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When I became secretary of the party branch, I always strived to make life better for ordinary people in Hengdian.First of all, I think that we should start by improving the basic living environment and solve the most pressing problem that the masses needed to solve: the problem of drinking water.In the past, people in Hengdian Village got water from the stream.On rainy days, they could only have muddy water.On dry days, they had to dig holes in the bank of the stream to find water to drink.Clean and convenient drinking water had been the people’s wish for many years.I organized the commune members to dig water wells, and drilled a total of four wells, and solved the problem of drinking water.
The second was to solve the problem of travelling.The west stream joined the east stream on the south side of Hengdian and flowed from south to north to Nanjiang county.The stream blocked people from Hengdian from going east.People could barely cross the stream in normal weather, let alone during the flood season.This brought huge inconveniences for Hengdian’s citizens.Building bridges over the streams was on top of the list.I organized brigade members to build eight bridges on the streams with different materials: wood, stones and cement boards in response to local conditions.We were all very happy that we had solved two problems that had bothered the local people for years.
Then I thought about how to increase the income of the members.Hengdian was not rich in land, less than half a mu of arable land per capita.To increase the yield, only intensive farming and improving the fertility of the land were options.In addition, efforts should be made in seed and field management.Still, it was not enough to rely on this land alone.We must also vigorously develop farming, processing, and other means of sideline production.To this end, we formulated a series of plans and proposed a series of measures.
At that time, my eldest son was born, and my wife, Caixian, was very diligent and virtuous, very supportive of my work.I believed that, in accordance with my plan, in two or three years, the situation of Hengdian would certainly change, and people’s lives would improve.I said to the members at the meeting that in the future we would have three meals with staple foods, and an apple or orange after each meal.Everyone burst out laughing.That was a life they couldn’t imagine!
Just as I began to make changes, the “Four Clean-ups Movement” came to town.The “Four Clean-ups Movement” was to clean ideology, clear politics, clean organization, and clean economy.This movement was fierce.I heard it was on trial in Zhuji where many cadres were put to death, either by throwing themselves into rivers or by hanging from a tree.
When the working group arrived at Hengdian, it conveyed the CPC central committee document “Some Issues Currently Raised in the Rural Socialist Education Movement,” which was referred to as “Twenty-Three Articles”.The document stressed that the nature of the movement was to resolve the contradiction between socialism and capitalism, with a focus on capitalists within the party.As soon as the working group arrived, the party branch and the brigade cadres were all sidelined, and I, as party branch secretary, became the immediate target of the struggle.
During a meeting, I was asked to examine in depth the crimes I had committed against socialism.I said to the chairman of the working group that we were very grateful that the working group had come to help us with socialism.I asked him what socialism was.The group leader was astonished, “You don’t even know what socialism is!” I said I was a little confused.“Should people have oil in the meal, wear silk clothes, have machines to work the farm and household electronics?” The chairman said, “Yes! You knew it very well! This is socialism!” “But what’s going on right now?” I kept pushing, “People don’t even have enough food to feed themselves.Take my family for an example, there are five people in my family: my father, my stepmother, my wife, my son and me.When the barley was cut, we were allocated 103 jin .When the early rice is planted, it will take at least 100 days to harvest.For five people, 103 jin of barley are all we had for food for 100 days.We had no money to buy firewood, oil or salt.Growing some private crops or doing small business is classified as capitalism.How could 103 jin of barley last for 100 days for five people? Is this called socialism?”
My remarks embarrassed the chairman of the working group.His face turned red, and he shouted angrily, “You bastard! You reactionary! You dare to oppose socialism.No wonder your family is still doing business and handicrafts.You are a typical capitalist roader!” Then he took the lead in shouting the slogan, “Take down the capitalist roader, Xu Wenrong!”.Then my father’s shop was shut down.
Early in the morning the next day, my wife got up and went out to fetch water.The door could not be opened.She called me, “Wenrong! Come and check.The red poster outside is all over the door.We can’t get out.” “Don’t panic, I’ll go out and have a look.” I sidled out.All over the door were critical posters and slogans, sealing the wall and the door together.I squeezed into the door and said to my wife, “I will go to get the water.You help lift the big poster a little bit.Be careful not to break them, or it will cause more trouble for us.” I went out first, and then took out the two buckets.I carried the water back in the same way, bucket by bucket, to the door.
Encountered such a situation, my wife was very worried for me, yet could do nothing to help.I comforted her and said, “don’t be afraid, Caixian.I’m fine.You see the red poster blocked the wind for us in this cold weather.It keeps us warm.Don’t break it, or the wind will come in through the cracks.”
I didn’t even remember how many of those meetings had been organized.The same accusations were repeated.I knew it was still the same people behind the scene like before.They were trying to bring me down by the hand of the working group, but they wouldn’t succeed.
Later, when the “Cultural Revolution” broke out, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a draft directive on Rural “Cultural Revolution”, which stipulated that the “Four Clean-ups Movement” should be included in the “Cultural Revolution”.The “Four Clean-ups Movement” was formally replaced by the “Cultural Revolution”.
The first action was to criticize Liu Shaoqi, who was the President of the PRC and said to be China’s Nikita Khrushchev, the largest capitalist in China.The “Four Clean-ups Movement” was started by criticizing Wang Guangmei, Liu Shaoqi’s wife.The working group became the subject of criticisim.
At this time, the rebellion was justified.The young student red guards who claimed to be the rebels intervened, and Hengdian also set up a peasant rebellion camp.The rebels wanted to criticize the working group, and even those who had been actively affiliated with the working group and had denounced and criticized me turned around to criticize the working group.But I wouldn’t let this chaos spread.I was supported by the vast majority of party members and the masses as the party secretary.Although I was criticized by the working group, I still had a lot of authority, and there was a lot of support behind me.The rebels couldn’t defeat me.I organized a group of people to secretly send the working group away.