Chapter 13 Chapter Three: The Long Road to Appeal——5 Pushed to the top

After Wang Hongchao was detained for more than seven months, he was "sentenced for one sentence and suspended for two years" and released, and finally returned to Wangying.Only after returning to the village did I find out that when the county was clearing Wangying Village, not only did it completely destroy his house, but also mixed the 8,000 packets of rat poison he bought into the wheat hoard, making more than 5,000 catties of grain It is highly toxic and cannot be eaten.His wife, Li Lan, became mentally ill on the spot; her daughter, Wang Lingling, was also stimulated and was unable to continue her studies. She has stayed at home and cannot hear the sound of the police car.

Seeing his wife and daughter suffer such injustice, Wang Hongchao couldn't help crying.He recalled a passage from a petitioner who had read in a newspaper: "Farmers in history chose to file first, and farmers today choose to petition first. They are all committed to finding a way to uphold justice for themselves. The current direct resistance of farmers, especially organized direct resistance, is mainly due to the failure of scattered and moderate petitioning efforts, and the original honest farmers have become less "gentle, courteous and thrifty". Excessive behavior is also understandable. This is a criticism of education. Compared with the relevant departments who spare no effort to cover up those corrupt village officials and township cadres with solid evidence, the approach to farmers is too much, the contrast is too great, and the position is too great. It's 'clear'!"

Seeing this passage at the time, Wang Hongchao was truly moved.However, at this moment, when Wang Hongchao thought of this passage, he was not only kind, but also surprised. He found that the complaint worker's judgment was like commenting on what happened in front of Linquan County. He thought that the reason why the Linquan County Public Security Bureau dared to arrest the three petitioning representatives at the relief station of the Central Letters and Calls Bureau must have fabricated lies to deceive comrades in Beijing.So his first thought was not to immediately seek medical treatment for his wife and daughter, but to go to Beijing again to overthrow all the falsehoods imposed on them.Thinking of this level, I can't help but think of the witness testimony read out in court by the county procuratorate as the public prosecutor when the county court was in session.

Wang Hongchao started to act.He found the villagers Shao Xiying, Wang Laizhi and Wang Haichao respectively.If you don't look for it, you don't know. When you look for it, you are shocked. It turns out that those so-called "witness testimony" are all carefully prepared! Shao Xiying did not appear in court when the county court was in session. The villagers came back and told her that one of her testimony was read out in court. Shao Xiying was surprised.She said that on April 2nd, she went to bed as soon as it got dark, and had no idea what was going on outside; she was still illiterate and could not write any evidence, and she had never published any materials. Fingerprints were pressed on it.She said anxiously: "If there is my evidence, it is either that someone deliberately framed me, or used me to frame other people."

Wang Laizhi said that someone from the County Public Security Bureau came to him and showed him two copies of the materials. He said he could not read, so the other party read the list on the materials and asked him: "Are there any such people in your village?" He said, "Yes." The other party wrote another document and asked him to get his fingerprints.Because he didn't know what the other party wrote on the material, he didn't want to press it.At this time, Han Chunsheng, Secretary of the Party Committee of Baimiao Town, came over and said: "Press what should be pressed, and I guarantee that it is not your business!" Secretary Han wrote this sentence on the materials brought by the public security personnel and now All materials are fingerprinted.It was only later that I found out that he was asked to accuse several petitioners of "criminal testimonies".

Wang Haichao was even more angry.He never said that Wang Junbin, Wang Xiangdong and Wang Hongchao had beaten the police, and his "evidence" was pure fabrication.He said, they were memorizing what I was talking about, and they didn't read anything to me, so they asked me to press my fingerprints, but when I read it out in court, the content changed completely!In order to achieve an ulterior purpose, they even set up a trap for people to fall into, they are planting it! Wang Dengyou and Wang Gaofeng, who were accused of taking part in the April 2nd incident of "beating, smashing and looting", also angrily wrote appeal materials, explaining that they were not in the village at all at the time, one was in Henan and the other was in Shanxi. Working in other places, this kind of bullshit "testimony" is really fabricated out of nothing!

