Red initial heart —— Zhang Lianyin, former deputy commander of Hebei military region, is one of the chronicles of retired afforestation A camouflage dress stained with soil, no military rank, no logo, only a shining Party member badge on the chest. A pagoda shaped camphor pine, five or six meters high, with 18 layers of green branches, layer by layer; 18 unique "annual rings", rising section by section. On the Beiliang of Zhangjiachang village, Zuoyun County, Datong, Shanxi Province, a veteran looked at the trees he planted and was gratified. 18 years, 2.05 million plants, more than 18000 mu. From a barren slope to a forest sea, this is his hometown and his "battlefield". Lvran hill is Zhang Lianyin, former deputy commander of Hebei military region. A retired general with 40 years of military service and 56 years of party service, he has the deepest affection for his hometown, villagers and his family and country. Carrying a shovel, Zhang Lianyin went to the battlefield he had fought for 18 years. Photographed by Song Wen, reporter of PLA Daily A piece of "root soil" in my heart "When the seedlings are planted with the soil with roots, the survival rate is high and they grow well. Just like us, we have to have roots and we can't forget our roots anywhere." One summer day this year, students from southeast primary school in Zuoyun County visited the nursery of qingfenglin education base. Zhang Lianyin, the founder of the base, said to the group of "red scarves" with a camphor pine seedling in his left hand and the soil at the root in his right hand. This is Zhang Lianyin's experience of afforestation and harvest in his village, and it is also a portrayal of his 76 years of dedicated life. In February 1964, villagers beat gongs and drums to send Zhang Lianyin riding a horse and wearing red flowers to join the army. A child who is prepared to experience hardships feels unprecedented glory. His father died at the age of 4, his mother remarried at the age of 6, his grandmother died at the age of 13, and his grandfather was seriously ill at the age of 16. Zhang Lianyin, who had excellent grades, had to drop out of school and go back to the village at the second day of junior high school. He worked as a carpenter, carried a sedan chair, "protecting autumn" earned work points, woven baskets and paid off debts. After grandpa died of illness, Zhang Lianyin lived alone. At that time, everyone in the village had a tight life. Seeing that Zhang Lianyin often doesn't have enough to eat, the neighbors always try to give him a bowl of rice. Seeing that he was literate, could abacus, had a smart mind and good conduct, the village cadres arranged for him to work as a team recorder, and later as an accountant of the brigade and an instructor of the village militia company. At the age of 19, Zhang Lianyin was recommended by the village to join the army and realized his dream of joining the army. "You give me red flowers, and I will express my determination. When I come to the army, listen to the party and do whatever the party asks!" Zhang Lianyin spoke on behalf of the recruits at the farewell party held in the East Street auditorium of Zuoyun County. For Zhang Lianyin, this scene that flashed back in his mind and told countless people is a "root soil" in his heart. "If I'm not a good soldier, I'm sorry for my training in the village, the kindness of the villagers to me, and the land that gave birth to me." In the first year of enlistment, he was rated as "five good soldiers" and "technical experts". In the second year, he joined the party. In the third year, he was promoted to be a platoon commander, a deputy company commander in the fourth year, and an instructor in the fifth year. He was a battalion commander, head, division commander, deputy military commander and deputy commander of the provincial military region. Zhang Lianyin took root in the fertile land of the military camp and gradually grew into a senior military cadre. The villagers thought he was great, but he didn't think so: "I grew up in Zhangjiachang village, drinking water from Shilihe River and eating food from Zuoyun County. For 40 years in the army, without the training and care of Party organizations and leaders at all levels and the support of the masses, I wouldn't be here today." One year before retirement, Zhang Lianyin went back to Zhangjiachang village to visit his relatives. He saw many villagers living in big tile roofed houses and driving motorcycles. Looking around, he could hardly see green. The wind and sand still made the windows "pop". "Barren mountains and bald mountains, heshangtou, with rivers and no water flow in four seasons". Zuo Yun is located in the concentrated distribution area of desertification land in North China and at the sand