1978: A Literary Giant Who Began His Military Service

Chapter 73 This novel is biased.

Time flies.

In April, the most eye-catching sight in Beijing is actually the pear blossoms, because the famous tree in the capital is called the Beijing White Pear, which used to be a tribute item.

Zhou Xu's submission arrived in Beijing along with the letter, mingling with a group of novels, since they were all sent to the General Political Department for review.

The Cultural Department of the General Political Department was established in May 1950. Its responsibilities included guiding the development of military arts and literature. Works with military themes could only be published after being reviewed and approved by the Arts and Literature Division of the General Political Department.

Moreover, Zhou Xu's novel is about the recent Sino-Vietnamese War, and there are still many classified details, so it needs to be reviewed by the leaders of the Literature and Art Department before it can be published.

Arts and Literature Department.

Jiang Yi returned to his desk with his belongings, a veteran of the Arts and Literature Department who was almost thirty-five years old.

After graduating in 65, he worked in the Arts and Literature Department and was promoted smoothly.

Of course, he felt that his military career was still very promising.

after awhile.

The mailman came in: "These are the novels, artworks... and literary works submitted from various military regions this week! Comrades."

So he skillfully brought in these works of art.

There has been no major troop reduction. my country's military has approximately five million officers and soldiers, and by the end of 79, this number was approaching six million.

With such a large pool of participants, even if only one in a thousand people submits a piece, it would still amount to quite a few. There are even some who are dedicated to creating art and literature for soldiers.

So it's not surprising that I receive so many artistic creations every month.

Jiang Yi brought a pile of manuscripts.

He casually picked out a serving, crossed his legs, glanced at it with his head held high, and said with considerable disdain, "No way."

Wang Chuanhong came in from outside, glanced at Jiang Yi, and asked, "Tsk! What kind of attitude is this? You have no respect for the soldiers' creative work at all?"

Startled by the shout, Jiang Yi quickly looked up, took a deep breath, straightened his posture, and said, "Director Wang, is that you?! No, no!"

"..." Wang Chuanhong not only worked at the PLA Literature and Art Publishing House, but also served as the deputy director of the Literature and Art Department. He would come over to take a look from time to time.

A group of people over there were gloating.

Wang Chuanhong gave him a few words of admonishment: "Correct your attitude! That's the prerequisite for you as cultural soldiers to write excellent works! Learn from Zhou Xu! He went to the front lines to fight the enemy, and then actively created works after returning to the army!"

"Mmm, oh oh oh!" Jiang Yi on the other end kept his head down frantically, not daring to utter a single objection.

After saying these words, Wang Chuanhong left.

Jiang Yi watched him leave and said indignantly, "...Zhou Xu, Zhou Xu! If I were on the front lines, I could kill thirty enemies! What's so great about that?"

An older editor standing nearby, named Gao Junlang, said, "Yes, yes, yes! You were really good at fighting the enemy, but when it came time to sign up as a war correspondent, weren't you eager to participate? Just behave yourself! Still bragging? Do they need to brag?"

"..." Jiang Yi rolled her eyes at the man.

However, his attitude toward revising the manuscript remained largely unchanged; he glanced at it and then tossed it onto the table.

Some were really bad, so he just tossed them aside. After a while, his eyes started to hurt: "How boring. Looking at these manuscripts every day gives me a headache."

He picked up another novel, titled "Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain".

"What does this mean, a wreath?"

After glancing at it, Jiang Yi decided to continue reading with interest.

Jiang Yi continued reading the novel.

The novel "Wreath at the Foot of the Mountain" has a total of 90,000 words.

To be honest, he has never really liked reading medium to long novels, such as those by other authors. He would glance at them and then throw them away. He couldn't even finish reading them; he could figure out what they were about after just two pages.

However, he admitted that he was able to read the novel and even found it enjoyable.

Of course, in Jiang Yi's eyes, this was just a passable novel.

From a story perspective, Jiang Yi genuinely felt that this novel was well-written.

Zhao Mengsheng, the photography officer transferred from the regimental headquarters, originally intended to gain some grassroots experience as a political instructor in a grassroots unit before being transferred back by his elderly mother.

However, unexpectedly, wartime arrived just in time, and Zhao Mengsheng was forced to go to the battlefield.

He was infected and transformed from a coward into a true warrior on the battlefield... Well, this story is rare in recent years.

Jiang Yixiao was completely absorbed in the story, her heart rising and falling with its excitement.

But the Literature and Art Department always finds fault; his hobby is pointing out other people's mistakes.

When he saw the word "owe money," he couldn't help but frown: "Owe money? What soldier would owe money? This is simply a disgrace to the image of the People's Army."

Jiang Yi frowned, threw the manuscript onto the table, and his initial enthusiasm for reading the novel vanished in an instant, leaving only a trace of resentment.

Some people are strange; they tend to magnify a small mistake into something enormous.

Wang Chuanhong had just entered the room and angrily berated Jiang Yi. Now he was thinking: if I'm going to work, I have to find fault with everything! So he vented his emotions on the novel.

Gao Junlang, who was standing next to him, looked over and asked curiously, "What novel did you read that made you so angry?"

Jiang Yi didn't mind taking excerpts from the novel out of context and showing them to his colleague Gao Junlang, who immediately chimed in with his own criticism:
"This is simply a smear against our People's Liberation Army."

Gao Junlang followed Jiang Yi's directions to the original text and was surprised to see this passage.

His comrades found a blood-stained IOU in his pocket: 120 yuan borrowed from the company quartermaster; 70 yuan borrowed from Staff Officer Liu of the regimental headquarters; 40 yuan borrowed from Director Wang of the regimental logistics department… The IOU was filled with the names of 17 people, totaling 620 yuan.

"This story takes place on the front lines of the Sino-Vietnamese War, after Company Commander Liang Sanxi was killed in action! When the soldiers were cleaning up his belongings, they found no suicide note or other personal items, but instead discovered a debt! Isn't this a disgrace to the image of the People's Liberation Army soldiers?"

Besides! If this kind of novel were actually published in the Youth League's newspaper, what kind of impact would it have? I can't even imagine! Isn't this a veiled criticism of "those above"? Isn't it deliberately portraying the PLA's salaries as very low???

Jiang Yi spoke with righteous indignation, seemingly genuinely believing that the novel was smearing the People's Liberation Army. He slammed his hand on the table, causing the enamel mug on the table to vibrate and spill a few drops of tea.

(End of this chapter)