Chapter 56 Chapter 8 We must become an army of knowledge - learning culture

In Zunyi City, the north wind was blowing, blowing on the Red Army soldiers who had just entered the city, making them stomp their feet in the cold. "Company commander, this door is open!" A soldier reported. "Go, go in and have a look!" said the company commander, leading a few soldiers into the door.The house was in a mess, and the owner of the house had fled long ago. "The house is very grand, and the furniture is very elegant. It is definitely not a place for ordinary people to live in." The company commander thought, so he ordered: "The first and second rows rest here!" The soldiers put down their backpacks, fell down and fell asleep.

"This damn weather, it's so cold, I can't sleep." The soldiers muttered. "How about getting some firewood for warmth?" a warrior suggested. Several soldiers got up and searched around the front and back of the house, but they couldn't find anything to keep warm.A soldier opened the cabinet and found that it was full of books.Hey, can't books be burned?He took out a large bundle and greeted his companions. The book was ignited, emitting green smoke and flames, and turned into dust in a short while.Everyone tore up the books and threw them into the fire. The flames rose several feet high and emitted a lot of heat.The walls of the main room were red and the flames were shining.

The soldiers gathered around the fire and cheered.Their stiff joints began to stretch. "Bring some more books!" The two soldiers were about to get up, when suddenly a roar came from behind: "Don't burn books!" Everyone looked back, and there was an old man standing at the door, wearing an octagonal hat and a two-horse lapel leather jacket, with a stern face and piercing eyes. "Report to the chief, it's cold, we use it to keep warm." A soldier said. The old man sighed and said: "It's a pity to burn books for warmth and use them as firewood!" After a while, he asked everyone again: "Do you know the value of books?" Everyone lowered their heads.

"It is more precious than gold!" exclaimed the old man. The soldiers raised their heads in surprise, speechless. A soldier suddenly interjected: "These books are all antiques, what's the use of keeping them?" "Why is it useless?" As he said, the old man picked up a book from the ground, "Our Red Army marched and fought, where there are mountains, where there is water, how high the mountains are, and how deep the water is; where there are roads, there are bridges. , How long is the road, how wide is the bridge; where are there villages, where are there people... Isn’t this what the books tell us? If there are no books, how can we cross the Xiangjiang River, cross the Wujiang River, and occupy Zunyi?”

The soldiers nodded again and again. "Books are knowledge. With knowledge, we can win battles. In the future, we will not be able to do construction without books!" After a pause, the old man said, "Let me tell you a story!" Tell the story, everyone's mood is relaxed.They sat down tightly around the old man. "Do you know about the struggle between Chu and Han?" "Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu, and Shushu made a lot of contributions!" The soldiers were extremely surprised. about fighting. The old man looked at everyone's surprise and said: "Liu Bang and Xiang Yu competed for the world. Liu Bang first captured Xianyang, the capital of the Qin Dynasty. His generals were all vying to grab the gold and silver treasures of the Qin Dynasty, but Xiao He was the only one who specialized in collecting books of the Qin Dynasty, treating them as treasures, and collecting them. stand up.

"Liu Bang was named the Queen of Han, and he worshiped Xiao He as the prime minister. He used the books and materials of the Qin Dynasty to know the military fortresses, the number of households, the strength of the place, and the suffering of the people all over the country, and helped Liu Bang win the world. After that, he relied on these books Materials to assist Liu Bang in governing the world. "After Xiang Yu invaded Xianyang, he set fire to Xianyang for three months. He burned the large-scale A Fang Guan and all kinds of books. As a result, he was besieged on all sides, and the tragedy he performed ended in the end of Wujiang committing suicide..." Finally The old man said: "We must learn from Xiao Xiangguo and love books. Don't follow the example of King Chu and burn Afang Palace. Zunyi is an ancient cultural city with a rich collection of books. There are many very precious books. We must love them and keep them well. This is learning How can the capital of knowledge and education be burned and burned for warmth?"