source outlet of Beijing and Tianjin. The harm of sand storm is serious, the survival rate of planting trees and grass is low, and the ecological environment has not been greatly improved. Zhang Lianyin ascended the Beiliang of the village and recalled another hillside. That year, he took part in tree planting activities in Xibaipo, Hebei Province. A strong thought welled up from the bottom of my heart: when can the barren slope of my hometown become such a green mountain? In 2003, after retiring from the post of deputy commander of Hebei military region, Zhang Lianyin convened his three children and held a family meeting: "I'm going to go back to my hometown Zhangjiachang village to plant trees." The tree is a thousand feet tall and never forgets its roots. "I am a party member and a soldier. I am in good health after retirement. It is my duty to do something needed by society and my hometown." The general disarmed and returned to his roots. "Name for profit, not a communist" When the news spread that Zhang Lianyin was going to plant trees in his hometown, Zhangjiachang village burst into flames. "Fooling around! The barren mountains in our village haven't planted trees for decades. Don't try your best. It's too late to regret at that time." cousin Zhang Lianmao found Zhang Lianyin. When Zhang Lianmao was a teenager, he and Zhang Lianyin met the old party secretary of the village with the villagers to plant trees on the barren mountains. "At that time, the branches were cut off from the old poplar tree and cut into two and a half feet of branches, which were obliquely inserted into the tree pit and filled with earth. But at that time, everyone didn't have enough to eat. How could they have the mind to water and serve the tree? We have a 'yellow hair wind' all year round. How can the tree live?" Many villagers don't understand. Someone asked Zhang Lianmao, "your eldest brother is really interesting. He has been an official for so many years. He should enjoy his blessings when he is old. Why do you think of the trouble of planting trees? If you don't plant trees, our generations will come?" At the beginning of returning home, some people advised Zhang Lianyin and Zuo Yun to produce coal, invest in coal mines, make money effortlessly, or help attract investment in his hometown, act as a consultant for enterprises and give full play to the waste heat. "It's hard to go back to the village to plant trees, but the conditions are much better than those in those years. I'm reassured to spend my own money and make my own efforts to green barren mountains and return to my hometown." Zhang Lianyin said. Building houses, building nurseries, drilling wells and repairing canals, the 300000 yuan savings brought by him and his wife Wang Xiulan soon ran out. Looking for relatives and friends, he raised money in many ways, and his three children also took out their savings to give him money. "Invest so much, you must make money when the tree grows up." Zhang Lianyin didn't explain much in the face of some villagers' private comments. He signed a afforestation contract with the rural level and made a commitment: "no forest right, no land right, all the subsidies for returning farmland to forest shall be handed over to the villagers, and the results of ecological construction shall be returned to the collective free of charge." Zhang Lianyin found the site survey of Shanxi forestry design and Survey Institute and formulated the overall plan for the construction of Zhangjiachang ecological garden village. It is planned to improve the ecological environment of the whole village through artificial afforestation and road greening. With the "battle plan", Zhang Lianyin is both a commander and a fighter. "Who is he like a general? He does the same work as us every day. He is covered in camouflage clothes, gray, sand in his ears and mouth, and his face is black and red. We hold two saplings up the mountain, and he holds three. After watering the ground, his rubber shoes and clothes are also wet." like many villagers, Hu Wanjin is deeply moved by Zhang Lianyin and his wife, "Like him, my sister-in-law is sweating after work and has a crack in her mouth. She can do more than a rural daughter-in-law. No wonder two people can become a family." When the trees are planted, the hillside is green and the people's hearts are warm. In 2005, the villagers spontaneously donated money to build a pavilion on the hillside where Zhang Lianyin planted trees and prepare to set up a stone tablet engraved with "general platform". Zhang Lianyin resolutely refused: "in recent years, the villagers are planting trees. I came back to join this ranks, and doing things is everyone's achievement." At his insistence, the content on the stone tablet was changed