Knowledge is the light, ignorance is the darkness.

- American proverb

Seeing that her house was on fire, Niu Wanshan was anxious and angry for a while, blaming Gong Lamei for being a team leader and not taking care of her family, and asked her to resign from the position of team leader and give it to He Yuejin, who was eager to try.

Gong Lamei's heart sighed, unwilling to obey her husband's command: "Nao just wants to make a name for yourself, so that Niu Wanshan and He Yuejin can take a good look." In the new society, women can hold up half the sky. Chicken feathers can also fly into the sky. ”

Niu Wanshan said angrily: "

Gong Lamei said unconvinced: "In your eyes, women can only go out of the door, and they can only cook at home and take care of children!" It's been 12 years since liberation, why are you still the old brains, old ideas and old concepts of the old society? ”

Niu Wanshan saw that Gong Lamei didn't give an inch, so he couldn't help but get angry, raised his hand and slapped Gong Lamei in the face.

Gong Lamei's face immediately became red and swollen, and red marks on her palms appeared. Bright red blood also flowed from his nose.

Niu Mulan was woken up by the sound of her parents' quarrel. She jumped up, jumped off the kang of the earth, hugged Niu Wanshan's legs tightly with both hands, and shouted loudly: "You are not allowed to beat my grandma!" ”

Gong Lamei trembled with anger, and her eyes were full of tears of grievance. She wiped the blood from her face and turned to leave the house.

She walked in the direction of the brigade headquarters. She planned to go to the leader of the production brigade, either resign from the position of team leader, or cut off Niu Wanshan.

Lin Guizhen, a cadre of the production brigade, received Gong Lamei.

Lin Guizhen poured a glass of boiling water for Gong Lamei, listened carefully to her crying, thought for a while, and said: "The feudal ideology of the old society is deeply rooted. Not to mention the men in the countryside here, even the men in Linxia City have not been completely cleaned up. We're planning to train you to join the party organization. At this time, resignation or divorce is not good for your reputation and is not conducive to your progress and growth. In this case, you go back and ask Niu Wanshan to come to the brigade headquarters. I'll teach him a lesson. ”

Gong Lamei believes that Lin Guizhen is a veteran Red Army soldier and a revolutionary cadre of the brigade headquarters, who not only has a high ideological consciousness and far-sightedness, but also has absolutely no problem in speaking and doing things.

So, Gong Lamei had no choice but to return to Gayin Dai with a stomach full of grievances and sadness.

She informed Niu Wanshan to go to the brigade headquarters. Then, without taking care of the food, he went down to work in the field with a hoe on his shoulder.

During a small break in the morning, Niu Wanshan came to the field. With an embarrassed expression, he handed a new pink turban to Gong Lamei, and then said, "This is what the Red Army sister asked me to bring to you." ”

Ma Afei, Mai Yan and other female members felt very envious when they saw the beautiful pink headscarves, and they ran over to admire them, and rushed to wear them on their heads, praising Niu Wanshan for loving his daughter-in-law and buying things.

Gong Lamei was amused by everyone's jokes and complained: "What will he buy!" Nau's favorite is the snow blue. ”

Since then, Niu Wanshan's attitude towards Gong Lamei has changed a lot, and sometimes he helps her do some housework when others can't see her. It seems that Lin Guizhen's lesson has played a big role in him.

Gong Lamei gave the pink headscarf to her daughter Niu Mulan, who likes pink.

It's October. The corn in the field is finished. The artichoke was also dug up. The outdoor farm work is basically done. The members began to nest in their own homes. The women were busy making shoes, pickling pickles, and hurrying to do some household chores to prepare for the winter. The men gathered together to make small talk. Get used to basking in the sun and gossiping. Bad habits hide in the house and gamble.

Niu Wanshan spent the winter in the past engaged in gambling. Now the daughter-in-law is a cadre in the team, and if she goes to hang out and gamble again, it must have a very bad impact on the daughter-in-law and her society. So, he planned to go to Linxia City to find some odd jobs to do, one is to pass the winter time, and the other is to earn some change to subsidize the family.

So, he came to Linxia City.

