The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 515: Teaching by example!!!
After seeing off the military district chief Liu Zhiye and others, Captain Guo invited Battalion Commander Yi Yuanchao and Deputy Battalion Commander Wu to have lunch with their company at noon.

Deputy Battalion Commander Wu said: "You can't have lunch with your company. We have been notified to watch the formation performance of the instructors of the training team participating in the big competition next year. They are all excellent instructors who have received special training. We also want to broaden our horizons."

"Then let's go back to the battalion cafeteria to have lunch and rest for a while, and then continue in the afternoon." Yi Yuanchao said as he and Deputy Battalion Commander Wu rode their bicycles back to the battalion headquarters.

It is said that Liu Zhiye and his group did not stay in Yi Yuanchao's camp but went directly to the next military base.

There are only a few days left before the New Year and time is tight. He wants to visit more grassroots units as much as possible to get a feel for the situation, and also bring New Year greetings from the military district leaders to the grassroots officers and soldiers.

"When we talk to each other, we must stand in the position of our comrades and speak to them with a sincere attitude; cadres, especially grassroots cadres who are close to soldiers... putting the grassroots first and soldiers first has always been a glorious tradition of our party and our army."

In Liu Zhiye's special car, he had a candid discussion with Deputy Political Commissar Sun on the ideological construction of the army and gave some suggestions.

Deputy Political Commissar Sun was an old political worker. He did not expect that this young leader, who was much younger than him but was a military chief, was not only good at military command, but also had unique ideas in ideological construction.

Deputy Political Commissar Sun said admiringly: "The leader is right, the grassroots officers and soldiers are the foundation of all the work and combat effectiveness of the troops.

Without grassroots officers and soldiers, no matter how grand the strategy is, it cannot be realized.

There are many ways to care for grassroots officers and soldiers, one of which is to find ways to solve their problems.

Solving problems is the best concern, and helping people in need is the best service.

To promote the overall progress and perfection of grassroots construction, we must pay special attention to solving "all problems" of officers and soldiers, truly stimulate the endogenous motivation of the grassroots, and improve the level of grassroots governance..."

Liu Zhiye and Deputy Political Commissar Sun got along well. The more they talked, the more they became familiar with each other, and it seemed like they had met too late.

In this way, the two military district leaders, with their staff, arrived at a garrison company stationed at the foot of Shanhaiguan, exhausted.

Liu Zhiye had an old habit: sometimes when he went to a company, he would suddenly change the inspection target. At this time, he would instruct the staff around him not to notify the company in advance.

This time there is no exception.

When Liu Zhiye and his colleagues arrived at the company's base, they happened to meet the company's officers and soldiers returning from shooting practice.

It was getting dark, and the staff went out to prepare meals, while he walked into the soldiers' dormitory and asked about their shooting results and their usual training.

The soldiers were very happy to see the military district chief coming to visit them, and they rushed to report the situation to him.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, followed by another gunshot, disturbing the peace of the company's base.

Not long after, the garrison company commander Qin Xiping came running in hurriedly: "Report to the commander, a new soldier named Li mixed live ammunition and training ammunition together after cleaning his gun. When he was testing the gun, it went off accidentally. No one was injured, but I was scared. I thought..." The company commander became more and more angry as he spoke: "This bad soldier is always careless. This time I must punish him!"

Liu Zhiye smiled, waved his hand and said, "No, don't punish him yet. The accidental discharge of a gun is a bad thing, but as long as no one is hurt, it's fine. We must resolutely put an end to it in the future."

Qin Xiping was furious and said nothing.

Liu Zhiye looked at the company commander's expression and said worriedly, "Comrade Xiping, the lesson from the accidental discharge is what it is. Don't relate it to whether I am in the company or not when handling it, okay?"

Qin Xiping yelled, "Commander, how can this be? If we don't teach him a lesson this time, he will make trouble again next time. We must not let him off."

The wall has ears.

Somehow the company commander's words reached the ears of Xiao Li, the man whose gun went off accidentally.

After the incident, Xiao Li was already feeling uneasy: "Will I be criticized or punished?"

Xiao Li's heart was in turmoil.

After hearing what others told the company commander Qin Xiping, Xiao Li thought that it was all over and he simply lay down and refused to get up.

Things are complicated.

Liu Zhiye has many years of practical experience in grassroots work, and he feels that it is time for him to speak out.

Originally, according to his previous habit, every time he went to the company, he would first talk to the cadres and soldiers, hold a few seminars, and only speak after he had grasped a lot of information.

