Chapter 9 Chapter 8 A Shining Example

In the long-term revolutionary struggle of more than 50 years, Ma Mingfang devoted all his efforts and selfless dedication to the party and the people, loyal, diligent, hard-working, and selfless, and made important contributions to the cause of liberation and construction of the Chinese people.In the tortuous and complicated struggle, he himself has been deeply educated and tempered, and has become an outstanding member of the Communist Party of China, developing an excellent work style and noble moral sentiments. Ma Mingfang is very strict with himself. Whether in wartime or peacetime, he always works hard, works day and night, and works for the party and the people.Always breathe with the people, share fate, strive to do a good job, and be a qualified people's servant.

In January 1950, he said in his speech at the inauguration ceremony of the members of the Shaanxi Provincial People's Government: "We are the administrators of the new democratic country, a new type of administrators. The new type of administrators must be impartial and selfless, regardless of personal gains and losses. We must be able to "worry about the world's worries first, and enjoy the world's joys later", and serve the people loyally. We must be able to "forget about public affairs" and "be willing to be like oxen". If we can become such an administrator, we will You can be bold and courageous, you can enhance administrative efficiency indefinitely. You can be full of vigor and vitality, you can "rise as the sun rises", you can have a clear mind, you can "renovate every day" and "new again", and you can obtain all kinds of wisdom and achieve If we win, we won't be "fainted by profit". Therefore, we can gain the love and support of millions of people, we can be firmly combined with the people forever, and we can get endless wisdom and strength from the people. We are not alone. We will not be abandoned by the people; we can do all the things we should do well together with the people, and this is what we should always be vigilant about and strive for.”This is Ma Mingfang's oath, and it is also a true portrayal of his life.He said so, and he did so.

One of Ma Mingfang's remarkable advantages and characteristics is to study hard and make continuous progress.When he was in private school, elementary school, and normal school, he was praised by his classmates and teachers for his excellent academic performance, which laid a considerable foundation of cultural knowledge and developed a habit of loving learning, which enabled him to make continuous progress and acquire spiritual energy. Food has become the driving force for revolutionary work.When he was studying in Suide Normal University, he accepted Marxism and joined the Communist Party of China.In the long-term revolutionary struggles that followed, he always squeezed out time to earnestly study the party's theories, policies and various knowledge, constantly reform his thinking, improve his understanding, and enrich himself.

The rectification movement started in Yan'an in 1942 was a general and profound Marxist education movement for the whole party.Although Ma Mingfang was under house arrest by Sheng Shicai in Xinjiang at that time, he still insisted on studying the rectification documents, and checked his past work and thoughts, distinguished right from wrong, and raised his ideological awareness.He is one of the leading members of the General Study Committee. He studies hard by himself and also guides the study of comrades. He is praised by comrades as a role model for learning.He later told familiar comrades that during this study, he liquidated the influence of Wang Ming's "Left" errors, enhanced his understanding of the correct line of the Party Central Committee headed by Mao Zedong, and had a profound impact on his later work. influences.After he was imprisoned, he still used every possibility to study, and asked the comrades in prison to cherish newspapers and spiritual food.

After returning to Yan'an in 1946, he eagerly studied the party's new democratic theory, principles, and policies, and implemented them in practical work.He often said that the party's correct theory, line, program, and policies are the beacons that guide the revolution to victory. If they are not carefully studied, understood, and mastered, the revolution will inevitably suffer setbacks and failures.During the War of Liberation, he carefully studied a series of important reports and instructions of the Party Central Committee and Mao Zedong. In the area under his leadership, he was able to make correct decisions in the work of land reform, party consolidation and party building, and the work of taking over cities. No large deviation occurred.In the early days of the founding of New China, he took the general line of the Party Central Committee on the transition period as the general outline of his study, read the relevant documents repeatedly, and strived to learn deeply and do his work well.

