Qi Bensheng, deputy secretary of the Quanshan County CPC Committee, later believed that in the historic winter of the 90s, when he led 240,000 migrant workers from 32 townships and towns in Quanshan County to the banks of the desert river, he truly understood what it meant to be "magnificent" and what it meant to be a "people's war." That kind of majestic scene of the great river going east left an unforgettable memory for Qi Bensheng, and made Qi Bensheng suddenly discover the greatness of the power of the people's group and the insignificance of the individual life of the leader. Looking at the overwhelming crowd in front of him, Qi Bensheng thought at that time that these surging black backbones were a solid land, and it was this land that supported the hopeful future of Pingchuan and the new dawn of our republic.

The rolling flow of people and vehicles is noisy and whistling, and the tide is pouring from all directions to the various construction sites designated by the Pingchuan City Water Conservancy Project General Headquarters. Flocking to the main roads, small roads, and ridges in Quanshan are not only 240,000 migrant workers from Quanshan County, but also about 400,000 transit teams from the three surrounding counties. As soon as Qi Bensheng's engineering command vehicle set off from Quanshan Town, the county seat, it was engulfed by the flow of people rolling on the road. Along the way, colorful flags were unfurled, and people were cheering and horses were shouting, which was really like the decisive battle of the year. Qi Bensheng also noticed that along the way, there were overturned cars, horse-drawn carriages with broken axles, and walk-behind tractors that broke down. If something goes wrong, these vehicles are immediately thrown into the ditch under the road, so as not to hinder the flow of vehicles and people. The desert river in Qiqu and 12 bays has lost its calm since then, and the most revolutionary page in the history of water conservancy in Pingchuan has also been opened.

At that time, standing on the military open-top jeep with the command flag, feeling the fiery atmosphere, Qi Bensheng was full of poetry and improvised a poem:

The flat ground thundered and the Mohe River, and thousands of troops and horses flowed through.

If you don't believe that the east wind can't be returned, the south and north flow and clear waves.

Back then, Zhou Ji tried the knife, and now the decisive battle is more magnificent.

In the twilight of his life, he asked his grandson: Who made a page of history?

In this way, in the name of the commander of the county water conservancy project, Qi Bensheng took 240,000 Quanshan children to the 94-mile construction site. From the first day he walked to the construction site, Qi Bensheng kept a clear head, he knew that the Damohe construction site was not a small reservoir in Zhouji Township back then, and the burden on his shoulders was very heavy. What's more, he is the youngest deputy secretary of the county party committee in the entire Pingchuan area, and he is the youngest county-level project commander on the 600-mile construction site, which is likely to make many old water conservancy officers look down on him.

Sure enough, when the first meeting was held at the general headquarters of the city's water conservancy project, Chen Zhongyang asked Qi Bensheng by name in front of a room of people, with a black face: "Secretary Xiao Qi, why don't you come to Quanshan's old water conservancy money?" ”

Qi Bensheng said sneeringly: "Our county magistrate Qian is fifty-seven, how can we still work on the river." ”

Chen Zhongyang said: "I'm fifty-nine, aren't I still working on the river?" You bring a message to Qian Mazi, just say what I Chen Zhongyang said, let him come to the construction site, you can do nothing, just be your Quanshan consultant. ”

This is obviously a belief in Qi Bensheng, but Qi Bensheng was not angry, nodded and agreed to Chen Zhongyang.

However, Bai Yulong, deputy mayor and deputy commander-in-chief of the project, said a few words for Qi Bensheng.

Bai Yulong said to Chen Zhongyang with a smile: "Secretary Chen, you may not know our Secretary Xiao Qi very well, they built a small reservoir when they were the secretary of the township party committee in Zhouji, and it is quite good!" ”

Chen Zhongyang waved his hand and said, "I know about this." However, that kind of petty fight is not the same thing as the big battle we have today! I don't think it hurts to ask Qian Mazi to consult this young man. ”

In the face of Chen Zhongyang's stubborn distrust, Qi Bensheng thought at that time that the Quanshan section he led must not be disgraced, even if he risked his young life, he had to do a good job in quality and quantity. Let it be proven that being young does not mean inexperience, let alone incompetence.