Because Liu Zhiye has always hated the practice of firing random shots as soon as getting off the car.

But this time the problem was rather special, so he had to speak about it.

Despite this, before speaking, Liu Zhiye still informed the cadres of the garrison company first.

During the evening roll call that day, Liu Zhiye used the accidental discharge of a gun as an excuse to express his opinions on the company's problems in management and education, and the storage of weapons and ammunition.

Finally, Liu Zhiye solemnly announced: "Don't regard this accidental discharge as an abnormal incident, and don't give Xiao Li any punishment, but learn a lesson from it."

The effect is immediate.

Before Liu Zhiye finished speaking, Xiao Li, who was standing in the queue, started to sob.

When the team disbanded, he ran to Liu Zhiye, so excited that he couldn't utter a word.

Strike while the iron is hot, Liu Zhiye talked to him again.

That evening, Xiao Li took the initiative to go to the company commander and admitted his mistake. He also wrote a draft for a wall poster and expressed his determination to correct his mistakes to all the comrades in the company.

Company commander Qin Xiping was also educated and inspired by this incident.

Before going to bed at night, the guard reported to Liu Zhiye that the company was still not confident about his safety and had specially increased the number of sentries.

After hearing this, Liu Zhiye got up and called Qin Xiping and other company cadres.

He severely criticized their behavior and told the company cadres that they should respect and trust the soldiers and withdraw the added sentries.

Before going to bed, Liu Zhiye sent the guards out to check again, and only went to bed after hearing that everything had been confirmed.

Due to Liu Zhiye's sudden arrival, the company did not have time to entertain him. After several company cadres discussed it, they felt that "this lesson" still needed to be learned, so they decided to have Deputy Company Commander Hu take charge of the organization.

Deputy Company Commander Hu started thinking: Should we just ask the leaders what dishes they like to eat? Obviously, this was not a good idea.

So he came to ask Liu Zhiye's bodyguard Xiao Zhang.

Xiao Zhang said: "Deputy Captain Hu, let me tell you the truth, you don't need to bother with this matter.

We have just arrived, and you may not know the chief's temper yet.

When he came, he repeatedly told us that he would eat the same thing as the company.

If you do something else, the chief will be angry."

"Look at what you said. Not to mention that the leader came from far away, we should entertain him. Even if the relatives of the soldiers come to the team, we should cook a few dishes to show our appreciation." Deputy Company Commander Hu explained.

"That is different from this. That is to let the families feel the warmth of the army, but we don't have that internally."

Deputy Captain Hu hesitated for a while, still unwilling to give up: "Xiao Zhang, we will never cause trouble to the leader, but add..."

Xiao Zhang seemed to see through his thoughts and said, "Deputy Captain Hu, before I went to the company, the commander gave us three rules: one, no extra shifts, two, no extra food, and three, no disruption to the normal work order of the company.

We promised him that we would complete the task. You have to support us in our work."

Seeing that Xiao Zhang spoke so sincerely, Deputy Company Commander Hu no longer insisted.

At lunch time, the commander of the regiment to which the company belonged arrived.

Xiao Zhang judged from the expression that Captain Zhao came to check how the company entertained the military district leaders.

However, Liu Zhiye and other military district leaders ate the same meals as the soldiers as usual, and the canteen was filled with a warm atmosphere.

Suddenly, a cold breeze carrying the smell of brine from the sea blew in from a broken window.

Deputy Political Commissar Wu couldn't help shivering when the cold wind blew.

Seeing this, Liu Zhiye put down his bowl, walked to the window, carefully checked the damage, and asked, "How long has this window been broken?"

Deputy Company Commander Hu replied, "It has been several months. I have been busy with training and have not had time to repair it."

When Liu Zhiye heard that the window had been broken for several months and had not been repaired, he frowned.

Seeing the chief's bad face, Captain Zhao's face was embarrassed, and he said hurriedly: "Chief, I want to apologize to you. It's our work that was not in place and we didn't check it."

The two thick black eyebrows on Liu Zhiye's handsome face flew up, he looked at them seriously and said: "Look, if the wind blows in on a snowy day, and the rain and snow sweep in, can the soldiers eat well?

Regardless of which level of cadre we are, we must not only be responsible to our superiors, but also to our subordinates and care about them.”

Then he turned to Captain Zhao and said, "We'll keep our word. Find someone to fix the window and put the glass back in place."

"Yes." Captain Zhao felt that he had lost points in front of his leader and was very upset. He immediately walked out of the cafeteria and sent someone to find a repairman.

