In 1976, a major event occurred that caused a sensation in the whole country and even shocked the whole world, the great leader Chairman Mao left us forever, and the whole country was immersed in grief, and the most important thing was Chairman Mao's funeral.
The Central Committee has long discussed this, and many matters have been prepared in advance, including the eulogy draft, which was prepared when Chairman Mao was critically ill; it is precisely because the situation is urgent that it is inevitable that there will be some omissions.
Shortly before the memorial service began, Wang Dongxing put forward a valuable amendment after reading the eulogy, and immediately conveyed the opinion to Hua Guofeng, who listened to it and marked the amendment very much, and finally made a revision in the eulogy after discussing the meeting.
So, what are the amendments proposed by Wang Dongxing? And why can I get Hua Guofeng's approval? How did Wang Dongxing come up with this opinion?
For Wang Dongxing, the most important opportunity in this life was to meet Mao Zedong, and the relationship between the two dates back to a mission to cover the retreat during the Liberation War.
On March 18, 1947, the day that the CCP organs and the masses withdrew from Yan'an, Wang Dongxing received an order, "Immediately lead Liu Huishan, head of the Central Guard Regiment, Kemu Fengyun, of the Central Social Department, and a cavalry detachment to immediately carry out the task of defending Chairman Mao and Vice Chairman Zhou from Yan'an from Zaoyuan to Wangjiaping."
At that time, the situation was very grim, Liu Jie's troops were moving from Qinghua to Wangjiawan, through Ansai, straight to Wangjiawan, where the central organs were located, and the speed of travel was very fast, and in the afternoon they had reached the Pingqiao area, which was only twenty miles away from Wangjiawan, and the CENTRAL Central Organs had to move quickly.
In the end, it was decided that Wang Dongxing would lead a reinforcement platoon to deploy overnight, set up an ambush on the top of Wangjiawan Mountain, and block the strength of about one regiment of Liu Jie's vanguard troops; when Wang Dongxing actually carried out the task, he transformed this task into a blow and confusion against the enemy, repelling the enemy three times at the cost of only one person's minor injuries, so that the enemy did not dare to advance lightly, and Wang Dongxing led the team to take advantage of the rainy night to retreat safely, and bought 12 hours for the central organs to withdraw.
After this mission, Wang Dongxing was appreciated by Chairman Mao, and was blessed with birds, but never in the nest; Wang Dongxing's ability to get Chairman Mao's appreciation must have been superior, and what Chairman Mao valued most was that Wang Dongxing was meticulous and honest and reliable, so he soon gave Wang Dongxing a new task.
This mission, like the last time, was still led by Wang Dongxing to carry out guerrilla warfare with a small unit, but the danger coefficient was greatly increased compared to the last time, because this time it was necessary to fight deep behind the enemy's lines, and if you were not careful, you would fall into the enemy's encirclement.
Chairman Mao also particularly reminded: "If you can fight, you will fight, and if you can't fight, you will leave, and when you go to a certain time to find an opportunity to fight again, you should pay special attention to doing a good job of mass work, and in the spare time of fighting the enemy, you can take the opportunity to conduct some mass investigations and understand the lives and emotions of the masses." ”
After receiving the task, Wang Dongxing quickly led a company of troops to ambush the strength of an enemy battalion at three commanding heights near Gaojiachuan, and the most important thing was that he also captured the codebook used by the enemy for communication, which can be described as a complete victory.
After returning to the garrison after the mission was completed, Chairman Mao personally listened to Wang Dongxing's mission report and said: "This time you led the comrades to go deep behind the enemy's back and insert themselves into the area near Yan'an, the battles that should be fought were fought beautifully, and the battles that should not be fought were resolutely not rushed into action, do not think that there are not many battles to be fought, and the enemy has not eliminated much, and feel that the task has not been completed well, the most important thing is that you have helped and protected the masses to harvest more than 800 quintals of wheat, which is equivalent to destroying 800 enemies. On the one hand, you have learned about the enemy's situation and carried out a crackdown on it in this activity behind enemy lines, and the captured codebooks have provided great help for intelligence work; on the other hand, you have also learned about the people's feelings, and the task has been completed very well! ”
Wang Dongxing was very excited after being praised by Chairman Mao, and what a blessing it was to be praised by those he admired, and Chairman Mao also appreciated Wang Dongxing's merits even more during this operation, so he transferred Wang Dongxing to the Central Committee, and especially he was responsible for the security work of the entire CENTRAL Central Committee organs, as well as Chairman Mao's security work, which was a great encouragement to Wang Dongxing.
