The most important thing in interpersonal communication is humility, fairness, and approachability, and for a leader, the most important thing is approachability.
Chairman Mao is the leader of our country, the leader of the Party and the state, and although he occupies a high position, he is very approachable.
Whether he encountered a Kuomintang general who had made mistakes in the past or surrendered, Chairman Mao had the same respect.
Chairman Mao
Kuomintang general
Huang Wei
After being captured, not only was it not easy to reform, but he often looked for trouble in prison. Huang Wei was one of the last Kuomintang war criminals who were pardoned and released from prison in December 1975, and most importantly he was the only senior Kuomintang war criminal to be released by Chairman Mao's personal orders.
Zheng Dongguo was also very unhappy after being captured, and he repeatedly said that he was old and wanted to go home to farm.
Chairman Mao knew about it and invited Zheng Dongguo to dinner, and personally got up to light a cigarette for him, and from then on Zheng Dongguo never mentioned the matter of going home to farm the land.
So who is this man named Zheng Dongguo? Why did Chairman Mao personally get up and light a cigarette for him?
A general of the Nationalist Army who participated in the War of Resistance
Zheng Dongguo was a native of Shimen, Hunan, and was one of the first Kuomintang generals to participate in the War of Resistance Against Japan, and among the Kuomintang generals, it was rare for him to participate in the Battle of Gubeikou on the Great Wall, the Battle of Baoding on Pinghan Road, and the Battle of Taierzhuang.
In early 1933, after the Japanese army invaded the three northeastern provinces, it invaded the mouths of the Great Wall. In the face of national difficulties, the people of the whole country strongly demanded the cessation of the civil war and the joint resistance to Japan, Chiang Kai-shek decided to dispatch the Central Army to form the 17th Army to fight the Japanese army at Gubeikou.
Zheng Dongguo, who was the commander of the 4th Brigade of the 2nd Division at the time, was leading the soldiers to rest in Luoyang, Henan, and when he received the order to participate in the battle, the morale of the soldiers of the whole brigade was excited.
Because everyone has long been disgusted with civil war, they have long hoped to serve the country.
Jeong Dong-kook
Around March 20, Zheng Dongguo arrived in Peiping with his troops, while fighters on the Gubeikou front were fighting the Japanese. After the Japanese army occupied Chengde, it sent a brigade of troops to attack Gubeikou, and the Northeast Army Wang, who was guarding here, was defeated by Zhebu, and the situation was very critical, sending dozens of telegrams every day urging the 17th Army to reinforce.
At 4:00 a.m. one day in March, Zheng Dongguo led his troops to take over the position of The South Tianmen gate of Gubeikou. After dawn, Zheng Dongguo found that the Japanese army was frequently mobilizing and constantly reinforcing, and he ordered the soldiers to continue to repair the fortifications and build the traffic in the position, while sending Einsatzgruppen to harass the enemy.
On that day, all the units under the division dispatched einsatzgruppens to ambush the enemy with short guns and grenades, killing one Japanese officer, dozens of soldiers, and several enemy vehicles, and causing many interruptions in the enemy's rear supply.
In the early morning of April 20, the enemy army, led by the traitors, quickly occupied the commanding heights of the Eight Dao Buildings, and it was a great pity that Zheng Dongguo led his troops to counterattack unsuccessfully.
On 23 April, the Japanese took advantage of the commanding heights of the eight buildings to shoot, coupled with heavy bombing by aircraft and continuous strafing by artillery, making the main position of the Fourth Brigade, Height 421, very dangerous. Zheng Dongguo ordered: "No fire is allowed without my order." ”
In this way, the soldiers lay quietly in the trenches, and as the enemy got closer and closer, the soldiers' heartbeats became faster and faster.
Just when the enemy was twenty or thirty meters away from the fighters, Zheng Dongguo suddenly issued a shooting order, and the light and heavy weapons on the position opened fire together, causing the Japanese to fall on their backs and horses, killing and wounding countless people.
Despite the extremely heavy losses of the Japanese, their support came quickly, and the Japanese rushed into the positions of the Fourth Brigade and wrestled with the soldiers. Zheng Dongguo saw that the situation was not right, and immediately ordered the reserve to quickly enter the war, and finally with the cooperation of the reserve and the soldiers of the Fourth Brigade, the Japanese army was repelled.
