Zhang Lianyin carried saplings while planting trees on the slopes of Beiliang Mountain in Zhangjiacang Township, Zuoyun County, Shanxi.
Photo by Ding Meining (Xinhua News Agency)
Standing at the observation pavilion of Zhangjiacang Village in Zuoyun, Shanxi, overlooking, the leaves of the sassafras pine are lush and continuous, gathering into a forest sea...
Why do this tree species, which are mostly distributed in the Daxing'anling area, grow vigorously in the yellow land of Zuoyun?
Regarding the origin of these sassafras pines, the people of Zuoyun County have word of mouth: "In 2003, a general retired to his hometown, took off his military uniform, carried a hoe and planted trees for 18 years, planting more than 2 million trees. ”
The general who planted trees was Zhang Lianyin, the former deputy commander of the Hebei Provincial Military Region, who was known locally as the "Green General." After retiring to his hometown for 40 years, he braved the disease and fought in the front line of greening barren mountains and preventing wind and sand, writing a wonderful life of adhering to the original heart and unremitting struggle and dedication.
Go home
"As a retired cadre, I want to make afforestation my next 'battlefield'"
Zhangjiacang Village is located in the area where desertification land is concentrated in northern China. In the early years of Zhangjiacang Village, most of the area was barren mountains and barren slopes, with yellow sand raging and dust flying. "One wind a year, blowing from spring to winter. Lighting oil lamps during the day and blocking the door at night" is a true portrayal of the past of this small village.
Some villagers recalled that when they were young, they got up every morning and looked out through the oil-paper window, the yellow sand outside the house was full of yellow sand, and when they went to school and walked, they had to cover their faces with their arms, and the wind and sand crackled on their bodies.
With the passage of time, the ecology of the village has undergone tremendous changes, and it is full of sassafras pine, spruce and oil pine. The reporter walked in the forest, the sunlight through the leaves hit the face, making people feel warm and melting, and the sky was dazzling blue under the cover of green trees.
"Green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains, and nothing good is as good as air!" Since the existence of these trees, our village has also had a clear blue sky. An old man with a dark face and gray hair said.
This old man is Zhang Lianyin. Dressed in old camouflage uniforms and holding a shovel in his hand, he looked at first glance more like a simple peasant than a retired general.
In this thick forest of green trees, Zhang Lianyin told the story of his tree planting...
In 2003, Zhang Lianyin retired and returned to his hometown where he thought about it day and night. Standing on the mountain, looking at the barren mountain bald ridge next to the river tail beach, he made an important decision: use all his savings to plant trees on this 3,000 acres of barren mountain!
On the day of signing the contract, he said on the spot: "I don't want forest rights, and second, I don't want land rights; after 30 years, I will return them to the collective free of charge." As a retired cadre, I want to make afforestation my next 'battlefield'. ”
In the spring of 2004, Zhang Lianyin built a bungalow on a deserted beach and set up camp. Several low bungalows, both his home and treasury. In the courtyard, there is a van that has been painted, which Zhang Lianyin bought for more than 40,000 yuan in 2015, and it is also the most valuable belonging. Over the years, he drove this van, carrying pickaxes, shovels and saplings every day, over the mountains and up the mountains to plant trees.
In addition, Zhang Lianyin even handed over the subsidies provided by the government for returning farmland to forests to the villagers. Building roads, electrifying, digging wells, repairing canals... Soon, the old couple's savings were spent.
There is a gap in funds, the whole family poured out to help, find relatives and friends, raise funds from many sources, the eldest daughter used the new house she just bought to mortgage 200,000 yuan; the son took out only 100,000 yuan of savings; the younger daughter contributed 30,000 yuan of transfer fees and 20,000 yuan given by the in-laws at the time of the engagement, which was enough to make up enough start-up funds and solve Zhang Lianyin's urgent need.
Plant trees
"Over the years, like taking care of my own children, I have a deep affection for every tree"
In the interview, Zhang Lianyin always modestly said that he had only made "a little contribution". But the villagers said that without Zhang Lianyin, there would be no green trees that spread over the mountains.
For more than a decade, Zhang Lianyin has been working in the front, eating, living and working with the villagers.
Planting trees is a manual task that takes a lot of time, effort and patience. After Zhang Lianyin returned to his hometown, he also maintained the routine he had cultivated in the army. Every morning, he got up from the kang at 5 o'clock and carried the saplings up the mountain to work. When planting trees, there was cold rice in the stomach, muddy water on the body, and sweating on the head; at the end of the day, there was sand in the ears and nostrils.
