Chapter 21 Chapter 5: All kinds of deceit - 4 Hot for three months

By chance, we also learned the story of the "hot three months" in Xiaogang Village.Facing such an almost absurd story, what we feel is not only sadness, but shock! Xiaogang Village in Fengyang County, Anhui Province, is probably unknown to everyone now, because it took the lead in implementing the "big contract" in rural areas across the country, and is considered by all walks of life to be the Chinese economic boom that attracted worldwide attention in the late 1970s. The birthplace of system reform; the determination of 18 peasant households risking their lives to distribute their land to households according to their fingerprints has stirred up tens of thousands of Chinese.

Speaking of the birthplace of rural reform, I need to say a few more words here. To be fair, in 1978, the reform of "household production contract" was the first to be implemented in rural China in Shannan District, Feixi County, not far from Hefei City, the capital of Anhui Province.At 8:00 p.m. on September 15 of that year, twenty-one Communist Party members from the Huanghua Brigade of Shannan Commune held a branch meeting that alarmed the provincial party committee and concerned the fate of hundreds of millions of peasants.The meeting was chaired by Tang Maolin, secretary of the Shannan District Party Committee, known as "Tang Bold", and the resolution reached at the meeting was to contract production to households.This was more than two months earlier than the "secret contract" that appeared in Xiaogang Village, Fengyang County, which later caused a sensation in China and shocked the world.Only five days after the special branch meeting chaired by Tang Maolin, the household production contract became popular in Shannan District, and it became popular among 1,073 production teams like Xiaogang, growing to more than 100,000 people!

Of course, Shannan District of Feixi County is not the earliest place to contract production to households.Earlier than it is the Shierbanli Commune in Lai'an County, which belongs to the same Chu County area as Fengyang County.The name of this commune seems a bit strange, because it is twelve and a half miles away from the county seat.It was Wang Yemei, secretary of the Lai'an County Party Committee, who boldly supported Shierbanli Commune's "household production contract". However, history sometimes makes fun of people like this, and it is so full of drama.It is well known today that the source of China's rural reform is Xiaogang Village, Fengyang County, but the Shannan District of Feixi County and Shierbanli Commune of Lai'an County are less known.The reason is not complicated. That is, although the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party is an epoch-making milestone, in that specific historical background, it is impossible for any great Plenary Session to unify all the historical events left over from history. All the problems have been solved, and it is impossible not to continue to influence the newly promulgated party policies under the shadow of the deep-rooted "Left" trend of thought. At the plenary meeting, the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Issues Concerning Accelerating the Development of Agriculture" that was "approved in principle" at the meeting also clearly stated: "It is not allowed to contract production to households, and it is not allowed to divide the land and do it alone." What Feixi County and Lai'an County are doing is " "Contracting production to households" means "dividing the land and doing it alone", which is exactly in contradiction with the "Decision" passed by the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, so a common saying goes: "The rafters who are in their early years will rot first." Wang Yemeicheng, secretary of the Laian County Party Committee at that time It became the target of nationwide criticism. When trains and cars passed near Lai'an, big slogans were pasted on them: "Resolutely resist Anhui's go-it-alone style."Since Wang Yemei has become the target of public criticism, the Anhui Provincial Party Committee, which is in charge of Wanli's work, is naturally inconvenient to make further publicity.Although Shannan District of Feixi County was once a pilot reform project supported by Wan Li secretly, some members of the county party committee were frightened by the situation at that time and did not dare to insist on it.In contrast, Chen Tingyuan, secretary of the Fengyang County Party Committee, was smarter. He didn't say that Xiaogang Village was engaged in "household production contract", but that the contract work was assigned to the group, and the group was quietly assigned to the household.This approach in Fengyang County was supported by the Chu County Prefectural Committee. The secretary of the Prefectural Committee was Wang Yuzhao, who had rich political experience. The practice in Xiaogang Village is called "big contract", which is a strategic move, and it can be summed up well: "big contract, big contract, go straight without turning, pay enough for the state, keep enough for the collective, and leave the rest It’s all your own.” It not only avoids the phrase “household production contract”, but also vividly embodies the interests of the country, the collective, and individuals.Once the experience of Xiaogang Village, which is acceptable to all parties, was publicized, it naturally became popular all over the country.Besides, Fengyang County is still the poorest place in Anhui Province, and Zhu Yuanzhang once appeared in history. In addition, there is such a sad and sad Fengyang folk song: "Speaking of Fengyang, saying Fengyang, Fengyang is a good place. After the birth of Emperor Zhu, there will be nine years of famine in ten years. The big family sells mules and horses, and the small family sells their sons; the slaves don’t sell their sons, and they walk around with their flower drums on their backs.” Poor people want to change, want to work, want to revolution, so Therefore, Xiaogang Village, Fengyang County, which is so poor, dares to take the lead in reforms, and it is logical, and it is very typical.