On this day, the Japanese launched a total of 4 attacks, all of which were repulsed by the Zhengdong State Department. The front of the position was littered with Japanese corpses and wounded soldiers, and the soldiers of the Fourth Brigade lost nearly 400 men.
At 6:00 a.m. on the 24th, the Japanese army launched another attack, and during the battle, the Zhengdong National Department suffered heavy casualties due to continuous combat, and the soldiers were even more tired, and they were once ordered to retreat to the rear to rest. Who ever thought that when the troops had not yet arrived in Miyun County, they received the news that the 83rd Division of the 17th Army had been attacked by the enemy on a large scale, with heavy casualties, and the division commander Liu Jie had unsuccessfully committed suicide.
Zheng Dongguo was ordered to go forward to support, but when they arrived at the front line, they found that many positions had been lost, and the Japanese army also surged up like a tide. Zhengdong Guobu did not have time to breathe and began to counterattack, but at this time the Fourth Brigade only had more than 1,000 people left, the strength was too thin, and several counter-charges failed to work, but were pressed by the Japanese army and retreated.
Zheng Dongguo was impatient, he knew that the war had reached a critical point of life and death, so he held the determination to die, took off his military uniform, wore only a white shirt, and personally charged the enemy with a pistol and the only secret service platoon around him.
The morale of the warriors was greatly increased, and one by one they scrambled to fight with the enemy, and for a time the killing shouts resounded through the clouds, and they forced the enemy to be repelled.
Jeong Dong-kook (back row middle)
The Japanese did not give up after being repelled, but continued to attack the Fourth Brigade, and although the fighters were able to repel a wave of enemies, they eventually failed because they were outnumbered. With the approval of the report, Zheng Dongguo led the Fourth Brigade to leave the position with hatred and retreat to the Huairou and Shunyi areas.
In 1935, the Nationalist government and Japan signed the "He Mei Agreement", according to which our government was forced to cancel the party and government organs in Hebei and withdraw the Central Army and the Northeast Army stationed in Hebei, and at the same time the number of the 17th Army was also canceled.
After receiving the order to cancel the number, Zheng Dongguo was very angry:
"As a soldier, I have the responsibility of defending my family and defending the country, but now I am retreating without a fight, and I am really ashamed of my father and elder in North China and the whole country!"
Zheng Dongguo surrendered
In September 1948, the strategic decisive battle between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party was first fought in the vast northeast plain. On October 14, our army attacked Jinzhou in general, and after 30 hours of fierce fighting, our army successfully captured Jinzhou, completely annihilated the enemy, and captured nearly 90,000 enemy officers and men.
Just as our army was conquering Jinzhou, Chiang Kai-shek immediately dropped a warrant on Zheng Dongguo, deputy commander of the "Suppression General," ordering him to immediately lead his troops to break through and then withdraw to the south.
At this time, Zheng Dongguo's mood was very heavy, and he sent a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek with tears, telling him that the passages in Guannei were now blocked and it was impossible to break through.
Chiang Kai-shek (third from right) and Zheng Dongguo (second from right)
Chiang Kai-shek's hands and feet were cold after receiving the telegram, and he knew that if the Changchun garrison could not withdraw, it would certainly be used by our Party; if it withdrew and was surrounded and annihilated by our army, it would pose no threat to Nanjing, nor would it increase the strength of our army.
So on October 15, Chiang Kai-shek again ordered: "We must do everything possible to break through, otherwise the military law will deal with it!" "But how easy is it for Changchun to break through?"
As early as May 24, the Northeast People's Liberation Army ended the battle on the outskirts of Changchun and completed the siege of the campaign. The fighters led by Xiao Jinguang and Xiao Hua surrounded the Kuomintang in the city, and it was difficult to fly with wings, and they could only survive by airdropping food every day.
The contradictions within the Kuomintang defenders became more and more intense, and on October 17, Zeng Zesheng, commander of the 60th Army, led his troops to revolt, and Zheng Dongguo, who was trapped in Changchun on the 18th, also reached the point of exhaustion.
Zheng Dongguo was a student of the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, and was also a concubine of Chiang Kai-shek's concubines, and could be said to be one of Chiang Kai-shek's most trusted generals. If Zheng Dongguo could revolt in Changchun, the impact on the Kuomintang camp would be very large.
Therefore, at the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of Xibaipo before the Liaoshen Campaign, several members of the Standing Committee discussed how to deal with Zheng Dongguo. Many people think that it is best to mobilize the Zheng Dongguo uprising, Zhu De said:
"Zheng Dongguo is not a bad person politically."
