consistency of appearance, and the consistency of words and deeds, and there has never been a time when words are duplicitous and inconsistent in appearance. What he asks others to do, he first does himself.
The reason why Comrade Yaobang has always maintained a modest and prudent style, not arrogant and impatient, working hard, and being honest and honest is because he always has the broad masses of the people in his heart. It can be said that he breathes with the masses of the people, shares a common destiny, and his heart is always the same.
In the mid-1980s, along with the development of the market economy and the expansion of opening up to the outside world, some comrades in the party could not withstand the test, and some negative and corrupt phenomena such as abusing power for personal gain, embezzlement and bribery, and other negative and corrupt phenomena appeared. Comrade Yaobang was very worried about this. During that period, he repeatedly said on various occasions that if the upper and lower beams were not correct, the anti-corruption must be grasped from the central authorities, from his own side, and from the children of high-ranking cadres and high-ranking cadres. He believes that the central organs should set an example for the people of the whole country. He personally arranged and presided over the meeting of 8,000 members of the central party, government, and army in the Great Hall of the People, calling on all comrades of the party to cherish the lifeline of the party and showing the firm determination of the central authorities to take action on the issue of punishing corruption and corruption.
I remember that shortly after the 8,000-person congress, I was walking with Comrade Yaobang on the south coast of Zhongnan, and Comrade Yaobang asked me: After the 8,000-person congress, it has been more than two months now, how is the anti-corruption struggle going? I said that there is still some progress in this regard, and the major and important cases have been grasped relatively well. Comrade Yaobang said: Whether or not corruption and abuse of power for personal gain can be stopped is a major matter that has a bearing on the life and death of the party, and it is necessary to grasp it fiercely with the greatest determination, the greatest perseverance, and the greatest tenacity. We must not curry favor with this matter, and we must not be afraid of offending people, because this is absolutely important to the party's cause. As the old saying goes, we'd rather cry as a family than cry all the way, and fight corruption, we'd rather offend a few people than a billion people. If there are difficulties, we must persist, handle cases, start with the central authorities, be strict, have a supervision and inspection system, and let the people have rights. We must be upright and selfless. Of course, we must be meticulous and meticulous to prevent deviations that may occur in practical work, but we will never retreat and never be soft-hearted, of course, this may offend people. Comrade Yaobang said this, his emotions were a little excited, he took a few steps, he thought about it, suddenly stopped, turned his head and said to me solemnly: "Qili, you must remember that at any time and under any circumstances, we Communists must never fish and flesh the people!" This sentence, like a thousand hammers, shook my heart. For a long, long time, I pondered the weight of this sentence. To this day, when I think of these words, I still feel deafening and deafening, like thunder ringing from the heart...
Comrade Yaobang left us on April 15, 1989. In its eulogy, the Party Central Committee appraised Comrade Yaobang as a great proletarian revolutionary. I have followed Comrade Yaobang for many years and have had long personal experiences and feelings. In my mind, Comrade Yaobang is a noble man, a pure man, a man who is boldly loyal and wholeheartedly serves the people, a man who is full of revolutionary ideals and who has given everything for this lofty ideal. At the same time, Comrade Yaobang is my mentor, my brother, and my closest friend.
A person, admired by posterity, is immortal, and lives in the hearts of the people and lives forever.
I will always miss Comrade Yaobang, he will always be my role model to learn!
The article was first published on the public account "Centennial Yaobang" (ID: hybslw)