Faced with the real testimonies of these witnesses, Wang Hongchao was extremely shocked. It was the last days of 1994. Wang Hongchao, with a pot of fire in his heart, faced the cold northwest wind at the end of the year, and led 73 fathers and villagers of Wangying Village to step on the road for the fourth time. Get on the train to Beijing. They put aside the "burden of farmers" for the time being, and made a special trip to Beijing to accuse Linquan County Party Secretary Zhang Xide's bloody crimes of suppressing innocent people. Zhang Xide was really furious when he learned that the villagers of Wangying had once again gone to Beijing to appeal.He gritted his teeth and said, "I would rather give up an arm than fight you to the end!"

However, this was a disappointing investigation, because since the Linquan County Party Committee was involved in the investigation team to investigate the "April 2" incident for which the Linquan County Party Committee could not shirk its responsibility, the objectivity of the results was doomed. Big discounts. We have seen a "Written Return Visit Material" copied by this joint investigation team to the Central Letters and Calls Bureau. The material not only evades the relevant regulations of the state's burden reduction policy, but does not mention whether the burden on farmers in Wangying Village is too heavy. Many of the figures released are also misleading, concealing the nature of the problem, and even openly covering up the corrupt behavior of town and village cadres.For example, in 1992, the "Shangjiao Town" in the village was more than 111,790 yuan. What was the money used for?Should they come out of the village?None are explained.For example, in many places, the whereabouts of the money was "repayment of the loan from the former village leader" or "other loans", and the amount was huge. Were these loans embezzled by the village cadres, or embezzled?Why should the villagers apportion this unaccounted-for loan?Neither said a word.In short, most of the "Written Return Interview Materials" are muddled accounts, but the "provincial, prefectural and county investigation team" has a surprising conclusion: "The accounts are clearly handled, and no corruption of village cadres has been found."

The investigation team not only made a "report" to the Central Letters and Calls Bureau according to the characterization of the "April 2" incident by the Linquan County Party Committee, but still collectively referred to Wang Junbin, Wang Xiangdong, Wang Hongchao, Wang Hongqin, Wang Hongzhang, and Wang Hongjun as "criminals"; After leaving the detention center, he took people to Beijing to appeal again, but the "Written Return Visit Materials" wrote: "After the verdict was delivered to the two defendants, both defendants agreed to accept the sentence and would not appeal."

The investigation report of this kind of mutual protection between officials and officials was sent to the Central Letters and Calls Bureau. Although he was not arrested at the relief station of the Central Letters and Calls Bureau like the last time when he petitioned in Beijing, he could only return without success. The investigators sent by the provincial party committee and the prefectural committee also vented their anger on the county, which caused the people in Wangying to fall into complete despair.On New Year's Day in 1995, and the Spring Festival that followed, there was no festive atmosphere in the village.After the beginning of spring, it was the busy season for spring plowing and spring planting in various rural areas, but a large number of Wangying people left Linquan County one after another, and went to work in other places to make a living.

