In 1972, China and the United Kingdom established diplomatic relations.
However, the British have an arrogant mentality in their bones and think that they are the center of the world, so when Yang Yong visited the United Kingdom in 1979, before the reception banquet began, the British suddenly made trouble, and they planted a very eye-catching Kuomintang flag in the middle of the cake.
Will such "mistakes" be easily made? Of course not, this is clearly a naked provocation.
The British originally wanted to let Chinese not come to the stage, but they did not expect that Yang Yong, who was quick and quick-witted, cleverly defused this "dismount", which made everyone present admire.
How did Yang Yong manage to solve this British problem without losing dignity and admiration?
Travel to the UK and encounter the "dismount"
Yang Yong, as a brave general in the Chinese People's Liberation Army, he is open-minded, heroic and good at fighting, and will fight hard as long as it is an order given by the organization.
He fought in battles in his life, leaving many scars on his body, and each of his scars represents an honorary story of Yang Yong's past.
After the founding of New China, Yang Yong became deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and he proposed: "We should go out and see more and no longer engage in the practice of closing the door." After discussion, the central authorities also felt that they could send people out for exchange and study.
To say that this visit to the UK is not Yang Yong's first trip abroad, before Yang Yong also visited Yugoslavia and North Korea.
While in Korea, Yang Yong's friendship with Kim Il Sung was praised, because when supporting North Korea, Yang Yong actively led the volunteer army to restore their homeland after the Korean War.
Yang Yong still has deep feelings for the Korean people, and once Yang Yong went to inspect a certain unit of the volunteer army, passing by an orphanage in North Korea, he asked the driver to stop, bent down and walked into a cold, damp, low cellar of the orphanage.
Inside was a group of ragged, hungry, frozen orphans whose parents had died in the army to defend the country.
The tiger general, who had been fighting on the battlefield for many years, wept, gathered the children, arranged them in the house where the troops lived, and asked the soldiers to build a good school for them.
Kim Il-sung was deeply touched by Yang Yong's noble internationalist spirit and love for the Korean people, which also made him have a good impression of Yang Yong and established a deep friendship.
On this visit to Britain, only Yang Yong, his wife Lin Bin and some comrades who studied military affairs went.
On the day they first arrived in the UK, the British Foreign Office brought people to greet them, lined up to welcome them, and arranged for them to be in a luxurious hotel at noon.
Along the way, the British enthusiastically introduced their country's military strength and invited them to visit the next day, and Yang Yong politely agreed.
Because the purpose of his visit this time should be, first, to learn British military technology, and second, to show that China's territory and internal affairs are sacred and inviolable, and other countries will never be allowed to interfere.
Of course, the mainland also wants to enhance Britain's friendship and declare to the world that China is a peace-loving and friendly country.
All the way to the hotel is very peaceful, Yang Yong is very puzzled in his heart: Why are the British so kind this time? They did not embarrass themselves and deliberately put up a shelf, can it be said that they have changed the way they behave in the world?
Indeed, the attitude of the British in receiving Chinese visitors this time is very different from the previous unbelievable posture, which is the so-called "when things go wrong, there will be demons."
When we arrived at the banquet hall, the meals were laid out on the table, and a large cake that looked very attractive was placed in the middle, and the British warmly welcomed everyone to take their seats.
But Yang Yong and his group, no one moved.
Because there was a Kuomintang flag in the middle of the cake, everyone was stunned, not knowing what to do, and the atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
In the face of this situation, Yang Yong and others will definitely not be able to take their seats, after all, this will damage the image of the country and the dignity of the nation, but if it continues to stalemate, it is not a solution.
Although Yang Yong is not a diplomat, he has a fairly high emotional intelligence and has dealt with many difficult diplomatic problems, and is known for his wisdom and courage.
Just when everyone was at a loss, Yang Yong stepped forward, pulled down the Kuomintang flag directly, threw it on the ground, and stepped on it.
Then he turned around, smiled at the British, and everyone was seated.
Seeing this, the British who wanted to do things did not dare to say more, originally wanted to embarrass Yang Yong, but did not expect that "stealing chickens will not erode rice", so as to severely humiliate the British.
Comrades who followed Yang Yong later said that General Yang Yong did a great job, not only had his own face but was not looked down upon by the British, which was a relief.
Those Britons who secretly wanted to pick things up not only touched a nose of ash, but also dared not look down on Chinese casually in the subsequent conversation.