The problem is that after Xiaogang Village arrived, the more it was publicized, the more stories there were, and the more legendary it became. First, there was the story of 18 farmers pressing red handprints, and then there was a story stored in the Museum of the Chinese Revolution with the number "GB54563". The "secret contract". We have interviewed many parties, and they seem to have questioned the "precious collection", saying that the paper of the "collection" is so flat and almost wrinkle-free, why it has been hidden by farmers for so long and is so bright?The family where the secret meeting was held, and who wrote the contract, these important details are still inconclusive; there are even different opinions on whether the secret meeting was attended by eighteen or twenty households, and the "collection" of the museum says "Yan Hongchang" appeared twice among the 20 people who attended the meeting, and there were 19 people present at the meeting.

On the morning of June 14, 2001, when we interviewed Lu Zixiu, Lu Zixiu also gave a negative answer: "The fingerprints in Xiaogang Village are fake, can I not know?" He used the method of asking questions, and concluded But it is indisputable.He was the director of the political research office of the prefectural committee at that time, and later served as the secretary of the prefectural committee in this area. His judgment should be credible. However, no matter what, we feel that whether the "secret contract" is true or not is not important now. A stark choice made at the risk of a head.

Their contributions to China's reform are indisputable. In the 1980s, China's rural areas had abundant grain harvests for many years, which was inseparable from the promotion of their experience. Xiaogang Village is well-deservedly called the "source" of reform. What happened in Xiaogang Village was indeed a remarkable revolution. It can even be said that its profoundness was not inferior to that of the liberation in 1949, because the opponent of this liberation was not the enemy, but ourselves! Beginning in 1978, the people in Xiaogang obtained the production autonomy on the contracted land, and the grain harvests were bumper year after year. For at least five years after that, Xiaogang belonged to a relatively wealthy production team.Just after the New Year in 1980, Wan Li made a special trip to Xiaogang. He went from house to house and saw that every household in Xiaogang Village had food to eat and clothes to wear. Beg for food, throw it into the sea!He said to Yan Junchang, who took the lead in the big contract back then: "You have done what the tens of millions of Communist Party members in China dare not do, because you don't have a black hat on your head. As long as you dare to think and do it, there is nothing you can't do. Chinese peasants The problem of food and clothing has not been resolved after 30 years since liberation, but you have solved it by yourself at the risk!"

Later, as the focus of national reforms shifted from the countryside to the cities, the Xiaogang people who lived on farming and harvesting food suddenly lost their glory.Although every household has food to eat and clothes to wear, which solves the problem of food and clothing, but after nearly 20 years of reform and opening up, it has been stuck on the word "food and clothing", unable to build buildings, repair roads, and use No telephone, no running water, no school, no business, not even a toilet that can be called hygienic. As the birthplace of a great change in China, it is impossible to build one that can at least serve Exhibition room visited by people.

The biggest "sparkling point" of China's reform and opening up, no one has deliberately "polished" it for so many years; "image projects" are being carried out everywhere, and this "Xiaogang Project" that can greatly improve the image of Anhui, Anhui The party committees and governments at the provincial, prefectural, and county levels have no one to care about.This seems a bit strange, it is very confusing. Of course, having said that, Xiaogang Village has "still maintained the country and its old appearance" in the past 20 years. Similar situations are also representative in the vast rural areas of China.Not to mention the underdeveloped areas in the west, even the coastal cities, only a limited part of the surrounding areas get rich first, and the vast majority of rural areas are actually not much better than Xiaogang.From this point of view, a careful dissection of Xiaogang Village, which has been "still in the country" for twenty years, will definitely have "classic" significance for understanding China's agriculture, countryside and farmers.

However, just as the 20th anniversary of the implementation of the large contract in Xiaogang Village was approaching, there was a sudden news that it had undergone a brand new change.The changes are so great that even the people in Xiaogang feel like they have had a dream, but it is not a dream, which just proves the popular saying of the moment: dreams come true. The changes started in June of this year. In mid-June, a leader of the Provincial Party Committee personally led the heads of the Provincial Communications Department, Provincial Construction Department, Provincial Education Department, Provincial Water Conservancy Department, Provincial Health Department, Provincial Press and Publication Bureau and other provincial departments and bureaus to Xiaogang.

At that time, Xiaogang people did not know what practical benefits the arrival of so many leaders would bring to Xiaogang.Because there have been too many leaders in Xiaogang visiting, visiting, inspecting, and guiding the work over the years, they come here to walk around, look, ask, come and go, and Xiaogang people don't take it seriously. However, this time it was very different.A project that changed the world soon kicked off in Xiaogang Village. The first person to arrive was Xu Biao, director of the Fengyang County Education Committee, who brought good news to Xiaogang: a Xiaogang village with a capacity of 160 teachers and students, with five classes from grade one to grade five The elementary school started construction in June and completed in August. The project to ensure the official start of school on September 1 has begun.

