Li Heping and his younger siblings are often referred to as the "Red Second Generation," and he is somewhat dismissive of this, saying: "As the name suggests, red is revolution, and if the children of our old cadres are called 'Red Second Generation,' what are the children of workers and peasants called?" ”
Li Heping's father was General Li Desheng, a proletarian revolutionary and military strategist of the older generation, and his mother, Cao Yunlian, joined the Eighth Route Army when he was less than 12 years old, and he was the youngest soldier in the 129th Division at that time, and he was also an old revolutionary.
In this way, Li Heping and his younger siblings are indeed the second generation of the revolution, but they still do not want others to call them "red second generation.".
Li Heping said: "The greatest influence of our father on us is to teach us to be an upright person, to be a generous person, to be a person loyal to the party and the country."
Li Desheng and Cao Yunlian's six children, whether at home or abroad, from Wen to Wu, they all inherit the spiritual blood of their fathers, loyal to the party's cause, loyal to the motherland and the people, this is their family style, but also their belief.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="11" son of general >: peace for peace</h1>
Executive Director of the Editorial Board of "Motherland" Magazine and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Beijing Yu Ruomu Charity Foundation, which is Li Heping's title today.
"Motherland" magazine was proposed by Li Desheng, Wang Guangying and others, Beijing Yu Ruomu Charity Foundation was initiated by Mrs. Chen Yun Yu Ruomu and others, to take care of the charity left by the older generation and participate in the red activities of party building in various places, which has become the focus of Li Heping's work today.
Regarding his status as the "second generation of reds," Li Heping said that some arrogant cadres and the children of businessmen who had made a fortune and did not want to forge ahead had done some things that violated the law and discipline, making the cognition of the two groups of "second generation officials" and "second generation of the rich" in society implicitly pejorative, and "second generation" became a bad meaning.
From this point of view, the title of "Red Second Generation" is both inappropriate and prone to negative effects.
The six children of the Li family have never been willing to discredit the family, and their parents Li Desheng and Cao Yunlian will never let the six children have the opportunity to do bad things.
Li Heping is the eldest son in the family, in the name of peace, naturally pinned on his parents' expectations and desire for peace, his father Li Desheng from the cattle herding baby in the mountain village to work hard step by step, became a senior general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Her mother, Cao Yunlian, was originally the daughter of a poor peasant family in the Taihang Mountains, who joined the party at the age of 13 and was promoted from a soldier to a regimental commander.
After the founding of New China, because of the efforts of his fathers, he had a stable environment for living and studying, but Li Desheng still asked his son Li Heping to put on a military uniform and become a soldier.
He believes that peace is bought with blood and sacrifice, and if it is necessary to exchange blood and sacrifice for the peace of the country, then Li Heping should rush forward and exchange peace for peace.
After enlisting in the army, Li Heping started as an ordinary soldier, and through his hard work, in 1970, Li Heping served as a training staff officer at the headquarters of the 91st Regiment of the 31st Division of the 12th Army.
In 1972, Li Heping was transferred to form the 12th Army Teaching Brigade, which was rejected by his father. Father has repeatedly obstructed Li Heping's promotion, many times he is incomprehensible and helpless, he did not let his father "go through the back door", all by hard work to get the opportunity, the father said that the veto was vetoed, it is really unfair.
In 1976, when universities across the country resumed enrolling "workers, peasants, and soldier cadets," Li Heping qualified for enrollment, recalling: "After the resumption of the college entrance examination, I really wanted to go to college.
As a result, my father specifically called the leader of Li Heping's unit: "Li Heping can't go, he should exercise well at the grassroots level, and he can't engage in specialization." ”
Li Heping was extremely depressed, where is this specialization?
At that time, not so many people wanted to go to school, and the opportunity was lined up here for Li Heping, just like when not so many people wanted to be a soldier, his father let him become a soldier, and as a result, his father still thought that this was a special treatment for the children of high-ranking cadres, and Li Heping could only stay at the grassroots level to continue to work, and he worked for more than ten years.
