Chen Yonggui, an ordinary farmer born in Xiyang County, Shanxi, led the people of his hometown to create an amazing "Dazhai Miracle" with his diligence and wisdom. This miracle not only changed the face of Dazhai Village, but also set up a monument for the development of agriculture in New China.
However, in Chen Yonggui's commanding life, it is inevitable that there will be some regrets and misunderstandings. As the old saying goes: "If you become a king or lose a courtier, you will become a son of heaven and a courtier." When he rose from an obscure peasant to a leader of the party and the state, doubts and criticisms followed.
Some people say that he has a "low level of education" and that serving as a deputy prime minister is really "excessive"; Some people also criticized him for "only doing the same thing as Dazhai" and making it difficult for him to guide the country's agricultural work. There are even small leaders who confront him in person, thinking that "he knows a fart". All kinds of doubts lingered in Chen Yonggui's ears.
But Chen Yonggui was not swayed by these rumors. He always firmly believed that it was precisely by virtue of his dedication to agricultural production and his love for the people that he was able to achieve today's achievements. Whether it is leading the people of Dazhai to reclaim terraced fields like "foolish people moving mountains", or being appointed as vice premier in danger, he is doing his best to dedicate everything to the country and the people.
Turning the pages of history, it is not difficult for us to find that peasant leaders like Chen Yonggui are not uncommon in the ranks of the Communist Party of China. As early as the period of the agrarian revolution, Mao Zedong once commented on a peasant leader named Wang Liang in this way: "Comrade Wang Liang has great prestige among the masses and is true to his words, and this is because he does things fairly and wholeheartedly seeks the interests of the poor."
It is precisely the countless outstanding Communist Party members like Chen Yonggui and Wang Liang who have won the trust and support of the masses of the people with their practical actions and laid a solid foundation for the construction of New China.
Although Chen Yonggui does not have a prominent family background, he has courage and courage that ordinary people can hardly match. In 1949, 34-year-old Chen Yonggui officially joined the Communist Party of China and served as the secretary of the party branch of Dazhai Village. In the face of the devastated homeland, he did not retreat, but led the villagers to start a great practice of changing the world.
You must know that Dazhai Village at that time was full of difficulties: it was located on the Loess Plateau in the Taihang Mountains, with stones all over the place, and frequent droughts and floods. Although the villagers also work hard, the cultivated land is fragmented and fragmented, and it is difficult to form economies of scale. Faced with such a difficult situation, the average person may have given up hope.
However, Chen Yonggui is different, he is well aware of the huge potential of this land. "If you want to get rich, you must first build roads", "If you want to have more food, the key is water conservancy". Under his call, the villagers opened mountains and chiseled stones, built terraced fields, and built water conservancy, gradually changing the natural appearance of "seven ditches, eight beams and one slope" in Dazhai Village. In just a few years, the barren hillside has been covered with layers of terraced fields, the grain output has been rising, and the life of the people in the village has become more and more prosperous.
All of this embodies the hard work of Chen Yonggui and the villagers. As he sighed in the future: "The ditches and bumps in Dazhai Village have all been chiseled into my heart, and the warmth and coldness of the people in Dazhai Village are tied to my heart."
But fate always seems to love to play jokes with heroes. Just when everyone was rejoicing in the fruits of the harvest, a once-in-a-century natural disaster suddenly befell this field...
In 1963, a series of extreme weather such as floods, hail, and frost hit Xiyang County. Many villagers were desperate to see their hard-earned fields washed away by floods and their crops shattered by hailstorms. However, Chen Yonggui was not intimidated by the difficulties, but immediately convened party members and cadres to study countermeasures and lead the masses to rescue themselves.
Under his leadership, the people of Dazhai carried forward the anti-disaster spirit of "not delaying a day, not stopping for a moment", and rushed to harvest and grab seeds day and night to resume production. When this year of disasters and hardships passed, Dazhai Village not only achieved a lot of grains, but also sold 240,000 catties of surplus grain to the country. This figure may not seem staggering today, but it was a remarkable miracle in that era of scarcity.
The spirit of Dazhai and the miracle of Dazhai soon spread all over the country. In 1964, Deng Xiaoping, then Vice Premier of the State Council, made a special trip to Dazhai Village to inspect and spoke highly of the achievements of Chen Yonggui and the villagers. In the following year, Chairman Mao Zedong issued a great call for "Dazhai of Agriculture", asking the rural areas of the country to take Dazhai as an example, setting off a vigorous mass movement.
Chen Yonggui, who has reached the pinnacle of life, is not complacent because of this. He always kept in mind that he was a member of the Communist Party and a servant of the people. Whether sitting on the rostrum of a meeting or squatting in the field, he has always maintained the true character of an ordinary laborer.
In January 1975, an unexpected news came: Chen Yonggui was appointed vice premier of the State Council, in charge of national agricultural work. As soon as the news came out, the whole country was in an uproar. This was the first time at that time: an authentic peasant, with neither outstanding military merits nor advanced academic qualifications, was entrusted with such an important task just by virtue of leading the villagers to create the "Dazhai Miracle", which is really unusual.
Some people are happy for him, believing that this is because the Party Central Committee attaches importance to and trusts the vast number of peasants; Others are skeptical, fearing that he will not be able to handle such complex agricultural work. What's more, he blatantly belittled his abilities and ridiculed that "he knows a fart". All kinds of discussions, boiling.
In the face of doubts from the outside world, Chen Yonggui did not defend himself, but devoted himself to work in a more pragmatic style. As in the past, he is still worrying about agricultural production with all his might, and he has gone deep into the grassroots to conduct research.