Zhou Enlai was Zheng Dongguo's teacher, and he knew him well, so he said:
"Zheng Dongguo is a person I understand, but he is still a relatively honest and responsible person."
Chairman Mao finally decided: "Do whatever it takes to win the Zhengdongguo uprising." Then he asked Zhou Enlai to write a letter to Zheng Dongguo in the name of his teacher.
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai wrote:
"Brother Dongguo, now Commander Zeng Zesheng has led the army to revolt, the victory or defeat of the whole country has become a foregone conclusion, Jinan and Jinzhou have been liberated one after another, and all 200,000 troops have been destroyed." Wang Yaowu, Fan Hanjie, and others were also captured one after another, and Wu Huawen and Zeng Zesheng also revolted one after another, which is enough to prove that our army will surely win a national victory.
Brother Dong Guo was alone in the city of danger, the morale of the soldiers had long since ceased to exist, Chiang Kai-shek asked you to break through, but if you were surrounded by our army, how could you escape? I also hope that Brother Dong Guo, remembering his original intention at the Whampoa Military Academy, will resolutely hold up the banner of anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism and join the ranks of our army. ”
This letter full of friendship between Huangpu teachers and students was transmitted to the front line by telegram, but it was a great pity that there was chaos in Changchun City at that time, and this letter could not reach zheng Dongguo's hands.
In fact, even if this letter was sent to the hands of Zheng Dongguo, judging by Zheng Dongguo's character, he would not easily surrender, after all, he was a person who was difficult to change easily once selected. Most importantly, most of The officers under Zheng Dongguo graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy and were deeply influenced by Chiang Kai-shek.
Until the last battle, there was really no way to fight, and the subordinates had to hide from Zheng Dongguo and the People's Liberation Army to lay down their weapons, so Zheng Dongguo surrendered to the uprising.
Zheng Dongguo laid down his weapons and went out of the city with his troops in great frustration, and at this moment he was greeted by an American jeep, and it was Xiao Jinguang and Xiao Hua, who had been playing against Zheng Dongguo for months, sitting on the car. Xiao Hua saw Zheng Dongguo coming, immediately ordered the driver to stop, then got out of the car and walked over to shake hands with Zheng Dongguo, greeted him and then left in the car.
The senior generals of the People's Liberation Army did not have arrogance and arrogance towards him, the general of the defeated army, and this detail also made Zheng Dongguo particularly admired.
In the evening, at the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army Corps on the outskirts of Changchun, Xiao Jinguang and Xiao Hua invited Zheng Dongguo to dinner, during which they were also polite to Zheng Dongguo, as if they had known each other for a long time. During the meal, Zheng Dongguo, who was in a very bad mood, only looked down and drank, refusing to speak.
After several rounds of drinking, Zheng Dongguo raised his head and said, "I have been engaged in the Kuomintang for more than twenty years, and now I have failed, and I am at my disposal." Those officers and men under me, if they want to go home, they still hope to be able to get them to go back. ”
At that time, Zheng Dongguo, who was dead-hearted, only wanted to be a common man, and said:
"No broadcasting, no newspaper, no public banquets."
After that, he went to Harbin to think about life.
Under the care of Premier Zhou, he changed his mind
After the peaceful liberation of Changchun, Zheng Dongguo received special courtesy and preferential treatment from the People's Liberation Army, and arranged for him to study and visit the Harbin Liberated Area. During his life in Harbin, Zheng Dongguo watched the development of the war situation attentively and read Chairman Mao's relevant works with curiosity.
Jeong Dong-kook (left)
Through his studies, Zheng Dongguo also had a certain change in his thinking, and he once wrote in his experience book:
"It turned out that I Zheng Dongguo was tricked by old Jiang, took the wrong road, and almost fell into the abyss. I went against the revolutionary original intention of defecting to Whampoa and opposing imperialism and patriotism in my early years. ”
Zheng Dongguo was unwell due to heart disease. In August 1950, with the consent of the central government, when he was allowed to go to Shanghai for medical treatment, when he passed through Beijing, Zhou Enlai specially invited him to come to his home as a guest.
When he first learned the news, he felt very surprised and excited, and he could not imagine that many years later, Zhou Enlai would still remember and care for himself.
