Chapter 39 remember happy ditch

More than a dozen of us lined up in a long line, carefully stepping on the ridges of the fields, and walked towards the former "Guiji Ditch" and the current "Happiness Ditch". In Wenjia Village, Dengfeng County, Henan Province, there is such a long ravine: the ravine is full of small grave mounds, and people dare not pass through it even on a night when the moon is white and the wind is clear, because this ravine is a ghost town!Before liberation, it was a desolate, lonely and inaccessible place.It is said that every night, in the deep night, there are ghostly figures floating in a trance, and weeping ghostly voices can be vaguely heard. The name of "Guijigou" spread.

"Guijigou" is the place where the dead of Wencun live together, and the living people of Wencun live and cultivate a land with "less forests and more sand, deep ditches and bald mountains, hard rocks and loose soil"! "When it rains one day it rots, and after it rains there is drought three days." After the mountain torrents, soil erosion, cultivated land decreases year by year, river water increases year by year, but draft water has to be fetched more than ten miles away.Every year, it is either drought or flood, and the grains are not collected.Before liberation, the number of people fleeing famine was about 80% of the total population.There are many ballads in Wencun, which are the local people's records of the painful life in the past:

The dung is added every year, and the dung is not added every season, so it is difficult to harvest enough to plant. The crops are planted every season, but there is no harvest every year. This remote place, the painful years, affected thirty-four men in the local Nangou village, and thirty-two of them could not find a partner.There are five brothers in a family, four of whom have no wives, and another family has seven girls, but five of them are willing to go down the mountain!Wencun has another ballad saying: The sandy ridges cannot grow rich roots, the mountains are poor, the gullies are deep and there is no water, the drinking wells are deep and tired, the land is far away from the big sandy beach, the heels are worn out on the ground, and there is no harvest every year due to drought and flood, and the draft has to be searched far away. Live well, unless you move away from Wencun.

For many years, all the people in Wen Village have this idea: "There is so much water here when it rains, if we can save this water for use, it will be good enough!" The people in Wen Village are hardworking and courageous and wisdom, but before liberation, the courage and wisdom of the people, like water and soil, were lost with mountain torrents every year! After liberation, Wencun, like a dead tree in spring, has sprouted on every dry branch!Under the correct leadership of the Communist Party, cadres and the masses started an arduous struggle against nature; from 1949 to 1954, the irrigated land was expanded from the previous 280 mu to 590 mu Ten acres, although this is not a small amount, the masses and cadres think that the progress is not fast enough, and the communes are separated, and the problem of draft and water has not been completely solved.A leading cadre said: "The cadres working in the local area at that time, whoever poured the washing water away, he was divorced from the masses." Daughter-in-law washes, grandchildren wash, and coal is left in the end!

Since 1958, under the leadership of the Party, the development of Wencun's water conservancy work has been like a sleepy dragon, waking up happily on a thunderstorm spring night, getting rid of the muddy shallow swamp, and flying up to the river with shining scales. Nine days!The work of controlling mountains and rivers has begun magnificently.They worked together, collected years of experience in fighting against mountain torrents, and planned and acted to "cut through the top of Songshan Mountain and block the Yinghe River!" Water and soil engineering is closely combined with and promotes agricultural production, and it is used while building and repairing. In a year, 30 reservoirs, more than 60 large canals, and more than 1,000 grain mills were built.Managed eleven hills, excavated more than 300,000 square meters of earth and stone, and expanded the irrigated area to more than 20,000 mu.The masses have poems about their vigour, and the fruits of their labour:

Crowds of people everywhere. Brilliantly lit at night and full of energy during the day. The reservoir in the valley is shining brightly, subduing the dragon and subduing the tiger to change its appearance, celebrating the harvest twice a year. Combined with water and soil conservation, the forestry of Wen Village has also developed greatly. Now there are more than 520 mu of gardens, 510 mu of seedlings, and 6.3 million trees.There is a poem by the masses that says: Three years later, it will become a treasure, and the clear water will flow everywhere, and the fruit will meet when traveling.

The "happiness ditch" that we rush to now is transformed from the "guiji ditch" full of disasters! I was excitedly thinking about the changes in Wencun, and walked quickly with my head down. The girl next to her, whose face was as red as a big ripe apple, held me back with a smile and said, "Come on slowly, look, the happiness ditch is just ahead!" When I looked up, there was a winding valley in the middle of the green terraced fields on both sides, with layers of valley squares, dividing the valley into dozens of "steps", with dense small trees planted on it. The flowers are blooming and the willows are budding. Under the bright sunshine, the mountains and valleys are full of spring!Within a year or two, it was true that "clear water flows everywhere, and the fruit of the road meets", "Guijigou" has become a forgotten name!

This big apple-faced girl supported me and walked all the way up to the head of the Xingfu Ditch on the top of the mountain. She pointed out to me: the stone pond three or four feet square below the head of the canal is a stilling pool, which prevents the valley from being washed down by mountain torrents. The soil in it was washed away.In the small ditches protruding from both sides of the stilling pool, there are rows of stones not far apart, which are called "ditch belts"; ", are to prevent soil erosion.In addition, there are fish scale pits, horizontal grooves, etc., which I can't understand or remember.This small piece of water storage is like thousands of bright mirrors, shining in the sun. I thought: After the completion of the "Thousands of Banks and Squares" project, the whole area of ​​Wencun will be even more beautiful!

We reluctantly left Xingfugou, walked down the high slope, crossed the dry river bed, and visited the Yuejin Canal which was being dammed;I took the big girl's hand and said with a smile: "You don't want to marry down the mountain!" She shook her head with a smile, but pointed to me a few people in red clothes and The woman in red trousers said: "Those are all brides in our village, and they all went to work on the dam the day after they got married!" She said with joy and pride in her eyes... I Looking at her face, a clear spring of gratitude welled up in my heart. Like the people of Wencun, I am grateful for the great and correct leadership of the party. I am even more grateful to our dear party and the people of Wencun for letting me see The masses closely united around the party are an invincible force in heaven and earth.

Woke Up Spring". )