to "monument to the comprehensive treatment project of 10000 mu small watershed in Zhangjiachang township". However, villagers still call this pavilion "general platform". With less sand and more birds, the Yellow sheep came back. "The old general's footprints are all over Zuoyun, and his tree planting sites are in all villages and towns. The forest coverage rate of the whole county has increased by 6.43% since 2003, and his personal contribution rate has reached 1.5%." Chi Hengguang, deputy director of the Organization Department of Zuoyun County Party committee and director of the Bureau of veteran cadres, introduced that Zhang Lianyin's deeds of leading villagers to plant trees have been widely spread in North China. Many party and government cadres, personnel of enterprises and institutions, primary and secondary school teachers and students came in admiration and invited Zhang Lianyin to make a report. Although he was busy planting trees, he responded to every request. Now, many people advise Zhang Lianyin that trees have been planted, mountains have been green, and names have been given. It's time to rest and raise his body. Zhang Lianyin has never stopped planting trees. "What are you trying to do without fame or profit?" someone asked him. "My life is very short and I have experienced many tests. I only want to change the face of my hometown and leave a shade for future generations. The name is Tuli, not a communist." Zhang Lianyin replied. The "battlefield" has changed, and the "war" is still fought for the people Interview Zhang Lianyin, there is a difficulty, his accent is very heavy. "After 40 years in the army, my brother-in-law can speak Mandarin, but after returning to the village for a long time, his accent has come back," said Wang Fengxiang, Zhang Lianyin's brother-in-law. It's not just the accent. It's not easy to distinguish the general from the villagers. "It's easy to go up, but difficult to go down." many villagers wondered, "Uncle Ping'an" (Zhang Lianyin's nickname "Ping'an") After 40 years away from the village, I became a general. Why did I retire back to the village and become a farmer so quickly? I ate potatoes and naked oats, participated in the social fire every year, and followed the Yangko together. I often squatted at the root of the wall to bask in the sun and chat with the old man in the village. When I saw who was digging potatoes, I went down to the ground to take my hand. It didn't look like a person who had been an official. I am a soldier from the common people. In those days, the general loved sand table exercises and was good at leading troops to prepare for war. Now the "battlefield" has changed, "the war" is still fighting for the people, and he still pretends to be his parents and villagers. In June 2011, Zhang Lianyin was diagnosed with lung cancer. After surgery, he received chemotherapy for 5 months. On the 15th day of the first lunar month in 2012, Zhang Lianyin hurried back to Zhangjiachang village in order to participate in the social fire with the villagers as before. "The barren mountains and mountains in the village still have to plant trees. The villagers have to work in the base to support their families. The original promise to the villagers has not been fully fulfilled. I can't fall down. I have to be with them." In the second year of planting trees, Zhang Lianyin planted tens of thousands of new seedlings on the hillside, which were almost eaten up by the sheep grazing on the mountain. Some people asked him to ask the shepherd for compensation, and some suggested that he set up a fence and sprinkle pesticides on the mountain. Zhang Lianyin said, "it's hard for me to bear the fact that the seedlings were eaten by the sheep after working hard for a long time. But I'm a farmer's son. I know it's not easy for villagers to raise a few sheep." He not only didn't want compensation, but also sent them rubber shoes and raincoats. He visited them every new year and festival. "A general would rather suffer than plant trees for the better of our village?" gradually, people in the village were moved by Zhang Lianyin, and more and more people consciously protected the green. The shepherds were very careful when herding sheep to prevent the sheep from eating the saplings. Wei suishe, a poor household in the village, has no fixed income. Zhang Lianyin took the initiative to invite him to plant trees and eat and work with him every day. Over the years, Wei suishe has become cheerful and life has gradually improved. In the most critical period of poverty alleviation, Zhang Lianyin tried to drive the villagers to increase their income while planting trees and increasing green, gave priority to attracting poor villagers to work in the base, and helped 26 people per year