"Chief, we know we made a mistake. We shouldn't burn books." The soldiers said one after another. "Well, quickly put away the books and put them away!" Everyone worked together and put the rest of the books back to their original places. At this time, the company commander came. "Ah, Mr. Xu, you are here!" The company commander hurriedly saluted the old man.Then introduce to everyone: "This is Comrade Xu Teli, the educator of our Red Army and the vice chairman of the Chinese Soviet People's Education Committee. He is Comrade Mao Zedong's teacher."

After returning to the headquarters of the Red Army, Xu Teli immediately made an important decision: to seal up the Zunyi City Library, the school's collections, and the collections of various families whose owner was not there. The next step is to find a reliable person to keep these books together so that nothing will go wrong! Yu Xuanhua from the "Friends of the Red Army" recommended Mr. Zhao Naikang from the Zunyi education circle to Mr. Xu.He said: "Mr. Zhao has profound attainments in ancient poetry and prose. He completed the "Continued Zunyi Mansion Chronicles" alone. He has been engaged in teaching for a long time and has never set foot in officialdom."

"Okay, I entrust him to keep the books." Mr. Xu made the decision. Yu Xuanhua hurriedly said: "I'll call him." "No, I'll visit him." Mr. Zhao Naikang was very surprised to see Xu Teli, an old man of the Red Army, visiting in person, and hurriedly said: "Don't dare to be, dare not be!" Afterwards, the two hit it off, and talked with each other in detail about the cultural and educational situation and customs in Zunyi area. Mr. Xu suggested to Mr. Zhao: "There are many books in Zunyi, some of which are very precious, such as "Zunyi Mansion Chronicle" edited by Mr. Zheng Zhen and Mo Youzhi, and "Guyi Series" edited by Mr. Li Chunzhai. Rarely seen. I hope you will collect them all and keep them properly.”

Mr. Zhao quickly said: "I have the trust of Mr. Xu, and I will try my best. However, my place is small and damp, and I may not be able to fit it in." "The Confucian Temple next to my house is spacious and close to my house, so it is easy to take care of. " "Okay, let's do as you want." This is how Zunyi's books have been preserved. After the Tashi Conference, the Red Army turned around and turned to Guizhou when the enemy's forces were concentrated in southern Sichuan and northern Guizhou was empty, and returned to occupy Zunyi. After the troops set off from Tashi, there was no flat road along the way, it was full of rugged mountain roads and trails, and the troops could only advance in a column.

