Chapter 28 The Enlightened Gentleman Became the Vice-Chairman of the Frontier Region Government

During the Yan'an period, many people deeply felt that the Communist Party and non-Party people worked together in solidarity, and that the Communist Party, the border region government, non-Party people, and ordinary people were one family.Here is an introduction to the story of Li Dingming, an enlightened gentleman, from which we can get a glimpse of one or two. On November 6, 1941, the First Senate of the Second Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region was grandly held in Yan'an. At the opening ceremony, Mao Zedong delivered a speech.He pointed out: "Today's opening of the Border Region Senate Council is of great significance. The purpose of opening the Senate Council is to overthrow Japanese imperialism and build a new democratic China, which is the revolutionary Three People's Principles China." "The Communist Party is for the nation. 1. A political party that serves the interests of the people has absolutely no self-interest in itself. It should be supervised by the people, and it should never go against the will of the people.”Therefore, "The Chinese Communist Party's proposition is to unite all the anti-Japanese forces in the country to overthrow Japanese imperialism, and to cooperate with all anti-Japanese parties, classes, and nationalities in the country. As long as they are not traitors, they must unite and fight together."

Mao Zedong criticized some party members for not being good at implementing democratic cooperation with people outside the party, and still retaining a narrow closed-door or sectarian style of work. Finally, he emphasized: "The Communist Party's principle of democratic cooperation with people outside the party is fixed and will never change. As long as the party exists in society, there will always be a small number of people who join the party. There is always a majority, so party members always have to cooperate with people outside the party. Now it should be practiced in the Senate."

On the stage, Mao Zedong was giving an impassioned speech, while a tall, thin-cheeked but energetic old man was listening carefully, carefully savoring the meaning of Mao Zedong's words. A few days later, the chairman of the assembly announced that he was the vice-chairman of the Senate Council of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region.Amid warm applause, he stepped onto the rostrum leisurely and delivered his inaugural speech.He said: "I am ashamed to be elected today, but even if I am elected, I should try my best. I am a person with no party or affiliation. It is right-leaning, and the first class is left-leaning. I was originally right-leaning and felt that the socialism of the Communist Party was wrong, but after thinking about it, we often laugh at people blindly and say that socialism is wrong. Where do we start? So I found After reading several socialist books and studying them, I realized that socialism is a righteous doctrine. In today’s world, no matter what country, socialism must be practiced.”

"China is approaching today with strong enemies and weak resources. It is very difficult to implement socialism. However, when life and death are at stake, we must work hard, but this effort must have a line. Today, I stand in a position of no party and no affiliation. A word of advice to the Communist Party and people without party affiliation from all parties and factions, that is, everyone must move forward on the same road!" "There are two most important points now, the first is unity. We must meet each other sincerely, and only unity The second is economic issues. All the work of the Anti-Japanese War and the founding of the country cannot be separated from economic work." He proposed that "everyone should destroy their families to relieve their difficulties, save China, and then talk about other things."

This is a positive response to Mao Zedong's speech. This old man is Li Dingming, an enlightened gentleman from Mizhi County. Li Dingming is a celebrity in northern Shaanxi. In 1903, he once won the first prize in the Suide University Examination, and was selected as the head of the case.During his life, he organized schools, repaired bridges and repaired roads, prepared to build righteous warehouses, practiced medicine and cured diseases, and benefited his hometown.He was once appointed as the magistrate of the Kuomintang in Shenmu County. Because he was ashamed to associate with the corrupt officialdom of the Kuomintang, he refused to resign and continued to practice medicine to help the world, enjoying a high reputation among the people.

After the Central Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi, Li Dingming saw that the Communist Party put forward the idea of ​​domestic peace and unity with the outside world under the circumstances of foreign invasion, and believed that this was the true representative of the interests of the people.At the moment of national crisis, he resolutely joined hands with the CCP to go to the national crisis. In August 1941, Mizhi County held a three-level election, and he was elected as the chairman of the county council.Soon, he was elected as a senator of the Senate of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, attended the first session of the Second Border Region Senate in Yan'an, and listened to Mao Zedong's speech for the first time.

