Green dyed Gobi
From Xi 'an to the west, the car drove into Gansu, and there were dense willows on both sides of the road. This kind of willow is a common dry willow in the northwest plateau. Its trees are tall and straight, as loose as poplars, but its branches and leaves are soft and dense. Every tree is like a green fountain, suddenly spewing out from the center of the earth. Lush branches and leaves rushed out of the ground and shot into the sky, then scattered and splashed on both sides of the road. From a distance, it looks like two solid dams, and our car is caught in the middle, as if it can never escape from this green containment.
Zuo Yu1May 869 entered Gansu along the road we took today. Zuo is a strange man in China's bureaucratic history. According to the official system in ancient China, you should study first, become a juren after having obtained the provincial examination, then take the senior high school entrance examination and palace examination, and then climb up step by step. Zuo Zai stopped to raise people, and then took three exams. When he failed in three exams, he was no longer in the mood to read those dry classics. Instead, while farming in the countryside, I learned practical knowledge such as agriculture, mulberry and water conservancy. Later, due to the Taiping rebellion, he followed Zeng Guofan to take charge of the Xiang army. In 1866, when the Hui people uprising in Gansu province, Zuo ran navigation administration in Fujian and set up a navy to deal with foreign enemies in the southeast. There was no one in the DPRK, so Emperor Tongzhi had to rob Peter to pay Paul and urgently called him to the northwest to counter the rebellion.
Zuo has his own opinion on the political and military achievements in the northwest. However, in the northwest, he found that the crisis here was not only political corruption and military paralysis, but also bad ecology and backward farming habits. The places where the army passed were barren hills, endless yellow sand, bare Gobi and gullies washed by floods. This is in stark contrast to the green mountains and green waters in the south of the Yangtze River and the rich rice and fish fertilizer. Zuo devoted himself to farming when he lived in seclusion in the country. He is going to farm and teach in the countryside with the Confucian idea of "being poor and being immune to it". But fate pushed him to the northwest, and let him "help the world" and take care of the northwest. Besides showing the military science and geography in his chest, he should also dig out the science of agriculture, forestry and water conservancy in his stomach.
Facing thousands of miles of bare land, the first thing he did was to plant trees, which of course combined with the needs of war. But I don't know how many wars have been fought and how many generals have planted trees in the northwest since ancient times. The road built on the left is three to ten feet wide, starting from Tongguan in Shaanxi in the east, passing through Hexi Corridor in Gansu, leaving Ningxia and Qinghai, reaching Hami in Xinjiang, and then extending to northern Xinjiang respectively. Crossing the Gobi and crossing the Tianshan Mountains, the total length is three or four thousand miles, and later generations are honored as "Zuogong Avenue". 187 1 February, Zuo ordered to plant trees. Where there is a road, there must be trees, and at least one row and at most four or five rows should be planted by the roadside. This is to tamp the roadbed, "limit the size of the army and horses" and provide shade for passers-by. Zuo is really interested in planting trees, really has research, wholeheartedly participates in it and vigorously promotes it. He first chose tree species and thought that the main tree species planted in northwest China should be poplar, elm and willow. The weather in Hexi is cold and there are many kinds of poplars. There are many kinds of willows in Longdong, so trees should be planted wherever the troops camp. He also published a book about the benefits of planting trees, widely publicized it, and promulgated various laws and regulations to protect trees. Historically, the left "strictly ordered tree planting as a top priority", "planting trees in the streets of various defense forces means that residents use objects to cover pedestrians and restore peace." I especially want to find this "state" and "order", that is, the original text of his tree planting order, which has a vast history and many words, but unfortunately I can't find it. Fortunately, it often involves other manuscripts, announcements and letters. His "Chu army camp system" (Chu army is Xiang army) stipulates that "Mrs. Chang and others (referring to logistics personnel) are not allowed to cut wood outside. But (meaning as long as it is) the bamboo forest and fruit trees beside the house, temple, ancestral hall, grave and garden are not allowed to be cut down "; "Groom to guard the horses, must not practice eating people bud. If people practice eating Meng, no matter what camp people see, they should take the horse to the camp and report to them. The camp officer will give the groom a 400-Li reward for the horse delivery, and then find out how much food they have practiced and how much it is worth, and also use the groom's money to compensate. The groom will be responsible for 200 crimes and fined twice. " You see, he practices a strict responsibility system. It's everywhere. You must check whether there are trees next to the camp. Under his leadership, officers from various battalions competed to plant trees, which became a trend for a while. At present, there is still a stone tablet in Pingliang, Gansu Province, which records in detail the scene of planting trees in various camps at that time.
