The Story of China People: Wang Mingli: From a War Hero to a Poverty Alleviation Hero

  The breeze blows gently, and the tea in Sinan Chenxi Ecological Tea Garden is fragrant.

  Ten years ago, it was once a barren hill, and the per capita annual income of villagers nearby was less than that of 800 yuan. Ten years later, thousands of acres of tea gardens here are a million hectares, and the per capita annual income has increased by nearly seven times.

  With a 6 kg prosthetic leg, Wang Mingli dragged his broken legs on this road for 10 years. He led the veterans and the local people to find a way where there was no road, and turned the barren hills and stone ridges into more than 4,000 acres of ecological tea gardens.

  Wang Mingli, Party branch secretary and trade union chairman of Chenxi Ecological Agriculture Professional Cooperative in Sinan County, Guizhou Province, and chairman of Dongsheng Forest Breeding Family Farm in Sinan County, is in the tea garden. Photo courtesy of myself

  Blood-stained battlefield, the iron-hearted hero will never regret losing his leg

  "It is not easy to survive, we must be strong!"

  In April 1984, the battles of Laoshan and Zheyinshan started. At the age of 20, Wang Mingli wrote six letters of invitation, urging the company to hand over the most difficult combat tasks to the sharp knife class he led.

  On the battlefield, he rushed to the front and died, but unfortunately he was injured by enemy shrapnel in his right leg and blew up his left leg. Wang Mingli, who woke up from a pool of blood, did not flinch. While fighting back, he dragged his disabled body to continue fighting, completed the combat mission with tenacious perseverance and rescued the injured comrades.

  Although the war cost him a leg, it didn’t take away his hope for life. In the eyes of Wang Mingli, he is still lucky. "Many of my comrades-in-arms have died, and I am still alive. I am lucky. I should cherish my hard-won life."

  Return from disarmament, take root at the grassroots level and open up a new battlefield.

  In 1985, Wang Mingli retired to his hometown. The fighting spirit of "I’d rather die before and never take a step back" was like a bright lamp, which lit up his way forward. In 2000, Wang Mingli was selected as a resident cadre. He found that there were some veterans in the countryside, and they had a hard time because they didn’t have any skills. Seeing that his comrades-in-arms and local people are suffering from poverty, his heart is very unpleasant. How can we find a way for them to get rich? Wang Mingli turned his attention to Wanjiashan, the origin of Yan tea in history.

  Sinan, where Wang Mingli is located, is located between Wuling Mountain Range and Daloushan Mountain Range. It is rocky and full of thorns. In the eyes of local people, Wanjiashan is a "dead mountain" without access, water and electricity!

  Can you dig out a tea garden on the "Dead Mountain"? Almost everyone thinks this is impossible, but Wang Mingli believes it. Sinan has a long history of planting tea, and suitable soil and climate conditions have made Yan tea a tribute tea. Today, Sinan can also grow good tea.

  He dragged his heavy prosthetic leg and climbed up Wanjiashan. The land here is barren, and the people on the mountain eat corn and potatoes for every meal. Only during the Chinese New Year are I willing to eat a little rice, wearing all patched clothes, and my liberation shoes are worn out.

  "Be sure to make this ‘ Dead mountain ’ Become a golden mountain! " The living conditions of the local people have strengthened Wang Mingli’s determination to plan mountains and grow tea.

  Have faith in your heart and swear to turn the "dead mountain" into a golden mountain.

  Wang Mingli’s "absurd" idea was opposed by almost everyone.

  "He just likes to show off, so let him have a taste of losing everything." "Not only has his leg been blown off, but now his brain is out of order" … … It is said that Wang Mingli will plant tea trees on Wanjiashan, but people don’t believe that he can succeed. However, Wang Mingli did not flinch.

  In 2007, the roar of excavators broke the silence of Wanjiashan for many years. Without funds, he took out all his savings, borrowed from the east and borrowed from the west, and even mortgaged the property. His wife finally couldn’t help but feel distressed and complain about him, and the two were facing a divorce.

  Dragging his broken legs, people don’t know how many unimaginable hardships the pioneers of today’s entrepreneurship have suffered. All he said was, "Dig even if you lose everything!"

  Wang Mingli has to face three major problems in cultivating tea gardens on Wanjiashan Mountain: difficulty in entering the mountain road, difficulty in using water on the mountain and difficulty in supplying electricity. What should we do? No matter how hard it is, we must go on!

  He took several laid-off comrades-in-arms and set up tents on the barren hills thousands of meters above sea level. There was no road on the mountain, so he led the villagers to cut a 3-kilometer mountain road on Wanjia Mountain at an altitude of more than 1,000 meters. There was no water on the mountain, so he led everyone to dig more than 40 water cellars and carry water with horses. When there was no electricity on the mountain, he lit the lantern with kerosene. When his hand was blistered, he found a band-aid to stick it on. During the day, he dug mountains with his comrades. At night, he took off his prosthetic leg as a pillow. When the prosthesis was worn, he tied it tightly with wire; When the wound became inflamed, he quietly put on the painkiller … … Finally, the tea base was built.

  After the tea garden was built, before Wang Mingli could enjoy the joy of success, a disaster came. The newly planted tea seedlings suffered from heavy snow disaster and freezing weather for two consecutive years, and lost 40% at once. That night, man of iron, who had fought his life on the battlefield without tears, cried. He is tired! Because of Chashan, he has worn out many prosthetic limbs and suffered many misunderstandings. However, he stood up again when he thought of his comrades who had been buried in his hometown.

  "Can’t cry! The comrades who died on the battlefield will not forgive me for giving up. "

  In the spring, he brought the masses to replant tea seedlings. It is another year of tea picking, and it is no longer a wilderness, but an endless tea garden; It is no longer cold, but spring full of hope.

  Stick to the position of poverty alleviation and make new contributions to the hero of poverty alleviation

  Every morning, Wang Mingli will stumble slightly in a thousand acres of tea garden. Looking at this green hill and thinking about the road he came, a smile appeared on his mouth.

  Driven by tea gardens, six poor villages around have taken off their "poverty hats" one after another, and many villagers have bought cars. The vigorous development of ecological tea gardens has convinced Wang Mingli that only by building a good platform for entrepreneurship and employment can more people get rid of the "hat" of poverty. He founded Sinan County Veterans Entrepreneurship and Employment Demonstration Base with the model of "Party branch+veterans+enterprises+bases+farmers".

  In 2009, together with several veterans, he seized the opportunity of Sinan county party committee and government to develop ecological tea industry and established Sinan Dingsheng Ecological Agriculture Development Co., Ltd. in Guizhou Province. In recent years, through leasing land and farmers’ participation in land, the company has concentrated on transferring more than 4,000 mu of land for tea garden construction in a large scale, radiating six national poverty-stricken villages around, making the local per capita annual income jump from more than 800 yuan to nearly 10,000 yuan.

  "I did it with him, not by accident, but by necessity." "I really appreciate him, because he made me useful." When my comrades expressed their gratitude to him, Wang Mingli always said, "You are all rich, so I have no regrets."

  As night fell, Wang Mingli dragged his tired body home. He collapsed on the bed, rolled up his trouser legs, silently removed his heavy prosthetic leg, peeled off layers of gauze, washed the bloody wound with salt water, applied medicine, and wrapped it in layers of new gauze. Early the next morning, he rushed around his thousand acres of tea garden in high spirits. He said that he will always stick to his "position" and protect his tea mountain. (China Youth Network reporter Yang Yue Zhang Wei trainee reporter Li Huihui)