The Wealth of Ren Guofu, the Iron Man of Cangshan

In Yangzhuang, when it comes to apples, everyone will think of Lijiazhuang and talk about "Lijiazhuang apples".

Every November, when we step into the Lijiazhuang apple orchard in the west town of Cangshan County, which is located at the western foot of Cangshan Mountain, we can see that there are clumps of branches and clusters of apples all over the hill, which are particularly bright and sweet and attractive. An energetic, fighting-spirited 65-year-old man was busy shuttling through the apple orchard. "our apples are original. Please rest assured that they are healthier when you eat them!" He is Ren Guofu, who is receiving wave after wave of tourists.

In the apple orchard, Ren Guofu talked about the sad and difficult process of developing Apple. "more than 20 years ago, the villagers ate potato and buckwheat. The village had no electricity, no water and no access roads. It was a truly poor place." Seeing that the villagers had a life without a meal, Ren Guofu, as a party member, saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart. "how can we lead the villagers out of a road to wealth?" Ren Guofu thought hard about banquets and couldn't sleep at night.

"otherwise, depending on the unique ecological climate of Cangshan, we will try to develop the forest and fruit industry, and we will certainly be 'hot' in the future!" During a chat with the villagers, Ren Guofu said to the villagers. You've made up your mind, so let's just do it. However, as soon as I know it: lack of water, lack of funds, lack of technology. These questions weigh heavily on everyone.

Growing apples has become a road that has never been done before.

Lijiazhuang, with high mountains and steep slopes, barren land and cold climate, was once a famous poor place where the so-called "ghosts see sorrow". The local folk song said: "there are women not to marry Lijiazhuang, broken cottages, rotten clothes, water is more expensive than oil, Dayton pumpkin soup."

In order to choose a good industry, Ren Guofu held many meetings with everyone to discuss it, chose it over and over, and finally chose an apple. "at that time, the most mature industry was walnut, but it had no special features." However, Ren Guofu knows that growing apples locally is a way that has never been done before, creating an industry that no one else has ever done before, and the prospect is worrying.

"although everyone agrees to grow apples, Lao Ren still has a lot of concerns. At night, I get up and get up again, and I get a lot older all of a sudden! " Said Wang Shumei, Ren Guofu's wife. That year, it was 1993, and Ren Guofu was 41 years old. Whenever I see the geographical environment and natural conditions of Lijiazhuang and see that barren land, Ren Guofu, as a party member, cherishes the hope of the masses, and has no other choice but to take the risk of developing the apple industry. So, with everyone full of hope to start the construction of apple orchard, embarked on a difficult entrepreneurial road.

The opening of the mountain to divert water nearly lost the lives of the villagers.

In the development of planting on a barren and arid land, water has become the biggest "roadblock". For nearly a month, Ren Guofu led the villagers into the old forests of Cangshan in search of water. In the end, it was decided to divert water to Lijiazhuang from the overflowing rock waterfall 4 kilometers away. He took the masses to eat and live on the mountain, measured with five-foot poles and horizontal rulers, and dug ditches with his hands and hoes. There are "blood blisters" on everyone's hands, and the palms are full of calluses. More than a month after the start of construction, a young villager accidentally fell off the construction site on the edge of the cliff, which cast a shadow on everyone. Some people once said that Pishuiyan Waterfall was the place where Guanyin could not move, so everyone backed out one after another, and the water diversion project stopped. As a result, Ren Guofu persuaded everyone from door to door, invited a contractor team, stopped the project for more than a month and was able to start again, and the snow water in Cangshan, which took more than eight months, was finally brought to Lijiazhuang. Seeing such a difficult project, everyone was surprised and engraved the sigh of "thousands of feet of water curtain, no one can roll it in ancient and modern times".

To learn skills, to visit teachers thousands of miles away to learn skills

"it's heart-wrenching to see that there are only six or seven apples on the apple tree." After the completion of the apple orchard, due to the lack of cultivation techniques and management experience, the fruit hanging in the apple orchard is very rare, and the appearance and taste are not ideal.

Ren Guofu knows very well that only by relying on science and technology can we improve output and quality. At that time, he paid out of his own pocket to ask for advice, nibbling steamed buns and drinking tap water from the roadside to quench his hunger and thirst. No matter how far the journey was, he only took the train hard road, even squatted in the train aisle, and taught the villagers hand-in-hand when he came back. Once I heard that the apple industry in Qingdao, Shandong Province was developing very well, so without saying a word, he cobbled together less than 1000 yuan and hit the road. In Qingdao, the expert saw the ragged Ren Guofu and was moved and taught him what he had learned. Subsequently, Ren Guofu hired apple branch pruning experts from Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, and carried out soil improvement under the guidance of agricultural experts. at the same time, he successively introduced many excellent varieties, such as Jin Shuai, Gala, Red Fuji, and so on. In 2007, the apple orchard completely turned from deficit to profit.

I borrowed everywhere when I had no money. I was once heavily in debt.

The construction and management of nearly a thousand mu of apple orchards need a lot of money. "he took all the money at home, and he borrowed money everywhere. Debt collectors came home every now and then, and we dared not stay at home during the day." Speaking of the past, Ren Guofu's wife, Wang Shumei, complained.

"the villagers have no money, and I have no money. But if I don't think of a way, the industry will really fail. " Ren Guofu is a man of his word. Seven years after the completion of the apple orchard, the couple decided to contract the slicing of the apple trees that they had taken care of for more than seven years to the workers in the orchard. When they were short of skills, Ren Guofu personally taught them; when they were short of funds, Ren Guofu took out his own money to help them, guaranteed loans for them, and repaid them first when due. In 2007, in order to strengthen and expand the apple industry in Lijiazhuang, Ren Guofu established a set of "joint-stock" management model of apple orchard integrating local resources and realizing common prosperity. In the form of "barren mountain shareholding", "labor shareholding" and "production technology shareholding", Lijiazhuang farmers' professional cooperative was established in conjunction with the villagers of the two village groups adjacent to Niufengdui and Shaojiadi. In 2016, Ren Guofu pushed Lijiazhuang's Apple to the whole country through e-commerce. At this point, the development of the apple orchard is getting better and more prosperous.

The apple of Lijiazhuang is "hot" and the villagers are rich.

At present, the apple orchard in Lijiazhuang has grown to more than 1000 mu, and the apple industry has led to an increase of more than 100,000 yuan per household around.

Ren Xinglong, a poor family living in Meili Village, Cangshan West Town, works in the apple orchard all the year round, earning about 3000 to 4000 yuan a month. Ren Xinglong said happily that he was really very grateful to the cooperative for giving him a stable income and solved his practical difficulties of having neither capital nor technology, and he was full of confidence in getting rid of poverty and becoming rich. According to reports, nearly 60 local people work in cooperatives for more than three months a year, and more than 20 people work in cooperatives for about nine months.

Nowadays, walking into the Lijiazhuang apple orchard, you can see ripe apples hanging all over the branches, the breeze blowing, the sweet fruit aroma and the laughter of the farmers all over the orchard. Ren Guofu, known by the masses as the "iron man of Cangshan", also achieved success. the local people gave a thumbs up one after another, which was fully affirmed by all sectors of the society. in 2010, he was awarded the title of model worker by the state people's government, and in 2011 he was awarded as the 20th model worker in Yunnan Province.