One day, Niu Wanshan was walking around the long-distance bus station and suddenly saw a familiar figure. He looked at it and saw that it was Ma Yumin, the eldest son of Ma Haide, the Niu family's friend in Dongxiang County.

He stopped Ma Yumin, who was in a hurry with his luggage, and asked, "Brother, where are you going?" ”

Ma Yumin saw that it was Niu Wanshan of Gayin, and said happily: "Is it Sani?" I'm going to go to Xinjiang. ”

Niu Wanshan asked curiously: "Xinjiang is 108,000 miles away. What are you doing in Xinjiang? ”

Ma Yumin replied with a smile: "My Abel was a soldier before liberation and followed the 5th Cavalry Army into Xinjiang. On September 25, 1949, the 5th Cavalry Army declared an uprising. Abel joined the Chinese People's Liberation Army and later transferred to the Corps. Abel is now the commander of the Corps. A few days ago, Abel wrote to us, saying that the corps is in urgent need of manpower, and there is no need to worry about food and clothing, and the salary will be paid every month! Let me hurry down to Xinjiang. ”

When Niu Wanshan heard that there was such a good thing in the world, he couldn't help but be moved, so he asked Ma Yumin: "Can I follow you down to Xinjiang and to the Corps?" ”

Ma Yumin replied dryly: "Of course you can." My Abel is the head of the regiment and a cadre, and everything is up to him. Let's go, hurry up and buy a ticket, and we'll go down to Xinjiang in a ride. ”

Niu Wanshan said with an embarrassed face: "I have to tell my family." ”

Ma Yumin said: "It's okay to write a letter and tell them. If you go back and come back, you will be delayed for a day. Time waits for no one. ”

Niu Wanshan nodded and said, "Okay." ”

Niu Wanshan and Ma Yumin got on a long-distance bus from Linxia to Lanzhou, the provincial capital. After a bumpy day, they arrived in Lanzhou in the evening and stayed in a small hotel owned by Tang Wangji people in Dongxiang County, near the Xiaoxihu bus station.

Early the next morning, they went to the Lanzhou Railway Station at the foot of Gaolan Mountain and bought tickets for the train to Xinjiang that night.

Coming out of the ticket hall of the train station, they decided to visit Ma Yumin's younger brother, Ma Yuliang.

In 1956, Ma Yuliang graduated from Northwest Normal University and stayed in Lanzhou City as a cadre in the Propaganda Department of the Provincial Party Committee. He often published poems in the "Gansu Daily" and some literary magazines in praise of the new society and his hometown, which was valued by the leaders and welcomed by the readers, and became the first Dongxiang poet in history who was well-known in the province and even the whole country.

Ma Yuliang warmly received Ma Yumin and Niu Wanshan and invited them to his home as guests.

Ma Yumin gave his younger brother the dried vegetables and newly harvested potatoes he brought from Dongxiang. He looked at the dense books on a wall of bookshelves, and said to his brother with concern: "You read less books, be careful that your eyes are numb." ”

Ma Yuliang said with a smile: "We Dongxiang people have not attached importance to culture and education since ancient times, and the illiteracy rate is as high as 99%, which is the highest illiteracy rate in Gansu Province. Now that we are a new society, it is not possible to do revolutionary work without cultural knowledge. ”

Niu Wanshan said: "Your Ada is a big Ahong, and you have saved some savings in your hands, so that you can go to college as one of the best people in a million." Ordinary people can't even eat their stomachs, where is the money for the Gawa to go to school? My Heicher is 10 years old, and I haven't set foot in the school yet. ”

Ma Yuliang hurriedly said, "Brother, this is absolutely impossible." After you settle down in Xinjiang, you will immediately relocate the new sister and the Gawa. Xinjiang is a newly developed region, and its educational conditions are better than those of Gansu. I can see that people can lack anything, but they can't lack cultural knowledge. ”

Niu Wanshan asked: "You are a cadre of the state, and you must know more things than ours." Tell us about what happened in the harsh reclamation area of the Xinjiang Corps. ”

Ma Yuliang thought for a while, and then said: "Actually, I haven't been to the XPCC in Xinjiang either. However, I have seen their materials in the Ministry of Propaganda.

