Ups and Downs of Life: Contemporary Prime Minister Bao - Memoirs of Zhang Tian (6+1)

Ups and Downs of Life: Contemporary Prime Minister Bao - Memoirs of Zhang Tian (6+1)

ZHANG Tian

When I was younger, I loved to write and contribute to newspapers and magazines. The most impressive thing was to write for the "People's Daily" to report on the "sock incident" that shocked the whole country.

The content of the report is that Yue Qifeng, then secretary of the Handan Municipal Party Committee, handled the "socks incident" with integrity, and put a brake on the unhealthy trend of "going through the back door" of commodities in Handan's financial and trade system.

In early January 1978, Comrade Yue Qifeng, the first secretary of the Handan Municipal Party Committee, received a letter from Gu Zhongzi, an employee of the knitwear wholesale department of Handan Department Store. The letter reads as follows:

Secretary Yue:

In mid-November 1977, the knitwear wholesale department of the city department store privately distributed defective elastic socks (1 yuan and 2 jiao per pair) led by the party rectification working group. The person in charge of our department announced in public that the employees and cadres of the unit can buy 5 pairs each. The members of the working group and the person in charge of the leading group for the rectification of the party carried the masses on their backs, each of the group leaders bought 15 pairs, the secretary and director-level cadres each bought 25 pairs (individual directors bought more), and a person in charge of the working group was absent because he participated in the acceptance inspection, and he also left 20 pairs. The most surprising thing is that another person in charge of the working group, who is also the head of the leading group for the rectification of the party and the work style of the headquarters, took charge of the overall work on his behalf, and he bought 80 pairs alone. As a commercial worker, he should not have the idea of "getting the moon first near the water". The Working Group declared that the decision to allow each staff member of the Department to buy five pairs was wrong. It can be further seen that the working group is trying to silence the masses and cover up its own wrongdoings by adopting a two-faced approach. When individual masses became aware of this wrong practice, they criticized them. They were very dissatisfied with this, so they used their power to put "small shoes" on the people who put forward their opinions and retaliated (please lead the investigation for details). Therefore, the masses were very angry. Although this matter is not big, it is incompatible with Daqing's style of "three old and four strict" and runs counter to our party's fine traditions. If our working group for rectifying the party and rectifying work style does this, how can we lead the masses to learn from Daqing well? How can we criticize the unhealthy trends instigated by the "Gang of Four"? How can we carry forward our party's fine traditions? Our unit is a pilot project for rectifying the party and rectifying work style in the city, and how can the working group do a good job in rectifying the party and rectifying the work style while committing unhealthy tendencies?

In my opinion, the working group has done this to undermine our party's fine traditions, directly run counter to the spirit of the 11 th CPC National Congress, smear the face of the party rectification work group dispatched by the higher authorities, tarnish the glorious title of the party rectification work group, live up to the ardent hopes of the broad masses of the masses for the work group, directly affect the in-depth development of the party rectification movement, and have had an extremely bad impact among the masses. The CPC Central Committee has proposed to grasp the program of governing the country and achieve great results in three years, but how can we achieve results if they do this way? Under the current excellent situation of profoundly exposing and severely criticizing the "Gang of Four," the working group has actually done this, is it not the same as the unhealthy tendencies and evil tendencies spread by the "Gang of Four"? Isn't it that the residual poison of the "Gang of Four" is still eroding the ranks of the proletariat? The above is my personal superficial opinion, and I would like to ask the leaders to criticize and correct what is inappropriate.

Please ask the leaders to handle this matter correctly after investigation and research.