In 1984, Li Heping actively participated in the war against Vietnam, serving as the deputy commander of the 36th Division of the 12th Army, this time, his father not only did not stop, but also gave praise, and warned his son of his years of combat experience, asking him to lead the troops in the front line.
Li Heping made great contributions to leading the soldiers on the front line, and was promoted to deputy division commander by leaps and bounds, and his father Li Desheng only said a few words after he knew about it, "Continue to work hard."
When Li Heping married the eldest daughter of General You Taizhong, the son of the general and the daughter of the general were happily married, and he became a battalion-level cadre in the army, so he wanted to entertain his comrades-in-arms.
The comrades-in-arms paid for the wedding and the parents, so he also wrote to the family and asked his parents to send 500 yuan to prepare for the wedding to be more solemn.
In the family under the heavens, the marriage of the eldest son is the most solemn, and people all think that the two generals' family celebrations must be more grand, where do you know that Li Heping received the first letter and the only letter written to him by his father in his life.
In the letter sent by his parents, instead of having money, there was also a criticism of his face, Li Desheng said that his son's mentality of wanting to do a wedding was vanity, wanted to engage in specialization, Li Heping was aggrieved and ashamed, and finally only a table was run by his mother at home.
Later, he understood that his parents were from poor backgrounds, and when they got married, they were even more fierce, poor and white, and their parents strictly required them to be husband and wife, and they should be diligent and thrifty when they got married and started a family.
For many years, whether on the battlefield or in the army, Li Heping has followed his father's teachings, and now that he is middle-aged, he has devoted more energy to the charity left by the older generation after leaving the army, inheriting their wishes and aspirations, spreading the red spirit, and helping more people in need.
The Li family is not only Li Desheng and Li Heping, two soldiers, nor is it just Li Desheng, a general.
Li Desheng's second son, Li Nanzheng, is also a general, compared with his brother, Li Nanzheng went to a military academy, after years of experience, he is already a major general, and now he is the vice president of the Shijiazhuang Army Command College of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Li Nanzheng believes that his father can grow from a soldier to a general, all of which are exchanged for continuous efforts, and in the eyes of many "red second generations", Li Nanzheng's speaking and acting style is also very similar to his father.
Li Nanzheng has always said that if modern soldiers want to reach the level of their predecessors and surpass them, they must set strict requirements and train them.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="15" Daughter of general >: Return to China to have children</h1>
Every time she talks about her four daughters, her mother Cao Yunlian is very pleased: "Three of the four daughters are studying medicine."
Cao Yunlian also worked as a nurse in the Ministry of Health of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and her reverence for the doctor's profession affected her daughters' choice of career, only the youngest daughter Li Youyou did not study medicine, and Li Yuanzheng, Li Yaya, and Li Xiaohu were all military doctors.
Since childhood, the father is not often at home, so the mother manages the children the most, although the requirements for the children in the family are very strict, but the father is more gentle, especially for the girls, whenever the mother reprimands them severely, the father will also run out to intercede.
However, the eldest daughter Li Yuanzheng also learned from her father's sternness.
When she was working in the Jinan Military Region Hospital, she evaluated the title once, and all her conditions met the regulations, but for some reason she missed the declaration time, so she wanted to ask her father to help her and let her make up a declaration opportunity.
Li Desheng has been running around for many years, he has less control over the family, his daughters are his heart, and he rarely refuses the reasonable requests of several girls, Li Yuanzheng thinks that he is eligible, and it should not be special.
The father even sternly refused, saying: "The level of the title does not affect your life in the hospital, you do not want people and emotions, and doing a good job is the first priority." ”
Li Yuanzheng was extremely sad, thinking how his father could be so cruel and ruthless, he was unwilling to help with any small things he could solve with his mouth, and he didn't care about his own daughter at all.
Later, she understood: "Father is doing this by example, he wants to play an example for those of us who are children, that is, in the face of anything, we must be selfless and selfless, and we must not be special." ”
During the three years of natural disasters, the troops moved from central Zhejiang to northern Jiangsu, and there were not only six children waiting to be fed, but also the elderly and sick and weak wives.
