Chapter 65 Go to Qinglong Bridge

A few days ago, I went to Qinglong Bridge again, visited the Qinglong Bridge team in the fork road management area of ​​Kangzhuang People’s Commune, and went to the Great Wall... On this day, I was surrounded by joyful and warm air! The motivation for going to Qinglong Bridge again is this: Thirty-seven years ago, when I was a student, I went to Qinglong Bridge on the National Day of that year, and wrote a very emotional article when I came back.A long time ago, a friend suggested that I should go again.But this year's National Day, I will never leave this glorious city of Beijing!I took some time to fulfill this long-cherished wish with two young friends before the National Day.

Going to Qinglong Bridge, it is by no means "seeking dreams", because people who are struggling to wake up from nightmares should never "seek" the nightmares that overwhelm them; Because the object you are visiting is new rather than old, younger rather than older.New wine cannot be put in old wineskins, it is better to use a new metaphor: for example, you are visiting a friend who has been recovering from a long illness, and he is getting better day by day; Trees, they grow taller and thicker every year.You are not going to look for troubles with desolation, feeling old, generosity and sorrow, but you are full of ardent hope to meet the brimming joy!

My hope has not failed, and it always brings me new joy: Xizhimen Station decorated with lights and colorful flowers; the station square with colorful flowers; I patted the little train attendant who was smiling and greeted me; new factories and school buildings passed by outside the car window, and a large stretch of green fields; the most dazzling thing was the belt standing beside the field. A child with a red scarf; among the green bushes, a little bright red, what fresh poetic flavor is contained in it! After passing the south entrance, the surrounding mountains are still green!I didn't see the red leaves of the persimmon tree, but only the big red and yellow cars full of foreign guests, flickering around the green rock.On the rocks and on the bridgeheads, you can see the slogans made by Beijing Normal University: "Overcome Nature, Transform Thoughts", "Attack to Barren Mountains", etc. What a cute and happy young people, what a piece you have been assigned Mountains to engage in "greening" Oh!

Many people got off from Qinglongqiao Station, a large group of students from Renmin University, there must be seventy or eighty people, they stopped for a while under the bronze statue of Mr. Zhan Tianyou, and then ran up the mountain laughing and chattering.We didn't follow, but passed through the railway dormitory, first went to the Qinglongqiao Police Station, which was full of flowers and plants on the hillside, and asked: Where is the home of the Qinglongqiao production team leader in the Chadao Management District of Kangzhuang People's Commune?Following the fingertips of the white-clothed policeman, in the shade of green trees at the foot of the slope, behind the gurgling brook, there is a small courtyard surrounded by flowers, which is the residence of production leader Li Jingxiang.

We went down the slope, crossed the small bridge, and walked into the courtyard gate. It was quiet inside, what an elegant place!There are flowers on the window sills of the main room and the east wing, in the yard and in front of the steps.There was a guillotine on the floor, some carpentry tools, and some freshly chopped wood.We opened the bamboo curtain and went into the upper room. Someone in the inner room stood up and greeted us. He said that the captain had gone to the field. This is his home and office. Please wait for a while, and then walked out. We took a closer look in the room, and there were many large sheets of red paper pasted on the wall, which were production guarantees submitted to the commune after reading the communiqué of the Eighth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee.There are also "Farmer's Daily", papers such as forms, and abacus stationery on the table.We went to the courtyard again, and Li Jingxiang ran in from outside.This is a young man under 30 years old - when I went to Qinglong Bridge last time, he was not there yet! ——He is wearing a gray-blue shirt, blue trousers, bare feet, and blue cloth shoes; he has a rectangular face, a crew cut, and simplicity and enthusiasm in his brows.He shook hands with us, read the letter of introduction carefully, and then smiled and let us into the room.We drank boiled water and started talking.

This young captain, like the 500 million peasants in China, had no food, no warm clothes, and no culture before liberation. There are only about 20 households in this small village, and most of them have only two months of food a year, and they only make ends meet by collecting grass and firewood or doing part-time labor.During the Japanese occupation period, many young people ran away. During the Kuomintang period, because of the arrest of soldiers, there were even fewer young people.Planting the land along the Great Wall is to leave the Badaling Pass, but the working hours are very short. You cannot go out before 8:00 in the morning, and you must come back before 4:00 pm, because the Kuomintang has closed the pass for fear that the Eighth Route Army will come in.But people and the Eighth Route Army not only did not sever contact, but also had very close contact.In November 1948, Qinglong Bridge was liberated before Beijing.

There was a smile on the young man's face: "After liberation, we first set up a mutual aid group. In 1956, we established the Badaling High-level Society. This is the twelfth production team. In 1958, we established the Kang Zhuang People's Commune, where more than 70 households from five villages of Sanbao, Shifosi, Shanghuayuan, and Huangtu formed a team. It was raised to 150 catties, and it was raised again in 1958. It may be worse this year because of the cold rain, but with the People’s Commune, the difference will not be much worse.” At this time, there was a sound from the bamboo curtain outside, as if several people had come in, and then there was a very crisp and tender voice of a child, shouting: "Father, it's time to eat." Li Jingxiang raised his head as if embarrassed, and said to the outside: " You go first. Huh?"

