preface
Li Xiannian, president of the Republic of China, has both civilian and military skills and military and political excellence. During the Revolutionary War years, he made great achievements and was named one of the 36 military experts. After the founding of New China, he served as a member of the Politburo for five consecutive terms, becoming one of the few "elders of the Three Dynasties" in the leadership of the CPC.
Li Xiannian was speaking
For his contribution, Li Xiannian said very modestly
"I have two teachers, one is Forward and the other is Chen Yun. Forward taught me to fight, chen Yun taught me to engage in economics.
"Today we focus on interpreting the working relationship and revolutionary friendship between Chen Yun and Li Xiannian.
Li Xiannian suffered a failure, and Chen Yun encouraged Li Xiannian: You are good
Mentioning the acquaintance of the two people, Chen Yun said in his memories
"I met Comrade Xiannian in April 1937, when I came to Xingxingxia in the name of the central representative, and Comrade Li Xiannian was already a battle-hardened, heroic and warlike general. ”
In November 1936, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, on the basis of the opinions put forward by the Communist International, formed the Western Route Army and marched toward the west of the river, preparing to establish a revolutionary base area there. Li Xiannian was appointed as a member of the Military and Political Committee of the Western Route Army and shouldered the heavy responsibility of leading the 30th Army.
Li Xiannian during the revolutionary period
In March 1937, the Western Route Army was besieged by the Majia Army on the way to the west and suffered heavy losses. Li Xiannian had to lead the left detachment of the Western Route Army to fight alone in the Qilian Mountains, but in the process of marching to Xinjiang, he was attacked by the enemy, leaving only more than 400 people.
When the delegation of the CPC Central Committee to the Comintern learned of the news, it immediately sent Chen Yun and Teng Daiyuan, who were working in Moscow, to Xinjiang to meet the remnants of the left detachment of the Western Route Army.
After receiving the task, Chen Yun and Teng Daiyuan led a convoy of more than 40 cars to rush to the Xingxing Gorge on the border between Gansu and Xinjiang to meet more than 400 soldiers of the Red Army's Western Route Army led by Li Xiannian, which was the first meeting between the two people.
When Li Xiannian saw the delegation of the Communist International, tears of excitement flowed from his face, and he strode forward and clasped Chen Yun's hand tightly. Chen Yun looked at the exhausted Li Xiannian and said
"The Party Central Committee has always been concerned about you, and you can persist in fighting under such difficult circumstances and bring the remaining 400 or so people to Xingxing gorge. ”
The Western Route Army is on the march
Immediately afterward, he said to the vast number of soldiers of the Western Route Army: "If we have something to say slowly, now you only have two tasks, the first is to eat a good meal, and the second is to sleep well." Immediately afterward, Chen Yun asked the comrades of the delegation to take out all the prepared clothes and distribute them to everyone.
In order to let the warriors who fought in bloody battles have a good meal, Chen Yun asked people to take out all the lamb prepared in advance and let the soldiers cook it. At the same time, the white sugar and cigarettes brought from the Soviet Union were distributed to the soldiers.
Chen Yun saw that the more than 400 people lacked guns, ammunition and daily necessities, so he took the initiative to call Sheng Shicai in Xinjiang and asked him to airdrop a batch of ammunition, grain, and clothes. Sheng Shicai called the plane to airdrop a batch of supplies to these 400 people. Under Chen Yun's proper arrangement, the more than 400 warriors led by Li Xiannian quickly recovered their strength.
In order to boost the morale of the soldiers, Li Xiannian specially invited Chen Yun to speak as a representative. Chen Yun said in his speech: "After so much suffering, you have persevered, and you can still unite and run here, you are all good. We have encountered setbacks in the course of the revolution, but we will grow stronger as long as we preserve the revolutionary forces. Don't look at the fact that we have only a few hundred people now, but the fire of the revolution will burn more and more vigorously, and sooner or later it will develop into thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people, thus winning the victory of the national revolution. ”
Chen Yun during the revolutionary period
After listening to Chen Yun's speech, the soldiers were deeply encouraged. Immediately afterward, Li Xiannian added: "We must listen to the party and carry the revolutionary cause through to the end." ”
After consultation, Chen Yun, Li Xiannian, and others made a decision to arrange for the remaining 400 or so people to go to Dihua, Xinjiang, for recuperation, and at the same time assigned teachers to learn cultural knowledge, paving the way for them to grow into military talents in the future.
Later, when Li Xiannian recalled this incident, he always said excitedly:
"During that time in Xinjiang, it was Chen Yun who received us and pointed out for us the way to learn advanced culture."
In Dihua, Xinjiang, Li Xiannian and Chen Yun spent a long time together. Two people often have long talks together, and they learn a lot of advantages from each other, which also lays the foundation for friendship between two people.