Knitwear wholesale department employee Gu Zhongzi

January 5, 1978

Yue Qifeng, secretary of the municipal party committee, usually attaches great importance to letters from the masses, and after receiving Gu Zhongzi's letter this time, he immediately dispatched a joint investigation team with the participation of the Municipal Party Rectification Office, the Organization Department of the Municipal Party Committee, the Municipal Finance Office, the Municipal First Commercial Bureau, and a department store to conduct an investigation and put forward suggestions on how to deal with it. On the basis of the report of the joint investigation team, the Party Committee of the First Commercial Bureau promptly and seriously dealt with the situation. In the spirit of punishing the former and saving the people, the principal responsible persons of the Wholesale Department's Party Rectification Working Group and the Party Rectification Leading Group were given intra-party and administrative sanctions respectively, and were immediately withdrawn from the Wholesale Department's Party Rectification Work Group and the Rectification Work Group. The Municipal Party Rectification Office and the Municipal Finance Committee praised Comrade Gu Zhongzi's spirit of caring for the revolutionary cause and daring to fight against unhealthy tendencies. The party committee of the city department store also held a workers' meeting on this matter and made a public inspection.

In order to sum up experience and draw lessons, party organizations at all levels on the financial and trade front in Handan City have seized this typical case and organized the vast number of cadres and workers to carry out a large-scale discussion, thus setting off a new upsurge of criticizing the "four evils" and eliminating the flow of drugs. All departments and units have exposed contradictions, found gaps, formulated measures, strengthened operation and management, and promoted the work of "double service". Many units have abolished the "small warehouses" that are convenient for themselves, so that "wholesale units have retail units, and warehouses have stores." The leaders of the knitwear wholesale department and the workers discussed and formulated 12 measures to correct unhealthy trends and do a good job in serving retail. The workers said that with this determination, the leaders will be able to achieve results in grasping the program and administering business.

In April 1978, Huang Jichang, a well-known reporter of the People's Daily, went to Handan City to interview Yue Qifeng, secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, originally to learn about a particularly controversial matter. That is, a farmer in Wanglang Village, Fuxing District, Handan City, ran a hotel, because this was the first case of a farmer-run hotel in the country. The mainland was on the eve of reform and opening up, and at that time, the state stipulated that hotels were a special industry, and only state-owned units could run hotels. The Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China went to Handan to inspect the matter and did not allow the peasants to run hotels. I heard that Yue Qifeng had a different opinion, and Huang Jichang wanted to interview Yue Qifeng. Because I was working in the office of the Finance Committee at the time, I accompanied Huang Jichang to Yue Qifeng's office.

Talking about this incident, Yue Qifeng said that the hotel run by farmers in Wanglang Village was a good start, and a director of the Ministry of Commerce took the document to stop it. I said to him, "You are holding chicken feathers as arrows." The Third Plenary Session of the 11 th CPC Central Committee is about to be held, and I support the road of peasants opening hotels. Facts have proved that Yue Qifeng's insight is keen, and his understanding of farmers' inns is ahead of his time.

In his office, Yue Qifeng talked with Huang Jichang about the economy and people's livelihood in Handan City, and the indicators and figures and the situation in all aspects seemed to be imprinted in his mind, which was clear and admirable.

By chance, Yue Qifeng talked about the handling of the "sock incident", and the reporter's news sensitivity drove Huang Jichang to open his eyes and focus on listening, questioning, and interviewing.

The next day, at Huang Jichang's request, I accompanied him to the knitwear wholesale department for an interview and further confirmed these facts. The knitwear wholesale department of Handan Department Store is one of the pilot units of Handan City's financial and trade system to rectify the party and rectify the style. In November 1977, after the party rectification working group was stationed, a leading group for party rectification was established. Since the poisonous poison of the "Gang of Four" has not been eliminated in the minds of several principal responsible persons of this group, there is the idea of "getting the moon first if you are close to the water" on the issue of commodity distribution. In late November, the ministry purchased 12 boxes of 2,400 pairs of defective elastic socks from a regional textile wholesale station. According to the supply regulations, all should be sold in various retail stores and sold in the retail department. However, when picking up the goods, they agreed to the request of some people at the regional textile wholesale station on the grounds of "taking care of the relationship", and left two boxes, totaling 400 pairs. After the purchase, they used their authority to work out an internal distribution plan, divided the ranks according to the level of position, and privately distributed 580 pairs within the wholesale department. What is even more serious is that when Gu Zhongzi, an employee of the wholesale department, criticized them in person, the main person in charge of the leading group for rectifying the party's work style not only did not accept the opinion, but instead threatened and lured Gu Zhongzi, first using the method of giving more socks to plug Gu Zhongzi's mouth, and then said to her: "You go and sue, I will carry it wherever the sue goes." They even ordered the transfer of Gu Zhongzi's work. Under these circumstances, Gu Zhongyu wrote a letter to Comrade Yue Qifeng, the first secretary of the municipal party committee, exposing this problem.

