Chapter 44 2. She became a professional singer and became the first Red Army female folk song player on the line of fire

Zeng Zizhen was born in Shiyan Village, Changgang Township, Xingguo County in 1904. His father's name was Zeng Yanfu, a teacher, and his income was not enough to support his family.Four sons and three daughters were born in a row. The mother died of illness at a young age because she had no money for medical treatment.Since then, this poor family has become even worse.The whole family basically didn't have enough to eat and didn't have enough clothes to wear. When Zeng Zizhen was 15 years old, his hometown was hit by a famine, the harvest was greatly reduced, and there was no smoke in the house for three days.Forced to make ends meet, my father sold her to Master Lai, a tailor in Xiaokeng Village, Shangshe Township, for 120 yuan to make a replacement.Master Lai's name was Lai Xianglin, and he was 45 years old at the time, 30 years older than Zeng Zizhen. He was honest, honest, educated, and could write well.Because he learned a good craft of tailoring and was very popular, rich families in the city invited him to make clothes at their door, and he earned a lot of money.Tailor Chen is older and loves his little wife very much.In order to please Zeng Zizhen, he often secretly brought back fruits and snacks that he was reluctant to eat and stuffed them for Zeng Zizhen to eat.

These rare things in her past life have changed their taste in her mouth now.Seeing her husband who was older than her father, Zeng Zizhen felt annoyed in her heart. She is a high-spirited, hot-blooded, and hot-tempered girl. When she got angry, she would often take out the fruit that Lai Xianglin had forced into her pocket and throw it away in person. , Lai Xianglin stomped his feet in anger. Zeng Zizhen couldn't face reality, let alone face the future.She would rather die than live the life of an old husband and young wife, and tried to die several times but failed. Once, when the Lianjiang River was flooded with spring water, she ran to jump into the river, and she was sucked into the whirlpool with a sound of "powtung", and she was swallowed by the muddy yellow soup. A neighbor watching the water rescued her.Looking at the drenched Zeng Zizhen, Lai Xianglin burst into tears with heartache, sighed but could do nothing.

You have to live through the sad days!Zeng Zizhen married at the age of 15, became pregnant at the age of 19, and gave birth to two daughters and a boy.My son was very smart. When he was in the Soviet area, he was transferred to Ruijin to study in an accounting school. Unfortunately, he died before he was 20 years old. In 1929, the Second Independent Regiment of the Jiangxi Red Army captured Xingguo County again. The Fourth Independent Regiment, the Third Red Army, and the Fourth Red Army came to Xingguo one after another, formally established the Xingguo County Committee of the Communist Party of China, and soon established the Xingguo County Revolutionary Committee.

Everyone participated in the revolution, and Lai Xianglin also participated in the revolution and served as the secretary general in the Revolutionary Committee. During the vigorous mass movement and land reform, Lai Xianglin learned a lot and his ideological consciousness was greatly improved. One day at dinner, Lai Xianglin sat at the table without moving his chopsticks, and said nothing to Zeng Zizhen for a long time, his eyes filled with tears.Seeing the "old" husband like this, Zeng Zizhen felt a little annoyed again, and when he was about to attack, Lai Xianglin said: "Zizhen, I won't drag you down anymore, you are young and have a long way to go in life, we are divorced Let's go." With that, tears rolled down my face.

The 11-year marriage collapsed, and the two divorced calmly. At that time, Zeng Zizhen was 26 years old. Under the new system, Zeng Zizhen terminated her relationship with Lai Xianglin, feeling excited about being released from the cage.Because the revolution gave her a new life, in order to repay the revolution, she immediately joined the revolution. "Singing is not a test of voice, and love of revolution has deep meaning; revolution is not about judging people's appearance, and always loves to kill the enemy bravely." Zeng Zizhen loves to sing folk songs, and becoming a professional singer is an accidental opportunity.

At that time, Zeng Zizhen worked in the farmers association in the first district of the county seat, and often followed everyone to do the work of "expanding red".When mobilizing young people to serve as the Red Army, some young people mischievously said: "You want me to serve as the Red Army, but I don't want to listen to you so much. If you use folk songs to sing about the benefits of the Red Army, I will obey. Go to the Red Army.” Ma Rongpan, chairman of the Dongyi District Farmers Association, is about 27 years old and is a young farmer who loves to sing folk songs.The requirements of young people of the right age to join the army did not bother him.After a little thought, he opened his mouth and sang.

"Alas - there is a bag of happy peaches across the river, if you want to pick peaches, you must first build a bridge; the poor who are suffering must stand up, and quickly become the Red Army and fight against the local tyrants..." The reason sang, the young people scratched the back of their heads, laughed, and had no choice but to become a soldier up.Folk song is relaxed and pleasant, saving a lot of persuasion work and trouble in popularizing. Chen Fangxi, secretary of the Agricultural Association, is a cultured and loyal elder who also loves to sing folk songs.I often enlighten Zeng Zizhen and mobilize her to practice singing folk songs more: "You women and ladies, if you don't participate in revolutionary work, you will be hard to turn over for the rest of your life. Only the Communist Party in the world values ​​women, opposes buying and selling marriages, and allows everyone to fall in love freely." In revolutionary propaganda activities Among them, Ma Rongpan and Chen Fangxi found that the new folk songs had a good influence among the masses and were very popular, so they came up with the idea of ​​​​establishing a folk song propaganda team in Dongyi District.