Visit a military base
The next day, the delegation visiting the United Kingdom was invited to the British military base, and the British Ministry of Defense Chief of Staff Marshal Cameron led them around and showed all their weapons.
He also took Yang Yong and others to visit the British command organization, defense intelligence center and defense communication center, fully demonstrating the smooth defense command system of the United Kingdom. After visiting this day, Yang Yong's heart was greatly shocked.
Indeed, as an old industrial country, Britain's military strength cannot be underestimated, and its weapons are also among the best in the world, and there is much to learn.
And the British are not just as simple as letting us visit, they also want to do arms business like the United States to supplement the country's treasury.
So while showing us high-end weapons, we also hope that we can buy some back, so that the British national economy has improved, and it can compete with the United States.
But Yang Yong knows very well that doing business with Western countries is not a small matter, and if he does not learn the skills to develop weapons, and only buys them, the fate of the country will be in the hands of others in the future.
Therefore, after the study and discussion of several people, it was decided that this batch of weapons would not be bought first, but the specific model parameters could be recorded, and after returning to China, it was carefully discussed before deciding whether to buy or not.
Moreover, buying things in foreign currency according to foreign currency involves rules such as exchanging foreign currency, which is a very troublesome thing in itself.
In this way, the group ended the visit to the military base.
When everyone went out, they found that there were many reporters outside, and they wanted to interview Yang Yong.
Yang Yong is known as the "master of memory" and has a superb memory, so he quickly remembered the prepared speech, and he was also orderly and unhurried when facing reporters' questions.
At the scene, a British reporter asked Yang Yong what he thought of seeing Britain's excellent military facilities.
Yang Yong said frankly: "Britain's military strength is among the top in the world, we will learn from Britain humbly, I believe that in the near future, China can also manufacture its own sophisticated weapons, maybe Britain will also learn from us." ”
These words not only gave Britain enough face, but also expressed to the world that China will also become a military power.
At the end of the trip, the British specially took a group photo for the Chinese delegation to Britain from a distance of several hundred meters in the air in order to show Yang Yong the ability of the advanced reconnaissance aircraft, the Crane aircraft.
In the group photo, even if they are so far away, everyone's faces are clear, and even the cracks on the ground next to them can be clearly seen, which shows the advanced and superb technology of this aircraft.
Sitting on the flight back to China, Yang Yong always took out this photo and looked at it, he has been thinking about how to develop so that China's technology can also make such progress.
When he returned home, he would always show his son this group photo, and he often said to his subordinates: "We in China must design better military weapons than the West, so that all equipment can reach the top of the world, so that they no longer dare to look down on us at will!" ”
Yang Yong's diplomatic deeds have impressed the world, and now when countries around the world conduct diplomacy with us, they will no longer give us diplomatic "disgrace".
This is precisely the face of the mainland's strong comprehensive national strength and prosperity, so that foreigners no longer dare to be arrogant and rude to us; It is precisely because we are friendly and pursue beauty and common harmony that can make many countries in the world embrace us and develop together; It is China's approach to the world that makes everyone admire and respect us from the bottom of their hearts.
epilogue
In the early morning of January 6, 1983, Yang Yong, a famous general of a generation, brought five serious scars left on his body during the war years
His noble, great, and legendary life story passed away.
In the room, his wife, children, comrades-in-arms, and important leaders of the country stood, silence and grief filled everyone.
When they heard this bad news, they all covered their faces and wept bitterly and were heartbroken, and many citizens spontaneously placed chrysanthemums on the side of the road to express their condolences for this staunch people's fighter and heroic patriotic general.
In his affectionate poem "Remembering Comrade Yang Yong," Huang Kecheng highly summarized General Yang Yong's glorious and wonderful life with the verse "Revolutionary loyalty runs through the sun and the moon, and outstanding combat achievements are recorded in history."
Looking back on the past, in that era of war, many patriotic generals were born into death, protecting their homes and defending the country, and they fought with real knives and guns in exchange for today's peaceful and prosperous era.
Although General Yang Yong has not received formal training in diplomatic etiquette, the increasingly powerful motherland behind him is his strength, and the 5,000-year-old Chinese civilization is his etiquette.
He has experienced hundreds of battles, made great contributions to the mainland's military cause, and written many gorgeous chapters; even at the last moment of his life, he still urged everyone to work hard for the people and follow the party with firm confidence.
Such heroes deserve to be remembered and celebrated. It can be seen that a person must always adhere to his own beliefs in order to find the direction and ultimately realize the value of life.