"A giant on the Jialing River, talented and eight fighting spirits, all the members of the Hainei League are descendants, and the students of Shu Middle School are half-disciples", the object of praise in this poem is Zhang Lan, the benefactor of Zhu Laozong.
Zhang Lan not only has students all over the world, but his vision is also extraordinary.
In 1945, just by virtue of the expressions made during the Chongqing negotiations, Zhang Lan concluded that "Mao Zedong won the world."
The war did indeed develop as he predicted, and the Kuomintang shook its head and eventually fled to Taiwan.
So why is Zhang Lan so far-sighted?
What is the basis for his assertion that "Mao Zedong, the one who won the world"?
During his study in Japan, Zhang Lan was exposed to the advanced ideas of "science and democracy" and was greatly dissatisfied with the current situation in the country where warlords were divided, which completely changed the trajectory of his life.
In 1911, in order to oppose the Qing government's traitor, he organized the Sichuan Baolu Comrades Association and led the People of Sichuan to carry out a vigorous road protection movement.
This movement eventually became the trigger of the Xinhai Revolution, winning the praise of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, and Zhang Lan's position among democrats grew day by day.
In addition to publicizing the revolutionary movement to save the people and survive, Zhang Lan's greatest achievement was education.
He was deeply impressed by Japan's restoration of prosperity and emphasis on education, so he firmly believed that opening up the wisdom of the people was the only choice for the rise of the Chinese nation.
After finishing his studies in Japan, he returned to Nanchong and founded the Junior High School, the Higher Primary School and the Nanchong Duanming Girls' School, and Marshal Zhu De graduated from the Shunqingfu Academy.
It was also under the influence of Zhang Lan that Marshal Zhu De began to come into contact with communist ideas and threw himself into the revolution.
In 1925, Zhang Lan served as the president of the National Chengdu University, and he adopted Cai Yuanpei's eclectic and free-minded school policy, and insisted on carrying out research on advanced ideological theories such as communism and the Three People's Principles in the school despite the obstruction of the diehards.
Under his policy of opening up, tens of thousands of students realized the importance of science and democracy, and these ideas also spread out, which deeply affected the revolutionary course of the southwest region.
Zhang Lan's great influence in the field of education also fed back his patriotic movement.
In 1937, when Japan's all-out war of aggression against China broke out, under the persuasion of Zhang Lan, "King of Sichuan" Liu Xiangcai chose to participate in the war, contributing great strength to the national anti-Japanese resistance.
Not only that, at the most difficult time in the anti-Japanese work, Zhang Lan rushed to tell each other, constantly mediated between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and promoted cooperation between the two parties.
The victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan greatly encouraged the Chinese nation, but problems also followed.
Chiang Kai-shek did not cherish the hard-won peace, and the greatest enemy in their eyes was not Japan, but the Communist Party.
When the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was at its peak, Chiang Kai-shek passively slackened off and secretly prepared for the civil war; after Japan was defeated, the Kuomintang intensified its efforts, and a full-scale civil war was about to break out.
In order to save the Chinese nation, our party made many concessions, and at that time Zhang Lan was already the chairman of the Democratic League, and he shouted out the slogan of "opposing civil war and demanding peace" and sent a letter to the two parties of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, putting forward the views of the NLD on the issues of unity, democracy, military affairs, and state building, so that the Kmts and the Communists could immediately stop the local war.
Under the pressure of tremendous public opinion, Chiang Kai-shek did not dare to openly launch a civil war again, and could only invite Chairman Mao to Chongqing in August 1945 under the guise of inviting Chairman Mao to Chongqing for negotiations.
But everyone knew very well that Chiang Kai-shek was merely delaying time, preparing for a civil war, and even plotting against Chairman Mao.
However, for the sake of the people of the whole country, Chairman Mao set aside his personal safety and decided to go to Chongqing for negotiations. You must know that Chongqing is Chiang Kai-shek's base camp, the agents of the military command and the central command have long been hiding in the streets and alleys, and everyone is in danger under the white terror, so many people want to meet Chairman Mao and are forced to give up.
However, when he heard the news that Chairman Mao was coming, Zhang Lan decided to go forward to greet him at the first time, and everyone around him dissuaded him, and Chiang Kai-shek was already looking at him, and there might be danger on the airport.
But he said cheerfully, "Today Mao Zedong is here, and I must go to greet him." ”
It turned out that Zhang Lan had long heard of Chairman Mao's great deeds of serving the public and favored Chairman Mao, so he would rather risk his life than meet him.
On August 28, as soon as Chairman Mao and his party got off the plane, Zhang Lan greeted them.