At that time, some women were not used to singing folk songs in public, so Ma Rongpan adopted a special examination method to select singers.He called some girls and sang folk songs in the house.He was afraid that everyone would lose face, so he hid outside the house and listened to understand the differences in everyone's timbre.The antiphonal song is wrong with the person, so, of course, Zeng Zizhen was selected into the folk song propaganda team. A fresh and beautiful life, like a spring breeze, rippling in Zeng Zizhen's life. The main tasks of the propaganda team are: singing revolutionary folk songs, spreading popularity, and supporting the front.

The lyrics are all thought out in advance, and everyone is together, and the level of singing and songwriting has been greatly improved.After a long time, Zeng Zizhen was also able to compose and sing live, which was very popular with the masses. No matter where they went, they would stand on the stage with a red flag and sing with their voices open. "Oh, the bamboo shoots are pointed and sharp, and the unity of workers and peasants is not afraid of the sky; if the sky falls, I will cover it, and if the ground falls, I will fill it." When the Red Army and the masses heard the singing, they knew that the propaganda team was coming again, and they immediately agreed. Invite to gather from all directions.They stood on the stage and sang, and the people in the audience nodded and clapped their hands in support. When they were fascinated, they sang along with the stage.The Red Army, who couldn't sing, yelled in the audience: Good, good!There are also some Red Army who can make up songs, so they stand up and sing to each other.

There is a Xing nationality Red Army named Chen Yuanbo who likes antiphonal songs very much. Every time he listens to a song and hears a climax, he has to stand up and antiphonal songs: "Alas—thank you, sister, for your deep love and folk songs for your loved ones; I will give you the courage to go to battle in the future, and thank you for handing over your guns." In the busy work, I have exercised my ability, and in the singing, I have exercised my courage. Zeng Zi Zhen gradually grew up. In February 1930, a Soviet government was established in Xingguo County. Zeng Zizhen was elected as a member of the County Soviet and served as the Minister of the National Economy Department of the County Soviet.Soon, she joined the Communist Party.She recalled: "It was Ma Ronghai and Ma Ronglan who introduced me to join the Communist Party of China. At that time, we called joining the party 'raise your fist', and there were several sisters from the folk song team who joined us." Frequently, Zeng Zizhen's work is also busier, but she is not alienated from folk songs, but combines singing folk songs with work.When mobilized to join the army, she touched people's heartstrings with inspiring and appealing folk songs; before the condolences, she led the folk song team to be active in the forward positions, carrying ammunition for the Red Army and rescuing the wounded.

On this day, after the Battle of Liantang started, Zeng Zizhen, who came to support the front, stood on the high ground and saw the Red Army fighting tenaciously, rushing to kill bravely, scaring the White Army and fleeing with their heads in their hands.She couldn't help being elated, and blurted out a folk song. "The Red Army walks with a gust of wind, gaining the upper hand and occupying the peak, and rushing to kill, the enemy is like dumping firewood..." The high-pitched and crisp singing voice was particularly loud and refreshing in the wilderness, and along with the gunpowder smoke spread to the Red Army headquarters hidden in the bamboo forest.Mao Zedong, who was in the command post, heard the singing and was very interested. He asked Chen Yi beside him: "Hey, who is singing so well?" Chen Yi was already very familiar with Zeng Zizhen's singing voice, and told him: "The king of folk songs from Xingguo is called Zeng Zizhen." Good!" Mao Zedong praised repeatedly.After a period of time, Comrade Mao Zedong gained a new understanding of Xingguo folk songs: singing folk songs is the best ideological and political work on the front line.Immediately suggested to Comrade Chen Yi: "Xingguo's folk songs are very pleasant to listen to, and can be sung along with the compilation. Go somewhere to sing." Chairman Mao's words echoed Chen Yi's train of thought. Chen Yi struck while the iron was hot, and quickly praised Zeng Zizhen's actions, and conveyed Chairman Mao's instructions to the troops and local governments. Zeng Zizhen, the king of folk songs, became the first Red Army female mountain singer on the front line.Zeng Zizhen has a competitive personality, and she is more active in her work when she is praised.Soon, she led some girls, put on military uniforms, and established the Red Army Folk Song Team. The folk song team of the Red Army lives like a soldier. No matter it is windy or rainy, they will go to various places to condolences to the Red Army as soon as they are ordered. There is no food to eat, and there is not enough food to eat. It is cold and there is no clothes. Sleeping in the temple corner of the ancestral hall at night is not too hard. As long as the folk songs are sung, I will be happy, as if the folk songs can fight hunger, keep out the cold, and relieve fatigue. In the case of very poor publicity tools, the more the folk song team sings, the more famous it becomes.