In the work that followed, Wang Dongxing won Chairman Mao's trust, and not only did he entrust Wang Dongxing with full authority over the security work in Zhongnanhai, but Chairman Mao also named Wang Dongxing to accompany him when he was on a mission to foreign countries, because Wang Dongxing was meticulous in his thinking and thought about all aspects of the problem, and he could handle affairs with peace of mind at Chairman Mao, and he had a lot less worries about the future.
Later, Chairman Mao once said: "He (Wang Dongxing) has always wanted to go with me, others are not at ease with it, there is Dongxing following me around, I am used to it, people, I still like the old one, Dongxing's strength is careful, the disadvantage is that the theoretical level is poor, do not like to use the brain, but do not underestimate the heavy martial arts and light literature, the Han Dynasty's Zhou Bo is the same, the same made great achievements!" ”
Chairman Mao gave Wang Dongxing a high appraisal, and of course pointed out his shortcomings without any reservations, after all, no one is perfect, but in Chairman Mao's mind, Wang Dongxing is definitely a unique candidate for the chairman and the defense of the entire Zhongnanhai.
It was precisely because he spent more than ten years with Chairman Mao that Wang Dongxing was able to rely on his understanding of Chairman Mao to discover some details from the eulogy that others could not notice, and it was precisely because he did not live up to Chairman Mao's trust that Wang Dongxing put forward his ideas in a timely manner.
In late July 1976, Wang Dongxing, then director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, called Zhou Qicai, then director of the Secretariat Bureau of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, and said: "Old Zhou, you should now immediately inform Li Xin (then deputy director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee) that you two will wait for me in the main hall of Huairentang, and there are urgent and important tasks entrusted to you!" ”
More than ten minutes later, the two rushed to the main hall of Huairen Hall breathlessly, and at this moment there was no one in the hall, and Li Xin asked curiously: "Comrade Dongxing let us come here?" ”
Zhou Qicai said precisely, "I'm sure I could hear it clearly at the time, so let's wait in the main hall of Huairen Hall." ”
Li Xin asked again, "Did Comrade Dongxing tell you on the phone what is the most important task?" ”
Zhou Qicai shook his head and replied: "I didn't say, I hit my office with a confidential machine, and listening to comrade Dongxing's tone and voice, it is not the same as the important tasks usually assigned, and it may be related to confidentiality, so I called us to explain it in person." ”
While the two were talking, Ji Dengkui and Yao Wenyuan, members of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, hurriedly walked in, and when they came in, they stood there and did not take a seat.
Ji Dengkui looked slightly solemn and said: "The Central Committee has sent me to convey to you a very urgent and important task; at present Chairman Mao's condition is not optimistic, and although the experts in the medical group are meticulously and fully treated, from the perspective of the development of the disease, unfortunate incidents may occur at any time, so the Central Committee has decided to prepare for the funeral, and now designates the two of you to be responsible for drafting obituary and eulogy manuscripts. After saying that, they turned and hurried away.
In the face of this sudden task and bad news, Zhou Qicai and Li Xin were stunned to be in the same place, for a while they did not know what to do, they actually stood in the same place together to cover their faces and cry bitterly, and after a while, Wang Dongxing's secretary called and said: "Just after receiving Comrade Dongxing's instructions, the main hall office of Huairen Hall will be vacated for you to use, the environment here is good and secret, and all life problems are handed over to the service section of the Security Bureau to handle." ”
After the mood stabilized, the two first drafted the obituary and then drafted the eulogy, because Chairman Mao had not yet died at that time, so every mention of "Chairman Mao Zedong" in both texts was replaced by "△△△△".
Zhou Qicai and Li Xin ate and lived in the main hall of Huairen Hall, in order to complete the tasks assigned by the central government, day and night overtime work, basically no time to rest, really sleepy and unable to open their eyes, they leaned on the sofa and squinted for a while, standing outside are the security bureau service department staff and cooks, on time to send tea and food, the service is very thoughtful, effectively guarantee the logistics of the two people to complete the task.
After the drafting task was completed, Zhou Qicai telephoned to inform Wang Dongxing that the task had been completed, and asked whether to send the two manuscripts to the Central Committee for reading, and Wang Dongxing instructed: "The two manuscripts will be sealed and kept by you personally, and they will not be reported to the Central Committee for the time being. After receiving a reply, Zhou Qicai quickly returned to the office and sealed the two documents and locked them in a special safe.
In the early morning of July 28, 1976, a strong earthquake occurred in the Tangshan area, and the close Beijing was also affected, and the earthquake was very strong, and the staff of the Secretariat Office moved out of the office building on the same day to ensure that the work was carried out normally.
Zhou Qicai immediately took out the obituary and eulogy manuscripts in his custody from the special safe, loaded them into another small safe, and personally transferred them to an absolutely safe place, until the office building resumed normal work, and then sealed the two manuscripts in the special safe in the office.