On the way back from the knitwear wholesale department, I accompanied Huang Jichang to the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Martyrs Cemetery to pay homage to the martyrs' memorial hall, and saw a martyr's name with the same name as the working group leader of the knitwear wholesale department. Huang Jichang said with emotion that the martyrs shed their blood for the revolutionary cause. The team leader handles socks privately for the small profits. What a contrast.

Before returning to Beijing from Handan City, Huang Jichang suggested that the city follow up and report on the follow-up work of the "sock incident" and the results of the city's efforts to stop the crooked wind and establish a new style. Wang Yangzhao, deputy chief of the News Reporting Section of the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee, and I undertook the task of writing news reports and submitting them to the People's Daily. The People's Daily published the article in Beijing three times.

The first article was sent in mid-March 1978, and the main headline of the article published in the People's Daily was "Supporting the Correct Opinions of the Masses and Stopping the Unhealthy Trend of the Bourgeoisie." The subtitle was -- The Handan Municipal Party Committee Seriously Handles the Incident of "Going Through the Back Door" of Commodities. The People's Daily not only published "A Letter from the Masses" and our "Investigation Notes" provided by us, but also added a special editor's note.

Editor's note: After the incident of privately distributing defective elastic stockings in the knitwear wholesale department of a department store in Handan City, Gu Zhongzi, an employee of this wholesale department, wrote a letter to the leading comrades of the municipal party committee, exposing the wrong behavior of the main person in charge of the department's leading group for rectifying the party and rectifying the work style and taking the lead in distributing goods without permission. The Handan City CPC Committee actively supported the correct views of the masses and seriously handled the problem. As a result of the "Cultural Revolution," especially the exposé and criticism of the "Gang of Four," the consciousness of the broad masses of the people in the class struggle and the line struggle has been further enhanced, and they can clearly see and distinguish between the major issues of right and wrong that have a bearing on the direction and line, and so long as the leaders at all levels fully believe in and rely on the masses and enthusiastically support the correct views of the masses, then many things can be done better.

I admire Secretary Yue Qifeng's courage, if you don't grasp any work, you will be caught. He seized the "sock incident" to launch a group discussion in the city's financial and trade system.

The Municipal Finance Office held a large-scale telephone conference at 4 o'clock in the morning, with the auditorium of the local party committee as the main venue, and the Workers' Theater, Handan Theater, Workers' Cultural Palace, Youth Theater, Finance and Trade Auditorium, and Fengfeng Theater are all sub-venues.

The winter night sky is so vast that even the greatest astronomers can hardly read it. The starry sky alone will keep you exploring. Tens of thousands of financial and trade workers walked into the venue wearing stars.

Zhang Maoyi, member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee and director of the Finance Office, made a mobilization speech. In his speech, he seized on the incident of a Lianfang vegetable store near the water to get the first month and go through the back door to buy large white radishes stored in winter. And put forward specific requirements for stopping the crooked wind tree and fresh wind.

The second time I went to Beijing to deliver the manuscript was in early May. The "People's Daily" published the article with the following topic: Seize the "Incident of Privately Distributing Socks" to Mobilize a Mass Discussion, and the main title is: Handan City's Financial and Trade System Stops the Crooked Wind and Establishes a New Trend. The editor's note of the People's Daily is brilliantly written:

Editor's note: Handan City has a good experience: Stopping unhealthy tendencies starts with the leading organs, and leading cadres take the lead in establishing healthy tendencies. In this way, everyone shouts and fights against unhealthy tendencies, and everyone is happy when righteousness rises. As a result, a mass movement aimed at exposing and criticizing the "Gang of Four," opposing commodities going through the back door, and establishing a new style of socialism was rapidly launched in Handan City.

