She struggled for revolutionary work for 43 years, and in the past 43 years, she has dedicated a piece of blood to the revolution, from youth to twilight, but she has always been an eighth-level cadre and has never been promoted in her life.
She is the wife of a marshal of a country, after the founding of New China, she could have enjoyed good economic conditions with peace of mind, but she did not forget her original intention, still adhered to the simple style of life, and returned to the life of ordinary people.
Her name is Zhang Ruihua, she is the wife of Marshal Nie Rongzhen, in that era of war, she and her beloved people worked hand in hand to advance and retreat, not afraid of hardship, no fear of difficulties and dangers, and made great contributions to the cause of the Chinese revolution.
Nie Rongzhen and Zhang Ruihua
Zhang Ruihua was born on February 11, 1909, to a small, downtrodden landlord family in Xinyang County, Henan Province. In that patriarchal era, when she proposed to her parents that she wanted to study, unsurprisingly, her parents strongly opposed it.
But the stubborn Zhang Ruihua knew that reading could change her fate, and when she was 10 years old, she spontaneously began a life of "half work and half reading", and after school, she went to the nearby Jigong Mountain to cut bamboo and thorns to sell for money.
Even though she was busy every day, her grades were still excellent, and she was a talented girl known to everyone in the school.
While studying, Zhang Ruihua witnessed all kinds of misfortune and darkness that occurred in the land beneath his feet.
The iron hooves of imperialism ruthlessly trampled on ancient China, and the feudal and capitalist forces were bent on seeking private interests for themselves, and had no time to take care of the fact that the country was full of holes and internal and external troubles.
After graduating from primary school, Zhang Ruihua was admitted to Xinyang Normal School, and after witnessing the darkness of the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, Zhang Ruihua understood the importance of revolution and already had the idea of dedicating himself to the revolution in his heart.
At the age of sixteen, Zhang Ruihua joined the revolution, and she was one of the students who marched in the streets to propagate the revolution and defend the rights of the people, not afraid of sacrifice, not afraid of danger, daring to struggle against the decaying and antiquated government system, and daring to pursue the ideal world in her heart.
Deng Yingchao was with Nie Rongzhen's wife, Zhang Ruihua
She and several progressive classmates organized the "Yao Mang Society" in the school to propagate revolutionary ideas among the students, call on the students to read progressive books and periodicals such as "Guide" and "New Youth", and launched a fundraiser to support the workers' movement everywhere.
Especially during the May Thirtieth Movement, she and her classmates participated in many anti-imperialist demonstrations and speeches, mobilized mass fundraising, and all the money raised was used to support the Shanghai workers' movement.
At that time, as an underground traffic officer, she passed on a lot of intelligence to the Chinese Communist Party and made important contributions to the development of revolutionary work in the Xinyang area of Henan.
In 1926, Zhang Ruihua was seventeen years old, had just graduated from the Xinyang Women's Normal College in Henan, and just heard the news that the Wuhan Military and Political School, that is, the Wuhan branch of the Whampoa Military Academy, recruited female soldiers, and Zhang Ruihua resolutely signed up.
The seventeen-year-old girl entered the military academy with a passion, and after two examinations, Zhang Ruihua stood out among more than 5,000 girls, ranked among the best, and became one of the 195 female soldiers who were admitted.
She was taken by an underground party teacher to Wuhan, the center of the revolution, and truly embarked on the road of revolution.
Whampoa Military Academy Wuhan Branch
Among the female students enrolled in this batch, there are several names that we are extremely familiar with, such as Wei Gongzhi, Yang Dyexiang... They are the first generation of female soldiers in the history of China's modern revolution, and they are a legend of a generation that has been recorded in the annals of history.
In the fall of 1926, Zhang Ruihua joined the Communist Party of China under the introduction of her teacher, an old underground party member. A month later, she went to the Wuhan branch of the Whampoa Military Academy to study.
At the beginning of 1927, Zhang Ruihua was selected to become the head of the women's team of the Wuhan branch of the Whampoa Military Academy because of his excellent performance in the study of revolutionary theory and military courses during his school years, and he had a lot of influence and appeal among his classmates.
In late May 1927, Zhang Ruihua, who had only been enrolled in school for three months, encountered a war, and the warlord Xia Douyin launched a mutiny, and the revolutionary situation was extremely grim.
Without any hesitation, she rushed to the front line with the troops, took the whole class of female students to the battlefield rescue, and treated many wounded.
It was her first time on the battlefield, bullets were whispering in her ears, explosions would happen from time to time, and she was surrounded by either wounded or bloody corpses, all of which were her comrades and compatriots.