Because of this tenacious persistence, Zuo won the victory of the Northwest War and achieved fruitful results in ecological construction. Zuo Yu1September, 866 was transferred to the post of Governor of Shaanxi and Gansu. He entered Shaanxi in June, 1867, and left in February, 1880. He has been in the northwest for more than ten years. When he first arrived in the northwest, his scene was "the land was destroyed and people died, and there were few people, looking at the yellow sand and white bones, unlike the human scene." By the time he left, a green corridor miraculously appeared on the driest and barren land in China. In his speech, he reported to the emperor what he saw on his way back to Beijing. "The elm willow planted by the roadside has turned into a forest. From Jiayuguan to the province, in addition to the sand moraine in saline-alkali land, the arched trees continue. " "The trees planted on Lanzhou East Road are as dense as wooden cities, and the ranks are neat." This is really a rare relief for the Qing Empire in the sunset.
It is difficult to have an exact figure of how many trees Zuo planted in the northwest. In the sixth year of Guangxu (1880), it was said that more than 264,000 trees were planted from Changwu, Shaanxi Province to the east gate of Huining County, Gansu Province, including Liu Hu 1200. In addition, there are about 400,000 trees in other states in Gansu, and there are also trees planted in Hexi Corridor and Xinjiang, with a total of12 million trees. At that time, there were about120 thousand troops under the command of the left, and each of them planted more than ten trees. Since the Qin Dynasty, there have been three famous avenues in the northwest of China. First, the equator after Qin Shihuang unified China; Second, the Silk Road in Tang Dynasty; Third, the "Road of the Left" was basically used in the construction of the northwest highway during the Republic of China and after the founding of New China. Three thousand miles of roads and millions of green willows are spectacular scenery in the desolate northwest, which is destined to become a monument in the history of northwest development.
Left's green complex goes far beyond planting trees along the road. He wants not only the green line of 3,000 Li, but also the green line of Wan Li. At least two points are worth mentioning. One is to plant mulberry and raise silkworms, introduce advanced farming methods from the south, and personally plant hundreds of mulberry trees in Jiuquan Station for demonstration. Silkworm rearing is gradually popularized in northwest China. The second is to beautify towns and improve the environment. I heard that there are "parks" abroad, so I left the back garden of the Governor's Office for renovation and opened it to the public regularly.
Soldiers are cruel. People who have always held the military power take killing as their business and destroying the city as their pleasure. Xiang Yu set fire to Qin Gong, Huang Chao set fire to Chang 'an, and the former civilization was destroyed. They can set off a wave of rebellion, but they can't step on the threshold of regime construction. Only a few far-sighted politicians will sow the seeds of construction when the war spreads, and the green of life will be revealed as the smoke recedes.
Feng Chun Yumen
Before the Qing dynasty, the most common words in the poems written by the ancients in northwest China were lonely smoke in the desert, endless flat sand, white bones in the wilderness and spring breeze. Zuo and his Xiang army rewrote the history of northwest scenery and literature. The appearance of three thousand miles avenue, millions of trees, mulberry trees, Shali Lake and Jiangnan scenery has added a touch of heavy new green to the gray-yellow sky in northwest China, and also brought vitality to the boring northwest poetry circle. For a time, Zuo's poems were sung endlessly. The most popular thing is that Yang Changjun, one of Zuo's subordinates, lamented: "The general has not yet raised the border, and the children of Huxiang are all over the Tianshan Mountains. Newly planted willows are three thousand miles away, attracting spring breeze. " Yang is not a poet, and he has never seen other poems in the world, but this one alone is enough to make him a poet and remain immortal. Since the left, in literary works, it has finally passed Yumen Pass.
If you start with Yang Changjun's poems and go downstream, you can compile a spectacular collection of left poems. There are many masterpieces in it. 1in the spring of 934, the novelist Zhang Henshui traveled to the northwest. It was a year of drought. In desperation, people used willow bark to satisfy their hunger. Zhang wrote a poem "Ci": "Thank you for the drought, and plant two lines of weeping willows and green flowers. Peel off the bark and grass and cook it, and fill it with food and soup. " 1In July, 935, the famous journalist Fan Changjiang went to the northwest for an interview. Zuo also wrote in his "Northwest Corner of China": "The willows on the alluvial plain on the east and west banks of Zhuanglang River face each other, and the canal traffic ... The willows planted when Zuo conquered Xinjiang are simple and vigorous, which makes people think that the talents of Zuo are beyond imagination." During the Republic of China, the poet Luo Jialun went abroad and passed through the northwest. When he saw the left, he was very moved. He wrote a poem, composed by Zhao Yuanren, which became a well-known campus song: "Blow the jade door on the left, and spring is good. The Tianshan Mountains melt snow to fill the fields, the desert sand whirls down, and the water plants accumulate in the sand, just like a fairy island, crossing the melon fields and jade bushes and watching the white waves turn over Ma Yong. Want to take Zhang Qian, Dingyuan Ban Chao. The martyrs of Han and Tang dynasties managed early! He was the right-hand man of Xiongnu in those days, and later he was the Eurasian Tunnel. Business early, business early! Don't let the blue-eyed children take pictures of the Western Regions. "
As for folklore and poems and paintings written by ordinary literati, this is especially true. There has always been a legend about killing donkeys and protecting trees in northwest China. Shortly after Zuo's death, the famous Dianshizhai Pictorial published a picture of Gan Tang's Yi Ze Tu, which reproduced the real scene of Zuo Gong Avenue: the mountains and rivers are winding, the avenue is facing the sky, and pedestrians from green Liu Yin are on the road. Inscription on the painting: "I have planted trees for more than ten years, and the sun is thick and the clouds cover the green shade. In June, those who give shade in the summer feel the virtue of helping the public. " "Hands are on the way, words are on the way, and love lasts for a thousand years."
There must be a reason why a person and a tree he planted can stand the folk songs of 100 years. The spring breeze shaped by literary images is actually the spirit of Zuo Gong. How can the spring breeze pass through Yumen, because there are people who can wave their hands and call the wind. Zuo went to the northwest under the background of political corruption, national danger and poverty, and bad environment. Supposedly, he only has the life to calm the chaos, but has no responsibility for construction. However, the Confucian spirit of responsibility and talent in his heart made him feel that he should make a modest contribution to the rectification and development of the northwest. With his military victory, Zuo set off a New Deal storm, which swept through the muddy water for many years. The harsh reality in the northwest and a well-read Confucian scholar in the south have aroused a series of spiritual sparks, shining the last chapter of China's ancient history and blooming a trace of warm spring.
Left in the northwest's new political style has the following characteristics:
First, strengthen national sovereignty and advocate the establishment of a province in Xinjiang. He denounced the fallacy that North Korea abandoned the northwest, saying that "Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang flourished, and there was northwest at the time of election." And its decline will also be given to the northwest to protect the southeast, and the country will be weakened and eventually perish. "Donate northwest, must be national subjugation. From the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, Xinjiang only set up military institutions, not provinces, counties and counties. Zuo wrote five times to call for the establishment of the province, which was finally approved. Since then, the northwest territory has been unified.