Zhang Wentian stood on the hillside, one after another soldiers passed by him.These soldiers wore worn-out military uniforms, octagonal caps with red stars on them, and straw sandals, carrying guns, backpacks and provisions.They are full of energy and morale is high. "What a good fighter!" Zhang Wentian said with great emotion, looking at the figures of the soldiers going away. They are the decisive force for the victory of the war, the seeds of the revolution, and will be the backbone of socialist construction in the future.Zhang Wentian felt that he had a heavy responsibility. In a place called "Jimming Three Provinces" (now Shuitianzhai Township, Weixin County, Yunnan Province), the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China carried out a division of labor and decided that he would take the overall responsibility instead of Bogu (Qin Bangxian).How heavy must this burden be! Zhang Wentian has self-knowledge, he knows that he can't command and fight.In terms of marching and fighting, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, Liu Bocheng, etc. are all experienced warriors.But he is an expert in propaganda, theory, and culture. "We must try to improve the political and cultural level of the Red Army." Zhang Wentian thought. He remembered that in the past some regiment and division commanders were uneducated, could not write war documents, could not write battle briefings, and orders could only be conveyed by correspondents. Later, the Red Army University was established, and these people were educated, and their military command capabilities also improved. . However, there are still many cadres below the battalion who are illiterate, and even more soldiers are illiterate.Now that the situation is tense, it is unrealistic and not allowed to sit down and learn culture. Can we learn culture while marching? Zhang Wentian frowned and thought deeply.Soldiers walked by under his nose one by one.The distance between each soldier is about 1 meter, and the eyes of the soldiers behind are fixed on the backs of the soldiers in front. If a piece of cloth with characters written on it is hung on the back of the soldiers in front, wouldn't the soldiers in the back be able to walk and learn to read at the same time? Zhang Wentian stopped the political commissar of this regiment, and said to him: "The roads are narrow now, and the soldiers have to walk very hard, but their minds are idle. Can you learn culture while marching?" "Learn culture while marching?" Eyes, how do not understand. "It is to adopt the method of 'looking at the back' to learn culture, on the back of the soldiers..." "This method is good!" The political commissar of the regiment nodded repeatedly. "Everyone is required to know 5 to 10 characters every day. You can start with each person's name, and then learn to recognize the slogans, slogans, disciplines, etc. formulated by the central government. In this way, you can not only recognize characters, but also learn political knowledge." The second Today, this army started a way of learning culture that has never been seen in the history of human civilization.Soon, this method spread to another regiment... "Red? Army? It's—" Xiao Li kept his eyes on the words written on the white cloth hanging behind the squad leader as he walked, and read each word. What is the fourth word?He blinked and thought about it.what!During the break just now, I mentioned this word specifically, why can’t I remember it? He patted his head, but still didn't think of it, he was so anxious!Well, I had to ask someone else. "Squad leader, how do you pronounce the fourth character?" Xiao Li asked forward.The writing on the cloth hanging in front of the squad leader is the same as the writing on the back of him.But the squad leader couldn't read it. Suddenly a voice came from behind Xiao Li: "The fourth word is 'poor'" "What? Xiao Ma." Xiao Li didn't hear clearly. "The 'poor' of the poor means that they have no land, no cattle, no money, and they live naked under the sun." Xiao Ma said loudly. "Yes, that's the pronunciation." Xiao Li cheered up. "Why is it so difficult to write?" "Look more, read more, and write more, and then you will remember." Xiao Li began to read again: "Red? Army? Is it? Poor? People? Of? Team? Wu." Pause for a while Yes, he read it again, and read it again.Then he said to himself: "Yes, the Red Army is a team for the poor. It divides the local tyrants and divides the land to protect the interests of the masses..." "Xiao Li, how many words do you already know? There is a sack!" The comrade-in-arms asked loudly. He quickly said: "Not too many, not too many, more than 100—108." "Oh, amazing! You have become a high-ranking official, and you can command one hundred and eight generals in Shuibo Liangshan." "Hey! "Xiao Li smiled triumphantly. He never dreamed that he could learn a lot of words during the march. "How enthusiastic are you comrades in learning culture?" Zhang Wentian asked the comrades in the column of the Military Commission beside him. "It's very high, and many soldiers have taken off their illiteracy hats. This should really be attributed to the method of 'looking at the back' to learn culture." A cadre said. "Not only did everyone memorize the slogan put forward by the central government, but many people were able to write it down," said another cadre. The slogan he mentioned refers to the slogan about the Long March conveyed to the troops on February 16, 1935. This is: "Okay, that's great." Zhang Wentian praised repeatedly, and then said: "Studying culture requires four skills—knowing, speaking, writing, and using. It must also be combined with studying politics and military affairs. It will get twice the result with half the effort." Speaking of this, Zhang Wentian suddenly asked: "I heard that there is a small wooden stick in each of your pockets, and you use it to learn culture. Is there such a thing?" "Yes. There is a small wooden stick. Sticks can be taken out at any time when marching or camping, and can be drawn on the ground to learn culture." "Well, this is also a way of learning culture, and it should be extended to all army regiments. Our army should be made knowledgeable and knowledgeable." The army of culture." Zhang Wentian said. Later, "looking at the back" learning culture and having a "pen" in the pocket became one of the symbols of the Central Red Army, and experts can judge whether it is the Central Red Army based on this.