In 1955, New China assessed military ranks for the first time, and according to the conditions stipulated by the Central Military Commission, active-duty military cadres at the regimental level were generally awarded the rank of general.
At that time, Xu Liqing assisted Luo Ronghuan in the evaluation work, and according to his conditions, he fully qualified to be awarded the rank of general, but he thought that he could be a lieutenant general, which was beneficial to both his personal and his work.
After Luo Ronghuan knew the situation, he personally talked to Xu Liqing, saying that he could not change it at will, so he added his name to the list of generals reported to the Central Military Commission.
For this reason, Xu Liqing was deeply disturbed, but some old comrades persuaded him: “You meet the conditions of a general, you have to be a lieutenant general, what should other comrades who meet the conditions of a general think?” ”
“I am the deputy minister of the General Cadre Department, I am responsible for the awarding of titles, and unlike others, they will understand.”
So Xu Liqing wrote another letter to the Central Military Commission, repeatedly pleading with the Central Military Commission and the leaders of the headquarters to approve his request. After discussing with Vice Ministers Lai Chuanzhu and Song Renqiong, Luo Ronghuan always believed that Xu Liqing, who had served as political commissar of the XPCC in the early days of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and now was also deputy director of the General Cadre Department of the Central Military Commission, had high prestige and influence among the masses, and should be awarded the rank of general.
After that, Luo Ronghuan and others reported this opinion to the Central Military Commission. After reading it, Peng Dehuai also agreed with them and decided to award Xu Liqing the rank of general.
On this day, Peng Dehuai found Xu Liqing and asked him to explain the reason for not wanting to be a general in person.
Xu Liqing: “I have been thinking about this issue for a long time, according to the conditions for ranking, I should be awarded the rank of general, but I am in charge of the title awarding work, I can’t compete with others in the place of general, if it is obviously not appropriate to reduce others, it is more realistic to reduce myself, this is also my wish, I hope to get your support.” ”
“Liqing, I know you very well, you don’t want the matter of the admiral, I think it’s better to discuss it, this issue is not a matter of one person, this is an organizational decision.”
After that, Peng Dehuai talked to Xu Liqing twice, but Xu Liqing’s attitude was very resolute and repeatedly said that he did not want to be a general.
Peng Dehuai also did not agree to his request, and seeing that the day of awarding the title was approaching, Xu Liqing was particularly anxious, so he continued to write letters to express his determination.
As a result, this matter went to Premier Zhou Enlai. Premier Zhou personally talked to Xu Liqing: “You have applied for a low grant many times, this spirit is worth advocating, from the war years to the peacetime, you have always maintained this excellent quality of a communist, which is precious.” However, if you fully meet the conditions for granting the rank of general, do not think that you can be awarded a low award if you are the deputy head of the cadre department. ”
Xu Liqing said: “There are some people in the awarding work
Competing for positions in the ranks, without considering the overall situation, and only staring at the cadre department, I have given a low award, which is conducive to doing their work, which is completely for the sake of work.
”
Seeing that Xu Liqing was so insistent, he finally agreed to his request.
After Chairman Mao learned about this, he said: “It is not simple, money, status and honor can tell a person’s thinking and character, as has been the case since ancient times!” ”
Xu Liqing
In 1910, Xu Liqing was born in an ordinary peasant family in Shangcheng County, Henan. He joined the Red Army in 1929 and joined the party the following year.
In 1931, the Red Fourth Front Army was established in Huang’an, and Xu Liqing became the chief of the organization section of the Political Department of the 11th Division of the Red Fourth Army. In 1933, he became director of the Political Department of the Fourth Army. Participated in all campaigns of the Red Fourth Front.
During his tenure as director of the Political Department of the Fourth Red Army, he stressed the need to establish a new relationship between officers and soldiers in the people’s army, advocated equality between officers and soldiers, and opposed beating and scolding and casually punishing soldiers.
After the Red Fourth Front Army entered Sichuan, due to opposition to Zhang Guotao’s “
Rebellion
He was assigned to the Red Fourth Front Military Hospital as the director of the Political Department.
In April 1936, the Red Fourth Front Army was reorganized, and Xu Liqing served as the political commissar of the General Health Department of the Red Fourth Front Army.
In July, after the Red Army joined forces, they went north together, crossed the steppe, and advanced towards Gannan.
Xu Liqing understood that the journey must be long and long, and the gorges and rapids and snow-capped mountains and swamps passing through it were very dangerous, plus the Red Army troops marched day and night to fight, and there were more and more wounded and sick; due to the lack of medical care and medicine, how to take every battle out of the grassland and preserve the living force of the revolution became the most important issue.