On this day, Zheng Dongguo came to Zhou Enlai's home on time, and Nie Rongzhen, another teacher of the Whampoa Military Academy, was also present. After seeing Zheng Dongguo enter the living room, Zhou Enlai quickly got up and quickly greeted him, looked at Zheng Dongguo with a glowing gaze, clasped his hands tightly, and said: "Welcome, we have not met for a long time, it is rare to have this opportunity..."
Zheng Dongguo was touched by Zhou Enlai's frankness and enthusiasm, and felt that Zhou Enlai was still as sincere and amiable as he was then, and for a time he had mixed feelings and two lines of tears. After a long time he said guiltily:
"Premier Zhou, I have forgotten my teacher's teachings for decades, and on the eve of the liberation of Changchun, you wrote to me, and I thank you and the Communist Party for your lenient policy!"
Zhou Enlai waved his hand and said:
"Don't mention the past, aren't you here now?" In the future, we must do something for the people and for the country. ”
After everyone was seated, Zhou Enlai cordially asked Zheng Dongguo: "Are there any acquaintances in Beijing now?" Zheng Dongguo thought for a moment and said, "I have a classmate named Li Qizhong, and he seems to be in Beijing now." ”
Zhou En: "I know this person, he is now a counselor in the Council of State. Then he instructed the staff to invite Li Qizhong, and soon after Li Qizhong drove to Zhou Enlai's home, and the four teachers and students were particularly affectionate.
During the meal, Zhou Enlai not only frequently gave Zheng Dongguo a dish, but also asked about his physical and family situation, which also made Zheng Dongguo feel extremely warm. Zhou Enlai asked Zheng Dongguo, "Do you have any plans for the future?" ”
Zheng Dongguo did not know how the state would arrange for such an uprising general as himself, so he said:
"I don't have any strengths, people are old, let's go home and farm."
Li Qizhong said: "Well, you dare to say that you are old in front of the teacher?" This sentence made everyone at the table laugh.
Zhou Enlai knew what Zheng Dongguo was thinking and said kindly:
"You're an uprising general, how can you go back to farming?" Besides, you're not yet 50 years old, and you have a great time to contribute more to the people and the country. ”
In the winter of 1951, Zheng Dongguo wrote a letter to Li Qizhong from Shanghai, saying that he had witnessed the prosperity of the motherland's various construction undertakings, and his mood was particularly excited, so he was ready to go to Beijing during the Spring Festival.
When Li Qizhong received the letter, he immediately reported it to Zhou Enlai, who quickly sent a telegram to Zheng Dongguo inviting him to Beijing.
Zhou Enlai (front row, first from left) and Zheng Dongguo (front row, first from right)
On the eve of the Spring Festival, Zheng Dongguo came to Beijing, and Zhou Enlai, who was very lucky, met with him again in the Government Council. Zheng Dongguo was very excited, and he reported to Zhou Enlai his new understanding of the Communist Party and expressed his willingness to participate in the construction of New China.
Listening to Zheng Dongguo's return, Zhou Enlai's face was full of smiles and he said happily:
"It is very worth celebrating that you have made new progress in your thinking, and on behalf of everyone, I welcome you."
Zheng Dongguo said: "I am very grateful to the premier for his care, and after I arranged things in my shanghai family, I came to Beijing to work and listen to the premier's arrangements. ”
After the Spring Festival, Zheng Dongguo rushed back to Shanghai to arrange things at home. In June 1952, Zheng Dongguo's family moved to Beijing, and under the concern of Zhou Enlai, he served as a counselor of the Ministry of Water Resources, which was also the first time that Zheng Dongguo had contacted the actual work of the people's government.
Chairman Mao personally lit a cigarette for Zheng Dongguo
One day in April 1954, Zheng Dongguo suddenly received an invitation in gold characters in red, opened it, and it turned out that Chairman Mao had invited him to his home. This unexpected surprise made Zheng Dongguo not close his eyes all night, thinking, what should he say if he saw Chairman Mao? What to ask?
Because Zheng Dongguo had been thinking about these things all night, he got up the next day and was delayed, and he was a few minutes late when he went to the banquet. Zheng Dongguo looked a little embarrassed when he arrived at the scene, and chairman Mao greeted him when he first came, and cordially shook hands with him, greeted him, and gave up his seat.
After Chairman Mao and Zheng Dongguo and the others sat down, Chairman Mao and Yan Yue asked, "Does General Zheng smoke or not?" Zheng Dongguo replied, "Suck! And took a cigarette from the coffee table.