At 00:10 on September 9, 1976, Mao Zedong died, and at about 5:10 a.m., the telephone in Zhou Qicai's office rang, and after answering the phone, Wang Dongxing's low and sad voice came from the phone, saying: "Old Zhou, you should immediately take the two sealed manuscripts and hurry to the conference hall where the chairman lives, and the Politburo will wait for discussion and notify Li Xin to come with you." ”
Zhou Qicai hurriedly opened the safe, took out the sealed manuscript, and went downstairs to the conference hall where Chairman Mao lived. Halfway through, Zhou Qicai saw Wang Dongxing pacing back and forth on the road outside Chairman Mao's residence, and from time to time he looked in the direction where the two men were coming, and he could see that Wang Dongxing was in a very anxious mood.
Wang Dongxing said to Zhou Qicai: "Chairman Mao passed away early this morning, and the Politburo held an emergency meeting here at two o'clock until five o'clock, and now everyone is waiting to discuss the obituary and eulogy manuscript. ”
Zhou Qicai hurriedly walked into the conference hall where the chairman lived, the lights in the hall were dim and there was silence, Zhou Qicai walked to Hua Guofeng, put the sealed manuscript on the coffee table in his seat, he signaled Zhou Qicai to sit on the sofa chair behind him on the left side, and unsealed the manuscript.
After everyone was seated, Hua Guofeng picked up the two manuscripts on the coffee table and said: "Now continue the meeting, first discuss the prepared obituary and eulogy manuscript, today mainly discuss the obituary manuscript, the meeting should be fixed, the afternoon will be broadcast at home and abroad, the time is very tight, the eulogy manuscript will also go through, do not discuss, after the meeting to print to everyone, another time to meet and agree." ”
Hua Guofeng Asked Zhou Qicai to Write the Obituary Manuscript "Letter to the Whole Party, the Whole Army, and the People of All Nationalities in the Whole Country" After reading it at the meeting, Zhou Qicai finished reading it at a slower speed, Hua Guofeng said: "After you have listened, have you made any principled revisions or supplementary opinions?" If not, I propose to send it to the printing house of the Secretariat Bureau of the CPC Central Committee for expedited typesetting, print out a clear sample, and have a copy by hand, and then we will carefully finalize the draft. ”
At this time, the news of Chairman Mao's death was still in strict secrecy, and Zhou Qicai personally sent the obituary manuscript to the printing plant, and arranged for someone to speed up the typesetting, and in less than an hour, a clear sample was printed, and Zhou Qicai distributed it to the members attending the meeting at the meeting.
Finally, after discussion, the meeting unanimously adopted the "Letter to the Whole Party, the Whole Army, and the People of All Nationalities in the Country", and decided to broadcast it at home and abroad at 4 p.m. on September 9.
Hua Guofeng instructed Zhou Qicai to call Zhu Muzhi, president of the Xinhua News Agency, and told him to make preparations in all aspects and ensure that it would be broadcast on time; Zhou Qicai had a telephone conversation with Zhu Muzhi and relayed Hua Guofeng's instructions to Zhu Muzhi, who asked eagerly: "When will the official print be delivered to my hand?" ”
Zhou Qicai replied: "The obituary has been discussed and approved by the Politburo, and is now being printed urgently in the printing plant, and the official print will soon be printed. ”
In order to keep the requirements confidential, and also to prevent mistakes, it was agreed that Zhou Qicai would send someone to send it directly to Zhu Muzhi's office with a special urgent item, and he must personally receive it.
Beginning at three o'clock in the afternoon of September 9, the Central People's Radio constantly issued a preview to inform the listeners of the whole country that there were important broadcasts at four o'clock in the afternoon, and please pay attention to listening; at four o'clock in the afternoon, the station broadcast the "Letter to the Whole Party, the Whole Army, and the People of All Nationalities in the Whole Country" to the whole country and the whole world, painfully announcing the news of the death of the great leader Chairman Mao, and the whole world was shaken by it, and the land of China was instantly shrouded in a wave of sorrow, and the sound of mourning could be heard everywhere.
At 3 p.m. on September 16, the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee met in the main hall of Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai to discuss the draft of Chairman Mao's eulogy and to study and agree on matters related to the memorial meeting to be held in Tiananmen Square on September 18.
At about 2 p.m., Wang Dongxing summoned Zhou Qicai to his temporary office in the Great Hall of the People and said to Him: "There are two things you should report to Comrade Guo Feng on my behalf: First, I cannot attend this afternoon's Politburo meeting, and I want to protect Chairman Mao's body here. Second, I have read the eulogy manuscript three times and think it is basically usable. A supplementary opinion is to add chairman Mao's important instructions on "we must engage in Marxism and not engage in revisionism; we must unite and not split; we must be upright and upright, and we must not engage in conspiracies and tricks" in the appropriate place of the eulogy manuscript. I think it is necessary to add chairman Mao's instructions. ”
Zhou Qicai replied, "Well, you can rest assured, I will go to HuaiRen Hall now, and as soon as I see Comrade Guofeng, I will report to him." ”
At about 2:50 p.m., after Hua Guofeng arrived at the venue, Zhou Qicai immediately reported to Hua Guofeng about Wang Dongxing's leave of absence and his opinions on the draft eulogy.