Xu Liqing led the soldiers of the General Political Department to dig wild vegetables, grass roots, and even feed themselves with belts and cowhides along the way. Due to the lack of medical treatment and medicine, the injured soldiers could not be treated in time, so Xu Liqing personally went out to find old Chinese medicine doctors and used the indigenous methods and remedies of Chinese medicine to treat the soldiers. In order not to leave a single wounded person behind, Xu Liqing took the initiative to give up his horse and called on other leaders to give up the horse and form a containment team to take turns
Pack the sick and wounded. After more than a month of trekking, I finally got out of the meadow…
In October 1936, Xu Liqing became the political commissar of the Ministry of Health of the General Headquarters of the Western Road Army, leading the medical staff to cross the Yellow River westward. After the defeat of the Western Road Army, Xu Liqing led a large number of wounded health personnel to break through the encirclement and rescue them in the cold night of minus 20 or 30 degrees.
The difficult environment made many people waver, and Xu Liqing worked patiently and meticulously, encouraging the soldiers to overcome difficulties and firmly believing that the Communist Party would win.
After several months of snow marching, the enemy’s search for the mountains became more and more intense, and several times they were in danger, but they finally got out of the snow and reached Ganzhou.
On this day, when they were resting in the mountains southwest of Ganzhou, they sent a guard and a cook to find water. Due to too much fatigue, the group fell asleep as soon as they lay down, and as a result, the cook who went out to find water exposed his identity and leaked the place where Xu Liqing and others were hiding, and Xu Liqing and others were caught by the enemy in their sleep.
Xu Liqing and others were tied up and sent to Ganzhou, where they were imprisoned for three days, and then sent to Liangzhou for half a month in prison, and then sent to Lanzhou to build roads.
During this period, Xu Liqing was interrogated by the enemy six times and also beaten once. He always insisted that he was an ordinary Red Army soldier and did not know anything.
Xu Liqing wore an old sheepskin jacket and a crown on his head
Felt hats, building roads with ordinary soldiers. But it was still recognized by the traitor. However, the other party did not know his identity and position, so Xu Liqing lied that he was the medical director of the hospital.
In June, he was escorted to Xi’an, where he received news of the location of the Red Army while in the Pingliang area.
One night, Xu Liqing and others took advantage of the heavy rain, opened the rear window and escaped, and found it
The aid to the Western Army returned to the report of the Party Central Committee.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Xu Liqing served as the head of the organization of the Political Department of the 129th Division.
In 1943, the Central Military Commission decided to form the newly organized Fourth Brigade of the Five Provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia. When deciding on the selection of leaders, some people proposed Xu Liqing, and the central authorities were a little embarrassed by Xu Liqing because he was once a member of the Red Fourth Front Army.
Chairman Mao hammered the final word: “Xu Liqing is a cadre of the Red Fourth Front Army, who supports the Party Central Committee and opposes Zhang Guotao, and is an excellent cadre with political ideology and has been tested for a long time.” There is no ‘mountain head thinking’, and he is a suitable candidate for the political commissar of the New Fourth Brigade. ”
After Xu Liqing became the political commissar of the New Fourth Brigade, he overcame many difficulties and quickly did a good job in the work of the New Fourth Brigade, making great contributions to the defense of the Party Central Committee.
After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Xu Liqing took office
Director of the Political Department of the Shaanxi-Gansui-Ningxia-Jinsui Joint Defense Army, Director of the Political Department of the Northwest Field Army, Political Commissar of the Sixth Column, and Deputy Political Commissar of the Second Corps concurrently served as Director of the Political Department. Although he was a civilian, he was also a general who could go into battle and participated
The defense of Yan’an, the Battle of Qinghuayan, the Battle of Yangmahe, the Battle of Panlong, the Battle of Yulin, the Battle of Shajiadian, the liberation of Xi’an, the liberation of Lanzhou and other major battles.
In 1949, Wang Zhen and Xu Liqing led the First Corps to march to the Tianshan Mountains, promoting the peaceful liberation of Xinjiang.
In 1950, the Central Military Commission established the General Cadre Management Department, and Xu Liqing became the minister.
In 1955, Xu Liqing was officially awarded the rank of lieutenant general. Xu Guangda specifically approached him and said: “My request to be demoted to general was not approved, you succeeded, I congratulate you.” ”
Due to overwork, after the completion of the awarding work, Xu Liqing’s heart disease also recurred and he had to be hospitalized. After a while, Xu Liqing’s condition worsened, and he could not even read the documents, so he could only let the secretary read them, which he was deeply disturbed.