Next, the Provincial Department of Construction, the Provincial Department of Water Resources and the Provincial Department of Health will jointly build a water tower for Xiaogang.It is said that of the 500,000 yuan that was originally agreed to be shared equally by the three departments, only the 100,000 yuan from the Construction Department was in place. Advance payment will be made by Fengyang County Water Affairs Bureau. Immediately afterwards, under the coordination of the Fengyang County Construction Committee, the county party committee and the six departments of the county government jointly funded and painted the walls of the houses of every household in Xiaogang Village. Many; in order to improve the level of civilization, sanitary toilets were built for each household; the exhibition hall of "big contract" was built on the ground; up.At this time, the County Construction Bureau also designed a plan for 40 sets of villager houses in accordance with the requirements of the provincial department.After the completion of the project, a total of 230,000 yuan was used to "lift stones" by the county's Propaganda Department, Family Planning Commission, Health Bureau, Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Human Armed Forces Department, and County Construction Committee. He couldn't afford it, so he gritted his teeth and paid the 212,332 yuan in advance, and refused to pay the remaining 17,000 yuan. The construction unit came to collect debts many times until we interviewed At the end, this "dog head account" has not yet been cleared up. In other words, Fengyang County Telecom Bureau acted resolutely. After receiving the task, it immediately installed program-controlled telephones for every household in Xiaogang Village. It was settled with a loan. I borrowed one million yuan from the bank. As for who will pay back the money with interest in the future, it will naturally become a muddle. One thing that needs to be explained is that before this, although the people in Xiaogang could not build roads, it does not mean that Xiaogang Village did not have a decent road.Earlier, Changjiang Village, Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu Province invested 1.2 million yuan to pave a cement road named "Youyi Road" for Xiaogang free of charge.It's just a fly in the ointment, the two sides of the four-kilometer section are bare and unattractive. Now the team of the Fengyang County Forestry Bureau has entered Xiaogang. Although it is May and June and the heat is unbearable, they have their own way. The forest farm in Fengtai County, miles away, bought 830 Shu junipers, each of which was more than two meters high, and conducted a scientific experiment. Fortunately, it was buried in the soil on the same day, and two workers who knew the business were specially hired to live and eat in Xiaogang Village, and they carefully watered, cultivated the soil, and took care of them.Trees were planted at high temperature, and each tree survived. For this miracle, technicians from Fengyang County Forestry Bureau wrote a paper based on it, and later won the Anhui Science and Technology Progress Award. The total investment in the above projects is 2,701,400 yuan. Of course, the unpaid manpower and the materials provided by each family are not included in it, which cannot be counted.One project after another appeared in the eyes of Xiaogang people like a magic trick, and to them, it was simply a pie in the sky.It wasn't until September 22, 1998, when General Secretary Jiang Zemin came to Xiaogang Village, that Xiaogang people suddenly realized. Why do such ridiculous stories always happen in our life? Some people say that this change in Xiaogang Village is not the same as Nanling County's falsification.Xiaogang Village is a red flag of China's rural reform. It is not too much to accept a little support and patronage, and it is well deserved. Some people say that Xiaogang Village has made historical contributions to the reform of the whole of China. It is only natural and justifiable for all walks of life and departments to help each other within their ability. Some people say that there is nothing wrong with making a plan and investing in the appearance of Xiaogang Village in order to meet the 20th anniversary of the "big contract" and to welcome General Secretary Jiang's inspection, but it is just a routine and necessary business. However, the Xiaogang people seem to be unappreciative of such a "changing world".When the water tower was built to deliver water, the big brother who built the water tower wanted to drink some water, but someone from Xiaogang Village stood up and stopped him, saying, "That's not okay, let's exchange it with beer!"To build roads and plant trees requires soil. I’m sorry, but small hillocks need to be moved. You have to pay 10 yuan per flatbed truck, which is not worth a penny. This is twice as expensive as using soil in Fengyang County!It seems that these projects have nothing to do with Xiaogang Village. Of course, this is just a disgraceful thing done by a few Xiaogang people, but the drinkers don't necessarily think about the source, but it makes the people who donate money to help Xiaogang a headache.I'm afraid this is a kind of retribution for the helpers who only help things but not aspirations. The people in Xiaogang obviously felt aggrieved. They said: If you don’t help sooner or later, General Secretary Shan Caijiang is coming to visit Xiaogang, and the elementary school in Xiaogang Village will be opened, the walls will be painted, and the roads will become flat. , The "big contract" exhibition hall also popped up, two rows of Shu junipers soared to the sky, the telephones of every household were also connected, the toilets were changed, and tap water was also available for drinking.Unless a fool can't see it, Xiaogang Village has changed from "sufficient food and clothing" to "well-off" in an instant, which is obviously not for Xiaogang people to see. When we first heard this story from Xiaogang Village, we were indeed shocked.Calm down and think about it, this happened in Anhui, but even if similar stories happened in other provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, how many people would be surprised.Why our cadres dare to enjoy it is worth pondering. We even think this way: If Xiaogang Village didn’t have the story of the “hot three months”, what Jiang Zemin saw in the birthplace of China’s rural reform was Xiaogang Village, which has been “still alive” after 20 years of reform and opening up, maybe it would be Let the general secretary have more and more profound thinking on China's "three rural" issues. In that way, it will surely bring more and more substantial benefits to the 900 million Chinese farmers, and bring more encouraging results to Chinese agriculture and Chinese rural areas. tomorrow. The truth is, there are no ifs.What the general secretary and we see is a Xiaogang village that has basically reached "well-off".