Seeing that the conditions of the garrison were relatively poor, Liu Zhiye decided not to just go on a quick tour. He wanted to stay one more day to get a better understanding of the grassroots situation. In the evening of the second day, the soldiers who had gone out returned to the team one after another, and the company held a routine class meeting.

Liu Zhiye came to Class 2, Row 1 specifically to attend the class meeting.

The second squad leader usually has a simple management method. When he saw the leader coming to his class to attend the class meeting, he first asked the leader for any instructions.

Liu Zhiye said humorously: "In the class meeting, you will naturally play the leading role. I am just here to listen to your speeches."

I don’t know whether the second monitor misunderstood Liu Zhiye’s meaning, or he subjectively wanted to improve the level of his speech at the class meeting, so he spoke first.

The teacher from Class 2 first explained the purpose and content of the class meeting, and then led the speeches, speaking for more than 30 minutes in a row.

Later, before the soldiers had even finished speaking, the second squad leader interrupted and continued speaking. The entire evening's squad meeting time was almost occupied by him alone.

However, Liu Zhiye neither interrupted him nor blamed him. Instead, he waited until he finished speaking before asking the second squad leader whether the comrades attending the class meeting were from the entire class.

Unexpectedly, this question was not important. A baby-like face appeared from the mosquito net on the top of the double bed in the corner, and said in a soft voice: "Commander, I am a patient in the second class, and I am 'ruling behind the curtain.'"

The soldiers all laughed.

The second squad leader glared at the young soldier unhappily and said, "This is the head of the military region. Stop giggling and speak seriously."

Liu Zhiye smiled and pulled the third squad leader, saying, "It's okay. We're not in a queue or a formal setting. You can be more casual and lively when answering questions."

Despite saying this, the little soldier still retracted his head.

Liu Zhiye stood up, walked to the young soldier's bed, and asked in detail about his condition and living conditions, which greatly comforted the soldier.

Afterwards, Liu Zhiye called the second squad leader out of the dormitory, talked with him while walking, and then sat down on a stone bench next to the barracks.

In the twilight, Liu Zhiye's words were like a stream, ding-dong-donging on the second squad leader's heart: "You were very enthusiastic about speaking at the class meeting, but your shortcoming was that you talked too much.

Squad meetings are a fine tradition formed in our People's Army over the past decades.

The purpose is to let all the comrades in the class speak and discuss their thoughts, so that we can find problems and carry out ideological work in a targeted manner. "

"Ah, is holding a class meeting so important?" the second monitor said to himself.

"Yes, this is not just a meeting for the sake of holding a meeting, but a manifestation of our army's democratic style. It is directly related to preventing accidents and consolidating the troops."

At the end, Liu Zhiye patted him on the shoulder and said, "Young man, this is our first time meeting. I've said so much. You don't hate us old guys, do you?"

"Commander, we wish you could talk more about this."

The night is getting deeper and deeper.

However, Liu Zhiye patiently told the second squad leader a lot of his experience in leading troops at the grassroots level, which benefited him a lot.

The military district leaders left the next day, and what made Liu Zhiye happy was that the grassroots officers and soldiers had much better material support for the New Year than before.

The material life of the garrison company around the New Year is much better than usual.

During the holidays, the material supply departments and non-staple food companies at each troop station will go to the troops in advance for communication.

The pork, cooking oil, fine grains and vegetables in the military canteen are all higher than the local standards.

What made the soldiers happy was not only a pre-holiday dinner, but also the "menu ordered by soldiers' representatives."

This system also exists on normal days. During festivals, the company pays more attention to it and each class usually assigns one enthusiastic soldier to participate.

The garrison company was led by Deputy Company Commander Hu, who was still alive.

The quartermaster reported to him the income and expenditure of food expenses and the purchase of food for the holidays, and the soldiers put forward suggestions for the arrangements of staple and non-staple foods for a week or half a month.

People in the south like rice, people in the north like noodles. Some are afraid of spicy food, while others love spicy food. A balance was reached after discussion.

Eating dumplings is an essential part of the Chinese New Year. But the significance of the company's dumplings is not just about eating.

When Liu Zhiye first joined the army, his instructor said: "Eating dumplings is a glorious tradition of our army."

At that time, Liu Zhiye still disagreed.

What Liu Zhiye remembers vividly is that the company had a cooking squad, but making dumplings was divided into different classes. Each class rolled out the dough, pinched the dumplings, and then cooked them in a big pot in the kitchen.

