The old governor did not come to Pingchuan with the inspection delegation organized by the provincial party committee, but came by himself. When the delegation of the provincial party committee went to Pingchuan, the old governor said that he would go, but when he set off, he fell ill and did not go. This made the old governor very regretful, and it also made Wu Mingxiong very regretful. So, Wu Mingxiong asked the old governor to invite a group of old comrades to come again.

When he came back, the old governor was still unwell, and he was exhausted at the reception banquet that night, and he barely drank two glasses of white wine, and did not eat any meal, so he retired early and rested early with the old lady. Wu Mingxiong was worried that he would not be able to carry out the visit the next day, so he made a second-hand arrangement, preparing to let Shu Huaru take other veteran comrades to visit first, and accompany the old governor to chat and rest in the Pingchuan hotel room, and also report on his work.

Unexpectedly, when he got up early the next morning, the old governor was in surprisingly good spirits, and before seven o'clock, he asked the secretary to hang up the phone to Wu Mingxiong's house and asked Wu Mingxiong to come to the hotel, saying that he was desperate to go to Pingchuan for a trip, but not to sleep in the room.

Wu Mingxiong was very happy, so he ran over to have breakfast with the old governor and seven old comrades who had come with him, and then he got into a large car, let the police car open the way in front, and the medical car was delayed, and the three cars formed a small convoy to go out to see the city. After taking a look at the business district in the city, the small convoy went on the ring road and ran a lap of the whole line. The veteran comrades were full of interest one by one, and from time to time they asked to stop, and took many photos in front of the nine art sculptures around the island.

At noon, we had dinner on a cruise ship in the New West Lake, and in the afternoon, we visited the New West Lake Scenic Area.

Walking on the tree-lined path of Xinxi Lake, the old governor was full of emotion, and said to Zou Ziyun, the old organization minister of the provincial party committee who had long since retired: "Ziyun, it seems that our old guys have good eyesight, and we have done a good job as a consultant with the right person." ”

Zou Ziyun said with a smile: "Old man, I can also say that our old guys have good eyesight, and the current provincial party committee team is also a good leader, and they are as good as a stream." If Secretary Qian Xianghui didn't buy our old guy's account, I'm afraid there would be no situation today. ”

The old governor nodded and said with emotion: "Yes, yes, Qian Xianghui has a lot of credit." When employing people at the beginning, it is a matter of making a decision on the spot; Later, there were so many contradictions and so much pressure, Comrade Xiang Hui stubbornly resisted and silently supported, which was another achievement; When the matter in Pingchuan was done, he immediately took advantage of the situation and expressed his stance to write an article, and the credit was even greater. Comrade Xiang Hui is both calm and pioneering, and he is very good at doing his work, and he has grasped my old man's concern for the poverty alleviation of one million poor people in Pingchuan, and always sent me an errand. ”

Zou Ziyun jokingly said: "If you want me to see, this difference is not sent by Qian Xianghui, nine times out of ten you robbed it, we don't have the good spirit of your old man!" ”

At this time, the old governor found that Chen Qiming, the former deputy secretary of the provincial party committee who had been walking in front, stood down against the clear lake, so he turned around with his cane and shouted: "Political Commissar Chen, keep up, keep up, don't fall behind." ”

Chen Qiming still stood facing the lake, not moving, as if he hadn't heard.

Wu Mingxiong caught up from behind and said to Chen Qiming: "Old Chen, let's go, go to the front tea house to rest." ”

Chen Qiming turned around, and Wu Mingxiong and the old governor found at the same time that Chen Qiming's face was full of tears.

The old governor said: "This political commissar Chen, why are you crying?" ”

Chen Qiming then took Wu Mingxiong's hand and said, "Comrade Mingxiong, it's not easy for you, it's not easy!" When I was the secretary of the prefectural party committee here at the end of the 50s, I thought about building an artificial lake to add some water spirit to Pingchuan, a place with a lack of water spirit. But I thought about it for five years, and when I left Pingchuan, my thoughts were just ideas. What kind of era is that, one movement after another, who makes you do things! Just because I disbanded the big cafeteria, I was right-leaning. ”

Wu Mingxiong smiled: "Old Chen, have you forgotten?" Didn't I get out of luck with you? You left Pingchuan and went to the provincial laboratory, but I went to the river with a backpack. If it's not for the old governor's protection, I don't know what will happen to me! ”

The old governor confirmed: "Yes, when you get to the construction site, you still have to settle Wu Mingxiong's account!" I was scolded by my old man and blew them away! He turned around and pointed to Zou Ziyun, the old organization minister of the provincial party committee, "You guy was choking enough back then, and he insisted on taking out Wu Mingxiong's deputy county magistrate." ”

Zou Ziyun said aggrievedly: "Old man, don't you want to think about it, in those years, you were allowed to think independently?" The party will do whatever it says. The party said that Chen Qiming and Wu Mingxiong were wrong, and I really thought they were wrong, so how could I not deal with it? This kind of question can be viewed from the point of view of historical materialism. ”

Wu Mingxiong hurriedly said: "Hey, what age is it now, what are you doing with those old things?!" Walk, go, go to the front Guanyu Tea House to drink tea, I asked them to prepare the best Biluochun. ”

After drinking tea at the tea house, it was already more than four o'clock in the afternoon, and the old governor suddenly proposed to go to the desert river to have a look.

Wu Mingxiong said tactfully: "Old governor, it's not early, everyone is tired, I think, don't go today, let's talk about it another day." ”

The old governor insisted on going, and Chen Qiming also said that he wanted to go, but Wu Mingxiong had to obey the order.

On the way to the Damohe, Wu Mingxiong reported to the old governor and a group of veteran comrades: "So far, we can only say that Pingchuan has just started, that is, we have set up a basic framework, and compared with other cities in the province, there is still a big gap, and I am afraid that there will be a process of hard work to achieve a comprehensive take-off of the comprehensive strength of the national economy." ”

The old governor said: "Yes, freezing three feet is not a day's cold, you Wu Mingxiong can't imagine entering communism in one morning, the lessons of the past are very profound." ”

Wu Mingxiong said: "Next, we have three basic ideas. First, the city and county highway from Pingchuan to the eight counties and cities should be comprehensively repaired, about 1,100 miles, and the radiation role of Pingchuan, the central city, should be brought into full play, and the city should be led by the city and the countryside, and the city should be promoted by the township, so as to achieve the common prosperity of the urban and rural areas; Second, after solving the water conservancy problem and ensuring grain and cotton production, we should make every effort to grasp the diversified operations of the eight counties and cities to achieve common prosperity, and use two to three years to thoroughly solve the problem of lifting one million poor people out of poverty; Third, the city should continue to carry out experiments in deepening reform, grasp the big ones and let go of the small ones, grasp the big ones to be able to grasp them, grasp the scale, and grasp the economic benefits, and the small ones must be truly opened up and really invigorated. ”

The old governor was most concerned about the problem of poverty alleviation for one million poor people, so he asked: "Do you have any specific measures to solve the problem of poverty alleviation and prosperity?" Speak up and listen to it. ”

Wu Mingxiong said: "There are many measures, such as linking the rich and the poor, sending cadres down, intellectual poverty alleviation, and so on. It's just a formality. What is more important, and what our municipal party committee particularly emphasizes, is that it is necessary to adapt measures to local conditions and do solid work. I said at the city's rural work conference held some time ago that after you go back, you should investigate, study, and mobilize to see where your way to prosperity is. Objective conditions are less emphasized. Hetian has few resources, only dried yams, but the dried potatoes in Hetian are well developed, and they bring a township to get rich. What are you doing there? Those who know how to raise pigs and sheep go to raise pigs and sheep; If you know how to do transportation, you will do transportation; Those who know how to do business go into business; Do whatever you know. You really don't know anything, and it's always good to get a nest of chickens, right? Isn't it money when a chicken lays an egg? I also said that from now on, I will not only look at your output value, but also at the net income of your people, the private savings figures of the people in your place, and what your people's houses and rice bowls contain. That way, you won't be able to fool me. ”

The old governor clapped his hands and shouted: "Okay, adapt measures to local conditions, seek truth from facts, you comrade is not a bureaucrat." ”

After half an hour, the car drove to the desert river and stopped on a bridge about 300 meters long. The old governor and a group of old comrades got out of the car and walked on the sidewalk of the bridge, looking at it, with even greater interest.

The old governor said to Chen Qiming with a sigh: "After the end of the war years, there is nothing that can excite me as much as the thousands of troops and horses dry water conservancy!" ”

Chen Qiming said: "That's why we said that your old man was born to be busy!" ”

Pointing to the wide river, the old governor said to Wu Mingxiong with affectionate memories: "It's very magnificent, better than what I did back then." Back then, I also thought that I couldn't build small ditches, but I wanted to build large water conservancy, but the objective conditions didn't allow it. There was a water conservancy expert in the Soviet Union named Malenkov, whose name is very memorable, and he had the same name as Malenkov, the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR at that time. He just said that you peasant comrades in China cannot build a modern large-scale water conservancy, and your current financial resources in China cannot afford to build a modern large-scale water conservancy. I was very upset when I heard this, and I quarreled with Comrade Marin. However, to be honest, at that time, I, the chief water conservancy commander, did not realize that the main irrigation canal would be so quickly unadaptable. ”

