In 1985, Admiral Xu Shiyou died of illness in Nanjing.
On 31 October, the Nanjing Military Region solemnly held a memorial service for General Xu Shiyou.
The memorial service was huge, and there was an endless stream of people who came to pay their respects. But what makes people feel strange is that the memorial service is so grand, but the funeral process seems a little ambiguous.
It stands to reason that Xu Shiyou is a hero of New China, and the convoy for his funeral must be configured according to the highest specifications. But what is very strange is that Xu Shiyou's funeral procession is unusually low-key.
At that time, the soldiers who experienced this incident recalled that the funeral order issued by the superior was very strange, saying six words - low-key, confidential, and also gave the order to enter the first-level security state.
However, why should General Xu Shiyou's funeral be kept secret?
Everyone is the second monk's target mind, but since the superior has already given an order, he can only follow it.
Therefore, the composition of Xu Shiyou's funeral procession is very simple. A jeep, a Mitsubishi van and two Jiefang trucks were destined for the general's hometown of Xinxian County, Henan.
This is also Xu Shiyou's wish before his death, wanting to return to his roots and be buried next to his mother's grave.
In order to ensure that nothing goes wrong, the truck is also deliberately covered with a layer of cloth to ensure that people cannot see what the team is doing. Moreover, even the departure time is set at midnight, and the residents have already fallen asleep, so there will not be too many onlookers.
On the way, I met a few curious passers-by who came to inquire. However, the fighters in charge of the escort did not say a word.
However, this makes everyone even more incomprehensible, for what purpose is it necessary to give Xu Shiyou a funeral like this?
The ** personnel in Henan New County learned about this early in the morning.
At first, they wanted to hold a welcoming ceremony, but as soon as the idea was proposed, it was rejected. The superiors repeatedly stressed to them that they must keep a low profile and try not to let any outsiders know about this matter.
Moreover, after General Xu Shiyou's coffin was transported back to his hometown, although it was buried, it was not immediately used as a tombstone. It wasn't until a year later that General ** erected a tombstone for Xu Shiyou.
Nowadays, many people come to mourn in front of Xu Shiyou's grave, and when people come to see him, they often bring two bottles of his favorite Moutai wine, so that the Moutai in front of the general's grave can be piled up into a thick wall.
But at the beginning, Xu Shiyou's grave was not as lively as it is now. After all, because the funeral ceremony was too low-key, many people didn't even know where Xu Shiyou was buried.
People think that Xu Shiyou, such a hero, even if he wants to be buried, he has to be beautiful, and the memorial service is obviously very grand, why do you want to hold such a puzzling funeral ceremony?
This incident dates back to 1956 at the earliest.
That year, ** and others co-signed a cremation initiative. Everyone unanimously agreed that after their death, they would not be buried in a traditional manner, but would be cremated directly to set an example for the people of the whole country.
Signing this proposal is also the good intentions of *** and others. At that time, burials were still popular throughout the country.
However, this practice has led to the occupation of a large amount of arable land, and the funeral rites are cumbersome, and resources are greatly consumed.
At that time, the Chinese still paid attention to entering the soil for safety, and once the common people were not allowed to carry out burials, it was difficult for everyone to accept.
Therefore, as the best leaders, they must set an example.
As fighters of the proletariat, the older generation of revolutionaries had a very open view of what was happening after their deaths and did not care about what form they were buried, but it was different for Xu Shiyou.
Because, he has long had an idea, that is, after a hundred years, he will be buried back to his hometown and always be by his mother's side to make up for his regret of failing to fulfill his filial piety for many years.
However, this is a major event that the state has done in order to change customs, and it would be inappropriate for Xu Shiyou to refute it publicly.
After careful consideration, Xu Shiyou wrote a letter to *** in a very sincere tone.
At the end of the letter, Xu Shiyou said:"I was faithful in life and filial piety in death. I have only one wish in my life, and I ask the chairman to approve it. ”
**After reading the letter, I also feel the same way. Therefore, Xu Shiyou was allowed not to sign the proposal, which made Xu Shiyou's heart fall to the ground.
For his mother, Xu Shiyou always owes a debt.
Xu Shiyou is a filial son, but in the troubled times, loyalty and filial piety are in a dilemma.
He left his hometown at a young age and began to make a revolution, and he was able to see his mother very rarely. Moreover, Xu Shiyou's dangerous revolutionary activities inevitably implicated his mother.
Xu Shiyou, who became famous at a young age, became a thorn in the enemy's side and a thorn in the flesh. However, Xu Shiyou was away all the year round, and the enemy couldn't arrest him, so he hit Xu Shiyou's family with the idea.