In 1974, he came to Heilongjiang Beidahuang Farm to inspect. Seeing that horse manure can be seen everywhere and is not collected and utilized in a unified manner, he can't help but think of the scene in Dazhai Village, and blurted out that "if you don't farm with dung, you are just fooling around." Unexpectedly, as soon as this remark came out, it caused dissatisfaction among a farm leader, and afterwards he confronted Chen Yonggui in front of him and said: "He knows a fart!"
Although this is a small matter, it reflects some problems in the agricultural field at that time. Due to the wide variety of local conditions, Dazhai's experience is not universal. In some places, when learning the spirit of Dazhai, there is a tendency to simply copy and imitate mechanically, and there is even an absurd thing that terraces must be built in the fertile plain area.
Chen Yonggui is deeply worried about this. He repeatedly stressed that the key to learning the spirit of Dazhai is to learn from the revolutionary spirit of the people of Dazhai of hard struggle and self-reliance, rather than rigidly copying specific methods. At the same time, he also humbly learned from agricultural experts in various localities and worked hard to improve his ability to guide agricultural production throughout the country.
After Chen Yonggui left Dazhai Village to work in Beijing, his old partner Guo Fenglian took over the burden of secretary of the Party branch of Dazhai Village. This strong and wise woman not only inherited and carried forward the spirit of Dazhai, but also broadened her horizons and led the villagers to learn advanced experience from other places, so that the appearance of Dazhai Village is changing with each passing day. Although Chen Yonggui is far away in the capital, his heart is still concerned about his hometown fathers. Every holiday, he has to send a letter to Guo Fenglian to exchange work conditions and discuss development plans.
The five-year term of the Deputy Prime Minister is fleeting. In 1980, Chen Yonggui returned from office and returned to the yellow earth that he had been dreaming about. Although the years have stained his sideburns with hoarfrost, his original intention has never changed. Until the last moment of his life, he was doing his best for the construction of his hometown.
Looking back on the ups and downs of Chen Yonggui's life, there are too many stories worth savoring and thinking about.
He is an ordinary farmer, but he has created an extraordinary career with his own hands. Under his leadership, the former barren and backward Dazhai Village has been transformed into a banner and a well-known name on the national agricultural front. This miracle condenses Chen Yonggui's deep feelings for this yellow land and his infinite love for the villagers.
He was an outstanding Communist Party member who always put the interests of the people first. Whether in his hometown of Dazhai or in a leading position in Beijing, he is doing his best to serve the people. Even though he was subjected to some unfair discussions and misunderstandings, he was not deceived by fame and fortune, but worked diligently and conscientiously as always, and worked hard to implement the party's agricultural policy well.
He is a great epitome of the times, reflecting the arduous process of rural development in New China. From the agrarian revolution to socialist construction, from the people's commune movement to the reform and opening up, Chen Yonggui personally experienced and participated in this series of magnificent changes. The trajectory of his life is a vivid and vivid history of rural changes.
Of course, we must also realize that Chen Yonggui's growth and achievements are inseparable from the party's cultivation and the support of the people. It was precisely under the correct leadership of the party and with the support of thousands of people that he was able to grow step by step into an outstanding grassroots cadre and an outstanding national leader. This also enlightens us that personal struggle is important, but what is more crucial is to always maintain flesh-and-blood ties with the party and the people, and realize our own value in the benefit of the people.
The wheels of history are rolling forward, and the baton of the times has been passed down from generation to generation. Today, more than 40 years have passed since reform and opening up, and earth-shaking changes have taken place in the mainland's agriculture and rural areas. From the "large-scale contracting" to the "household contract responsibility system" and from the "unified purchasing and marketing" to the "market-oriented reform," a series of rural policy dividends with Chinese characteristics have greatly liberated and developed the rural productive forces. The pockets of the croppers are getting bigger and bigger, and the days are getting more and more prosperous.
Especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee has attached great importance to the "three rural" work, put forward the rural revitalization strategy, and sounded the clarion call for a decisive victory in an all-round well-off and the construction of a modern socialist country. "Prosperous industry, livable ecology, civilized rural customs, effective governance, and affluent life" are our yearning and pursuit of a better rural life.
Standing at a new historical starting point, we should all the more inherit and carry forward Chen Yonggui's spirit of arduous struggle and forge ahead. Whether it is the construction of a new socialist countryside or the realization of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, we need to work hard and work hard. Let us work together to write a new chapter in rural revitalization!
Throughout Chen Yonggui's life, there are too many touching moments that are moving. But if you have to choose the most touching scene, it is undoubtedly in 1980, when he stepped down as vice premier and returned to Dazhai Mountain after a long absence.
Looking at the tanned faces of the villagers and listening to the pleasant laughter coming from his hometown, Chen Yonggui had mixed feelings and burst into tears. He knows that no matter how the years change, no matter where he goes, his roots are always rooted in this yellow earth, and his heart is always tied to his father and fellow villagers. "I am from Dazhai, and Dazhai is my eternal home!" These simple and unpretentious words express the pure heart of a communist towards the people.
Today, although Chen Yonggui has left us, the precious spiritual wealth he left behind will forever inspire generations of Chinese to move forward bravely. Let us turn our grief into strength, learn from his feelings of being a public servant who cares for the masses, inherit his fine style of hard work, carry forward his pioneering and innovative enterprising spirit, stride forward on the long march in the new era, and make unremitting efforts to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation!