From the desert through Xinlin County and into the sea of clouds, it was the second night, and the research team was getting bigger and bigger. A jeep with front afterburner and two small loaves were all full. After arriving at Sanchahe Town, Mi Changshan, secretary of the Yunhai Municipal Party Committee, and Shang Dequan, the mayor of Yunhai, rushed to greet him with a group of people, and a small car was parked in the brightly lit town compound.

Wu Mingxiong was a little displeased and asked Mi Changshan: "How do you know that I am coming to the Three Forks River?" ”

Mi Changshan said: "It was Secretary Chen Zhongyang who called us to tell us. Secretary Chen is also an old water conservancy, he said, the Three Forks River is the only way for you to travel, and I want to wait for you here. Secretary Chen also said, you and your comrades ran out on such a hot day, only brought a few boxes of instant noodles and mineral water, did not eat well, did not sleep well, it was very hard along the way, let me entertain well. ”

Mi Changshan didn't mention Xiao Daoqing at all.

Wu Mingxiong said to Xiao Daoqing: "Secretary Xiao, look, do we accept Secretary Mi's hospitality or not?" Shall we drink this wine or not? ”

Xiao Daoqing thought that Wu Mingxiong was going to perform a clean government in front of his subordinates, so he made a depressed look and said, "Secretary Wu, can we drink it?" The people of the desert and Xinlin can't even drink water, so do we still have the heart to drink Secretary Mi's wine? ”

Mi Changshan narrowed his eyes and called Secretary Xiao sweetly: "Secretary Xiao, don't say that, the desert and the new forest, there is the situation of the desert and the new forest, and we have the situation of the sea of clouds." We are closer to Daze Lake, and when Secretary Chen presided over the work here, he paid special attention to water conservancy, so both the Damo River and the Baima River did not stop flowing. We've got live fish for you today. ”

Wu Mingxiong obviously had no interest in performing a clean government, and as soon as Mi Changshan's words fell, he immediately said: "Okay, if the drought is like this, you Yunhai can still take out live fish, and Secretary Xiao and I will drink this wine." ”

Xiao Daoqing also said: "Secretary Wu said to drink, we will drink." I ate several meals of instant noodles along the way, and everyone really worked hard. However, the wine money will have to be paid by your secretary. The Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection clearly stipulates that the city's higher-level departments are not allowed to entertain liquor. ”

Mi Changshan smiled and said, "Okay, good, all the wine money is paid by my monk mayor." ”

Wu Mingxiong hurriedly said: "Don't, don't, just pay for the wine, but it's too cheap for you." I will drink the wine and eat the fish, but the wine banquet will be donated to you in Yunhai City. The city is determined to go to the South-to-North Water Diversion Project this time, and your Secretary Mi has to donate to me! ”

Mi Changshan was stunned and said, "Secretary Wu, are you here to kill the rich and help the poor?" According to the spirit of the province, in terms of water conservancy, who benefits and who pays. The confluence of the three rivers of our Yunhai is a water network area, and there is basically no problem of water shortage. ”

Wu Mingxiong raised his face and said, "Are you embarrassed to say?!" The section of the desert river in your sea of clouds is as thin as a chicken intestine, can it continue to flow downstream? The river should be widened to about 150 meters, and the White Horse River should also be fully dredged. You either contribute money or you contribute. In contrast, your city is relatively wealthy, so I will consider it for you, and I will pay for it. ”

Mayor Shang Dequan had a bitter face, rubbed his hands and shouted: "Secretary Wu, you are really mistaken, how can our city be considered relatively rich?" It's really a false name, and it's unspeakably miserable! If you don't believe me, you ask Secretary Chen, what are we now dragged into by triangular debts? ”

Wu Mingxiong waved his hand and said, "Okay, okay, don't call it yet, we'll talk about this later, and it's okay if you don't pay for it." This winter and next spring, you will prepare for me 15 to 200,000 people to work on the river. ”

Shang Dequan and Mi Changshan were silent, stunned for a moment, and warmly greeted Wu Mingxiong and the group to dinner.

The wine banquet is almost a fish feast. Seeing all kinds of fish on the table, Wu Mingxiong immediately understood the intention of Shang Dequan and Mi Changshan to report on the work in disguise, so he also pointed to the fish and made a big discussion, greatly praised Mi Changshan and Shang Dequan and the cadres of Yunhai, and asked Vice Mayor Bai Yulong and the Municipal Water Conservancy Bureau to summarize Yunhai's water conservancy work experience, print it into materials and send it to various counties and cities, and also said that they would let the "Pingchuan Daily" report on it.

At the toast, on behalf of the Yunhai Municipal Party Committee and the city, Mi Changshan said that no matter whether the city can get on the south-to-north water diversion project, Yunhai's water conservancy work will continue unremittingly for a long time, and at any time and under any circumstances, it will not drag the city back.

After eating, led by Mi Changshan, Wu Mingxiong and his party went to the fork river gate.

It was a starry night, a bright and big full moon hung in the middle of the sky, and the cool night breeze blew away the heat of the day, which made Wu Mingxiong feel very comfortable.

Wu Mingxiong asked Mi Changshan: "Do you know who presided over the construction of this river gate?" ”

Mi Changshan said: "Do you still need to ask? It's Secretary Chen. ”

Wu Mingxiong nodded, and asked again: "What year did you repair it?" ”

Mi Changshan said: "In 1959, ***. ”

Wu Mingxiong said: "To be precise, it was from 1959 to 1961. I was there when this sluice was built. The south of this river gate belongs to Chen Zhongyang, and the north belongs to me, and we take 200,000 migrant workers from three counties to eat and live on the construction site. What do you eat? It is a melon and vegetable generation, part of grain, part of corn cob heart, dried gray cabbage, locust leaves, poplar leaves, and sesame leaves. In 1961, it had already begun, and we engaged in cash-for-work, but in the end, we still carefully sorted out the waterways of the desert river for the first time, so that we had stability for nearly 20 years. Wu Mingxiong turned his face to Xiao Daoqing and the people who were traveling with him, "Today, can we do another cash-for-work campaign?" In poor counties like Dadesert and Xinlin, which are financially upside down, I think it is completely possible to engage in cash-for-work. There is no way to make money in a poor place, and there is nothing to do in winter and spring, instead of basking in the sun and eating idle meals at home, it is better to go to the river construction site to make some efforts and eat cabbage roast meat and white flour buns in the big houses of the construction site. In economically wealthy counties and cities like Yunhai and Minjiao, the common people have money in hand and have a lot of ways to live, and they earn more than a dozen yuan a day by working in township enterprises. If he doesn't do it, he'll just give some money. Just like the National War of Resistance in the past, some people contributed people, and some people contributed money. ”

Mi Changshan asked: "If it is to pay, how much will our city cost?" ”

Wu Mingxiong said: "This is going to be settled in the end, it is estimated that it will not be much, and your city will contribute a part of the finance, which is a few dozen yuan per agricultural population, right?" ”

Mi Changshan said: "It's okay for the county finance to come out a little, but I'm afraid it's not easy to ask the peasants for money." ”

Xiao Daoqing also reminded again: "The central authorities have repeatedly ordered that they are not allowed to increase the burden on the peasants. ”

Wu Mingxiong said: "This cannot be said unilaterally to increase the burden on the peasants. As long as we take a longer view, we can see that we are doing this today precisely for the fundamental interests of the peasants in the entire Pingchuan area. If the water problem is solved, land production will increase, and peasants' incomes will increase, will not it be possible to permanently reduce the peasants' burdens? The comrades of the Agricultural Bureau can give you an account. ”

Zheng Zheng, director of the Agricultural Bureau, immediately reported an account, saying: "If the south-to-north water diversion project is successfully implemented, the rice planting area can be increased by 680,000 mu along the way, and the irrigated land can be expanded by 1.2 million mu, and the annual grain output can be increased by at least about 1 billion catties." ”

Mi Changshan sighed and said: "A farmer is a farmer, short-sighted, no matter how good your account is, as long as you don't give him money today, but ask him for money, he will scold you and sue you." Otherwise, what else did Chairman Mao say, the serious problem is to educate the peasants? ”

Wu Mingxiong said: "But we, the responsible cadres of the Communist Party, must not be short-sighted, and we must not stop working or doing things for fear of being scolded a few times!" I don't think that's the problem. I dare to say that few of the comrades standing beside me now are afraid of the peasants' scolding. What are you afraid of? It's not the peasants who are afraid, it's the ones who are afraid of the top, it's the fear of losing the black yarn hat! ”

Xiao Daoqing smiled and said: "This is not absolute, and I am afraid of causing losses to the party's cause." ”

Wu Mingxiong became angry and said: "I'm afraid that if I don't do things, I will cause even greater losses to the party's cause!" People will scold us even more ugly, and they will scold us as cold-blooded animals who don't know the suffering of the people! ”

Xiao Daoqing was stunned, he never imagined that Wu Mingxiong would say such harsh words in front of so many lower-level cadres.

Wu Mingxiong also realized his gaffe, softened his tone, and said: "I want to state that I am not speaking this to anyone, but to some critics who do not do things and only criticize others. The project will be launched this winter, and Secretary Xiao is the commander-in-chief, and everyone must fully assist Secretary Xiao in his work. ”

Xiao Daoqing wanted to say that the Standing Committee had not yet decided on this matter, but he grinned bitterly and didn't say it.

Standing on the river sluice, looking at the starry sky and the moon, Wu Mingxiong finally said: "I remember that former US President Theodore Roosevelt said something to the effect that the people do not trust critics, not people who point out the mistakes of strongmen. The people trust those who roll and struggle in the gladiatorial arena. These people were sweaty and bloodstained, they fought valiantly, perhaps constantly making mistakes, because there are inevitably mistakes in doing things, but they did fight hard, they were full of enthusiasm and great dedication. If they are lucky enough to succeed, it is the result of their struggle; If they are unfortunate enough to fail, it is at least a failure after daring to take a big risk; Therefore, these warriors must not be compared with the cold and cowardly people who do not know what victory is and what defeat is. I hope that comrades will be such fighters. ”

Deputy Mayor Bai Yulong said: "I agree with Secretary Wu's opinion, even if we are scolded twice, we must also be responsible for the 10 million people of Pingchuan." If there is a better idea, everyone will put it forward; There's no better way to think about it, so I'll just do it. When Secretary Wu spoke just now, I remembered a person named Qi Bensheng, Secretary of the Party Committee of Zhouji Township, Quanshan County, who was the first person to raise funds from farmers to run water conservancy projects three years ago, and I think this person is a soldier......

Wu Mingxiong shouted: "Mayor Bai said it well, and he also reminded me. We all have to meet this Qi Bensheng, I will change the schedule tomorrow, and the comrades of Quanshan will meet in Zhouji, and the on-site meeting will also be held in Zhouji! ”