In 1951, after the first volume of "Selected Works of Mao Zedong" was published, he carefully read each article, and published an article entitled "Mao Zedong Thought is the Banner of Our Victory" in "Mao Zedong Thought", which elaborated on the principles of Mao Zedong Thought. The scientific system calls on all party members and cadres to carry out a campaign to learn Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, requiring everyone to study Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, "must be a strict, serious, and theoretical-practice learning method, and oppose dogma The learning method of doctrine and empiricism." "You must sit firmly on your buttocks and read sentence by paragraph; you must have perseverance and perseverance, and you must work hard to read; you must start the machine, think over and over again, and understand its spiritual essence and interaction. The connection between", "It must be combined with one's own ideological situation and business work", "It must be combined with history and reality." He pointed out: "Marxism-Leninism Mao Zedong Thought is a complete and systematic theoretical science. This kind of theoretical science can only be sincere and realistic, and it cannot be obtained by luck.”He hopes that everyone will "make the best achievements in this area after three to five or five or six years of work."

In the summer of 1959, he led several comrades from the Central Ministry of Finance and Trade to Wuxi to spend three months studying the "Textbook of Political Economy" compiled by the Soviet Union. , conducted an in-depth discussion and drew some insightful insights.For example, on the relationship of production-exchange-circulation-consumption.He expounded his point of view at many financial and trade work conferences, proposing that financial and trade departments must start from production, support production, serve production and people's lives, organize and arrange people's lives, and guide people's consumption to promote production and prosper the market. After the four volumes of "Selected Works of Mao Zedong" were published, he intensively read every article in the book and took many notes.He also purchased a complete set of classics and histories and twenty-four histories, and read them frequently to learn useful knowledge and historical experience from them.During his work in the Northeast Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, he personally led the study of "Several Issues Concerning Party Construction" and "Several Issues Concerning Socialist Construction". The construction of communism must follow objective laws and cannot act with subjective will.He read "Li Gu's Letter to Huang Qiong", "Wei Zheng's Biography", and "Hai Rui's Biography" recommended by Mao Zedong. Spirit.While being detained and tortured by the Lin Biao and Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary groups, he continued to study Chairman Mao's works and "Historical Records" despite his illness, and planned to write party history after he was released from prison.In his life, it can be said that work and study have always been consistent, which is commendable.

Ma Mingfang not only studies hard by himself, but also cares about the study of the staff under his leadership.When he was working in Northwest China, there was a guard named Hui Shi'en, who was originally a shepherd boy in northern Shaanxi and could not read.He teaches Hui Shien to recognize 5 characters every day, and takes an exam once a week.Once, Kao Hui Shien wrote 42 characters, but couldn't write 7 characters.Ma Mingfang said solemnly: "42 characters, 7 characters can't be written, how can this be done! An uneducated person can't do great things." Hui Shien couldn't write "Long live Chairman Mao". Traditional characters are used.Ma Mingfang wrote a big "year" on the paper, and asked Hui Shien to write it down. Hui Shien was deeply moved. He studied hard from then on, and later he could read and write letters. Ma Mingfang was very happy and awarded Hui Shien Shi En, a gold star brand fountain pen.

Ma Mingfang personally organized and led the comrades in the research office to study "Das Kapital" while working in the Central Ministry of Finance and Trade.He pointed out: "Comrades engaged in research work cannot do without a theoretical foundation of Marxism." During his work in the Northeast Bureau, Ma Mingfang attached great importance to the study of in-service cadres, instructed the party committee of the agency to organize cadres to study Mao Zedong's works, and personally made a mobilization report, and personally participated in the "Chairman Mao's Works Study Activist Conference" held by the Northeast Bureau, calling on everyone to study , learn, and learn again.And pointed out: Learning and using Chairman Mao's works well is the prerequisite and condition for our work to succeed.