At exactly 3:00 p.m., the members of the Politburo who attended the meeting had arrived at the meeting one after another, and Hua Guofeng announced the meeting and said: "For several days, we have been busy with the chairman's condolence activities, and today we have taken time to hold a meeting of the Politburo to mainly discuss the revision of the eulogy text and also discuss the relevant matters of the memorial meeting. Comrade Dongxing has the heavy responsibility of protecting the remains of the chairman and cannot leave the Great Hall to attend the meeting, and he has asked me for leave, and his opinion on the draft eulogy was conveyed to Comrade Zhou Qicai before the meeting, and now Comrade Zhou Qicai has relayed Comrade Dongxing's opinion. ”
Zhou Qicai said: "Comrade Dongxing said that he had read the eulogy manuscript three times and had two opinions: First, he thought that the eulogy manuscript was basically usable, but proposed to add Chairman Mao's important instruction of 'three wants and three don'ts' in a suitable place for the eulogy manuscript, and he thought it was very necessary to add this one!" ”
Hua Guofeng took the lead in expressing his approval and said: "I think Comrade Dongxing's proposal is very good, Chairman Mao's important instruction of 'three wants and three don't' is of great and far-reaching significance to our party building, and we must resolutely implement chairman Mao's important instructions. After saying that, he looked at Ye Jianying and Li Xiannian next to him.
Then, Ye Jianying expressed his own opinion, saying: "I agree with Comrade Guofeng's speech and Comrade Dongxing's proposal, 'three wants and three don'ts' are the precious wealth left by the chairman to our party and a guide to our party's advance along the Marxist road. ”
Li Xiannian also spoke in approval, saying: "Guo Feng and Ye Shuai spoke very well, and I agree with Comrade Dongxing's proposal, and add this important instruction to the eulogy. Immediately afterward, all the other politburo members present at the meeting expressed their agreement to add Chairman Mao's important instruction of "three wants and three don'ts."
Hua Guofeng then said: "No one has raised a different opinion, so add this important instruction of the chairman to the appropriate place in the eulogy." After the revised eulogy manuscript was reviewed by Hua Guofeng and read to everyone, the Politburo adopted this eulogy that reflected the political background at that time under the historical conditions at that time.
The meeting also unanimously agreed that Chairman Mao's memorial meeting would be delivered by Hua Guofeng and presided over by Wang Hongwen, and arrangements were made for the procedures of the meeting.
At 3 p.m. on September 18, Chairman Mao Zedong's memorial service was held in Tiananmen Square, attended by millions of people in the capital, and the live broadcast of the conference was broadcast to the whole country.
At the memorial service, the party and state leaders walked up to the high platform of the memorial service in order, first facing the masses in the square, and when the memorial service began, when the host announced a three-bow to Chairman Mao, all the personnel turned to face the statue of Chairman Mao and saluted, and after the ceremony, they turned back to face the square masses.
After the memorial meeting, Chairman Mao's funeral affairs gradually came to an end, and Wang Dongxing, who had followed Chairman Mao for most of his life, continued to shine for the new China, until after his retirement in his later years, Wang Dongxing came up with an idea and wanted to write a memoir about Chairman Mao.
After learning of this matter, some Western publishing institutions have repeatedly visited the door to discuss this matter, but they have all been rejected by Wang Dongxing, who said: "My memoirs, even if they are less royalty, must be handed over to a reliable and authoritative publishing house for distribution, which is not only the party spirit, but also the reverence for Chairman Mao. ”
Wang Dongxing's daughter Wang Xiaoyan said: "Over the years, my father's longing for Chairman Mao has not diminished, and Chairman Mao's birthday and death anniversary have been treated as big days in the family... Every year on the day of Chairman Mao's death, my father would go to the memorial hall to offer flowers and pay respects, and even though he was old and in poor health, he did not delay once. Chairman Mao's birthday is a family holiday, everyone has to eat noodles to celebrate, every time to the fifth and tenth anniversary of the anniversary, my father will also publish some commemorative articles to express nostalgia. ”
The profound revolutionary friendship between Chairman Mao and Wang Dongxing is really praiseworthy, the two are like Maxima and Bole, Chairman Mao has the grace of knowing him, Wang Dongxing has also not betrayed the trust of the chairman, and Chairman Mao is assured that he is around!