Our leading cadres at all levels are the people's servants, and the power and all working conditions given by the people should be used to serve the people, and must not be used for personal gain. Comrade Yue Qifeng, first secretary of the Handan Municipal Party Committee, attached importance to the letters from the people, seized the "incident of privately distributing socks", and opposed commodities through the back door in the city's finance and trade departments to correct unhealthy trends. This is a very popular practice. If we do not do so, we will not be able to effectively put order out of chaos and restore and carry forward the party's fine traditions.

This is followed by the text:

Since January this year, the financial and trade system of Handan City, Hebei Province, has launched an activity to put a hard stop to unhealthy trends and establish a new socialist business style, which has shaken the whole city and all walks of life. This activity began when Comrade Yue Qifeng, first secretary of the municipal party committee, received a letter from the masses and personally dealt with the "incident of privately distributing socks." The municipal party committee struck while the iron was hot, convened a general meeting, seized the "private socks incident" to mobilize the masses, and carried out activities to put a brake on unhealthy tendencies on the city's financial and trade fronts, restore and carry forward the party's fine traditions, and establish a new socialist business style.

The leading cadres should take the lead in curbing unhealthy tendencies, and leading cadres should take the lead in establishing healthy tendencies. At the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee, Comrade Yue Qifeng first stated: "I will take the lead, abide by party discipline and state law, and accept the supervision of the masses. In the future, if you find out that I have approved the slip without authorization and asked for something through the back door, you are welcome to expose it and file a complaint. Under his leadership, the Standing Committee members and committee members, as well as the leaders of various ministries and bureaus, reaffirmed their determination to strive to be models of abiding by party discipline and state law. Uplink and down. The leading groups at all levels of the financial and trade system have linked themselves to reality and used the "sock incident" as a mirror to carry out open door rectification. The party committee of the First Commercial Bureau held three meetings in a row to conduct a serious review, and everyone believed that going through the back door and engaging in specialization is not tolerated by party discipline and state law. The incident happened in a wholesale department, and the leading cadres of the bureau are not strict with themselves on weekdays, which is also an important reason. Leading cadres take the initiative to assume responsibility and take the lead in rectifying and reforming while discussing and discussing. Subsequently, among the cadres and workers of the financial and trade departments, a big discussion on the theme of "what unhealthy trends should be stopped on the socialist financial and trade front and what kind of new business style should be established" was launched in Handan City in a magnificent manner, with exposing and criticizing the "four-person state" as the key link.

In the early days when the "sock incident" was exposed, most of the employees applauded, and some people were not surprised. said: "More points and more occupies, a small matter" and "Pay the money to get the goods, it's nothing". This kind of harmless theory of Lin Biao and the "Gang of Four" has just picked up, and the broad masses of workers have risen up to attack it. The general party branch of the No. 1 Company of the Grain Bureau held a meeting and counted the six major harms of "running a store for personal gain": interfering with the supply plan, affecting the people's livelihood, corroding the workforce, giving the green light to bad guys, undermining the state's law and discipline, and weakening the party's prestige. Everyone pointed out that Lin Biao's "Gang of Four" was the culprit who blew away the wind from the back door and was an insatiable bourgeois element. It is not okay not to criticize the poison of Lin Biao's "Gang of Four" and not to put a stop to the unhealthy tendencies of the bourgeoisie. Many shops held special discussions: "What is the party's fine tradition?" "What is the purpose of Lin Biao's 'Gang of Four' to stir up a special and demonic wind through the back door", "Is it private or public to run a store?" "Who gave us the power in our hands?" Party organizations at all levels have been mobilized at all levels, gradually guided, rectified and reformed at the same time, and some have broken and some have been established. During the discussion, it was particularly emphasized that political leadership must be implemented in business, and ideology must be embodied in action. The comprehensive management office of the Municipal Material Recovery Company purchased more than 300 pieces of military fur coats for disposal, which were originally intended to be distributed to internal employees, and after this discussion, the coats were taken to the counter for public sale. Some units immediately mobilized the masses to criticize and seriously deal with the small number of bad people who still violated the law and discipline and committed serious crimes.