Zhang Ruihua
But she was too late to be afraid, too late to be nervous, the revolutionary fire in her heart was burning, she was the first to rush to the front, the first to lift up the wounded who were about to fall, she always calmly said: "The more afraid, the more the bullets find the timid." ”
In fact, as a weak woman, where is there not to be afraid? But for the sake of faith, for the sake of the revolution, for the ideals in the heart, for the sake of a better world, the revolution must have bloodshed and sacrifice, and only when someone comes forward will there be a latecomer.
However, five months later, the Wuhan branch of the Whampoa Military Academy was forced to disband, and in order to continue her revolutionary ideals, she went to the Fourth Officers' Instruction Regiment of the National Revolutionary Army to prepare to participate in the Nanchang Uprising.
However, the teaching group was blocked by the commander-in-chief, Zhang Fakui handed over his gun, a group of young people with full of ambition could only do it in a hurry, and finally after Ye Jianying took over the teaching group, he led everyone to Nanchang, after several turns, the rebel army had gone south, the teaching group could only go to Guangzhou, and then Zhang Ruihua participated in the Guangzhou uprising.
Perhaps, fate was destined to make her meet the man with whom she would live her life, and in the headquarters of the Guangzhou Uprising, she met Nie Rongzhen.
In fact, she had seen Nie Rongzhen a long time ago, when she was just in contact with the revolution in school, and Nie Rongzhen was already quite famous in the revolutionary army, she never thought of marrying Nie Rongzhen, but the feelings were always unexpected.
Zhang Ruihua originally went to Guangzhou as a health team, but for the sake of the revolution, the delicate woman took up the shell gun, participated in the purge campaign, and captured more than 300 reactionaries.
In the face of a powerful enemy, Zhang Ruihua was not afraid, and the countless young people who insisted on the revolution were not afraid, and after three days and three nights of bloody struggle, finally because of the disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves, the Guangzhou uprising failed.
After the failure of the Guangzhou uprising, the reactionary forces went everywhere to arrest the rebels, and in desperation, Zhang Ruihua found an acquaintance of an underground party member, hid in his home, hid for many days, and fled to Hong Kong.
She did not expect that nie rongzhen would also flee to Hong Kong in three days, and she did not expect that she would work with nie rongzhen here for a long time.
Guangzhou Uprising
After coming to Hong Kong, under the arrangement of the organization, Zhang Ruihua served as an underground traffic officer, traveling between Kowloon and Guangzhou in Hong Kong, and Nie Rongzhen was Zhang Ruihua's top superior, so that the two naturally had a lot of work contacts.
At that time, Nie Rongzhen was serving as the secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Military Commission in Hong Kong, and Zhang Ruihua was an ordinary traffic officer of the underground party, Zhang Ruihua would come to deliver documents to Nie Rongzhen almost every once in a while, and Nie Rongzhen naturally noticed this beautiful and exciting girl.
Once, Zhang Ruihua sent the documents of the organization to Nie Rongzhen, and when he was ready to leave, Nie Rongzhen suddenly said that he had something to talk to her, but Zhang Ruihua was anxious to go to Kowloon to deliver the documents, so he and Nie Rongzhen met again after several days.
At that time, the work was too busy, and Zhang Ruihua was running between places again, and it didn't take long to completely forget about this matter.
After a few days had passed, Nie Rongzhen had not yet waited for Zhang Ruihua, and his heart was inevitably a little anxious, so he directly came to visit, and on that day, Zhang Ruihua was the only one in her home.
After Nie Rongzhen hesitated repeatedly, he still said frankly: "Comrade Zhang Ruihua, I have met you in Wuhan, I am very impressed with you, and I am willing to be good to you." ”
Zhang Ruihua is only 19 years old, when did he encounter such a direct confession? No matter how hot the woman faced such a hot feeling, she would blush, not to mention that Zhang Ruihua was still just a young girl who had just opened her heart at that time.
She was shy and embarrassed, and for a moment she didn't know what to do, so she blushed and whispered, "I need to think about it." After saying that, he hid in his room and refused to come out again.
Nie Rongzhen was stunned in the same place, the words had been exported, and he did not know how to be good, the 29-year-old youth stood in front of the house like a hairy boy for a long time, and after a long time, he left first because of work.
That sentence stirred up a thousand waves in Zhang Ruihua's calm heart lake, Nie Rongzhen was handsome, talented, and gentle, indeed a good man, although he usually looked stern, but Zhang Ruihua had never seen him lose his temper.
