Elephant News reporter Guan Xinyao
Grasshoppers are harvested when there is a drought, toads are harvested when there is a flood, and salinity is harvested without drought or waterlogging, but crops are not harvested.
The wind blows and the sand flies, and the seedlings do not grow. Lankao in 1962 was ravaged by the "three evils" of sandstorms, salinity, and waterlogging. Jiao Yulu was ordered to be in danger and became the leader of the 360,000 people in Lankao County.
A bicycle, a pair of iron feet, 2,500 kilometers of clouds and moons, 475 days of morning and dusk, during his work in Lankao, Jiao Yulu measured the land with his footsteps, numbered all the depressions and silted rivers in the county, and recorded the detailed data of 84 tuyeres and 1,600 sand dunes one by one.
Jiao Yulu, who was determined to lead the people of Lankao, died on May 14, 1964 at the age of 42 due to a recurrence of liver disease due to long-term overwork. At the last moment of his life, Jiao Yulu sent his only request to the organization: to transport the body back to Lankao and bury it on the sand dunes, "I didn't cure the sand dunes when I was alive, and I had to watch the people of Lankao heal the sand dunes when I died." ”
The times have changed, 60 years have flown by, and in the relay struggle of generations of Lankao people, Lankao has now changed from a barren land to thousands of hectares of fertile land. The "three evils" have become the "three treasures", and the old appearance has been renewed. This land is also nourished by Jiao Yulu's spirit, changing with each passing day.
Today, generations of Lankao people have guarded and practiced the spirit of Jiao Yulu in their struggle.
In March 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping had a cordial exchange with Jiao Yulu's relatives and representatives of grassroots model cadres in Lankao and took a group photo. The general secretary said emotionally that our generation is deeply influenced by Jiao Yulu's spirit and has grown up under the education of Jiao Yulu's deeds. General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized that the spirit of Jiao Yulu was, is, and will remain the precious spiritual wealth of our party.
(1) Returning villagers start a business and lead the village to get rich
In the 60s of the last century, Lankao became famous in the country for its "three evils", where the Yellow River was diverted to the north, leaving behind a sight-free yellow sand.
Wen Linchao, 51, of Zhangzhuang, Dongbatou Town, Lankao County, still remembers the scene of the wind and sand that his parents often mentioned when he was a child. Because when Jiao Yulu led the 360,000 people in Lankao County to deal with the three evils, his father was one of them.
On March 17, 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to Zhangzhuang Village for inspection, and Wen Linchao became the representative of the villagers who returned to their hometowns to start a business at the symposium. "Everyone is inspired and in good spirits." Wen Linchao remembered that the general secretary exhorted the local cadres and masses to promote the peasants' income increase and prosperity by developing industries according to local conditions, which pointed out the direction for the future development of Zhangzhuang.
Thoughts guide actions. In recent years, Zhangzhuang has repositioned its development in combination with its geographical location close to the Yellow River and its beautiful natural scenery, and put forward the tourism development idea of "rural tourism, red tourism, and two-wheel drive". In 2018, under the guidance and policy support of the local township government, Wenlinchao also transformed into greenhouse planting.
Wenlin's confidence in super-transformation comes from the confidence of its professional counterparts and its precise investment vision. After graduating from Henan Provincial Agricultural School (now Henan Agricultural Vocational College) in 1995, Wen Linchao has been an agricultural technician ever since. In Zhangzhuang, which is facing a critical period of transformation and tourism development, Wen Linchao believes that as a member of the villagers, he should take advantage of the trend.
At first, Wenlinchao invested 450,000 yuan to build three new planting greenhouses. With the increase of planting experience, Wenlin Chao found that the economic benefits of strawberries are much higher than those of vegetables, and they can be picked multiple times. "From November to around May Day of the following year, there were strawberries all the time." He calculated that the annual income of one acre of land in the greenhouse is 50,000 yuan, and if there is no insulation measure, it can also earn 30,000 yuan a year. Today, Wenlinchao's strawberry cultivation has successfully expanded to 33 acres.
