There was a "peasant vice premier" in New China, and he was Chen Yonggui. Chen Yonggui has many stories, especially after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as the secretary of the Dazhai Brigade Branch in Xiyang County, Shanxi Province, leading the members of Dazhai not to be afraid of hardship or tiredness, overcoming the very harsh natural environment surrounded by stone mountains, and greatly improving the grain production of Dazhai. It is worth mentioning that in 1952, the grain yield of Dazhai was only 237 kilograms per mu, but under the leadership of Chen Yonggui, it had reached 774 kilograms in 1962.
In 1963, Chairman Mao called for a nationwide "agricultural Dazhai", and the "Dazhai model" quickly became popular throughout the country, and Chen Yonggui also became a household name. Also this year, Dazhai suffered a particularly heavy rainstorm, which washed away many basic agricultural facilities, and many water channels were no longer available. The natural environment of Dazhai is very harsh, and there is no water canal, which means that it can only rely on the sky to eat. In the face of such a natural disaster, the people of Dazhai did not give up, under the leadership of Chen Yonggui, they relied on themselves, struggled hard, and only took more than a year to turn around, and also handed over more than one million catties of grain to the state.
Chen Yonggui, who was born a farmer, led the people of Dazhai to live a happy life, and he also won deep trust and appreciation, and his status continued to improve. In 1975, Chen Yonggui was appointed vice premier and became a deputy state-level cadre of new China. According to the salary standard at that time, the monthly salary of deputy state-level cadres was more than 400 yuan. Don't underestimate this 400 yuan, in that era, a man's salary of tens of yuan a month can support a family, for the average person, 400 yuan salary is absolutely astronomical.
Although Chen Yonggui is a vice-state-level cadre, he does not receive the salary of the vice-state level. In fact, this is Chen Yonggui took the initiative to propose, Chen Yonggui is a common man in Dazhai, he took "work points" in Dazhai, after arriving in Beijing, Chen Yonggui felt that he received a salary again, wouldn't he have received an extra salary? Therefore, he took the initiative to propose not to receive the salary of the vice premier, and although he served as a deputy state-level cadre, he still only received the "work points" of Dazhai.
Beijing is the capital and a big city, unlike Dazhai, where Chen Yonggui is located. Rural areas used to be typical self-sufficiency, so Chen Yonggui in Dazhai only needs to take "work points" to live, after arriving in Beijing, Chen Yonggui still takes "work points", but The "work points" in Dazhai cannot buy things in Beijing, so Chen Yonggui, who does not receive wages, is in trouble in life, and even cannot afford his own food expenses.
Especially when visiting abroad, life is even more stretched. Chen Yonggui has had three times of experience abroad, as a deputy state-level cadre, many people think that they will have special expenses for business trips, in fact, it is not, food expenses and other expenses are still counted on the head of individuals, so every time Chen Yonggui visits abroad, he has to pay his own food expenses. Foreign expenditure is high, Chen Yonggui does not receive wages, at the beginning he can use his own savings, but after a long time, Chen Yonggui is a bit overwhelmed.
Many people have advised Chen Yonggui to receive the salary of a deputy state-level cadre, more than 400 yuan is not a small amount, according to this standard, Chen Yonggui does not have to worry about the problem of food expenses. But Chen Yonggui refused, saying that he was a farmer and could not forget his roots. Although he became a vice premier, he still had to receive "work points", which also reminded himself not to forget his identity as a farmer. In the end, in order to let Chen Yonggui work better, the relevant departments proposed a plan, that is, to give Chen Yonggui a certain living allowance of 120 yuan per month.
Compared with the salary of deputy state-level cadres, although 120 yuan is not much, it solves Chen Yonggui's urgent need, and after that, Chen Yonggui has a fixed subsidy and no longer has to worry about his own food expenses.