Wu Mingxiong said: "There is also a reason for this, judging from the meteorological data, since the mid-60s, the drought in the Pingchuan area has been getting worse year by year, and the rainfall has been getting lower and lower year by year. ”

The old governor stared at the water reflected red by the setting sun, still immersed in the memories of the past: "Malenkov is still a good comrade in the end, although there are some manifestations of chauvinism in the big countries, but he still makes great efforts to build the Chinese people." It provided us with the most advanced technology at the time, and also helped us design the first large-scale control gate. This comrade has no shelves, often rolls with our migrant workers, and his good-looking beard is always stained with mud. If he were still alive, he would be in his seventies this year. ”

Wu Mingxiong said: "Old governor, if you can get in touch with this Comrade Marin, we can ask him to go back to the desert river to have a look." ”

The old governor shook his head and said: "Comrade Marin is Russian, but his home was in Georgia at that time, and now that Georgia has become independent, who knows if he is still there?" He sighed and said, "We must never forget those old friends who helped us Chinese!" ”

After that, the old governor was never able to come out of the long memories of his life.

At dinner in the evening, the old governor and a group of old comrades made a fuss in front of Wu Mingxiong.

The old governor called Zou Ziyun a hot-blooded young man, and asked Chen Qiming: "Political Commissar Chen, do you remember?" What did you say when you brought this young man to me from Hattan in 1941? You said that this young man is a hot-blooded young man who came from the enemy-occupied area of the provincial capital, and he also brushed slogans along the way. But when I saw it, it didn't look boiling! ”

Chen Qiming said: "It's boiling, I prove it." At that time, I wanted to keep him in our regiment as the editor-in-chief of the "Combat Daily", but he didn't do it, he had to see you, the commander, and he wanted to go to the next company. ”

Zou Ziyun said: "What is the editor-in-chief, I am the only one inside and outside, and I don't even have a mimeograph machine." Later, I learned that Political Commissar Chen asked me to go out of the poster. Fortunately, I defected to our commander early, so I started as a squad leader and became a hero battalion. ”

The old governor's face sank and said: "Don't brag about your heroic battalion, you didn't think of the time when you fought Mohe County three times in 1945, you were so miserable, you beat more than 100 good brothers of Lao Tzu, and the corpses were scattered everywhere outside Lao Dongguan, and blood was everywhere, you didn't give Lao Tzu to attack the city!" When you were in front of you, I was going to boil, so I had to give you a shot. ”

Zou Ziyun shouted: "Decades have passed, and your commander still puts this account on my head?" The problem at that time was in the third battalion of Political Commissar Chen! We fought, but they didn't do it at the same time, and by the time I was in a big deal, he had gone into town. I'm really wronged forever. ”

The old governor didn't say anything, and sighed: "How many good comrades do we have, just like this, they have fallen in battle after battle, they have fallen on the land of Pingchuan, and they have turned into dirt under our feet. I don't know if they still recognize me as a commander when they see me as an old dragon clock? ”

A table of old comrades said: "The commander is the commander, who can not recognize it?!" ”

Later, the old provincial governor and a group of old comrades immersed in the memories unanimously sang the "Military Song of the Chinese People's Liberation Army" that they had sung countless times on the land of Pingchuan, which was filled with gunsmoke——

Forward, forward, forward!

Our procession to the sun,

Stepping on the land of the motherland,

Burdened with the hope of the nation,

We are an invincible force......

On the night of parting, the old governor talked with Wu Mingxiong again, and said sadly and with relief: "Wu Mingxiong, you don't have to say anything anymore, we old guys have seen it, you have given us a lot of historical accounts for us, you have won an era!" Thank you, thank you comrades in Pingchuan City who are serious about doing things. Now it seems that the problem of lifting one million poor people out of poverty can be solved, and I can go to see my comrades-in-arms underground with peace of mind. ”

Wu Mingxiong took the old governor's hand and said, "Old governor, what are you talking about?" When the problem of poverty alleviation for one million poor people is truly solved, we will take you to see it again! Let's go to Damo County to see what the old Dongguan would be like. ”

The old governor shook his head and said, "I can't see it, I'm already very satisfied to be able to go to Pingchuan this time." ”

Wu Mingxiong had some ominous premonitions at this time, but he didn't dare to show it on his face.

Sure enough, the old governor fell ill when he returned to the provincial capital, and this time he fell ill and never got up, and died of illness in the Provincial People's Hospital forty-three days later. Before he took his last breath, the old governor left a last word saying that his ashes were scattered in the 600-mile desert river in Pingchuan.

The Desert River is connected to the desert county, the anti-Japanese base of the year, and also to the beautiful Xinxi Lake today.