Chairman Mao said with great respect, "In the hot weather, you still came to the airport yourself, and you didn't dare to be it, you didn't dare to be it!" ”。
Zhang Lan, on the other hand, tightly held Chairman Mao's hand and said, "Yes, you are really hard to run for state affairs!" ”。
During his stay in Chongqing, Chairman Mao, while negotiating with Chiang Kai-shek, visited the masses everywhere, whether it was widows and widows, or construction site workers, or peddlers and pawns, as long as anyone wanted to see him, Chairman Mao gladly went there and warmly shook hands with them.
Zhang Lan saw it in his eyes and remembered it in his heart, and he realized that the person in front of him was indeed completely different from Chiang Kai-shek, and that there was no fame and fortune in his heart, only the people, and if New China did not let such a person lead, who else could he let lead?
So Zhang Lan said to others, "Mao Zedong, the one who won the world."
After that, Zhang Lan once again exerted the great influence of the Democratic League, quickly occupied the public opinion field in China, and made important propaganda for the Communist Party to love peace and reject civil war.
Under the unanimous voice at home and abroad, Chiang Kai-shek also had to compromise, and finally signed the "Double Tenth Agreement" with Chairman Mao, agreeing to jointly build a new China after the war.
However, not long after, Chiang Kai-shek still tore his face and exposed the essence of "real civil war and fake peace", and all-out war was inevitable.
After realizing Chiang Kai-shek's true face, Zhang Lan abandoned the illusion of an armistice, and he began to lead the NLD in its struggle against the corrupt and belligerent Kuomintang, and he even received death threats for refusing to attend the Kuomintang-sponsored National Convention.
Zhang Lan, however, was extremely optimistic about the future, and many neutrals were not optimistic about the Communist Party when the People's Liberation Army Millet Plus rifles confronted the Nationalist troops armed to the teeth by American weapons.
However, Zhang Lan gave a detailed account of everything related to Chairman Mao at the meeting of the Democratic League.
In terms of intelligence, Chairman Mao loved to read and dabbled in a wide range of subjects, whether it was poetry and song, or leading troops in battle, he had a lot of experience.
In Chongqing, "Qinyuan Spring Snow" was even published in newspapers controlled by the Kuomintang, and his classic battles such as crossing the Red River and leading the Long March were also full of legends.
On the broad-mindedness, Chairman Mao always treated prisoners of war with leniency and tried to convert them into comrades-in-arms; on the other hand, Chiang Kai-shek, every time he caught our soldiers, he always treated them roughly, resulting in the loss of the people's hearts and the loss of battles.
In terms of vision, although Chairman Mao came from the countryside of Hunan, he was concerned about the world, and in his heart, the poor masses were the objects worthy of salvation.
The loftiness of Chairman Mao's goals and the grandeur of the pattern can be seen from this.
Although at that time, Chairman Mao's victory was only Zhang Lan's personal opinion, he was the chairman of the Democratic League and the mainstay of the democrats, so objectively speaking, his opinion also played a role in promoting the rout of the Kuomintang.
Because of this, on the day of the founding ceremony, Chairman Mao personally invited him to climb the Tiananmen Tower to witness the founding of New China, and was later elected vice chairman of the Central People's Government.
It is worth mentioning that on the day Zhang Lan ascended the Tiananmen Tower, there was also a small episode.
Before the founding ceremony, Premier Zhou also specially allocated a sum of clothing costs, hoping that Zhang Lan would use it to buy new clothes.
But after his refusal, Zhang Lan said, "The money of the state, that is, the money of the people, how can I use it to make a robe and wear it on myself?" ”。
So he paid for it himself and bought a set of cloth robes.
After that, the state assigned him a set of courtyards, Zhang Lan also directly refused, and insisted on living in a small house with his wife, and also reclaimed a small vegetable garden, carrying water to water the garden every day, and being self-sufficient.
Although he is very casual in life, Zhang Lan has always been meticulous and never slack in his work, as he wrote,
"One cannot fail to love oneself, one cannot fail to cultivate oneself, one cannot fail to self-respect, one must not fail to strengthen oneself, and one must not deceive oneself."
This honest attitude towards himself is also the standard of his life's morality.
On January 27, 1955, Zhang Lan was hospitalized due to illness, but he still could not put down his work, and still immersed himself in drafting documents from his hospital bed, and four days later, "Any Threat Cannot Shake the Determination of the Chinese People to Liberate Taiwan" was officially published.
In this statement, Zhang Lan clearly expressed his urgent desire for national reunification and national unity. Ten days later, Zhang Lan died in his sleep at the age of 83.