For a long time, among some workers, there has been a saying: "If you often walk by the river, how can you not get your shoes wet?" After Wang Moumou was punished, some people brought up this "inevitable theory" to exonerate him. Most of the workers put forward a lot of good people and good deeds, and refuted them with facts. For example, Zhang Qingchen, secretary of the party branch of the trade department store of the First Commercial Bureau, has resolutely implemented the commodity supply policy since he entered the store in 1975. In this great discussion, the financial and trade system vigorously praised a number of advanced figures and collectives who "often wash the dust from buildings near the water" and have greatly grown the righteousness of the proletariat and established a new socialist style.

In the early days of dealing with the "sock incident," some masses had an attitude of "wait and see." The city party committee has repeatedly expressed its determination to "grasp the matter to the end." In all walks of life, some people praise good things and some people catch bad things; the phenomenon of hiding good goods under the counter and keeping convenience for themselves has been reduced; the number of fresh goods displayed on the shelves has increased; and the in-demand commodities that have not been seen for many days have been delivered to the homes of residents by mobile vehicles. So, on the streets and alleys, public opinion gradually changed: "It seems that this time it is really moving, there is hope!"

Half a month after the "socks incident" was handled, and the Spring Festival was approaching, from the Municipal Party Committee, the Municipal Revolutionary Committee to the vast number of commercial and service outlets, they all mobilized to ensure the supply of the festival. Sure enough, this year's Spring Festival supply work has been done better than in previous years, and all units have established discipline policy inspection teams to find and solve problems in a timely manner, block the back door, open the front door, facilitate the masses, and facilitate production. Some old residents of Handan reflected: "Such a good atmosphere has not been seen in recent years."

The Handan City CPC Committee believes that the serious "internal injuries" caused by the interference and sabotage of the "Gang of Four" must not be underestimated. Establishing a new business style is a serious and long-term struggle. Now it is only a good start, and there are still many issues that need to be discussed in depth, such as garbage, which should be swept frequently, and dust, which should be washed frequently. The revolution must advance by taking advantage of the victory, grasping "repeatedly", repeatedly grasping, and grasping to the end.

The day after I submitted an article to the People's Daily for the third time, Wang Yangzhao and I went to Tiananmen Square again to pay respects to Chairman Mao's remains.

At about 8 o'clock in the morning, the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall was officially opened, and the procession of admirers began to move slowly. There were old people, young people, and children of several years old. The two of us followed the long line into the viewing hall, slowed our steps, looked at Chairman Mao's remains with a solemn expression, bowed our heads, and had tears in our eyes.

I prayed in my heart to reassure Chairman Mao and his old family that there are a group of good cadres like Yue Qifeng who are loyal to the party and the people, honest and honest in performing official duties, and dedicated to serving the people, and will certainly inherit the legacy of Chairman Mao's proletarian revolutionaries of the older generation and carry out the socialist revolution and socialist construction to the end.

Yue Qifeng is the most beautiful idol of the Communist Party of China cadres in my heart. He was a student of my old father, Zhang Xierui. In 1948 he attended Handan Middle School, where my father was both the director of school and his homeroom teacher. Yue Qifeng is also a student leader.

At the beginning of 1945, when Yue Qifeng was 14 years old, he joined the local anti-rape and revenge team and officially embarked on the road of resisting Japan and saving the country. During the War of Liberation, Yue Qifeng continued to be active in Hebei, engaged in the construction of base areas, and did a lot of work in land reform and support for the front line, ushering in the birth of New China.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yue Qifeng stayed in Handan, Hebei Province, and served as an officer of the Organization Department of the Handan Municipal Party Committee, director of the Office of the Municipal Party Committee, and deputy secretary of the Handan Municipal Party Committee. Especially for the local peasant masses, Yue Qifeng has always had a fist heart, made every effort to seek welfare for the peasant masses, and put solving the difficulties of the peasants in the first place.