Ma Yuliang stood up, walked to the map of China posted on the wall, pointed to the top left corner of the map, and said, "The place you are going to is here." China is shaped on the map like a big rooster. You see, here in the Northeast is the head of the chicken. Lanzhou is the heart of the chicken. The place you go to is the most beautiful place with the's tail and the most beautiful. I'll check the situation of the 10th Agricultural Division for you. ”

Ma Yuliang took out a thick book from the shelf, opened it and read a few pages, and then read it to them:

On September 25, 1949, the Kuomintang troops stationed in Xinjiang declared a peaceful uprising.

In December of the same year, the 13th and 14th regiments under the jurisdiction of the 7th Cavalry Brigade of the 1st Division of the former Kuomintang Army in Xinjiang were combined into the 19th Regiment of the 7th Cavalry Division of the 22nd Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

In March 1950, the Independent Regiment of the 2nd Army of the 1st Corps of the 1st Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army was ordered to go to the Asan area (later incorporated into the 20th Regiment of the 7th Cavalry Division).

In May, the gold mining brigade of the cadre school of the Xinjiang Military Region arrived in Chenghua.

From 1951 to 1952, most of the 22nd Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army arrived in Baribagai.

In March 1953, the divisional organs of the 7th Cavalry Division, all of the 19th Regiment, parts of the 20th Regiment and the 21st Regiment, and the Gold Mining Brigade of the Xinjiang Military Region were all combined into the 28th Xinjiang Agricultural Construction Regiment of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, which belonged to the 10th Agricultural Construction Division of the Xinjiang Military Region.

In 1955, the 10th Division was abolished, and the 28th Regiment was under the direct leadership of the Corps.

In 1958, the 28th Regiment of Agricultural Construction was renamed the state-owned 28th Regiment Farm.

In 1959, in accordance with the XPCC [Jinglaozi] No. 049 order, the 28th Agricultural Construction Regiment of the Xinjiang Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army was restored, which belonged to the reorganized 10th Division of the Agricultural Construction Corps of the Xinjiang Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

The subordinate reclamation areas include Balibagai reclamation area, Kemuqi reclamation area, Caojiao Su reclamation area, pasture reclamation area and mountain grassland. ”

Ma Yuliang raised his head and said: "What you are going to is that there is a big river and a small river in the Harsh Su Reclamation Area, which are called the Irtysh River and the Kelan River respectively, and there are many small lakes, the land is flat, and the water and soil resources are abundant, which are much better than our Dongxiang and Xixiang, and it must be a land of fish and rice." ”

Ma Yumin and Niu Wanshan both smiled with satisfaction when they heard this. It was as if they had seen the river flowing, the fish jumping, the waves of wheat and the rice with white flowers.

Ma Yumin took a breath and said happily: "I can't imagine that distant Xinjiang is a paradise!" ”

Niu Wanshan also praised with emotion: "It's better to read!" Reading books can tell so many things in the world. ”

Ma Yumin suddenly remembered that Niu Wanshan wrote a letter to his family, and hurriedly said, "Yuliang, you can help Brother Sani write a letter to his family." He went out to Xinjiang, but the people in his family didn't know about it. ”

Ma Yuliang said with a smile: "You guys are really decisive." Let's go eat beef noodles first, and when we come back, we'll write a letter to Sanigo. ”

They came to the Ma Zilu beef noodle restaurant in Xiguan Cross, Lanzhou, and ordered Lanzhou's most famous snack beef noodle.

After a while, the young man in the restaurant brought three huge blue porcelain bowls with white background, which contained fragrant clear soup, on which a few slices of emerald green garlic sprouts floated, and thin slices of beef surrounded by emerald green.

They poured a few drops of balsamic vinegar into the bowl according to Ma Yuliang's instructions, and added a spoonful of oil to pour spicy noodles. The bowl of the sea suddenly appears red, yellow, and green, and the color is gorgeous, making people salivate.

Niu Wanshan picked out the clear soup with chopsticks, and what he fished up was a long cluster of noodles, which was smooth and delicate in his mouth, and his mouth was full of relish.

Ma Yumin, who was suffering from hunger, and Niu Wanshan each ate two large bowls of beef noodles before they felt a little full.