Coincidentally, when Chen Zhongyang's words were brought to Deputy County Magistrate Qian, Deputy County Magistrate Qian was diagnosed with cancer and could not go to the construction site again. Chen Zhongyang had to face a 28-year-old county-level engineering commander who had never worked in a river project; Qi Bensheng also had to work under the questioning gaze of a city-level commander-in-chief.

Chen Zhongyang's questioning gaze is a kind of pressure, and at the same time, it is also a kind of motivation, prompting Qi Bensheng not to relax for a moment in his work, working hard day and night, working silently, and walking at the forefront of the six-hundred-mile front in everything. From the quality of the project to the progress of the project, the comrades of the Municipal Water Conservancy Project General Headquarters and Chen Zhongyang himself had nothing to say.

Later, Chen Zhongyang's attitude changed, and he would talk about Quanshan whenever he had a meeting; When scolding those slippery old water conservants, he always has to take Qi Bensheng of Quanshan as an example: "Look at Secretary Xiao Qi, look at Quanshan, do you blush?" It's still an old water conservancy, I think it's an old fritter! The good style is almost lost, so that all the experience of treacherous and slippery is left! ”

As the commander-in-chief, Chen Zhongyang particularly appreciated another thing, that is, Qi Bensheng's consideration of the overall situation.

One million 870,000 people in eight counties and cities in Pingchuan fought together, but the project funds were generally insufficient, and the conditions were so difficult that all kinds of contradictions were inevitable. The most prominent contradiction is the dividing line between counties, no one wants to use their own funds and manpower to make progress for others, but wants others to do more for themselves, and the dividing line has become a dividing wall. Later, more and more were left on both sides, and the demarcation wall became a section of no-man's land that was narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. In order to redistribute these no-man's lands, the experienced old water conservancy officers quarreled and scolded one after another, and the migrant workers below began to beat and even killed. At such a time, Chen Zhongyang's general headquarters for water conservancy projects had to coordinate in person until an order was issued.

However, there has never been a similar problem at the boundary between the two ends of Quanshan County, let alone the Municipal Water Conservancy Project Headquarters and Chen Zhongyang for the demarcation wall. Qi Bensheng handled the contradictions very well in line with the principle of suffering losses by himself, and was praised several times by the Municipal Water Conservancy Project General Headquarters.

Once, Chen Zhongyang went to the Quanshan construction site to inspect the work, and when he talked about this problem, he casually asked Qi Bensheng: "Why is your little Secretary Qi's posture so high?" Is it inexperienced, or can't fight those old fritters? ”

Qi Bensheng smiled a little shyly and said, "Secretary Chen, do less, suffer less, you still need experience?!" Who doesn't know?! If you want to fight, I can fight, and I can fight, Secretary Chen, you know, our Quanshan is a fierce people. ”

Chen Zhongyang said: "Yes, I know, in the 60s, the river workers, my biggest headache was your Quanshan. Your old county magistrate Qian Mazi is a water conservancy general, but he is also a good hand in the civil war, and he was the deputy secretary of the commune at that time, and he personally led people to fight! For this, I have not been scolded less. ”

Qi Bensheng said: "But it's so noisy, is it worth fighting?" When our project is finished, the water of Daze Lake is brought over, the sky and sail shadows are floating on the desert river, and when future generations praise the hard work of our generation, let's think about these quarrels and blush? Who will remember these quarrels then? ”

This made Chen Zhongyang very moved and emotional: "Yes, in this way, it is still your younger comrades who can see far." ”

However, the contradiction between the township and the township in Quanshan County is not something that Qi Bensheng's high profile can solve. As the deputy secretary of the county party committee and the commander of the project, Qi Bensheng has changed from a party to a referee, so he can't help but express his position, can't help but do the work of both sides, the work can't be done, and he is so anxious that he sulks.

On the day when Chen Zhongyang was gnawing radish heads in the desert and eating raw rice, there was a boundary contradiction on the Quanshan side, and the six-mile-long river section of Zhouji Township and the five-mile-long river section of Liuwang Township stopped work at the same time. More than 18,000 migrant workers in the two townships climbed to the ridges on both sides of the river from 10 a.m. to sit and bask in the sun, and none of them worked at the bottom of the river full of silt.