Not only does he want to get rich, but Wen Linchao also wants to lead the villagers to get rich together. As a villager of Zhangzhuang Village, Wen Linchao believes that he should inherit the spirit of Jiao Yulu, "The spirit of Jiao Yulu is to serve the people wholeheartedly, what the masses have to solve for the masses, and everything for the sake of the masses, which is the spirit of Jiao Yulu as I understand it." ”
"Now the wages of the villagers alone are 200,000 yuan less a year." Wen Linchao introduced, the workers in the field come from the villagers, the farm work is simple, pulling weeds, spraying, a day of labor costs 60 yuan, usually there are 4 workers in the planting base, when the farm is busy, the employment can reach more than 20 people.
Now, Wen Linchao is brewing another small goal - picking amusement parks. "Get some amusement equipment, equipped with accommodation and catering." In Wenlinchao's vision, there are both homestays and farmhouses in the picking amusement park, where visitors can experience picking and listening to the sound of frogs by the pond at night, and experience a different rural life from the city.
(2) The post-80s young women led the students to experience "turning silt and compacting sand"
Like Wen Linchao, as a native of Zhangzhuang, 42-year-old You Ningsi is also carrying forward the spirit of Jiao Yulu with his own actions.
In 1962, the day after he was transferred to Lankao County, Jiao Yulu went deep into the grassroots investigation and research. For more than a year, he traveled to more than 120 of the county's more than 140 production brigades to visit and conduct research, brainstorming, and summed up the methods of controlling sandstorms - "plastering" and "needle pricking".
"Plastering", also known as "turning over the compacted sand", is to dig out the silt from under the sand about one meter deep and cover it on the sand, and this method was soon popularized throughout the county. "If you're lucky, you can turn over the mud in fifty or sixty centimeters, and if you're unlucky, you have to climb to a person's waist depth to get to the mud." Yuningsi said.
Youningsi is the deputy director of Jiao Yulu's spiritual experience education base, and as a native of Zhangzhuang, Dongbatou Town, Lankao County, her grandparents and grandmothers have personally participated in desertification control. In 2014, when General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Zhangzhuang Village, the then 32-year-old You Ningsi attended the symposium on behalf of the younger generation.
In 2017, Youningsi was rehired by Jiao Yulu Spiritual Experience Education Base. At first, Youningsi was responsible for explaining Jiao Yulu's deeds to the people who came to learn and experience. "I hope that the people of Lankao will protect this red wealth and pass it on." You Ningsi also often tells Jiao Yulu's story to his son and daughter.
In addition to explanation, it is more about experience. In the Jiao Yulu spiritual experience education base, the students can carry the shovel, carry the flat burden, push the wheelbarrow, and experience the process of Secretary Jiao Yulu's management of the sandstorm. In the governance of the three evils, the spirit of Hancun, the determination of Qinzhai, the motivation of Zhao Duolou, and the "four red flags" of the road of double poplars inspire party members and cadres to find gaps, shortcomings, and directions according to the examples around them. "After coming to the base, I was divided into 4 brigades in front of the statue of Secretary Jiao, and the team flag was awarded, representing the 4 villages." According to Youningsi, the staff will give straw hats woven of wheat straw to the trainees to experience "turning over the sand".
Pushing a wheelbarrow, holding a wire, and wearing a straw hat, the labor scene is spectacular. During the experience, students can earn work points according to their work, "and the work points are also like the original era, restoring the scene at that time." ”
"After a series of experiential courses, with the help of labor tools at that time, wheelbarrows, baskets, and practical work, I deeply understood how Jiao Yulu led the Lankao masses to fight the heavens and the earth at that time." Yuningsi said. There are different programs for different groups, so that students can remember the bittersweet memories and experience the spirit of learning and education.
(3) With the help of ideological and political courses, young teachers have made the spirit of Jiao Yulu deeply rooted in the hearts of the people
In 2021, the CPC Central Committee approved the first batch of great spirits sorted out by the Central Propaganda Department to be included in the spiritual genealogy of the Chinese Communists, including the spirit of Jiao Yulu.