The enemy often took people to raid the house, which made Xu Shiyou's family miserable. But even so, Xu Shiyou's mother did not complain about her son, let alone stop her son's revolutionary activities.
In order to avoid the enemy's search, Xu Shiyou's mother took the family to hide in the deep mountains and forests, endured a lot of hardships, and almost died several times.
Because Xu Shiyou's mother was worried about her son's whereabouts, after hiding in the mountains, her mother often took advantage of the enemy's inattention to go down the mountain to find out the news.
It's just that once the news leaked, and the enemy sent a large team of men and horses to arrest Xu Shiyou's mother and put her in prison and torture her. But in the face of such a threat from the enemy, Xu Shiyou's mother would rather die than give in.
Fortunately, at this time, Xu Shiyou got the news, and he hurriedly wrote a letter warning the enemy in the letter if he dared to do something to his mother. Then, I will definitely take revenge a hundredfold.
The local enemy is a group of wine bags and rice bags who bully the weak and fear the hard, and when they saw that Xu Shiyou's letter was so harshly worded, they were immediately afraid, and after thinking about it for a long time, they put Xu Shiyou's mother back in their hometown.
Although there was no danger, Xu Shiyou's mother was also greatly frightened.
Of course, Xu Shiyou felt sorry for his mother, but as a son, he couldn't even go home to visit, he could only grit his teeth and insist on continuing the revolution, hoping that victory would come as soon as possible.
Xu Shiyou's mother was an ordinary village woman, and she probably didn't understand any revolutionary principles. However, she has always silently supported her son with her own actions, which is also what touched Xu Shiyou the most.
Xu Shiyou fought for half his life, and when he was finally able to go home to visit his mother, his mother was already gray-haired and old. After the mother and son met, they hugged their heads and cried.
However, even if the country is stable, Xu Shiyou still has little time to accompany his mother, because there are more national affairs waiting for him to do.
The only thing that relieved Xu Shiyou was that the mother and son no longer had to be far apart, and he was able to take his mother to take care of him.
However, because Xu Shiyou is so busy, sometimes, he gets up early in the morning and can't rest for a while until late at night. As a result, there was no time to visit my mother.
Xu Shiyou's mother knew that her son was busy, so she never complained. Whenever her son came to see him, she always told her son to give priority to national affairs.
Moreover, Xu Shiyou's mother lived in the city for a while, so she said that she wanted to go back.
Xu Shiyou was very surprised when he heard it, and thought that he was not taking good care of it.
But her mother shook her head and told Xu Shiyou that it was not the same thing.
After all, the old man has lived in his hometown in the countryside all his life, and he is not suitable for moving here, and it is difficult to meet relatives and friends in his hometown.
Therefore, the spirit of the old man is not as good as day by day.
Because he took care of his son, the old man barely lived in the house for a while, but in the end he still felt that he couldn't adapt to it.
Xu Shiyou heard his mother say this, and he felt very uncomfortable. He was very reluctant to see his mother, but he couldn't bear to see his mother suffer, and after repeated consideration, Xu Shiyou still decided to send his mother back to his hometown to see the situation.
And sure enough, as soon as he returned to his familiar environment, the old man's body was getting better day by day.
Xu Shiyou, who misses his mother, took advantage of a time to go out to work, leaving time to visit relatives.
When he returned home, he saw the yard he was familiar with and saw his old mother, Xu Shiyou couldn't help but burst into tears. The boy didn't flick when he had tears, and Xu Shiyou didn't cry when he was injured on the battlefield, but here with his mother, he couldn't hold back his tears.
Although his son is already the founding general, Xu Shiyou's mother still lives a very simple life. In order to take care of the elderly, the local ** helped Xu Shiyou's mother renovate the house, and also wanted to add some furniture to the elderly.
However, Xu Shiyou's mother resolutely did not want to, and still kept the old things at home to live, and the pots and pans at home were still there before liberation.
Xu Shiyou's mother knew that her son had been working hard for the revolution, so she was even more reluctant to make special things and cause trouble for her son.
Xu Shiyou's mother is worried that once she receives ** things, more people will use this reason to go to Xu Shiyou through the back door. This simple old lady still uses her own actions to help her son.
However, the old mother was alone in her hometown, and Xu Shiyou was always at ease.
In the end, Xu Shiyou decided to let his son Xu Guang return to his hometown to work and take care of his mother instead.
Xu Guang's temper is very similar to his father, and he is also a filial child, at that time, he was originally working in the army, and his future is immeasurable, once he is transferred to the place, I am afraid that there is not much room for improvement.