In 1966, the ten-year catastrophe began, and Yue Qifeng, deputy secretary of the Handan Municipal Party Committee, was also affected, and in 1967, Yue Qifeng was suspended from work and sent to rural labor. Although the conditions were difficult, Yue Qifeng seized every opportunity to learn, narrowed the distance with the peasant masses, solved many problems that farmers were concerned about, accumulated rich rural work experience, and laid the foundation for the follow-up to take up important posts.

In 1969, Yue Qifeng made a comeback, and then he served as the director of the Office of the Handan Prefectural Party Committee and the deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee of the Handan Iron and Steel General Plant. During his tenure, Yue Qifeng devoted himself to rectifying the production order of the factory, and worked hard to grasp management and production, so that Handan Iron and Steel, which was on the verge of suspension of production, quickly rejuvenated and resumed production. At the same time, Yue Qifeng is also committed to promoting the implementation of major projects and scientific and technological innovation of Handan Iron and Steel, laying the foundation for the subsequent development and growth of Handan Iron and Steel.

After smashing the "Gang of Four", Yue Qifeng was reused, and he served as the first secretary of the Handan Municipal Party Committee. At that time, I was already working in the financial office of the Handan Revolutionary Committee. I heard and witnessed his extraordinary leadership ability and image of being honest and loving to the people. The leader of a department sent a set of liquefied gas canisters to each house of the Standing Committee of the municipal party committee, and he actually put this set of liquefied gas canisters on the rostrum of the meeting to severely criticize and order them to investigate and deal with them. He personally intervened in the injustices reflected in the letters from the masses and conscientiously resolved them. He was generous to the people and strict with himself. His son Yue Weiguang got married, and he didn't make a noise, and a few members of his family had a light meal at home.

In 1986, Yue Qifeng was promoted to deputy secretary of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee, and in 1988, at the age of 57, Yue Qifeng was promoted to the governor of Hebei Province and became a provincial-level cadre of New China. When college students in the provincial capital made a riot and demanded anti-corruption, tens of thousands of people gathered at the gate of the provincial party committee for more than a day and asked for a meeting with the principal leaders of the provincial party committee and government. Yue Qifeng came forward and said affectionately:

"I am very much in favor of the students' request to fight corruption. But I would like to tell the students that most of the cadres of the Communist Party are incorruptible. For example, I, the governor of Hebei Province, do not have my own real estate, and I rent an ordinary staff residence in the family home of Handan National Cotton No. 4 Factory. My wife is still an ordinary worker in Handan National Cotton No. 4 Factory, and my son is also engaged in ordinary work. You are welcome to supervise. “

"I advocate that the fight against corruption should be carried out in an organized manner under the leadership of the Communist Party. ”

Say a thousand things and ten thousand, it is better to make an appearance for the people yourself. After listening to Yue Qifeng's heartfelt words, the college students who had not retreated for a few days automatically dispersed.

In 1990, at the age of 59, Yue Qifeng was transferred to Liaoning and reappointed governor of Liaoning Province to continue to make suggestions for the mainland's economic construction during the period of reform and opening up. In 1994, 63-year-old Yue Qifeng was transferred to Heilongjiang and served as the secretary of the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee, fully presiding over the daily work of the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee. During his term of office, Yue Qifeng actively implemented reform and opening up and strictly administered the party, conscientiously grasped the construction of material and spiritual civilization in Heilongjiang, and promoted the development of Heilongjiang in all aspects.

In recent years, it has been rumored on the Internet that Yue Qifeng was transferred from the governor of Hebei Province to the governor of Liaoning Province and dined at a restaurant, and the story of being handcuffed by the unscrupulous police has spread more and more widely. Yue Qifeng's son Yue Weiguang and I were alumni of Shizhi Primary School, and he also followed my father to see him off on the way to Liaoning. He said that no such thing had happened, but the fact that the common people had to spread this rumor could only show that the common people deeply missed a "clean official" like Yue Qifeng.