The warriors were resisting the Japanese attack
In July 1937, after the outbreak of the All-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China temporarily revoked Li Xiannian's decision to study in the Soviet Union due to the lack of cultural cadres. At the same time, a "new battalion" was also set up, and they were directly led by Chen Yun as the backbone of the anti-Japanese contingent.
In the "new barracks", Li Xiannian and Chen Yun often communicated with each other, deepening their friendship with each other. Li Xiannian was even more sincerely impressed by Chen Yun's outstanding leadership ability and flexible struggle strategy in his work, and he took Chen Yun as his own example to learn.
With the development of the anti-Japanese situation, Li Xiannian took the initiative to submit a request to Chen Yun to return to Yan'an. With the approval of the CPC Central Committee, Li Xiannian, Cheng Tiancai, and six other comrades-in-arms began to embark on a new journey.
Li Xiannian: Chen Yun was a teacher in my life
In May 1949, Shanghai was liberated. However, some unscrupulous capitalists colluded with the old forces in Shanghai to manipulate shanghai's money market and prevent the Communist Party from issuing currency in Shanghai. At the same time, some scarce materials were hoarded to disrupt the local economy in Shanghai.
Chen Yunlin was ordered to lead the nascent people's power in Shanghai to wage an economic war without smoke of gunfire against these sabotage capitalists, completely stabilizing the situation in Shanghai.
At the same time, Li Xiannian, then vice chairman of the Central and Southern Administrative Committee and secretary of the Hubei Provincial PARTY Committee, also fought an economic war with capitalists in the central and southern regions. Amazingly, the two people were separated and did not communicate, but the way the economic war was fought was very similar.
In the war of silver dollars, the war of grain, the war of transportation, and the war of stabilizing prices, they took step-by-step measures to stabilize the market, so that the local economy developed rapidly. However, while Li Xiannian started the economic war, he also shouldered the heavy responsibility of land reform and suppression of bandits.
Chen Yun was speaking
With the gradual stabilization of Shanghai's economy, Chen Yun returned to Beijing to report to Chairman Mao. On his way back to Beijing from Shanghai, he came to Nanjing specifically to learn about Li Xiannian's approach in this economic war.
In the face of his old comrades-in-arms who came from afar, Li Xiannian personally received Chen Yun and explained in detail the economic situation in central and southern China and his own measures to deal with it. Chen Yun agreed with Li Xiannian's approach, and at the same time put forward some constructive suggestions for his next step.
Li Xiannian always kept Chen Yun's teachings in mind, and just after Chen Yun left, Li Xiannian continued to pay attention to economic construction in accordance with Chen Yun's opinions. Under his leadership, Central South soon became one of the most economically developed regions in the South. And the two people's understanding of each other has gradually deepened.
In 1954, Deng Xiaoping, who was also the minister of finance, assumed the post of secretary general of the Central Committee, and the position of finance minister became vacant. The Central People's Government has decided to select a group of young people from among some cadres with outstanding achievements to serve as leading cadres at the ministerial level, but who to choose to serve as minister of finance has become a difficult problem in front of us.
Li Xiannian spoke at the financial conference
At that time, most of the cadres of the Communist Party of China were from the military background, and they had done more of the workers' movement and the student movement before, but they knew less about the economy.
At this time, Chen Yun, who was in charge of the central financial and economic work, took the initiative to recommend Li Xiannian, who was working in the central and southern regions, to take up this important post. Under his strong recommendation, Li Xiannian's candidate for the post of Minister of Finance of the Central People's Government was determined.
Li Xiannian is no stranger to the field of finance and economics, he has independently carried out the economic practice of a strategic area during the war years, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was in charge of the financial and economic work in central and southern China. However, when the central government decided to make him the minister of finance, Li Xiannian's heart flooded with muttering. Because for the economic work in charge of the whole country, the standards are higher and the requirements are stricter, and if there is a little mistake, it may affect the stability of the whole country.
Chen Yun saw Li Xiannian's concern, and he constantly encouraged Li Xiannian and provided him with some constructive advice. In September 1954, Li Xiannian came to Beijing to take up his post, and from then on, the two began to take up leadership work in the field of financial and economic work.
For some difficult problems that appeared in financial and economic work, Li Xiannian actively studied hard, and he quickly understood the characteristics and laws of financial and economic work thoroughly, and became Chen Yun's right-hand man.
Chen Yun spoke at the financial conference
Because of this, Li Xiannian kept saying
"Chen Yun was my teacher in life, he taught me how to manage the economy. ”
In 1978, the Party Central Committee held the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee in Beijing. At the meeting, Chen Yun was elected vice chairman of the Party Central Committee, and his name ranked after Li Xiannian. Li Xiannian felt that Chen Yun not only had a lofty prestige in the party, but also a core member of the party's first generation of leadership collectives, and if he was ranked ahead of himself, he would be more convincing to the public.
