"Daqing of industry, Dazhai of agriculture", this is a slogan that has been widely spread throughout the country, and there are also two people behind it - Wang Jinxi and Chen Yonggui.
It's just that these two role models of the same era, the path and position they chose later are very different, Wang Jinxi is mainly a worker, Chen Yonggui slowly turned to a political figure, and in 1975, he was also elected vice premier of the State Council, a member of the Politburo, and became a vice state-level leader.
Chen Yonggui was born in 1914, and when he grew up, he did not receive education and did not know many words. In this case, after he became deputy prime minister, how did he review so many documents every day?
In 1963, Xiyang, Shanxi Province was hit by a catastrophic flood, and many villages were submerged for seven days and seven nights, including Dazhai Village, where Chen Yonggui lived.
Because of the severity of the disaster, the central government quickly sent people to help, but Chen Yonggui told the condolence group that Dazhai didn't want anything, and asked the organization to allocate relief to other disaster areas.
Everyone thought he was joking, but Chen Yonggui promised on the spot: no state relief funds, relief grain, and relief materials, and the rations of members will not be reduced, collective grain reserves will not be reduced, and the state will not reduce the purchase of grain.
Seeing that he was so confident, his superiors agreed to do as he said. As a result, Chen Yonggui and Dazhai really did it. In that year, their members had 400 catties of rations and handed over 240,000 catties to the state, completing the country's tasks.
After suffering from serious floods, he didn't need any help from the organization, and he was able to make such achievements, and soon Dazhai was spread all over the country as a model, and the chairman praised it as "a good article in a poor ravine".
On March 29, 1964, when Chairman Mao talked with Tao Lujia, the first secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee, he talked about Dazhai Village: Is Chen Yonggui, who made Dazhai a storm, illiterate?
Tao Lujia shook his head: "He is not very literate, he has just been literate in recent years, and he can only read some simple newspapers at present, and he is a well-known old man in the province."
The chairman smiled: Okay, I don't know much, but I do a lot of things, and it seems that the big boss can't be taken lightly.
Two months later, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held a meeting, and Chairman Mao clearly pointed out: agriculture, you have to be self-reliant, and they all go to learn from Shanxi Xiyang Dazhai, they do not borrow money from the state, nor do they ask the state for things, and they still build very well.
Since then, the slogan of "Agricultural Dazhai" has begun to spread throughout the country, and Chen Yonggui has gradually become a new political star.
However, if a person with no political experience and insufficient knowledge suddenly enters the whirlpool, it is inevitable that mistakes will occur. For this reason, Premier Zhou also criticized him.
After the outbreak of the Great Movement, Shanxi was divided into the "Corps faction" and the "Terminus faction" and the "Terminus faction" made a lot of trouble, and Chen Yonggui was originally ordered to go to make adjustments, but he did not expect to be caught in it and participate in the "Terminus faction", which made the situation even more complicated. (See Reference 1 at the end of this article)
On the afternoon of February 16, 1969, Premier Zhou met with the representatives of Shanxi Province to participate in the metallurgical conference in Beijing, and suddenly someone shouted: Learn from Comrade Chen Yonggui!
At this time, Chen Yonggui was also present, Premier Zhou glanced at him, and then said: Learn Dazhai, learn from Chen Yonggui, study right, but you can't learn his faction.
After a pause, the premier said: Comrade Chen Yonggui held high the red flag of Dazhai, but in recent months, he has fallen into factionalism, and he must reflect on it, and everyone must take this as a warning. (See Reference 2 at the end of this article)
On April 28 of the same year, at the First Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the chairman urged the opposing factions in various provinces to stop fighting and sit down for a good talk. You are one faction, I are one faction, why do you have to make so much noise?
Chen Yonggui then came to his senses and said, "Don't engage in factionalism anymore", and put his energy back on Xiyang and Dazhai.
In 1973, Chen Yonggui was elected as a member of the Politburo, and was promoted from a peasant to a deputy state-level cadre, which he never dreamed of.
Two years later, Chen Yonggui went to attend the first session of the Fourth National People's Congress, and Premier Zhou came to him after the meeting and said: You should be mentally prepared as early as possible, take up the post of vice premier of the State Council, and promote the spirit of Dazhai to the whole country. What do you think?