"th".People stopped petitioning, but the Party and government organizations at the town and village levels in Baimiao Town and Wangying Village were reduced to nothing. The superficial calm conceals the sharp contradictions that have not been resolved.The Fuyang Prefectural Committee and the Administrative Office did not learn from the many large-scale petitions by farmers in Wangying Village, and the county party secretary Zhang Xide became even more reckless.By 1995, the burden on farmers in Linquan County was further increased, and the various taxes and fees issued by the region increased significantly. The "double-based education fee" alone cost 25 yuan per farmer; In Baimiao Town, it becomes 40 yuan per capita.Now that the higher authorities can increase the "double-based education fee", all kinds of chaotic apportionments will follow.In some administrative villages in Baimiao Town, the burden of farmers accounted for 15.26% of the per capita income of the previous year, more than three times the national "maximum limit"! In the autumn of 1995, the villagers of Wangying, whose family was already in shambles, suffered yet another catastrophe.On September 1, the county sent to Wangying Village to "carry out a family planning surprise inspection activity", and the team had as many as 300 members!Among them, many team members are of extremely poor quality, behave badly, and have serious violations of rights. They also set up names for those who are not part of the family planning targets, levy and punish them randomly, and drive pigs, lead sheep, dig food, and pull furniture if they don't follow suit. , and even forcibly smashed doors and grilled houses, beat and arrested people.Not counting this, the work team dared to divide the fined money privately, and asked the villagers to pay the wages of more than 300 people and the round-trip bus fare every day. The villagers in Wangying Village were so angry that their lungs exploded, and they finally gathered again, and the climax of the fifth petition erupted.This time, the petitioning villagers felt a sense of tragedy that "the strong man is gone forever".They knew very well that if they did not succeed this time, the people of Wangying would not be able to survive. There is no way out. They didn't leave themselves a way out. It was Wang Hongchao, the village representative, who stepped forward and led this death-defying petitioning team. It was the golden autumn of October in 1995. In Beijing, the capital of China, two incidents related to Linquan County, Anhui Province occurred one after another to the shock of the world. Therefore, Zhang Xide, secretary of the Linquan County Party Committee, was destined to bury the ground for himself. hidden dangers pay the price. On October 4th, just two days after the 46th anniversary of the Republic of China, Li Xinwen, a farmer from Liwan Village, Chengguan Town, Linquan County, came to Beijing to appeal. Li Xinwen, in desperation, first tried to crash a car at the front door, and jumped off the building at the Yongdingmen Relief Station in the early morning of the 5th. suicide! This is something that has never happened since the establishment of the relief station by the Letters and Calls Bureau of the State Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. This matter should not have happened, or in other words, it should not have happened in such a place, so the impact it caused was extremely bad. Then, on October 27, 74 farmers from Wangying Village, Baimiao Town, Linquan County rushed to Beijing under the leadership of Wang Hongchao.Almost on foot, on October 29, forty-six petitioning peasants from Zhaozhuang, Huangzhuang, and Zhanglou from Tianqiao Township, Linquan County also arrived in Beijing. Tianqiao Township is just as overwhelmed as Baimiao Township. What’s more, Tianqiao Township’s adjustment and misappropriation of the collective funds of each village is even worse than that of Baimiao Township. More than 600,000 yuan was paid, which caused difficulties in the expenditure of village-level funds, and the villages frantically hitchhiked more money; especially in the autumn of 1995, the surprise inspection of family planning was carried out in Tianqiao Township for 50 days. The fines for arbitrary levying and chaos were as high as more than 2.5 million yuan, making people miserable. A large number of farmers from two townships in one county collectively petitioned, especially Wangying Village, Baimiao Township. This is the fifth time in three years that they went to Beijing to appeal. Besides, they have noticed that the farmers in Wangying are determined this time, and they look like they are "breaking the boat", and they have a premonition that something may happen, so they secretly took precautions.However, there is no way to prevent it.On October 29th, which was Sunday, Tiananmen Square was full of crowds. Farmers from Wangying Village who went to Beijing to appeal still escaped the eyes of the staff at the relief station and walked into Tiananmen Square one after another.According to the plan in advance, they came to the flag and suddenly knelt down collectively. They are determined to appeal to the central government at the cost of their lives, to avenge the people's grievances, and to clear the country's law. They know that doing so in such a world-famous place will have a very bad international impact on the country, especially Beijing, and will discredit the Party and the people's government.However, they obviously can't think of any other way, and they can't think of a way to shake the souls of those who have become numb to the suffering of the people. Since ancient times, the government has forced the people to rebel, but they did not rebel. They still only came to report their grievances to the organization, and they were looking for the party organs and the people's government.Their support for the party has not changed, and their trust in the people's government has not changed.Risking their lives to go to Beijing, looking for the party and the government, just hope that the good policy of the Party Central Committee and the State Council to reduce the burden on farmers will be implemented on the land where they live one day soon; the injustice imposed on them by the county and town , can be clarified one day earlier. The central authorities finally took action.They immediately notified the officials in charge of Anhui Province and related counties to go to Beijing overnight, and in the afternoon they sent officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Supreme People's Court, the Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection, and the State Family Planning Commission and other relevant central and state departments. Person in