The second is to fight corruption and promote honesty. Politics in the late Qing Dynasty has become a decadent situation, not to mention the northwest beyond our reach. Local officials do whatever they want and are corrupt. He thoroughly investigated the typical cases of corruption and empty pay in several places and the army, and set strict new rules. Moreover, he is upright and upright, and sets an example. The military expenditure of Shaanxi and Gansu is12.4 million taels of silver every year, all of which are clear. Ten years in the northwest, I didn't arrange a relative. Self-paid entertainment from afar, with travel expenses. In the fifth year of Guangxu, his son took four or five people from Hunan to the northwest to see him. He instructed: "Don't get caught up in the habits of officialdom, young master, and keep everything simple." In CUHK's kitchen, only two stoves are allowed, one for cooking and the other for cooking. Cook, handyman, fire and water, it is not advisable to use more people. Write poems in the third or eighth day, and don't socialize outside. "You see, not only do you abstain from extravagance, but you also have to leave your homework like a primary school student. The strictness of teaching children and restraining relatives reminds us of the family style of Mao Zhou in Nanhai in the early years of the Republic of China. If you want loyalty, you should be filial first, and if you want to suppress political style, you should be stricter than family style. No matter what generation or class, all promising politicians are like this.
The third is to punish inaction. He hit the nail on the head and pointed out that "Gansu officialdom is a bad habit, but it is only a matter of meeting officials according to the veil, which is no longer a matter of state affairs and civil affairs", and "officialdom only talks about peace and reconciliation" to protect officials from corruption, dereliction of duty and malpractice. The inside has rotted, and the outside is still covered with mud to maintain the stability of the surface. He hates those lazy and mediocre officials who are afraid of things, avoid things and do nothing in important positions, and often shuts their articles out and asks them to do it again. "If a sentence is ambiguous, the only way is to ask!" No one is afraid of its rigorous style.
The fourth is to be close to the people. After the war, there were ten rooms and nine vacant rooms. Left carefully arrange immigrants, choose a good village site, escort along the way, and count livestock, seeds and rations. Guangxu had a drought for three years, and an acre of land was only worth 300 Wen, and a cake was exchanged for a woman. He ordered to open a porridge factory in Xi 'an, where passers-by could come and drink, with 70,000 people a day for a long time. As an imperial envoy and governor, he is over 60 years old and still lives in a tent when he leads his troops. The local official advised him to live in a building. He said, "Although the war is cold, it is not as painful as the foot soldiers." .
The fifth is to be pragmatic and not like vanity. Before the others arrived in Lanzhou, the local squire had built a shrine to praise him. He couldn't stand this flattering style and ordered it to be dismantled. All the following gifts will be returned. Local officials or front-line generals wrote letters to greet them. He said that there are many things to do, and military affairs are too busy to listen to these empty words. He also pays great attention to writing. All official documents "don't have to follow the bad habits of green camp, pick up floating words, ... tell the truth, you don't have to decorate if you write a letter from home." He also established industry and introduced foreign technology to build bridges, open canals and build factories. ...
Left character is determined and hard-working. Although he can't save the world, he must also save the disadvantages of one place at a time. He transported the coffin to the west, recovered lost land, revitalized the government and saved people's livelihood. This is truly worthy of a spring breeze from the east in the afterglow of the sunset in the late Qing Dynasty and in the cold desert in the northwest. That 3000-mile-long green willow is a flag fluttering in his spring breeze.
Spring breeze Yumen, the luck of the northwest!
Willow is evergreen.
Willow is an easy-to-live, easy-to-plant and adaptable tree species, but it also has a disadvantage, which is not as durable as pine and cypress. It is easy for us to find a thousand-year-old cypress, but it is almost impossible to find a thousand-year-old willow, even if it is more than a hundred years old. Therefore, the protection and replanting of the Left has become the complex of the northwest people and the official responsibility, and protection announcements have been issued one after another. This part is to protect the ecology, and part is to continue the spirit of Zuo Gong.
The earliest conservation document we can see now is an imperial edict posted by the government at the end of Qing Dynasty beside the ancient post road: "The Kunlun Mountain is covered with snow, and a glass of wine is fine. If Ma Si people cry, whoever leads the spring breeze will make a thousand miles of gardens. If you don't chop, don't chop, Zuo Gong will plant. " It can be seen that the focus of this proclamation is not trees but people, but protecting trees pays more attention to the inheritance of Zuo Gong spirit.