The company usually has a strong political atmosphere, but when making dumplings it becomes like a family, and everyone is like brothers and a family.

Everyone boasts about the beauty of their hometown and makes fun of other people's bad habits.

While some people are still busy, others have already wrapped the food and cooked it.

Seeing them eating made Liu Zhiye even hungrier. He went over to grab one to taste, but was laughed at by soldiers from other squads, who said, "A unit that can't make dumplings or makes them slowly won't be very effective!"

Eighteen-year-old Xiao Li welcomed the New Year of 1980 in the army.

A month ago, these new soldiers bid farewell to their three-month life in the recruit company and were assigned to the grassroots garrison company.

As a coastal defense force, the garrison company is basically located on remote islands and coastal areas, where the population is sparse and the conditions are extremely harsh.

Qin Xiping and other company cadres only truly realized their own shortcomings after being taught a lesson by Liu Zhiye of the military region.

After seeing off the military district leaders, Qin Xiping immediately convened a meeting of all company cadres, and he first conducted a self-examination.

As a result, all the cadres in the company started a trend of criticism and self-criticism.

Qin Xiping and others learned a lot from Liu Zhiye.

For example, how to care about the growth of ordinary soldiers and make up your mind to change your work style...

On New Year's Eve, the garrison company carefully prepared a dinner, which was one of the very few days of the year when drinking was allowed.

For new recruits like Xiao Li who are leaving home for the first time, homesickness is the most difficult feeling for everyone to let go.

Company cadres and veterans are also very aware of this and try their best to make them feel the warmth of the military family and the brotherly atmosphere.

Coincidentally, from six to eight o'clock in the evening, it was Xiao Li's turn to stand guard, and the squad leader and the veterans vied to stand guard for him.

While Xiao Li was moved, the stubbornness of the son of an old soldier emerged in his blood.

"Why should I let you stand guard for me? This is my sentry post, and I must hold my ground myself."

At Xiao Li's insistence, the company commander Qin Xiping looked at him with approval, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Well done, Xiao Li, you have made great progress recently."

After that, he carefully helped him to tidy up his military appearance, posture and weapons and equipment, and then shouted in a majestic voice: "Listen to my orders, turn right, target: guard the patrol line, march in step!"

Xiao Li walked to his sentry post with strong steps under the falling snow, letting the whistling sea breeze blow past his ears. He was not afraid of the snowflakes that froze his cheeks red, and he patrolled the coastline against the wind and snow.

At this moment, Xiao Li's blood was boiling, the song "I Stand Guard for the Great Motherland" kept ringing in his ears, and the satisfied smile of his father in military uniform appeared in front of him.

The snow gradually got heavier, and goose-feather-like snowflakes fell down.

Coupled with the growing wind as the tide rose at the seaside, Xiao Li could not open his eyes and could not stand steadily. Every step forward took a lot of energy.

Xiao Li was breathing heavily, gritting his teeth and moving forward...

Suddenly, a beam of light shone from behind.

When Xiao Li looked back, he saw that it was the company commander Qin Xiping, the instructor, and his platoon leader and squad leader who had been searching for him.

Xiao Li walked towards the company commander and his entourage in the snow, stood at attention and saluted, "Reporting to the company commander, sentry Li Aiguo is on guard and patrol, please give instructions!"

Qin Xiping returned the greeting and said loudly: "Thank you for your hard work, sentinel!"

Xiao Li puffed out his chest and replied: "Serve the people!"

The instructor took a few teacups from the squad leader, and the two company commanders and the platoon leader poured wine into them. He also poured drinks for Xiao Li and the squad leader and said, "Come on, on behalf of all the officers and soldiers in the company, let us toast to our sentry. Cheers!"

Xiao Li sniffed the drink in the cup but still didn't dare to drink it. After all, he was on guard duty and he still had some common sense. The squad leader held the teacup and clinked glasses with him and said, "It's snowing hard tonight. The company leader has asked me to drink this blessing wine. I will stay and stand guard with you. Come on, for the health of your parents and family, cheers!"

With tears in his eyes, Xiao Li looked at Captain Qin, the instructor, the platoon leader and the squad leader, and clinked his teacup with theirs. The five teacups made a "bang" sound, and the five soldiers shouted in unison: "Cheers!"

Qin Xiping and his team left, and the squad leader shouted to Xiao Li: "Attention, turn left and march in step!"

Xiao Li followed the squad leader and embarked on another patrol journey, leaving a series of deep footprints in the snow behind him.

(End of this chapter)