746: Disband the Corps
After hearing his father's words, Zhou Ziheng was stunned for a moment:
"Disband the Corps?"
He could never imagine that his father called him back so urgently because he wanted to disband the corps?
If the Beidahuang Corps is really disbanded, it will really have a huge impact!
For Zhou Ziheng, this was like the collapse of the house.
Zhou Jingru said calmly:
"The military just held a meeting and decided to disband the Beidahuang Production and Construction Corps."
"Why?"
"It can only be said that times have changed. The Corps was originally established because of the frequent frictions between the two countries. In order to defend the border, the Corps was established.
Now that there has been no war for many years, relations between the two countries have warmed up, and the main goals in the future have also changed, so the meeting decided to disband the Corps.
This news will be officially announced soon. After the announcement, the military will send a working group to the Northeast to issue the latest instructions and arrange the next steps. The troops will gradually withdraw from farm management.
The original Bingtuan farm will be handed over to the Beidahuang State Farm Management Bureau. In short, the Bingtuan farm will gradually be restored to its original state-owned farm status.
"What about those active duty soldiers on the Corps farms?"
"For active-duty personnel in the Corps, there are only two options: return to the army or formally transfer to a state-owned farm."
Zhou Ziheng began to understand the real purpose of his father asking him to go home. It seemed that he wanted to arrange his future work.
Originally, Zhou Ziheng went to the Great Northern Wilderness because of the nature of the Corps.
Now that the Corps is gone, the status of the Corps farm has changed and it has become an ordinary state-owned farm. There is no way Zhou Jingru would allow his son to be the director of an ordinary state-owned farm.
Zhou Ziheng finally understood why his father called him back so urgently.
Zhou Jingru glanced at his son and saw that he seemed to be thinking about something, so he asked:
"The Corps is disbanded, what are your plans?"
"Haven't you already made plans for me? Otherwise, why did you ask me to come back?"
Zhou Jingru sneered:
"You're wrong this time. It wasn't me who planned this for you. It was someone else."
"who?"
"You'll know when you get there."
“------”
Zhou Ziheng had no choice but to suppress his curiosity and sit in the car to see where his father was taking him and who he was going to meet.
The jeep drove for about half an hour and arrived at the National Defense Department.
The security here is very tight, with a sentry with a gun at the door. When they saw a military vehicle approaching, the guard stepped forward and saluted:
"Excuse me, Chief, what can I do for you? Which department are you from?"
Zhou Jingru rolled down the window and said to the guard:
"Please call Minister Zhao and tell him that the Zhou family father and son are here to visit."
"Yes, please wait a moment!"
The guard hurried to make a phone call.
Zhou Ziheng turned around and asked his father:
"Minister Zhao, which Minister Zhao?"
"There are several other Minister Zhaos in the capital, and of course, Zhao Kuanmin is one of them."
"Uncle Zhao? Isn't he in the Ministry of Agriculture and Reclamation? How did he get transferred here?"
"He was transferred here from the Ministry of Agriculture and Reclamation a few months ago. This guy is quite capable. He's almost 70 years old. If it were someone else, they would have retired long ago, but he's taken on the responsibility again, transferred from the Ministry of Agriculture and Reclamation to oversee national defense work. It was his idea to call you here this time."
Zhou Ziheng had heard too many surprising news today, so he didn't react that strongly at this time.
It is estimated that Zhao Kuanmin already knew that the corps was to be disbanded, so he asked Zhou Jingru to call him over.
He suddenly remembered that when he went to Beijing to attend the agricultural reclamation conference in May, Zhao Kuanmin talked to him and specifically asked him if he would be willing to come and help if there was any work needed.
At that time, Zhou Ziheng thought that Zhao Kuanmin was just asking casually. Now thinking about it, maybe Zhao Kuanmin had already thought about transferring him over at that time, but the Corps was not there yet, so Zhao Kuanmin did not act rashly.
Now that they knew the Corps was about to be destroyed, they called him over.
While Zhou Ziheng was thinking, the guard had finished his call and let the jeep pass.
The car slowly drove into the compound.
After getting out of the car, Zhao Kuanmin's secretary came down to greet them and took the father and son to the office upstairs.
Zhao Kuanmin had finished his work early. Seeing the father and son come in, he stepped forward with a kind smile and shook hands:
"Lao Zhou, Hengzi, you are finally here!"
"Old Zhao, sorry to have kept you waiting."
Zhou Ziheng also greeted with a smile:
"Uncle Zhao, I hope you are well."
Zhao Kuanmin looked at Zhou Ziheng with a smile:
"Did you just arrive?"
"Yes, my dad dragged me here right after I got off the train."
"Thank you for your hard work. Come, sit down."
The three of them sat down on the sofa in the office. The secretary served tea to the father and son and then left.
There were only three people left in the room.
Zhao Kuanmin had a kind expression on his face, leaning back on the sofa, looking very relaxed:
"Old Zhou, have you told Hengzi about the Corps?"
"I said it. I said it on the way."
"Since you already know, I won't go into details. Hengzi, you know that once the Corps is disbanded, the status of the farm will be different from before. It will just be an ordinary farm. It will no longer bear the responsibility of defending the border. Its nature will be different."
"I know."
"It's good that you know. Remember what I told you the last time we met?"
"If the work requires it, can I be transferred here to help?"
"Yes, I remember you promised that if the country needed you, you would obey orders. Didn't you say that?"
"Yes, that's what I said."
"Well, a gentleman's word is as good as gold. Now it's time for you to fulfill your promise."
“--------”
Zhao Kuanmin from the coffee table next to him
He took out a handwritten document that he had prepared in advance and handed it to Zhou Ziheng:
"Take a look at this first."
Zhou Ziheng took the document with both hands and took a look at it. There was a line written on the outside of the document with a brush: "Several Measures on the Reform of the Military Engineering College."
Military Engineering College?
He knew that this academy was once a very important higher military institution that only accepted children of military cadres and had a very special status.
But it seems to have been abandoned in recent years and basically no achievements have been made.
Not only were the admission requirements relaxed, but the quality of the workers, peasants and soldiers recruited was uneven. Some of them may not have even graduated from elementary school, but were recommended to go to university.
People like this can't even pass the basic cultural courses when they enter a military academy. How can we expect them to learn any advanced technology? Not to mention researching new weapons.
Therefore, today's military engineering colleges are basically of little use.
Zhao Kuanmin must have been aware of this problem, so after taking office, he wanted to reorganize the Military Engineering Academy.
Zhou Ziheng did not open the document without permission as it should be considered an internal confidential document. He raised his head and cast a questioning look at Zhao Kuanmin.
Zhao Kuanmin said:
"You see, I've been transferred here and will be in charge of the work here. Actually, the organization had already made this arrangement during the last agricultural reclamation conference, but it was still uncertain at the time, so I didn't mention it. I was actually quite nervous at the time, thinking that I might not be able to handle this job at my age. However, the organization had already entrusted me with this important task, and I couldn't refuse, so I had to take it on."
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