In the evening, Ma Yumin and Niu Wanshan boarded the green train bound for Xinjiang. They were all seeing and riding a train for the first time, and they were very curious about this steel behemoth. They sat in their seats, holding their luggage, and kept looking around, full of curiosity about the neat rows of seats, the spacious, bright glass windows, and the overhead racks.

Suddenly, the train let out a long "woo" sound, startling many people who were riding the train for the first time. The train shook violently again and began to start slowly.

Outside, people, trees, and houses quickly flashed through the windows.

Ma Yumin and Niu Wanshan pressed their faces against the glass of the window, carefully observing the moving locomotive and the tail of the train.

Ma Yumin stared at his big bright eyes and asked Niu Wanshan excitedly, "Sani, what do you say this train looks like?" ”

Niu Wanshan replied, "I look like a long snake. You tell me? ”

Ma Yumin said with confidence: "I look like a dragon in a mythical story. ”

Next to them sat a cadre-like man. The man, who couldn't understand the language they spoke, looked at the two young people who were riding the train for the first time, and asked with a smile, "What nationality are you two people about?" ”

Ma Yumin replied in Chinese: "Dongxiang people." ”

The man asked, "Dongxiang clan?" I don't think I've heard of it before. ”

Ma Yumin replied: "We Dongxiang people have lived in the loess mountains for generations. People on the outside generally don't know. ”

The man said, "I see that you are dressed like Muslims, but I don't understand what you are saying. ”

Niu Wanshan explained: "We have the same customs as the Hui people. The Muslims speak Chinese. We have our own vernacular language. ”

Ma Yumin asked the man: "How many days will we have to go down to Xinjiang?" ”

The man replied, "Five days and five nights." ”

Ma Yumin and Niu Wanshan shouted in unison: "So fast? ”

The train that Niu Wanshan and Ma Yumin took slowly drove out of the city of Lanzhou, climbed over the majestic Wusheling Mountains, entered the long Hexi Corridor, and rushed towards the dream-like Xinjiang.

The man sitting next to Ma Yumin and Niu Wanshan asked them, "Where are you two going in Xinjiang?" What to do? ”

Ma Yumin replied: "We went to the harsh Suken area of Altai and went to relatives. ”

The man said, "Oh, it's going to the Corps." ”

Niu Wanshan asked, "What is the situation of the Corps?" ”

The man cleared his throat and began to speak:

"In 1949, when Xinjiang was peacefully liberated, the economy there was a natural economy with agriculture and animal husbandry as the main body, the level of productivity was very low, the mode of production was also very backward, the development was basically in a state of stagnation, and the lives of the people were poor. After the People's Liberation Army (PLA) entered Hami, it suppressed bandits and rebelled against hegemony, established a revolutionary regime, and also created the Hami reclamation area, that is, the PLA reclaimed wasteland, grew grain, and became self-sufficient.

In 1950, in order to consolidate border defense, speed up development, and reduce the economic burden of local organs and people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, the Chinese People's Liberation Army stationed in Xinjiang devoted its main forces to production and construction.

In May 1953, the 16th Division of the People's Liberation Army was renamed the 5th Agricultural Construction Division of the Xinjiang Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. In June, the 5th Infantry Division was reorganized into the 1st Agricultural Construction Division of the Xinjiang Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and the 17th Division was renamed the 6th Agricultural Construction Division of the Xinjiang Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and the division headquarters was moved to Wujiaqu on the edge of the desert.

In October 1954, the higher authorities ordered the 2nd Army, 6th Army, 5th Army and 22nd Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army stationed in Xinjiang to collectively transfer to other jobs on the spot, break away from the sequence of the national defense forces, and form the Production and Construction Corps of the Xinjiang Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The XPCC began the construction of regularized state-run agricultural and animal husbandry regimental farms, which were transformed from the original self-sufficient production of the army into enterprise production, and were formally incorporated into the state plan.

The state has called on a large number of outstanding young and middle-aged people, demobilized soldiers, intellectuals, and scientific and technological personnel from all parts of the country to join the ranks of the XPCC and devote themselves to socialist construction in Xinjiang. ”