The living conditions in northern Jiangsu are poor, the only grain supplied is cornmeal, moldy sweet potato flour and bean cakes for feeding livestock, whether it is the troops or old comrades-in-arms, in order to take care of Li Desheng's family, it is said that 100 kilograms of rice are allocated to them, and Li Desheng never accepts it.
Once, when a soldier came to his house and was eating wild vegetables and corn bread, the soldier could not help but sigh that the commander's family was eating worse than our soldiers.
Fathers have always said to their children: "You must rely on yourself, you must rely on the organization, don't always think that the family will arrange this and that for you, don't think like this, you must listen to the party." ”
The three girls working in the hospital at home, even if they loved each other, even if there were any difficulties, their fathers did not have a relationship with them, and they also listened to the teachings of their parents, tried to save lives and help the injured, and struggled in the workplace.
The youngest child in the family, Li Youyou, did not cling to the wings of her parents, and by the time she grew up and studied, the conditions at home were much better, but the youngest child still grew up under strict requirements.
Brother Li Heping returned home from a vacation from the army, and the other families all hugged a big son to pick them up, and their family only sent the little sister Li Youyou to the station to pick up his brother.
Li Heping got out of the car to see only his sister alone, and thought that his father loved his little daughter so much that he must have sent a car, but Li Youyou also asked his brother, "What car?" In the end, only the two brothers and sisters could carry their luggage and walk home in the snow.
To Li Youyou to go to college, plus her mother, there are already four doctors in the family, so Li Youyou did not study medicine like other women in the family, but went to the Beijing Language Institute to study French, since it is a foreign language, especially in such a family, all the students think that it is naturally normal for her to study abroad.
"We are an authentic revolutionary family, and my parents' salaries at that time were not as high as those of the college students who have just graduated now, so who has the money to fund me to study abroad?"
Li Youyou was admitted to the public school with excellent results, and after returning home, a sunny day was thunderbolt, and her father hoped that she would give up this opportunity, and only then did he agree to let her study french literature in France, and asked her to support herself and not to discredit the family.
Compared with most international students today, As the daughter of the general, Li Youyou's study abroad life is much more difficult, in order to live up to the hard-won study quota, she hardly slept before 12 o'clock, and had to go to class in the morning, all supported by coffee and perseverance.
Later, When Li Youyou went to the United States to work and start a family, when giving birth, Youyou called home and asked: "In the United States or back to China to have a child?" ”
At this time, she was already a confused year, the risk of giving birth at an advanced age was high, and if she returned to China to give birth, it would take some trouble. Li Desheng, who has always loved his young daughter very much, said at this time: "Come back to Beijing and let the children hug our motherland tightly." ”
He wants his granddaughter to have Chinese nationality at birth, so he asks her to take some risks and come back to have children.
The granddaughter was born next to her parents, Li Desheng had to come to visit the little one for a while after every day's walk, Li Youyou felt his father's deep love for his children and grandchildren, and then thought that his father had made a very correct decision.
Although working in the United States, Li Youyou also said: "In our family, there are words, more is the teaching, they do things themselves is like this." Subtly, we also learn from them, be a good person, loyal to the country, loyal to the people. ”
As the leader of the party and the army, Li Desheng held a high position before he was born, but did not leave any savings and inheritance for his children, most of the salaries of the husband and wife paid party fees and donated to charity, Cao Yunlian did not leave other wills when she died, only instructed the children to care about the construction and development of the old area of their hometown.
Today, the parents have passed away, some of the six brothers and sisters have retired, and all the children and grandchildren of the Li Desheng family have bachelor's degrees, masters, and doctorates, and almost all of them have received higher education and achieved success.
In addition to their work, the six brothers and sisters will also actively participate in the red activities held in the old revolutionary areas, leading the younger generations to relive the red memory and spread the revolutionary spirit.
Family style is the best inheritance of a family, if Li Desheng's children are the "red second generation", then what they get from their parents is no high-ranking official Houlu, no gold and silver treasures, if parents want to leave any heirlooms for their children, then Li Desheng and his wife left a good family style for their children.