In Jiao Yulu Cadre College, Zhang Jing, a young teacher born in the 80s, is a communicator of Jiao Yulu's spirit. In 2012, as a young teacher at the Party School of Lankao County Party Committee, Zhang Jing participated in the preparation for the establishment of Jiao Yulu Cadre College. In 2013, after Jiao Yulu Cadre College was established, she became a full-time teacher of the college.
As a native of Lankao, Zhang Jing grew up under the influence of Jiao Yulu's spirit. She still remembers that when she was a child, her grandmother often mentioned in her ears that there was a good official named Jiao Yulu in Lankao, and every time it rained, others ran home, and he had to run out, wading through the water in a raincoat, to see if the house was leaking and the wall of the house was falling.
"Jiao Yulu's 475 Days in Lankao" is the earliest course developed by Zhang Jing, she will Jiao Yulu's touching deeds into the classroom, for the people who come to learn affectionately narrated, "I have the impression that there are three years, Jiao Yulu's spirit has been integrated into my soul, every Qingming Festival, I want to go to the memorial garden to pay tribute to Secretary Jiao." ”
Subsequently, Zhang Jing successively participated in the development of the courses "Learning Jiao Yulu's Spirit to Strengthen Political Ethics Cultivation" and "The Formation of Jiao Yulu's Spirit and the Value of the Times". Among them, "The Formation of Jiao Yulu's Spirit and the Value of the Times" won the first prize of the 2023 Henan Provincial Party Spirit Education System Excellent Course.
In the lesson "The Formation of Jiao Yulu's Spirit and the Value of the Times", Zhang Jing started with Jiao Yulu's growth process under the leadership of the party. "When he was in the 'Luo Mine' (now CITIC Heavy Industries), he led the workers to produce a twin-drum winch with a diameter of 2.5 meters, which filled the gap in the history of mining machinery production in the mainland." During the visit, Zhang Jing learned that during the production, the time was tight and the task was heavy, and Secretary Jiao took the factory as his home for more than 50 days, and the rest time was only about two hours a day.
Jiao Yulu is a good public servant of the people and a good example for party members and cadres. Zhang Jing believes that learning the spirit of Jiao Yulu can strengthen ideals and beliefs, it is a washing machine for the soul, and it is also a high-quality "calcium source" for enhancing ideals and beliefs. "After truly comprehending and practicing the spirit of Jiao Yulu, people can become a noble person, a pure person, a moral person, a person who is free from low-level interests, and a person who is beneficial to the people. I think so. Zhang Jing said.
Speaking of Jiao Yulu's spirit, Zhang Jing chose to start by narrowing the distance with Secretary Jiao. "If you want to talk about the spirit of Jiao Yulu well and let people enter the brain and heart, the person who speaks must first believe in the spirit of Jiao Yulu." Zhang Jing believes that Secretary Jiao is also a flesh-and-blood person, who has grown up step by step from an ordinary masses, ordinary party members, and ordinary cadres, and is not unattainable. Whenever I tell the students about it like this, many students will suddenly realize that Secretary Jiao is so close to our lives.
Today, Zhang Jing has been in the teaching position for 11 years, and every year, she has to tell tens of thousands of people about Jiao Yulu's deeds. "To inherit the spirit of Jiao Yulu, I must first learn by myself and use the spirit of Jiao Yulu to guide and guide my actions." In Zhang Jing's view, as a teacher, develop more classes, teach classes well, teach more classes, and let more people know the spirit of Jiao Yulu.
The stars are turning, and the Lankao people shrouded in the halo are working hard, relying on honest work, self-reliance, and the spirit of Jiao Yulu is also inherited, carried forward and developed in Lankao.
In March 2014, at the enlarged meeting of the Standing Committee of the Lankao County Party Committee in Henan Province, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the spirit of Jiao Yulu coexists with the spirit of Jinggangshan, Yan'an, Lei Feng, and Hongqiqu. Every nation needs to have such a spirit to constitute its strong spiritual strength, and such a spirit will never become obsolete no matter how far the times develop.