In the process of building the Hongqi Canal, the leading body of Linxian County endured many political storms and difficulties and twists and turns, and most of the leaders at higher levels gave support, but some of them constantly obstructed it. What they remember is that there was a deputy prime minister who sincerely apologized to them after knowing that his criticism was wrong. Encountering such a leader is the blessing of Yang Gui and the luck of the Red Flag Canal!
In order to change the situation of severe water shortage and people's life in Linxian County, under the leadership of Yang Gui, secretary of the county party committee, the people of Linxian County excavated mountains and chiseled stones from 1960 to 1969, and built an artificial Tianhe River with a trunk and branch canal of 1500 kilometers on the Taihang Mountain, which fundamentally solved the water problem of the people of Linxian County.
On February 11, 1960, the construction of the Hongqi Canal officially began, at a time when the country was experiencing natural disasters and serious difficulties in the Soviet Union's debt. Soon after, the central authorities issued repeated orders and repeatedly demanded that all infrastructure projects throughout the country be suspended and dismantled, and a hundred-day rest be implemented to reduce the peasants' burdens.
In this case, is the Hongqi Canal built or stopped? It was placed in front of the Linxian County CPC Committee, especially Yang Gui, secretary of the county party committee. After repeated thinking, Yang Gui said at the enlarged meeting of the county party committee: The country's economy is in difficulty and grain is in short supply, and the instructions of the superiors must be carried out, and most of the migrant workers return to the production team for a hundred days of rest. However, the enthusiasm of the masses to repair canals is high, and it is a pity and waste to see that the water cannot be used at the doorstep of the home, and from the actual point of view, we still have tens of millions of kilograms of reserve grain in our county, leaving only 300 people to dig holes and mobilize youth party members to voluntarily sign up.
In this way, the Red Flag Canal continued to move forward. More than 300 young people "gnawed on the bones" and fought hard for 500 days, and opened the 616-meter throat project "Youth Hole" on the cliffs, winning a key historical opportunity for the construction of the Hongqi Canal.
Just when Hongqiqu achieved its first stage victory, in the second half of 1961, Tan Zhenlin, vice premier of the State Council, went to the Qiliying Commune in Xinxiang, Henan Province. In early September, he participated in the "left" meeting of the Xinxiang Prefectural Committee at the Yubei Hotel. At the meeting, some people took the opportunity to exaggerate the temporary difficulties that existed in Linxian County at that time, and in spite of the facts, they reflected to Tan Zhenlin: "The masses in Linxian County had no food to eat, and they stripped off all the bark, and the county party committee was still vigorously engaged in the construction of the Red Flag Canal in order to hold high the red flag and disregard the lives of the masses. "The masses' lives are so bitter that they still let the mountains and canals be repaired, which is even more harsh than qin shi huang building the Great Wall and the Sui Dynasty emperor digging canals."
Tan Zhenlin, who loved the people, listened and thought that the situation in Linxian Was very serious, the people could not survive anymore, and the county party committee was actually still building the Hongqi Canal, so he criticized Yang Gui on the spot as a dead bureaucrat and wanted to remove him from his post.
Lu Jialin, director of the organization department of the Linxian County PARTY Committee who attended the meeting, said: "The leading comrades criticized Linxian County, and the situation they talked about did not conform to reality. "As a result, he was immediately removed. On September 7, Yang Gui was notified to go to the prefectural party committee for a meeting. After he arrived at the prefectural committee, he felt that the atmosphere was very tense, and some comrades did not dare to talk to him and shake hands.
After the secretary of the local party committee talked to him about the meeting, he put forward three opinions: First, Lugarin's opinion is correct, and if he is dismissed because he seeks truth from facts and tells the truth, this is really a violation of the "three noes"; second, he does not agree to the dismissal of Lugarin's post, and if the construction of the Red Flag Canal is wrong, the responsibility is on him, and he will bear it; third, he will ask the prefectural party committee to report his opinion to the provincial party committee and the party Central Committee.
The comrade-in-arms who had been fighting with him during the war years, then the deputy secretary of the county party committee of Hui County, stood outside the door and hurriedly said a few words: "Old Yang, someone sued you in front of Vice Premier Tan, and the vice premier was particularly annoyed when he heard it today, and he wants to remove you from your post. "After saying that, I turned my head and left.
Yang Gui said that he did not fall asleep that night: "The Peace Officer is so good, I Yang Gui did not repair this canal, no one will accuse me, the comrades in the team do not repair this canal, nor will it affect their promotion in the slightest. Isn't it just a plan for a common man to be able to live and work in peace and contentment and seek the welfare of the people of LinXian County? ”
He thought about it all night, and finally decided that there was nothing wrong with building this canal, for the sake of the people, for the sake of the people, and to tell the truth.
At the meeting the next day, Yang Gui said: The construction of the Hongqi Canal is an urgent demand of the people of Linxian County, and if there is an error in the construction of the Hongqi Canal, it is okay to remove him from his post, and lu Jialin, the director of the organization department, can be removed from his post, but he does not agree. Then Yang Gui talked about the actual situation in Linxian County: In those years of drought and lack of water, 160,000 people crossed the mountains and mountains to a river more than a dozen miles away to fetch water to eat; every year, linxian people who took water from afar, countless people who fell and were injured, and even fell to their deaths; without water, crops could not grow in the field, and without water, they could only leave their hometowns.
Doesn't our Party want to be the master of the people? As a party member and as a party cadre, the principle of party spirit does not allow me to watch the crops grow in the fields of Linxian County, and to watch my fathers and fellow villagers suffer and leave their hometowns!
Moreover, at that time, most of the migrant workers who built canals had already withdrawn, leaving only a small number of people digging youth holes; there were still a certain amount of reserve grain at the three levels of Linxian County, Society, and Team, which was by no means what some people said; and building canals and diverting water as soon as possible was for the sake of the thirsty Linxian masses. What I say is the truth, please organize a serious investigation.
On that day, Vice Premier Tan Zhenlin did not say a word, he gestured with his hand to Yang Gui to sit down and speak, and then adjourned the meeting. Subsequently, he immediately sent his staff to LinXian to investigate, and a week later, the comrades of the investigation team returned and reported that what Yang Gui said was the truth!
At the meeting, the first thing Tan Zhenlin said was: I want to apologize to the comrades in LinXian County and to Comrade Yang Gui, I was wrong. He very solemnly asked all the provincial and municipal leaders and cadres at all levels attending the meeting to make it clear that the fathers and fellow villagers of Linxian County have already won the first stage victory in the construction of the Hongqi Canal by their own hands, and if you do not express anything again, wait until one day in the future when the canal is completed and the water flows over, I will see what face you have to meet the fathers and fellow villagers of Linxian County.
Lugarine was soon reinstated. Moreover, two weeks later, the first batch of support funds from the superiors hit the account for the construction of the Hongqi Canal, which was really a blessing in disguise. On December 25, 1963, Tan Zhenlin and Comrade Li Xiannian coordinated with the Ministry of Water and Electricity and the State Planning Commission to include the Hongqi Canal project in the national plan, which was an important step and provided a guarantee for the follow-up project of the Hongqi Canal.
Later, Tan Zhenlin protected Yang Gui, and Tan Zhenlin's frank mind touched Yang Gui.