Chen Yun did not agree with Li Xiannian's opinion, because in his heart he cared more about being able to do something for the party and the people than to make a false name.
After some modesty between the two men, the Central Committee maintained the original decision, and these things fully reflected the moral sentiments and noble feelings of Chen Yun and Li Xiannian, the two old revolutionaries.
Chen Yun and Li Xiannian were talking
Li Xiannian asked: Do you think you can live for a few more years?"
Since 1980, Deng Xiaoping has been preparing for retirement, and at the same time he has held a special meeting with Chen Yun, Li Xiannian and others on the idea of rejuvenating cadres. He advocated giving play to the role of veteran comrades and making the work of the party and the state more capable, so as to gradually realize the idea of rejuvenating cadres.
In 1986, Deng Xiaoping was 82 years old, Chen Yun was 81 years old, and Li Xiannian was 77 years old, and the bodies of these three old revolutionaries who had fought side by side were no longer as good as before, and their minds began to think about the replacement of the old and new of the central leadership collective.
In September of the same year, shortly after the End of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Twelfth Central Committee, Liu Bocheng, Ye Jianying, and Han Xianchu, old comrades-in-arms who had suffered with Chen Yun, Li Xiannian and others, passed away one after another. In the face of the departure of old comrades-in-arms, their hearts are full of emotions.
Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun, and Li Xiannian were talking
On October 30, 1986, Deng Xiaoping, Li Xiannian, and others came to Chen Yun's home one after another, and the three of them had a conversation. After the staff was finished, Chen Yun spent them in the office and began to negotiate with Deng Xiaoping and Li Xiannian about China's future.
Deng Xiaoping mentioned the conversation in his recollection, saying: "I, Comrade Li Xiannian and Comrade Chen Yun have made an agreement to retire at the 13th National Congress, not just to withdraw from the post of member of the Politburo Standing Committee, but to retire to the end, to withdraw from the Politburo and the Central Committee, and to leave more opportunities for young people." ”
As the date of the 13th National Congress drew closer and closer, Chen Yun began to concentrate on making corresponding preparations. While pondering the thirteen major policy decisions, he also used his spare time to talk to some leading comrades of the Central Committee and solicit their opinions. Since Chen Yun was over eighty years old, his body was very tired from working long hours.
Li Xiannian, Chen Yun, and Xu Xiangqian were in the Great Hall of the People
In August 1987, after Li Xiannian learned of Chen Yun's physical condition, he immediately came to his residence to visit. In the course of the conversation, Li Xiannian looked at the elderly Chen Yun and asked:
"How many more years do you think you'll live?"
Chen Yun recalled the "two-year plan" he had formulated a few years ago, and he replied:
"I think two years should be fine, but there is a premise that you will not wrestle and eat outside."
Li Xiannian recalled his old comrades-in-arms who had died one by one, and he comforted Chen Yun and said:
"You're going to make a five-year plan, well."
Chen Yun said:
"I have a rolling plan, which is more in line with the current reality."
Chen Yun and Li Xiannian were talking
On October 19, 1987, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection held its last meeting at the 13th Party Congress in Beijing. At this meeting, Chen Yun publicly said that he would not serve as the first secretary of the next central discipline inspection commission. In order to let everyone understand their own ideas, Chen Yun said in public: "I retired together with Comrade Xiaoping and Comrade Xiannian, which has been discussed for a long time, and this is for the sake of the cause of the party and the country. ”
In his later years, Chen Yun and Li Xiannian often talked together and recalled the past years. Two people together, there is always an inexplicable comfort in the soul, and there are endless topics between each other.
In 1992, Li Xiannian was admitted to the hospital due to illness, and Chen Yun was very sad when he learned about it. Although Chen Yun was already ill and could not walk on the ground, he still repeatedly instructed the staff around him to visit Li Xiannian.
In June 1992, Li Xiannian's condition deteriorated sharply, and Chen Yun again sent his staff to visit Li Xiannian. Li Xiannian on the hospital bed looked at the staff who visited him, and he couldn't help but think back to the years when he and Chen Yun met.
On June 21, 1992, Li Xiannian, who had struggled all his life for the party and the people, passed away. After Chen Yun learned the news, he did not say a word for half a day. On the hospital bed, he stood up and wrote an article entitled "Mourning Comrade Xiannian".
Chen Yun in his later years
The article highly evaluated Li Xiannian, and also mentioned the past between the two people. For Chen Yun, this was the only time he wrote an article about mourning his old comrades-in-arms, and it was also his last article before his death.