She began to think carefully about the relationship, and in the work, she could not help but be more delicate and gentle, one heart was gradually melted by another heart, and every conversation at work was a collision of souls.
After a long time together, every time they intersected at work, they finally let the souls of the two young people slowly come together.
In April 1928, after the organization approved them to marry, that year, Nie Rongzhen was 29 years old, Zhang Ruihua had just turned 19 years old, and the 10-year-old age gap did not cause them any problems, but because of the same faith, they had more sincere feelings for each other.
The 4 years of underground work did not dispel their revolutionary enthusiasm, but because the beloved was by their side, there was a little more warmth in this terrible and gloomy environment.
Perhaps for them, this is the greatest happiness in their suffering lives.
The beloved person is next to him, no matter how difficult it is, he can survive, because the conditions are difficult, the husband and wife eat coarse tea and light rice, but Zhang Ruihua is distressed by Nie Rongzhen, Nie Rongzhen is worried about every day, she must keep up with nutrition, and she always tries every means to adjust the food.
But the reality was there, there were so many dishes, there was nothing delicious to make at all, and every time she was very apologetic to Nie Rongzhen. As a wife, she should have taken better care of her husband, but according to the conditions at that time, she really couldn't do it.
In fact, Nie Rongzhen didn't mind at all, and even felt very sad about his wife, always comforting: "It's okay, your cooking is delicious, much more delicious than my own cooking, it's really not okay to add more spicy." ”
The husband and wife have lived under the white terror for a long time, and they have to be afraid all day long, cautious in words and deeds, Nie Rongzhen was originally a person with a lively personality, under such a situation, he gradually became silent and cautious in words and deeds.
Nie Rongzhen
The revolutionary situation made it necessary for them to live such a life, and when they were on a mission in the white area of Hong Kong, many comrades lost their lives because of an inattentive and careless, and in that special era, the slightest carelessness would become the ghosts of the enemy's guns.
In a highly tense environment, Zhang Ruihua has a neurological disease, which will accompany her for a lifetime, making her life live in pain.
Later, Zhang Ruihua became pregnant, and Nie Rongzhen took care of her more carefully, in order to let the child be born smoothly, the two took a lot of thought.
However, due to the extreme tension of the revolutionary task, Nie Rongzhen could not often be by Zhang Ruihua's side, and more often, Zhang Ruihua was alone at home, and even had to undertake some tasks.
Due to physical reasons, Zhang Ruihua had difficulty giving birth when giving birth to the child, in order to give birth to the child smoothly, the delivery was delivered for a while before the caesarean section was carried out, and the child was closed at the ghost door, and the child was born, which was the later famous female general Nie Li.
In 1930, when his daughter was born, Nie Rongzhen could not even find time to accompany his wife, and almost three days after the birth of the child, he hurried to the ward and said sorry to his weak wife on the hospital bed.
Nie Rongzhen took a group photo with his wife Zhang Ruihua and Cai Shufan in Zhangjiakou in 1946
Zhang Ruihua pulled out a weak smile on the hospital bed and gently comforted her husband: "Mother and daughter are safe, you can rest assured." ”
After many years of marriage, she has always considered her husband, and she knows that his is not easy, and she also knows the difficulty of the revolutionary situation.
Accustomed to seeing the wind and waves, Nie Rongzhen couldn't help but tremble when he held his delicate daughter, this was his child, it was his blood and blood, it was his lover who bought it with half a life.
But because of his work, he really couldn't stay with his wife and daughter for a long time, and after a few days in the hospital, he was recalled to the organization to carry out the mission.
In 1931, Nie Rongzhen went to the central revolutionary base area, while Zhang Ruihua stayed in Shanghai with his daughter.
Here, Zhang Ruihua continued to work underground, her daughter became her best cover, and Nie Rongzhen was going to go to the revolutionary base area to direct the battle, which also indicated that the husband and wife would be separated for a long time, for the sake of the revolution, this was a forced choice.
In 1934, Zhang Ruihua was arrested by reactionary forces and imprisoned, and the 4-year-old Nie Li also lived in the prison of the British Concession, in order not to let his daughter be harmed, Zhang Ruihua even though he was tortured by the enemy inhumanely, but still insisted that he was just an ordinary peasant woman.
In March 1954, Nie Rongzhen and his wife Zhang Ruihua were in Guangzhou with Luo Ronghuan and Lin Yueqin
The enemy tortured them to no avail, and they could only be released after a month, but the agents did not let them go, and still secretly sent people to monitor the mother and daughter.