During the Republic of China, Gansu provincial government wrote twice to protect Zuo. 1935 "measures for the protection of left Gong Liu" is more detailed: first, the census number of the whole province; The second is subsection protection, which is implemented to people; Third, if the tree is dead, it is not allowed to be replaced; Four, has been cut down, according to the original completion; Five, the tree shall not dig grass, lead matches, tied animals, etc. ; 6. Violators will be punished with huge fines or hard labor; Seven, the lack of protection is only the county magistrate. The existing archives also record many cases of illegal logging. 1946 The construction director of Longde County and others sold 400 willow trees by disposing of dead trees. After the county government punished them, it also demanded "to replenish new seedlings, protect survival, value sages and leave love". In this regard, a general survey of Zuogongliu in China was carried out, and there were 36 10 plants left, all of which were numbered and filed.
We find that there are always such words in the government proclamations of the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China: Zuo Gong, Saint, Love, Ze, etc. You know this is an official document, but it is still difficult to hide our respect for Zuo. During the Republic of China, Zuo rebuilt the gate of Lanzhou and renamed it Zongtangmen, which was inscribed by the Governor. Among many works on Zuo Northwest, the most authoritative one is Northwest Xianggong, which was first published in Chongqing in 1945 and reprinted in 1984 at the suggestion of the general. From the title of the book to the text, Zuo is not called by his first name, but is called "Wen Xianggong", which shows the position of Zuo in people's minds during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. Only after entering the contemporary era, due to the extreme "left" political influence, there has been a small repetition. But with people's re-understanding of ecology, they thought of this Hunan native who planted trees in the northwest.
Then I remembered a famous allusion. At that time, Zuo made his first appearance in Hunan, and his arrogance offended people. Someone sued the court and was about to lose his head. Pan Zuyin, the minister, cherishes talents and writes loudly: "Hunan can't be without a day in the world, and Hunan can't be without a day." This sentence saved his life. If Zuo died inexplicably, how could there be the recovery of Xinjiang and the development of the northwest? Hanging alone in Hunan, hanging in Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai and Xinjiang, hanging in the Qing Dynasty. How many famous ministers can there be in history who have saved the day? I don't know why, when interviewing in the northwest, I always see a desolate desert, vast teams, black coffins, Zuo Gong with white hair and beard, and green willows stretching out to the horizon. If any painter can draw the left and right, or which director can make a movie, how touching it would be.
Time is merciless. It has been more than 40 years since Zuo Yu 187 1 ordered tree planting. It is not easy to meet the willow planted by Zuo Gong. According to records, according to the statistics from 65438 to 0935, there were 7978 Zuogongliu plants in Pingliang, while the Gansu Forest published from 65438 to 0998 recorded that there were only 202 Zuogongliu plants in the whole province, most of which were in Liu Hu Park, with 187 plants. It seems that Liu Hu has been twice in the past ten years, and this is indeed the place where the public interest is the leftmost. But 1998 has been 15 years. The stars are shifting, the trees are scattered, and the left is still sharply decreasing.
On that day, I went to Liu Hu to travel through the space for a period of time and heard the voice of Zuo Gong. I see the stars by the lake, and some ancient willows will appear not far away. The trunk has been towering upward, but the tree is really old, and the epidermis has cracked vertical and horizontal lines, such as the northwest map covering the Gobi desert. There is a black hole in the waist-wide tree hole, as if crying; And its roots, some quietly grasping the ground, sucking the lake on the shore, while others cling to the blue veins standing out, such as the arm of the old man in the northwest wind and frost. But no matter which one, it will send out green new branches on the branches, thick and swaying, and bloom a quiet smile under the warm sun in autumn. Liu Hu Park is being expanded, and the newly planted willow leaves on the shore are swaying in the wind, just like children and grandchildren around their knees. Outside Liuhu Lake, it is already green in the northwest and green all over the world. I stroked the tree with my hand, read the left gobbledygook and studied the sculpture of life. Zuo is probably the only general who never forgot to plant trees and made great achievements in the war.
Hope to adopt