In January 1985, the chief designer deliberately detoured around Nanjing on the southern tour to celebrate the eightieth birthday of a stubborn old friend, and also brought a bottle of Moutai wine stored for 80 years. Who is this old man? Why do you get such a courtesy from the chief designer?
In February 1905, a baby boy was born in Xujiawa, Hepu Village, Tianpu Township, Xinxian County, Henan Province, and his family named him Xu Shiyou. This child has achieved great things in the future.
When it comes to Henan, it is easy to think of the Songshan Shaolin Temple. It is such a coincidence that the protagonist of this article, Xu Shiyou, really went to the Shaolin Temple to practice martial arts when he was a teenager.
In 1927, this once unworldly Shaolin Temple disciple joined the revolution and became a member of the Communist Party. In the ranks of the Red Army, Xu Shiyou showed outstanding military genius. His conducting style is very unique, and he has been evaluated as having a "martial arts atmosphere". He started from a small soldier and went all the way to the commander, which is not surprising. Xu Shiyou is brave and good at war, but he is definitely not a "violent tiger Feng He, who dies without regret", but a person who is "afraid of things and is good at plotting". After ten years of civil war, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the War of Liberation, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and the War of Self-Defense and Counterattack against Vietnam, Xu Shiyou dared to fight a good and vicious battle, had a strong and decisive personality, and once jumped on the beam clown because he was angry but vietnam was fighting the Chinese side's restraint in the war of self-defense and counterattack against Vietnam, and he rushed forward in disregard of the rules set by the central authorities, and almost directly entered the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, and for this reason he also made a review to the central authorities.
Such a famous iron horse general also has softness.
When Xu Shiyou left his parents and left his hometown to make a revolution, he was still a young man in his early twenties, and decades had passed, and his mother was already dying of old age. However, since the dilemma of loyalty and filial piety in ancient times, General Xu Shiyou chose to be loyal to this country that had suffered a lot, and it was difficult to perform filial piety for his mother during the turbulent revolutionary work. For decades, he had visited his mother's home only once when she was critically ill. This visit ended, and shortly after he left his hometown, his mother died. The failure to serve at his mother's knee for decades, and even his own absence from his mother when she died, became the eternal pain and regret of General Xu Shiyou.
In 1956, in order to promote the economical funeral method of cremation to the whole people, the central government drafted a proposal to agree to cremation after a hundred years. At that time, almost all the central leaders signed their names on it. Why do you say "almost"? Because there is a leader who refuses to sign the proposal. This person, as everyone can guess, is Xu Shiyou.
Why was General Xu Shiyou particularly stubborn in this matter? It turned out that the sudden and long death of his mother had always made General Xu Shiyou difficult to let go, and he hoped that he could be buried next to his mother after a hundred years and accompany her forever. If he was cremated, he would not be able to fall leaves and return to the ground and sleep at the side of his mother, which was unbearable for General Xu Shiyou. In fact, if Xu Shiyou was just a commoner, under the circumstances at that time, if he chose to be buried in the earth, it might not be so difficult. However, his high position determined that he must take the lead in abiding by the initiative of the central government and abide by party discipline that is stricter than the national law.
Knowing that Xu Shiyou insisted on refusing to sign, Mao Runzhi personally found Xu Shiyou and talked with him for a long time, but still could not make Xu Shiyou change his mind. In this way, this matter was delayed until Mao Runzhi's death. In this way, things are a little awkward: the main leaders who contributed to this funeral method have all died, and then, who has the final say?
It dragged on until 1985. In January of this year, the chief designer went to Nanjing to celebrate Xu Shiyou's birthday. What no one expected was that shortly thereafter, Xu Shiyou's physical condition deteriorated sharply, to the point where the local hospital in Nanjing could not be treated. People around General Xu Shiyou urged him to go to Beijing for medical treatment, but General Xu Shiyou resolutely refused to go, on the grounds that if I died in Beijing, Beijing would definitely cremate me. I was running out of time and I wanted to see my burial application approved sooner.
In desperation, Beijing sent two doctors to Nanjing on a special plane to treat General Xu Shiyou. At the same time, the chief designer and a cadre of central leaders were caught in trouble. It is not appropriate not to satisfy the last wish of the old revolutionary; but it is also inappropriate for state cadres, especially high-ranking cadres, to flagrantly violate state regulations.
In the end, it was the chief designer who made the decision. After all, General Xu Shiyou has made great achievements in battle all his life, and he is dedicated to the party, and should not even be cruelly deprived of the general's last opportunity to perform filial piety for his mother, which is too unfair to a soldier who dedicates his life to the party, the country, and the people.
Perhaps because the wish has been fulfilled, the veteran who has been fighting all his life and is plagued by illness will soon be unable to hold on. On October 22, 1985, Xu Shiyou passed away unexpectedly. Behind him, he was buried next to his mother's grave in his hometown as he wished, always with her.