In order to get rid of the surveillance of the secret agents, Zhang Ruihua held her daughter and threw away the agents on a stormy and cold night, and she suffered a lot for her daughter and revolutionary work, but she never mentioned it to her husband.
Zhang Ruihua was alone with the child, without any complaints, Nie Rongzhen was busy at work, and rarely met with his wife and daughter, but she knew that her husband was also deeply missing his daughter, so she sent a photo of her daughter playing in the park as a thought.
This photo has been saved next to Nie Rongzhen since it was sent, and the photo has gradually turned yellow, but it is still very well preserved, which shows how much Nie Rongzhen cherishes this photo.
In 1935, in order to work for the revolution, Zhang Ruihua had to put his daughter in Foster Care in Mao Qihua's home.
It was not until 1946, when Mao Qihua brought Nie Li to Beiping, that the family of three was reunited, and the couple burst into tears after listening to the suffering of their daughter for so many years.
After the founding of New China in 1949, Nie Rongzhen took the initiative to give up the position of mayor, chose to go to the place where the motherland was most needed, became the director of science and technology, and devoted himself to the cause of science and technology, and he was known as the "father of military industry" in modern China.
From right: daughter Nie Li, wife Zhang Ruihua, Nie Rongzhen, granddaughter Nie Fei, son-in-law Ding Henggao
At that time, Zhang Ruihua was still working in the local area, although she had always been an 8-level cadre, she always showed her diligence and did not complain because she had not been promoted for so many years.
In 1962, Marshal Nie Rongzhen's office director was transferred to another unit for work reasons, and the position of chief of staff was vacant.
Many comrades suggested that Zhang Ruihua be transferred to the post of director, which was a normal thing in the party, but Nie Rongzhen refused.
Nie Rongzhen said: "Zhang Ruihua has been working in the local area, and the experience in the army is equal to zero, what do you let her do?" What will she do? Besides, Zhang Ruihua's level is not enough. ”
At that time, Zhang Ruihua had been participating in the revolution for 43 years and had enough political experience to be competent for the job of office director even if she had not worked in the army.
Later, many times, the organization asked Zhang Ruihua to be promoted, but nie Rongzhen stopped him, he said: "My salary plus her salary is enough to support a daughter, what do you want so much money for?" ”
He loved his wife deeply, but he always distinguished between public and private, did not take credit for making great contributions during the war, nor did he show any pride, he always adhered to his original intention.
Nie Rongzhen had a clear distinction between public and private in his life, and he also had his own family rules at home. Zhang Ruihua respects her husband's choice, as the marshal's wife, she is simple and resolute, does not forget her original heart, like an ordinary woman, conscientious work, calmly take care of housework.
The husband and wife who made great contributions to the construction of new China could have enjoyed the generous treatment provided by the motherland safely, but they did not, and one of the family rules in the family was that no one was allowed to use the bus allocated by the organization, Nie Rongzhen said that if he took the bus to work every day, his conscience would not pass.
Zhang Ruihua also agreed with her husband's idea and personally implemented this family rule.
Not only that, in order to save time and make more efforts for her work, Zhang Ruihua often brings her own box lunch and takes the bus to and from work every day.
This behavior persisted until retirement, and later the development of the motherland became better and better, the economic conditions of the people became more and more prosperous, and the treatment given to them by the organization became better and better, but the husband and wife always maintained this habit.
In addition to Zhang Ruihua, her daughter Nie Li also has strict requirements for herself, taking the bus or riding her own bicycle after school, even when the weather is very bad, she is not lazy, and she has never used the bus assigned to her father by the organization.
Later, Nie Rongzhen's old house became a dangerous house, the organization repeatedly proposed repair or reconstruction, and the local government also actively did the work, but Nie Rongzhen still refused, he was worried that this move wasted the country's money, and felt that the money should be used in more important places.
In his later years, Accompanied by his wife Zhang Ruihua and daughter Nie Li, Nie Shuai took a walk in the courtyard
In this way, the husband and wife have been living in a dangerous house, the life in their later years is very happy, those years that were separated by the war have become the past, Zhang Ruihua cherishes this hard-won everything, she understands her husband's hard-heartedness, and her original intention has never changed, simple life, until the last resort, never add trouble to the organization.
In 1992, Nie Rongzhen died of illness, and his ashes were divided into two halves and buried in places personally selected by the marshal before his death. At the last moment of his life, he held his daughter's hand tightly and asked her to take good care of her mother Zhang Ruihua.
On February 23, 1995, the 86-year-old Zhang Ruihua also completed the road of her life, followed her husband, and continued to work together in another world.