However, what Zheng Dongguo did not expect was that Chairman Mao was extremely agile to take a box of matches from his pocket, stand up and light a cigarette for Zheng Dongguo.
Chairman Mao's so cordial, easy-going, and approachable demeanor also made Zheng Dongguo, who was originally restrained and nervous, instantly relax.
Chairman Mao said: "Now I am much more relieved, we finally sat on a bench and talked, your name is very good, Zheng Dongguo is good, it is meritorious to the people!" ”
Zheng Dongguo was stunned, but when he stood up, Chairman Mao waved his hand to make him sit down, and then said:
"If you hadn't called Chiang Kai-shek back, Zeng Zesheng's 60th Army would have been blown to the ground by Chiang Kai-shek's plane." You are a famous anti-Japanese general, we also count when we speak, as long as we lay down our weapons, we will welcome you. You're still young and can do more for Chinese people! ”
During the meal, Chairman Mao asked about the living conditions of Zheng Dongguo's entire family, and he answered them one by one. After hearing this, Chairman Mao said: "Your family life has been arranged, and you still have to do more work for the people." You're only 51 years old, and you're still young. ”
Jeong Dong-kook (middle)
Zheng Dongguo was shocked to hear this in his heart, Chairman Mao was taking care of every opportunity day by day, and his work was also very busy, and he could even know how old he was, and his heart felt warmer than ever. The more the two talked more casually, Zheng Dongguo's heart disease was also completely cured.
Talking about Xingtou, Zheng Dongguo forgot his and Chairman Mao's identities and said: "Why did your Marxism-Leninism study so well?" Chairman Mao laughed and then said, "I am not a saint either, but have embarked on the revolutionary road little by little in the process of learning from society and the masses." ”
Chairman Mao concluded by saying:
"A person's thinking is always developing, and his stance can be changed, and as long as his stance changes, he consciously puts down his shelf, and worships the people as his teacher, it will be very easy to learn Marxism-Leninism."
Zheng Dongguo was deeply inspired by Chairman Mao's Dun Dun teachings, and he knew in his heart that Chairman Mao enlightened him with his own personal experience and encouraged him to change his position, serve the people, and embark on the road of revolution.
Since then, Zheng Dongguo has always kept in mind the teachings of Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai and conscientiously studied them.
Never mention the perfunctory phrase "go home and farm" again
。
In fact, Chairman Mao not only took good care of the Kuomintang generals, but also attached great importance to his contacts with the people. When he was a student, Chairman Mao contacted the workers and peasants through such means as holding night schools and making friends with them. Chairman Mao went to Anyuan three times, went deep among the masses of workers and peasants, and launched and led a general strike of workers on Anyuan Road.
Chairman Mao also went deep into the five counties of Hunan to inspect the peasants' luck and deeds, and to have long talks with the broad masses of peasants and the cadres of the peasant associations, to understand the situation and publicize the revolutionary road.
As the leader of the people, during the Yan'an period, Chairman Mao often greeted the peasants, nagged the family, and gave birthdays and birthdays to the elderly. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chairman Mao returned to Shaoshan to talk and laugh with the villagers, reminisce about the past, and be with the children and teenagers in his hometown.
After the founding of New China, Chairman Mao received many workers, peasants, and soldiers and heroic and exemplary figures from all fronts. Wang Guofan was an ordinary peasant in Zunhua County, Hebei Province, whose work spirit and working methods were affirmed by Chairman Mao, and he received him many times, making him a representative of Chairman Mao's peasant friends for many years.
Chairman Mao talked to the people
On December 21, 1964, Wang Guofan came to Beijing to attend the first session of the Third National People's Congress, and one morning, Chairman Mao came to the middle of the deputies and looked around, and when he saw Wang Guofan, he came to his side, held his hands tightly, and then came to the side of the model worker Fan Mengtai, who also held his hand, still did not say a word, and walked away with a smile and a groan.
Wang Guofan was very confused and went to the leader of the provincial party committee to ask what this meant, and the leader told him: "By shaking your hands, it reflects that chairman Mao and the general policy of the Party Central Committee is to 'take agriculture as the foundation and industry as the leading'. ”
Chairman Mao, whether he is dealing with comrades within the Party, as well as to others outside the Party, begins with the word "sincerity" in his contacts, comes from the heart, and faces them with sincere feelings.
Therefore, after Zheng Dongguo came into contact with Chairman Mao, his thinking changed and he officially served the country and the people.