Chen Yonggui was so surprised that he waved his hand again and again, and said: Prime Minister, I have a low level of education and can't be a man.
Premier Zhou did not give him a chance: Comrade Yonggui, are you a party member? If you are a party member, you must accept the party's arrangements. Chen Yonggui could not shirk it, and became the vice premier in charge of agriculture, and since then he has appeared in public more frequently.
The State Council has a lot of work, and it is difficult for Chen Yonggui, who does not have a high level of education, to read documents, give instructions, and make reports every day. When reviewing materials, he always asked the secretary to read them, and if he agreed, he drew a circle.
The secretary was very strange at first, obviously Chen Yonggui didn't know much about writing, how could he just say it himself, and he could judge whether he drew a circle or not? The speed was still so fast? Chen Yonggui replied: I will first look at Hua Guofeng and Li Xiannian read their opinions, and if they draw circles, I will also draw them, and I can trust them.
Rather than sitting in the office, Chen Yonggui prefers to have meetings, so that he can at least speak according to his ideas. Later, Chen Yonggui really didn't adapt to such a life, so he wrote to Chairman Mao, hoping that he could move out of Diaoyutai and implement the "three-three system":
That is, one-third of the time is in Beijing, one-third of the time is in Dazhai, and one-third of the time is running the whole country. The Chair thought his pragmatism was good and quickly agreed.
After Chairman Mao died of illness, Chen Yonggui was very sad. However, he soon fell back into politics. He approached Comrade Hua many times and said: We must not "liberate" Deng Xiaoping, otherwise others will say that we have betrayed the old man.
Later, Deng Gong resumed his leadership position at the Third Plenary Session of the 10th Central Committee in 1977. As a result, Chen Yonggui also found Deng Gong before the meeting and said:
I didn't expect us to work together again, Comrade Xiaoping, this time we have to learn a lesson, otherwise we will make mistakes, you are not young anymore, don't toss, follow Chairman Mao's instructions, so be it.
He wanted Deng Gong to be a "vase", but Deng Gong's thoughts were not on the same level as him, so in order not to disturb others, Deng Gong specially invited Chen Yonggui to a small conference room and asked him:
Comrade Yonggui, when it comes to studying Chairman Mao's writings, we may not be as good as you. Then let me ask, which two of the most important in Chairman Mao's spirit do you say?
Chen Yonggui didn't think of why he asked this question for a while, and he didn't answer for a while. Deng Gong smiled and said to himself: I think that the most worthy of our learning in Chairman Mao's spirit is the mass line and seeking truth from facts. "I agree". Chen Yonggui nodded.
Deng Gong continued: "This is the most fundamental problem. Some comrades did not understand Mao Zedong Thought at all. Do you think that reciting quotations, shouting slogans, reciting them better than others, and shouting louder than others?
Few of those people can compare with each other in this respect, but do you think they have actually comprehended Chairman Mao's thoughts? Just reciting a few quotations and saying some of Chairman Mao's words in a few words is not the spirit of Chairman Mao, do you understand?
With Chen Yonggui's theoretical level, he couldn't find an angle to refute it, so he passed vaguely. However, later development proved that he still did not understand, and finally chose to resign voluntarily in September 1980.
In 1983, Chen Yonggui thought that he still wanted to work in agriculture, and after being approved by the organization, he became a rural consultant in the eastern suburbs of Beijing, which seems to be his profession and passion.
Chen Yonggui is a legend in China in recent decades, and his achievements in agriculture are indeed commendable, and it may be appropriate to manage a county or a little higher, but it is tricky to cover the whole country.
He has also tried to implement the Dazhai experience to the whole country, but the results of several trial points have not been good, and it has also caused a wave of criticism.
Talents should also be placed in the right position.
References: 1. "Chen Yonggui Picks Factions and Shouts "Chairman Mao Supports Me and Supports", Sichuan People's Congress.2013-11-14
2. "Chen Yonggui: Only one person in the country dares to publicly criticize him".Party History.2021-02-26