We hurriedly closed our notebooks, put our pens on, and said with a smile, "We won't delay your meal." He hurriedly stood up and stopped us, saying: "Not busy, let's talk for a while." So he started talking about his two children, then talked about his lover, their life, and their development prospects.If he kept talking about the beautiful prospect, it would not only delay his meal, but also delay his work.We had no choice but to say goodbye resolutely, walked across the small bridge, he smiled and waved to us, and walked behind the slope. We looked back at this "small bridge and flowing water family" with affection. At this time, by the stream under the small bridge, there was a girl in a pink gown who was washing her clothes with her head down. A beautiful picture unfolded in front of us. Unfortunately, we Will not copy!

We followed the wide asphalt road and zigzag up to Badaling. From time to time, there were big cars going up and down the mountain, passing by us.More than 30 years ago, this was a rough dirt road. We rode donkeys, and even if there was no wind, we would kick up clouds of dust. If there were so many big cars at that time, all of us who walked would have become natives ! Walking into the tall dome gate embedded with the four characters "Juyong Wai Town", this small urn city is also planted and under construction!Several houses on the hillside to the north have already been built, carpenters are still building large glass cabinets, and the air is filled with the fragrance of cypress. This is a restaurant and sales office, and many foreign guests are coming in and out.Cars of all sizes are parked beside the avenue that traverses the East and West Gates.There are still piles of bricks, tiles, earth and rocks on the slope to the south, waiting for construction to start.

We sat down at the stone table outside the teahouse, brewed a pot of tea, and ate dry food.Looking around, there are majestic Great Walls up and down the mountains, like a few thick and strong iron cables, tightly holding down the sea of ​​​​the torrential mountains!Inside and outside the city wall, there are crescent-shaped fish scale pits that overlap continuously, and densely packed small green holes... After eating dry food in a hurry, we walked towards the city wall.The steps on the wall were newly repaired, and we climbed up them without any difficulty, passed one castellation after another, and we stopped before we reached the highest floor.Looking to the west, there is a gap between the mountains and ridges. Looking all the way to the past, it is the Guanting Reservoir covered by water, which is extremely gentle and bright in the distance.

The reason why Badaling has become a tourist attraction is that the Great Wall here is not one piece, but has urns, continuous battlements, and several city walls criss-crossing.Apparently, from this gap, there have been galloping "Huqi" in the past dynasties. As long as they can climb up and pass through this pass, the southeast of Juyong will not be the world of the Han family.This is the reason why the four big characters "North Gate Lock and Key" are embedded on the west-facing dome gate opposite to "Juyong Outer Town". The literati and bachelors who have come here since ancient times, the poems they wrote, and the emotions they uttered do not fall into these two categories: one is people who come to travel in troubled times, and they sigh and say that there is such a majestic and tall Great Wall in vain, "Hu "Cavalry" still came in, and the Central Plains were still reduced to the barbarians; one category was people who came to visit in a more peaceful era, and they also lamented that if Huairou had a way, why did they drive hundreds of thousands of strong men at that time, causing such deep public resentment? Although their dissatisfaction with the ruling class may vary, their voices are all depressed, and at best they are "tragic".After reading their works, and climbing the Great Wall again, hopeless young people will groan without illness! Now, the times have changed, unprecedentedly changed, and people whose minds are filled with "the bright moon in the Qin Dynasty and the pass in the Han Dynasty" and "the general's white hair conscripting his husband's tears" are full of emotion on this green and vibrant Great Wall. get up!You see, today's Great Wall is no longer a tool for "rejecting Hu", but just one of the many open doors in our national family.Compatriots of all nationalities, as well as many of our foreign guests, have come here to visit and admire this great tower, which represents the crystallization of the strength and wisdom of our 650 million people.We get infinite confidence and strength from this great old building.You see, these countless fish scale pits, countless dark green concave holes, just in these holes, how many young people of New China have put their infinite enthusiasm, infinite hope, infinite confidence, and Boundless joy.Three to five years later, the newly-born endless trees and flowers will surround the city wall, turning Badaling into a sea of ​​strength and wisdom of the Chinese people! At that time, of course I was still there.When the young production team leader, Li Jingxiang, lived to be my age... and the child who called Li Jingxiang's father with a crisp voice, lived to my age, our dear motherland , What a prosperous and powerful country it should be!What a peaceful and happy world should our human world be! Living in the new era, under the correct guidance of the party, people who march forward singing along with 650 million people will never know that "old age is coming"!We went down the mountain, and when we were waiting for the bus at the station, seventy or eighty college students were laughing and chattering in the station room hung with huge posters. Some were playing chess, some were playing cards, and some were reading books. , Watching them come and go like balls, laughing heartily, although I sat quietly, my mood blended with them.My heart is silently calling out to them, to people who are younger and younger than them: Let us all work harder, the future peaceful and happy world is ours! September 25, 1959, Beijing. (This article was originally published in "People's Daily" on October 8, 1959, and later included in the collection of essays "Praise of Cherry Blossoms".)