Ma Mingfang is a pragmatic person, down-to-earth, working hard, seeking truth from facts, and has no intention of grandstanding.He is a deep-minded person, and he doesn't talk much on weekdays. He thinks deeply about issues, speaks and speaks, and is real, not just empty talk.Anyone who has heard or read Ma Mingfang's reports or articles knows that Ma Mingfang never speaks big words, stereotypes, empty words, or lies, and does not use clichés, flowery rhetoric, empty discussions, or interrupted quotations. The second is that there are no words, and the writing is like a person.Most of Ma Mingfang's reports and speeches were written by him himself. In the latter, he presided over the symposium, listened to everyone's opinions, and published his brief introduction. Then others wrote the first draft, which he revised or rewritten throughout.He often said: "In making reports and writing articles, you must have your own views, your own language, and your own style. You can't eat fried rice or leftovers." In June 1958, a national financial and trade work meeting was held in Xinhuixian, Guangdong At that time, a well-known economist began to draft a report on his behalf, with a lot of words, and theoretically expounded the "Great Leap Forward" and the general line.After reading it, Ma Mingfang felt that there were too many discussions and lacked practical content.So he braved the heat and sweat, and wrote a report himself again, talking about 11 problems that were urgently to be solved at work at that time.This is the summary report of the meeting titled "Workers on the Financial and Trade Front Lines, Go Forward with All Your Efforts" published in the "People's Daily" on June 23, 1958.Many important points are raised in it.For example: "Starting from production, support and promote production through purchase and sale activities", "Finance and trade departments should organize and support sideline production", "Establish finance", "Carry out technological revolution", "Establish a mass supervision system", "Cultivate red and Specialized cadre team" and so on were all proposed by him after listening to the speeches of the comrades present at the meeting and after careful consideration, which played a great role in the work of the financial and trade departments across the country.Going to see it today is still relevant.