charge, please come together to study the specific issues raised by the petitioning farmers. Wang Hongchao and two other farmer representatives were invited to the meeting and stated the reasons for going to Beijing to appeal. The comradely attitude of the Ministry of Agriculture is very clear: increasing the burden on farmers is a serious violation of the "burden reduction" policy of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and retaliating against petitioners is even more unacceptable; Comrades from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Higher People's Procuratorate, and the Higher People's Court also have a clear-cut stand: Why are these problems reported by farmers procrastinating, and why they continue to intensify such contradictions? .Those who involve party discipline must be resolutely given party discipline sanctions; those who violate the laws of the country must be punished according to law.No matter who is involved, we must investigate to the end, and we will never tolerate it! At the meeting, Wang Hongchao consulted comrades from the Ministry of Public Security on several key issues of the "April 2" Incident.He asked: Are there any regulations on the scope of night patrols by public security personnel?Should public security officers disclose their identities when enforcing the law?A few police officers were drunk and sneaked into the village in the middle of the night. They did not reveal their identities, ran away after interrogation, and threatened the crowd with guns. Damn it, is this called "obstructing official duties"? Comrades from the Ministry of Public Security who attended the meeting gave a very straightforward answer: "The patrols are mainly in the downtown area, or where accidents such as roadblocking and robbery have occurred frequently. I don’t know if you are a police officer, if you hit, you will hit, if you smash, you will smash, you should let him go immediately!” Wang Hongchao listened excitedly, and really wanted to show his thumbs up on the spot to express his sincere admiration for the wonderful speeches of the participants.Although he tried his best to restrain himself, he still couldn't help the heat in his eye sockets, and he shed tears. On November 11, Anhui Province reorganized an investigative team and dispatched twelve comrades from the party and government leading organs at the two levels of the provincial party committee, the provincial government, and the Fuyang prefectural party committee to go deep into Baimiao Town and Wangying Village. Investigation and research, held various symposiums, earnestly returned to the petitioners, and promptly announced the investigation to the masses. It took 20 days before and after, and finally formed a relatively fair investigation report. The report first confirms that the burden of farmers in Linquan County is indeed serious. In 1993 before the "April 2" incident, the burden on farmers in Baimiao Town was 131,650. Nine yuan. In addition, Huipingdiao Village withdrew 135,176 yuan and misappropriated 341,729 yuan of collective funds. The "unreasonable expenses" accounted for 10% 68.77, and pointed out: "The refund is not in place, and the impact is very bad." Regarding the "April 2" incident, the investigation team told the truth: "The county party committee, county government, relevant departments directly under the county, and the Baimiao Town Party Committee The government is responsible for everything.” “Withdrawing funds from farmers, carrying out family planning work, and encountering difficulties in work, the public security officers will be used to assist. Especially when farmers petition to resolve some internal conflicts among the people, police officers will also be used to participate.”, “ During the execution of their tasks, a small number of policemen and armed policemen acted too aggressively, hurting the feelings of the masses, and some of the masses still have grievances, and the long-term bullying (period) cannot suspend complaints and stop visits, which has brought difficulties to the stability of the village." December 6, 1995 was an unforgettable day in Wangying Village. Wang Xiangdong, who had been imprisoned for more than a year and seven months, was released without charge. Gongs and drums were set off, firecrackers were set off, and big red plaques were carried on the shoulders, and a letter "pleading for the people" was written to celebrate the return of the village representatives who had been wronged for the people; Take back to the village.Immediately afterwards, Wang Ying was also separated from the Shaoying administrative village and established a separate village. Wang Xiangdong became the first director of the village committee of Wangying administrative village in the democratic election of the villagers.The expelled party membership of Wang Junbin was also restored, and shortly thereafter, he served as the party branch secretary of Wangying Administrative Village. In early 1996, Linquan County Party Secretary Zhang Xide was transferred away.As soon as I heard that Secretary Zhang was going to "leave", the news quickly spread throughout the county.On this day, farmers from Wangying, Shaoji, and Hezhuang in Baimiao Township, and farmers from Zhaozhuang, Renzhuang, Sanhezhuang, Banlamiao, and Yuying in Tianqiao Township drove dozens of motor vehicles to the county party committee. The courtyard surrounded Zhang's family. People called him by name and roared, "Zhang Xide, come out!" There were huge crowds of onlookers, and many cadres from the county party committee and county government were also onlookers, but no one "guarded" Secretary Zhang any more. Zhang Xide came out in embarrassment, and was about to express his guilt to the elders of Linquan County. If he didn't do his job well, he would be dragged into the bustling crowd by the team of farmers who had long held grudges.At first, the peasants just asked loudly, or even cursed a few times; gradually, people began to surge, and the surging crowd suddenly became a sea of ​​anger.Zhang Xide was pushed back and forth staggeringly, and from time to time someone secretly moved his hands and feet. The secretary of the county party committee, who used to be powerful and thought he could call the wind and rain, felt helpless, helpless and palpitations. After hearing the news, the County Public Security Bureau dispatched a police car to roar in. Although under siege, Zhang Xide, who was very conscious, saw the police officers rushing over, and begged loudly: "You must not arrest the masses, and you must not hurt the masses!" This may be a way of being an official that he has not understood for so many years as the secretary of the county party committee, and did not realize it until he left office.