Qi Bensheng was anxious when he heard the report. Spring ploughing and spring sowing are approaching, the construction period is already so tight, it is too late to rush to work on a moonlit night, how can you bask in the sun in this daylight? So, he first ordered Ye Chunshi, the head of Zhouji Township, by phone, and asked him to do the work first without talking about the conditions. Later, he rushed from the county headquarters to the Zhouji construction site.

After all, Zhouji is the place where Qi Bensheng once worked, and the township mayor Ye Chunshi and the migrant workers gave Qi Bensheng a lot of face, although they were emotional, they still went down to the bottom of the river to work after receiving Qi Bensheng's phone order.

Qi Bensheng arrived at the scene, it was already more than 11 o'clock at noon, most of the migrant workers in Liuwang Township ate on the river embankment, and only the migrant workers in Zhouji Township were lazily grinding foreign workers at the bottom of the river. After a second look, it was found that the Zhou Jiren who obeyed the order really suffered a loss: the project had reached the stage of dredging at the bottom of the river, and whoever dug the dredging first meant that the workload had increased. If you don't do it, the silt on your boundary has just been dug up, and the silt on his boundary has flowed over again, no matter how much you do, it is equivalent to doing it in vain, no wonder the migrant workers in Zhouji Township have emotions.

Qi Bensheng asked Ni Wuben, the head of Liuwang Township, and Ye Chunshi, the head of Zhouji Township, to have a meeting on the embankment, and asked these two family members who could almost be his father in terms of age: "In the face of this situation, what do you think should be done?" ”

Ni Wuben squatted on the ground and said with a bitter face: "Secretary Xiao Qi, you know, the progress of our Liuwang Township is slow, and the river widening part has not yet been completed, and it has dragged our county back, so we have to hurry up." I think Lao Ye can do whatever they like, and we won't interfere much. ”

Ye Chunshi shouted: "Township Chief Ni, you are playing us by talking like this!" You people in Liu Wangxiang don't go down to clear the dredging, our side is clear, you are flowing there, when will we finish it?! ”

Ni Wuben said unhurriedly: "If you are afraid of losses, then stop and wait for us for a few days, okay?" As long as Secretary Xiao Qi agrees, we have no opinion. ”

Qi Bensheng saw at a glance that Ni Wuben was playing tricks, thought about it, and said: "Old Ni, don't say it, I think it's best for you to concentrate on dredging together." From today onwards, the section of the river in your two townships and eleven miles will be cleared at the same time, and 7,000 people from each side will go down at the same time, until they come up together after the clearing. Okay? ”

Ye Chunshi said: "This is fair, we agree." ”

Ni Wuben said: "Our township is a five-mile river, and the head of Ye Township is a six-mile river, both of which have 7,000 people, don't we lose money?" ”

Ye Chunshi was refreshed: "Then I'll add another 1,000 people, and 8,000 people will come out." ”

Ni Wuben is still cheating: "Now that the boundary walls have been removed, how can you still tell the difference." ”

Qi Bensheng said: "I can divide the mile. I, the deputy secretary of the county party committee, stand on the middle line, make a boundary post between your two townships, and work with you. As long as one of the migrant workers in your two townships doesn't go ashore, I won't go ashore, that's always okay, right? ”

Ni Wuben had nothing to say.

That's what I did.

From 13 o'clock in the afternoon of that day to 23 o'clock in the evening of the next day, a full 34 hours, 15,000 migrant workers in the two townships, under the direct command of Qi Bensheng, launched the most arduous and longest continuous battle on the 600-mile front. In order to facilitate contact, Qi Bensheng equipped more than a dozen walkie-talkies on the eleven-mile-long section of the river, and he lived in the middle line of the two townships, holding the walkie-talkie for general scheduling. Five of the thirty-four hours were eaten standing in the black mud of the river. The migrant workers in the two townships went up and down instead, and only Qi Bensheng was soaked in the sludge all the time.

After the dredging was completed, the young county-level commander with a baby face fell softly on the warm and humid new soil at the bottom of the river with a walkie-talkie, and was directly carried into an ambulance with flashing police lights by migrant workers on both sides of the demarcation line.

Chen Zhongyang later met people and said: "Among the water conservancy generals under me, the youngest one is Qi Bensheng, and the best one is also Qi Bensheng." This living stake, which has been stuck in the muddy water for thirty-four consecutive hours, separates the noble from the despicable......"