One day, Xu Liqing said to Lai Chuanzhu, who came to visit him: “I am in very poor health and cannot go to work in a short time, so I suggest that the General Cadre Management Department find a young comrade to replace my work.” ”
After Lai Chuanzhu conveyed his meaning to Luo Ronghuan, Luo Ronghuan specially visited him in the hospital and once again proposed the idea of finding someone to take over his work. Luo Ronghuan comforted: “It is more important to recuperate at ease now, don’t think too much about work.” ”
In January 1956, Xu Liqing wrote again to the Central Military Commission, requesting that he be removed from his post so that new appointments could be made. However, after deliberating, the Military Commission decided that he was still very young and should hurry up to treat his illness, and when he recovered from his illness, he could continue to work, so it did not approve his request.
Xu Liqing not only gave up his job many times, but also his own housing.
In 1950, after Xu Liqing went to Beijing to work, his family was arranged in a courtyard house in Dongsi Sanjo. Faced with such superior conditions, Xu Liqing was very uneasy, and discussed with the head of the department who manages the house several times, wanting to give up this residence to the old and senior comrades: I have three houses, one for the bedroom, one for receiving guests, and one for the staff.
After negotiating with the leaders of the relevant departments, he found Luo Ronghuan to discuss the check-out and said: “I just have a place to live, and it is best to give this house to older and senior comrades.” ”
But considering that the couple had 3 children, plus the secretary, driver, and guards, the garrison was not spacious, so I refused his request.
Xu Liqing’s dress is also very simple, whether he works at the headquarters or at the grassroots level, he wears a pair of round-mouth cloth shoes.
At that time, a comrade in the office of the General Cadre Department bought Xu Liqing a pair of leather shoes and said that he should wear them for meetings or to some important occasions.
Xu Liqing retorted: “I’m going to the countryside, to the mountains, the masses there can’t even eat, and when they see me wearing a pair of big black and shiny leather shoes, what will people think?” According to me, it is most suitable to wear cloth shoes, one is to spend less money, and the other is to wear comfortably. ”
After saying that, he returned the leather shoes the next day.
During the period of general cadres, except for military uniforms at work, all other times he wore civilian clothes. In winter, he wore an old coat left over from the war years, and many comrades advised him to go to the warehouse to change a new one.
Xu Liqing’s lifestyle not only infected and educated the staff around him, but also had a profound impact on his family.
Xu Liqing’s only daughter
Xu Yanqi, born in August 1948, suffered from polio due to high fever when he was a child, and it was inconvenient to speak and walk.
Xu Liqing and his wife went everywhere to seek medical treatment for their daughter, spending a lot of money, and it was not good. The organization wanted to help Xu Liqing solve his living and economic difficulties, but Xu Liqing politely declined: “Any child will have a three-long and two-short, and if they all let the public pay for it, the state can’t afford it.” ”
In September 1956, Xu Liqing’s youngest son
Xu Qiujing was born, and Xu Liqing was hospitalized with a serious illness. Mrs. Dang Xiuyu has to work and take care of Xu Liqing, and has no time to take care of her younger son. So someone proposed to find someone from other units to take care of his children.
But Xu Liqing refused: “This is not okay, this task is still given to Xiuyu!” ”
Xu Ganquan
Xu Liqing’s two sons
When Xu Ganquan and Xu Heping went to school, he told him not to engage in specialization and not to mention his father.
At one point,
Xu Heping was ill and couldn’t get to school on time, so he found his father and wanted to use his car to deliver it.
Xu Liqing refused: “This can’t work, the car is for my work, a little illness, or insist on walking.” ”
Xu and Nianping reluctantly walked to school with illness.
Xu Liqing’s lover, Dang Xiuyu, is also an excellent old cadre, and his requirements for himself and his family are also very strict.
In 1983, Xu Liqing died of illness in Beijing at the age of 73.
A few months after Xu Liqing’s death, Dang Xiuyu gave up his spacious house to someone else, returned Xu Liqing’s special car to the organization, and took his family of more than a dozen people to live in an ordinary courtyard in Beijing.
At the same time, Dang Xiuyu also asked his children to learn from their fathers, not to talk about food and clothing, pomp and pomp, and arrogance, but to work and contribute. Due to its disrepair, the courtyard would leak when it rained, and the relevant departments of the General Political Department wanted to come to decorate her, but she refused.
In 1998, her superiors considered that she was old and it was not suitable to live here, so they wanted to change her house. When she was asked for advice, she said, “You see I’m so old, how many more years can I go?” ”
So he returned the house again, and the whole family did not complain about it …
#开国将帅 #