Shortly after the meeting, nominated by Mao Zedong, Li Dingming was elected vice chairman of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government. Li Dingming is a noble patriot.At the border council meeting, he proposed that in order to save China and overcome economic difficulties, everyone should destroy their families to relieve their difficulties.He walks the talk. In January 1942, he returned to his hometown and handed over all his property to the local government. In his hometown of Suide, he told everyone what he had heard and seen in Yan'an.He said: "I heard Chairman Mao's speech at the Council of the Border Areas, and I knew that Chinese society is a fusiform society with two pointed ends and the middle big. Any revolutionary cause must be united with the largest number of 'big belly'. The three-three system of the Chinese Communist Party It is the policy of uniting the 'big belly'. The communists and other people see each other openly and do not think they are the masters, and we people without party and affiliation should not take a bystander attitude. Since then, I have not dared to be 'outsiders' 'Self-identity, but to stand in the position of 'master'."

Li Dingming regarded himself as a master and acted with the attitude of a master. He worked hard on various government affairs of the border region government, devoted himself to it, and paid attention to maintaining his "master" status. Once, a government affairs meeting was held in the border region to discuss a policy related to land issues.The meeting was presided over by Vice Chairman Li Dingming, but he was uncharacteristically silent. The meeting will close when delegates are asked for comments.He still said, "I have no problem." This attracted the attention of Lin Boqu, Chairman of the Border Region Government, and Li Weihan, Secretary General.

One night, Li Weihan visited Li Dingming at his door, and immediately said, "Mr. Ding, I can no longer be the secretary-general, and I want to resign." "why?" "Your vice chairman doesn't say anything about so many things, how can I be the secretary-general?" Li Weihan asked Li Dingming's opinion sincerely. Seeing Li Weihan's sincere attitude, Li Dingming said what was in his heart: "Since I was moved and inspired by Mao Zedong's speech at the Senate Council of the Border Region, I came out to take up the post. But I don't know what your party has decided. I didn't tell me what the meeting was beforehand. I just sent a note asking me to preside over it. Meeting, what should I do? Now my peers treat me as a guest, and my subordinates treat me as a puppet. The party has arranged for it, and the government can’t decide on policies. I don’t want to be the vice chairman anymore. Why don’t I go home and practice medicine!”

After hearing these words, Li Weihan realized that Mr. Li was angry because he didn't discuss the content of the meeting with him in advance! Li Weihan accepted the criticism, and once again explained the purpose of the Communist Party's cooperation with non-Party people, saying that it will be corrected in future work. The conflict was resolved, and Li Dingming went back to work in a comfortable mood. During the upsurge of anti-communism initiated by the Kuomintang, some anti-communist elements once spread rumors, saying that "Vice Chairman Li has been dismissed". After hearing the news, Mr. Li issued a solemn statement in the "Liberation Daily", saying: I am still the vice chairman of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government, and I am still entrusted by the 2 million people in the border region, and I am continuing to work excitedly... Non-Party people have cooperated with the Communist Party for two years and have not felt any discrimination or exclusion from the Communist Party.This is enough to prove that the Communist Party is open and honest with people outside the party.

Li Dingming's statement effectively exposed the conspiracy of the Kuomintang anti-communist elements to destroy unity and create division. In 1944, when a group of Chinese and foreign journalists visited Yan'an, a British reporter asked Mr. Li if he had any titles and rights.Li Dingming answered. Afterwards, the reporter said to the translator: "Vice Chairman Li Dingming really has the position and power. When he answered my question, he smiled in his heart." Making people outside the party feel like family, and it's not just the border areas that dare to speak out. In May 1942, a symposium was held in Yanbu, where the New Fourth Army was located. Some enlightened gentlemen bluntly said: "There is no need for a puppet council. We must work hard for democracy." Chen Yi and other leaders not only did not take it as a disobedience, but also carefully checked the deficiencies in the work through these opinions and summed up experience and lessons. At the meeting, Chen Yi once proudly said: "In the past 30 years, China has been able to gather the party, the government, the army and the people together to discuss national affairs and ordinary people's own affairs, and to be able to speak out without concealment, to face court disputes, and to neither flatter the powerful nor oppress the lower class. I am afraid that today is the only time. Only the anti-Japanese democratic bases can be found.” Because of this, some enlightened gentlemen said: China has never had a party or army that is so popular with the people like the Communist Party of China and the Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army.