Ma Mingfang also seeks truth from facts in his approach to work.For example, during the "Great Leap Forward" era, newspapers often reported that satellites were placed in a certain place, and the yield per mu exceeded 10,000 jin, etc., but he did not believe it.He said: "I have planted land, and it takes a lot of effort to increase the yield by 10 to 20 catties per mu. First, we must have plenty of manure and water, and we must hoe frequently. Chemical fertilizers, construction of water conservancy, good varieties and new technologies, can’t reach the sky in one step, and the yield per mu can be increased by several thousand catties or even ten thousand catties at once. Don’t brag and lie to yourself.” In 1958, he was ordered by the central government to During the inspection work in northern Shaanxi, people from all over the country expressed their disapproval of the matter of felling trees and making steel.He told the Secretary of the Juzhi County Party Committee: "Northern Shaanxi does not have the conditions for large-scale steel smelting. If it is not done well, I am afraid that the trees will be cut down before the steel is smelted. The consequences will be disastrous."When he went to the countryside to investigate, the old man and his mother-in-law complained to him: "The old man has no teeth and the baby is small. There is really no way to eat the same pot of rice." How can they survive the winter if they don’t heat up?” “Pigs and dogs can’t even eat swill, what should we do?” After returning to Beijing, Ma Mingfang truthfully reported to Tan Zhenlin and Li Xiannian, and expressed his opinions.Subsequent facts proved that his opinion was in line with reality. In March 1959, when Ma Mingfang went to Guizhou to inspect his work, he saw a slogan on the wall of a restaurant in Zunyi County, "Eat without money." Money may not be a long-term solution." In September and October of this year, at the National Rural Work Ministerial Conference held by the central government in Tianjin, some comrades advocated taking advantage of poverty and transitioning to brigade or commune accounting.Ma Mingfang attended the meeting and expressed disagreement with this opinion in his speech.During the Lushan Conference, Peng Dehuai was criticized for writing a letter to Mao Zedong.Ma Mingfang said to the comrades around him: "I don't see the problem." So he rarely spoke at the meeting. In 1964, Lin Biao publicly slandered "Zhu De has ambitions" at a cadre meeting.Ma Mingfang said angrily: "Commander Zhu is highly respected, so what kind of ambition does he have?" Ma Mingfang is fair and decent, loyal and honest, never cares about personal gains and losses, and never asks for credit or blame.He seldom told others the history of his past arduous struggles, never boasted of his achievements, and never concealed his shortcomings and mistakes. In the spring of 1931, after he was captured by the enemy and broke free, he went to Shanxi to find Liu Tianzhang, requesting to tell the story of his arrest to the Northern Shaanxi Special Committee of the Communist Party of China and was appointed as an inspector by the Shanxi Special Committee of the Communist Party of China.Under the white terror at that time, this was a common occurrence, but later he reviewed in his autobiography that it was wrong to go to Shanxi at that time. In the spring of 1951, a man named "Li Wanming" forged a letter from the head of the Second Field Army to Ma Mingfang, requesting assignment of work. Ma Mingfang agreed. In 1955, it was found out that this person was a political liar. On March 1, 1956, "People's Daily" published an article "The Ins and Outs of a Big Scam", saying that Li Wanming's forged letter should have been discovered by Wang Li, secretary of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee. , but didn't see it, and dealt with it without authorization.After reading it, Ma Mingfang wrote a letter to the Organization Department of the Central Committee to explain, and passed it on to the Organization Department of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee.The letter said: "Comrade Wang Li asked me for instructions on this matter. The fault is mine, and Comrade Wang Li should not be responsible."When he worked in the Northwest Bureau, the administrative salary level was rated as the third level, but when he learned that Zhang Dingcheng and other comrades were rated as the fourth level, he wrote a report to the central government, requesting that his level be lowered from the third level to the fourth level. During the anti-rightist struggle in 1957, the Ministry of Finance and Trade of the Central Committee wrongly criticized and disciplined three comrades, and one comrade was wrongly classified as a rightist. In 1962, after studying with Bai Qian, Huang Zhi and other comrades, he apologized to the comrades who worked in the Northeast.For comrades working in other areas, Bai Qian wrote letters to explain the situation, and they were all rehabilitated and corrected later.Ma Mingfang was very worried about this matter, thinking that the problem was taken seriously at that time. Ma Mingfang respects and cares for the comrades who work with him.During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, he lived on the same kang with everyone, and they often had heart-to-heart talks and got along well with each other. He was called "Old Horse" or "Brother Ma" by his comrades.After liberation, he successively held important leadership positions, without any official airs, treated his comrades with sincerity, and spoke freely.When some comrades were hospitalized due to illness, he often visited them in person to ask about their health and comfort. Ma Mingfang is dignified, respectful, serious and upright. Even in midsummer, he always dresses neatly and always sits upright in meetings.Talk and do things, do your duty, and don't show your edge.At work, he is good at listening to other people's opinions, and he is never self-righteous.When he was tortured to the brink of death by Lin Biao, Jiang Qing, and Kang Sheng, he wrote many times to Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai to reflect the bad behavior of the interrogators to extract confessions by torture, but under the circumstances at that time, he could not be sent to the central government.But he is not discouraged, and firmly believes that one day the truth will come to light.He also told a riddle to his daughter who was visiting him in the hospital: "Red lantern, green treasure cover, elder sister mentions, younger sister loves." His daughter couldn't guess, so he said meaningfully: "This is pepper. There is a riddle in the riddle. The shell, peel off the shell, and the essence will be revealed. Be like a pepper, the redder the hotter, and the taste will never change." Before he died, he also taught his children: "A person is not decent, and life is meaningless. Be a person and do things. You must be honest, one is one, and the other is two. This is the minimum morality of being a human being." Ma Mingfang lived a hard and simple life, self-serving and frugal.He basically ate common meals in northern Shaanxi, millet porridge, Qianqian rice (a kind of porridge cooked with flattened black beans and millet), glutinous rice, noodles, and fried cakes during New Years and festivals.When guests come to entertain guests, they only cook a few more dishes.Sometimes, when the cook chops cabbage and throws away the cabbage, he picks it up again and says, "This is a good thing. I couldn't even eat this in the past!" It is related to the habit of liking neatness.At that time, all the utensils were distributed by the public, and he only had a few large bookcases, which were all confiscated during the "Cultural Revolution", and they have not been whereabouts to this day.He used to smoke dry tobacco and paper cigarettes. When he participated in the first National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 1949, he saw that many people older than him did not smoke, so he made up his mind to quit. Of course, no one is perfect, and Ma Mingfang is not perfect either. He has his own shortcomings and weaknesses.As Lu Xun said, a complete fly is a fly, and a fighter with flaws is a fighter.Lin Biao, Jiang Qing, Kang Sheng and a group of "flies" buzzed around Ma Mingfang for a while, but they did not damage his glorious life in the slightest.His ideology, morality and work style are shining examples worthy of our eternal study.