"When I first heard that he needed manpower to plant trees, I came. Planting trees with the general, it was more than ten years. Tian Siwang, a villager who first planted trees with Zhang Lianyin, witnessed Zhang Lianyin's persistence and hardship in planting trees: "Here we are, either sand or stone mountains. Other places plant trees once watered, we have to water 3 times here. ”
However, due to lack of experience, the saplings planted in the first year withered in pieces. "I lead the soldiers as an expert, but I am a layman in this work." Working, Zhang Lianyin found that improving the ecological environment is not as easy as he thought, and requires scientific guidance and overall planning.
As a result, Zhang Lianyin opened his "road to study". In order to learn the methods of afforestation, wind and sand control, he has consulted experts in the forestry department more than 20 times, coordinated the on-site guidance of professional and technical personnel, and subscribed to more than 10 forestry magazines. The effort paid off, and the next year, the survival rate of the saplings increased to more than 85%.
But before he could be happy, another thing made him difficult...
In the winter of 2004, nearly 10,000 saplings that were growing were mutilated by cattle and sheep in just a few days. Looking at the small saplings that had been eaten, Zhang Lianyin was distressed for several days. He realized: "Without arousing everyone's awareness of ecological protection, it is difficult to plant more trees." ”
Zhang Lianyin did not claim compensation from the herders, but gathered them together to talk: "I came back to plant some trees just to make the ecological environment better and repay the villagers." Everyone must help, and stop letting the cattle and sheep destroy these small trees. ”
What is planted is the sapling, and what grows out is the environmental awareness of everyone. Since then, everyone has been extra careful in herding, afraid that the cattle and sheep will gnaw on the saplings again. The villagers said: "General Zhang planted trees for the sake of our village and for the sake of the big guys, and we can't add to the chaos anymore!" ”
"Over the years, like taking care of my own children, I have a deep affection for every tree." Over the past ten years, he has built more than 300 acres of seedling bases, greened more than 18,000 acres of barren mountains, and built a green barrier at the foot of the Great Wall.
Initial heart
"The party organization trained me from a soldier to a cadre, and I want to go home and do something practical for the villagers."
Zhang Lianyin has always been unforgettable, and when the villagers put a big red flower on his chest and helped him join the army, he instructed: When you arrive at the army, you must fight for morale, listen to the party, and do a good job. In his 40-year military career, Zhang Lianyin clearly realized that in every post, he must be diligent and earnest, work hard and bear no grievances.
Hearing that Zhang Lianyin wanted to return to his hometown, many local enterprises hired him with high salaries, Zhang Lianyin was not moved: "I am an orphan, I grew up eating a hundred meals, it was the villagers who sent me to join the army, the party organization trained me from a soldier to a cadre, I want to go home and do something practical for the villagers." ”
To come back to plant trees, there are still many people around to discourage. His wife Wang Xiulan rolled tears and said to him: "I have no objection to you returning to the villagers, but at such an old age, you can't eat planting trees, donate some money, you can still do it." ”
"I know that planting trees is bitter and tiring, but no one eats this bitterness, why will the villagers' lives be sweet?" Zhang Lianyin remembered the wasteland all over the place, looking at the yellow sand in front of him, he couldn't ignore it.
"Watching the saplings grow day by day, I can see the meaning of life." Wherever the optimistic Zhang Lianyin went, he brought the laughter to wherever he went...
In the past, Zhang Lianyin's son Zhang Xiaobin never understood what his father wanted to do when he returned to his hometown to become an authentic farmer.
To this end, Zhang Xiaobin and his lover went to Zhang Lianyin's forest farm, and saw that the barren mountains and mountains, flying sand and stones, have now become verdant and verdant, birds and flowers, thinking of his father's efforts to plant trees, tears swirled.
Zhang Lianyin taught his son Zhang Xiaobin a lesson in the woods: "There are many tests that people have to endure in this life, we are communists, and we must fulfill our promise of serving the people and fighting for the party all our lives." ”
In April 2015, Zhang Xiaobin chose to retire from active service in the form of independent employment, packed a backpack and returned to his hometown, planted trees with his father, went out early and returned late every day, braved the scorching sun and sand during the day, transported seedlings, planted, watered, and accompanied his parents to pull home at night. Looking at the green woods, Zhang Xiaobin understood his father's choice more and more.
On Labor Day, three generations of grandchildren worked in the mountains for a whole day. When the last tree was planted, it was already sunset. Pointing to the pai lined pine forest in the distance, Zhang Lianyin said: "Labor creates miracles." The grandson said excitedly: "Grandpa, in the future, I will also want to plant many, many trees like you!" ”
Early the next morning, facing the glow of the rising sun, Zhang Lianyin wore a straw hat and carried a shovel on his shoulder to the top of the mountain to work, and a touch of morning light reflected his back. He straightened his waist and looked out at the green ocean beneath his feet. The wind blew like a fully prepared army. "With them, there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome." Zhang Lianyin's eyes were incomparably firm...
People's Daily (05/10/2021)
Source: People's Daily