However, in order to make up for his father's shortcomings, Xu Guang still packed his bags and left the army.
Since then, it has been rooted in the grassroots.
With a son taking care of his mother instead of him, Xu Shiyou was finally able to concentrate on his work.
However, these peaceful days did not last long. In 1965, Xu Shiyou suddenly received an urgent telegram from his hometown, which read:"My mother is very ill. ”
As soon as he looked at the contents of the telegram, Xu Shiyou was anxious. However, he was still on official business at the time, so he had to send a telegram to his son, telling him to take good care of his mother, and to go back as soon as he finished his work.
However, when Xu Shiyou was not easy to finish his work, and when he was halfway there, he received another telegram saying that his mother was no longer alive.
Before Xu Shiyou's mother left, she wanted to see her son, and she kept shouting Xu Shiyou's name. However, in the end, this wish was not realized.
After his mother left, Xu Shiyou's liver and intestines were broken. The son wants to raise but does not wait, and he will never have the opportunity to enjoy the joy of family with his mother again. Therefore, being buried next to his mother has become Xu Shiyou's greatest wish.
After the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, Xu Shiyou felt that his spirit was not as good as before, so he took the initiative to resign and returned to Nanjing to retire.
He lived a life of seclusion in Nanjing, transformed his yard into a small farm yard, raised a flock of chickens and ducks, and planted vegetables in the vegetable garden every day for fun.
In 1979, Xu Shiyou felt that he was old and was afraid that he would die soon.
So, he sent a letter to his son Xu Guang in his hometown, telling him that he could prepare for the future for himself in advance. In the letter, he especially emphasized to Xu Guang that no matter what, he must bury himself next to his mother.
Regarding General Xu Shiyou's wish, the leaders of the ** also know.
But when Xu Shiyou died in 1985, this matter still caused controversy.
At that time, cremation had been implemented throughout the country, and ** and others also set an example with practical actions, if the burial was openly held for Xu Shiyou at this time, it would be tantamount to openly engaging in specialization, and the impact was very bad.
Therefore, some people have asked, should cremation still be carried out according to the previous rules?
As soon as this opinion came out, everyone felt that it was inappropriate. General Xu Shiyou has worked hard for the country and the people all his life, and if he can't even help him realize this wish after death, it will be too ruthless, and the rules are set by people, and they can be accommodating.
It's just that this matter is still too special, and no one dares to make a decision easily.
Therefore, in the end, everyone reported this matter to *** Deng Gong was also very entangled, he and General Xu Shiyou were old acquaintances, and he knew all the stories between Xu Shiyou and his mother.
After thinking about it for a long time, ** believes that Xu Shiyou's wish should still be satisfied, so he instructed:"General Xu Shiyou is a person with a special character, special experience, and special contributions, and he is allowed to return to his hometown for burial in the old pine forest. ”
This is the final word, but after all, we still have to consider the issue of impact. General Xu Shiyou used the method of burial, so it was not suitable for large-scale funerals, so the country decided to keep a low profile.
At the same time, the superiors also gave an order to the soldiers in charge of this matter, to treat this matter as a serious battle, and not to reveal the news, so as not to play a negative role and affect the reputation of General Xu Shiyou.
Because of this, Xu Shiyou's funeral ceremony is very unusual and extraordinarily low-key, and the country is afraid that this matter will cause extraneous complications.
In short, with the efforts of everyone, Xu Shiyou finally realized his wish, he failed to fulfill his filial piety during his lifetime, and after his death, he was finally able to accompany his mother for a long time.
It was only after a few years that the matter gradually became public, and everyone finally understood what happened back then.
The good news is that the vast majority of the public understands this matter.
In everyone's hearts, it is necessary to change burial to cremation, but what everyone respects more is Xu Shiyou.
He fought all his life, fought bloody battles, and was always worthy of the country and the people, and rarely made any requests, compared to his contributions, the matter of burial was too insignificant.
If this can give General Xu Shiyou a rest, then everyone is willing to support his wish.
Now, General Xu Shiyou has been gone for many years, but people have never forgotten him, and the bottles of Moutai placed in front of his grave are people's deepest nostalgia.
It is believed that in another world, Xu Shiyou and his mother have been reunited and live a peaceful and happy life.
This general, who dedicated his life to New China, will always live in the hearts of the people.
Reference: Writer Culture "After Xu Shiyou died, why did the hearse enter Dabie Mountain in the middle of the night and be buried at 3 o'clock in the morning?" 》
New Weekly "Founding General Xu Shiyou: There is an endless story in his life".