In January 2018, Yao Zijian died in Beijing at the age of 103. His glorious and legendary life history has come to an end.
As the last surviving central special branch warrior, Yao Zijian's death marked the end of the era of "red agents".
In his lifetime, Yao Zijian participated in the impassioned student movement and revolution, and also experienced the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation, always accompanied the party and the country, and survived all kinds of ups and downs.
It is worth mentioning that in the decades of serving the party, Yao Zijian's identity has always been unclear, and he has even been questioned and investigated by the rebels. It was not until 67 years later, when he met Shen Anna by chance, that he confirmed his glorious identity as a "red agent".
1. The young Yao Zijian went out to study and joined the Communist Party
As the saying goes, "if the youth is strong, the country is strong", in that turbulent era, countless young people with lofty ideals carried a strong sense of mission and embarked on the road of studying and patriotically saving the country. Yao Zijian was only 14 years old when he left his hometown, carrying a large bag to Shanghai, which can be described as an uncertain future.
Fortunately, Yao Zijian was not intimidated by the difficulties of reality, and after several considerations, he chose the "Shanghai Labor University Middle School" and gained a foothold in this unfamiliar city.
Yao Zijian's family is generally poor, and the reason why he chose this Shanghai Labor University is mainly because of the school's educational philosophy. The school promotes "work-study doctrine", and even those students from poor backgrounds have the same right to education. In the process of learning knowledge, the world view of this group of young people is also forming at the same time.
Yao Zijian received the fierce impact of various new ideological trends such as "mutual aid theory" and "communism", and patriotism and national salvation became his lifelong pursuit
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After the outbreak of the "918" incident, there have been a number of large-scale petition activities in Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai and other places, hoping that the authorities and governments will express their position as soon as possible and vow to defend China's territorial sovereignty. However, at that time, the Nationalist government factional struggle was continuous, and instead of supporting the student movement, it passively resisted and only cared about the immediate interests. The National Labor University is in crisis of forced closure.
Because of the dissolution of the school, Yao Zijian had no books to read and could only temporarily return to his hometown and become an ordinary primary school teacher. However, Yao Zijian's patriotism has never changed, and he gradually understands that
If there is no way to change the darkness and decay of the social system at that time, we can only "break first and then stand" and re-establish a new social rule.
After calming down, Yao Zijian once again embarked on the road of study, this time choosing the "Central Army Survey School", which opened the prelude to the subsequent revolutionary career.
One day, Yao Zijian's good friend Shu Yuexin came to him and said to him, "I have joined the Communist Party and would like to ask you what you think." Regarding the Communist Party, Yao Zijian had actually heard about it and had the idea of joining the Party, but unfortunately, he had not found a suitable introducer.
The arrival of Shu Yuexin has put Yao Zijian's life on another path, that is, together with many people of insight, to open up a new future for the poor masses.
Second, the Central Special Branch was established, and Yao Zijian secretly sent intelligence to the party
At the beginning of the founding of the Communist Party, it did not realize the importance of intelligence agencies until 1927, when a large number of revolutionary fighters were arrested and killed by the Nationalist government.
The lesson of this "counter-revolutionary coup" is extremely painful, and the Central Committee of the Party has gradually come to understand that if you want to confront a powerful enemy, you must understand the other side thoroughly, and blind war will only increase unnecessary sacrifices and will not be beneficial to the situation.
In order to better carry out revolutionary work, the Central Special Branch was quickly formed and established, which received the attention and strong support of the leaders. The tasks of the Central Special Branch include gathering intelligence, protecting their comrades, cleaning up traitors and traitors, etc., because of the special nature of their work, their road is doomed to be bumpy and lonely.
In 1931, because of Gu Shunzhang's surrender and rebellion, the intelligence system suffered a devastating blow, and countless underground party members were imprisoned and mutilated.
At this extremely grim moment, Pan Hannian took over the intelligence work in Shanghai, and the most important thing was to absorb talents. At that time, Yao Zijian had just joined the party and was working in the Cartography Section of the National Government in Nanjing, and was undoubtedly one of the best candidates. The most important point is that Yao Zijian took the initiative to join the Communist Party and has a very high loyalty to our party, which is most appropriate to be an underground party.
Yao Zijian's original job was to print map substrates, and there were not many opportunities to access core intelligence, and the risk of passing on information was greater. In order to obtain more detailed intelligence information, Yao Zijian claimed that he had an eye disease and wanted to change his work in another department. Unexpectedly, he was sent to the receiving and dispatching department, where all the top-secret military maps were kept.
This work transfer provided Yao Zijian with an excellent opportunity, under the cover of his identity, he could pay attention to the direction of action of the Kuomintang troops in real time, and the military used the map to pass it out in a timely manner.
On the one hand, Yao Zijian had just joined the party, and his resume was very "innocent" and did not arouse the suspicion of the enemy; on the other hand, the situation at that time was very chaotic, it was common for the rules to be lax and neglected to take stock, and Yao Zijian's secret work was progressing smoothly.
As an underground party, Yao Zijian's work is very dangerous, and the slightest carelessness will be discovered by the enemy. In order to avoid the enemy's sight, Yao Zijian wore a Kuomintang uniform to Shanghai every time, and those who interrogated him never dared to intercept him, and as for the intelligence, it was hidden in the innermost layer of the suitcase, greatly reducing the risk of exposure.
In the eyes of outsiders, Yao Zijian is a "not in the flow" of the transceiver, and the official position is not high. But in fact, he handled the Kuomintang's top-secret map, and with this information, he could accurately judge the enemy's intentions.
At the critical moment when the two armies are opposed, an accurate military map is particularly important, and it is often said that "knowing oneself and knowing the other, never losing a hundred battles", is this truth.
Yao Zijian took advantage of his work, and once the Kuomintang took away and returned the map, he quickly copied and sent it out, which provided great convenience for the work of the front. From another point of view, Yao Zijian has saved the lives of countless warriors, and his contribution is immeasurable.
It is worth mentioning that Yao Zijian's connector is Shu Yuexin or Shen Yina, for the sake of the top secret of intelligence, they only know their own upper and lower lines, which is also the root cause of his many years of obscurity.
Third, the anti-Japanese situation deteriorated, and Yao Zijian went to the front line to defend his family and defend the country
Yao Zijian engaged in secret work for many years, and later, seeing that the situation in the War of Resistance Against Japan was becoming more and more severe, he made up his mind to go to the front. At the time of handing over the information, Yao Zijian applied to the online "Mr. Xiong", expressing his strong desire to defend his family and defend the country, but unexpectedly, the superior actually agreed. Considering the situation at that time and Yao Zijian's identity, the party organization arranged for him to go to Hong Kong first to Yan'an to study, and finally to the front line.
Not long after arriving in Hong Kong, Yao Zijian met Pan Hannian, a key figure in the CCP's intelligence station. The interesting thing is that Yao Zijian does not know the identity of Pan Hannian, let alone knows that without Pan Hannian's recommendation, he would not be able to be a "red agent". Because of the confidentiality of his work, Yao Zijian only thought that Pan Hannian was an old party member, and once again expressed his desire to go to the front. In the end, Pan Hannian personally wrote a letter of recommendation for Yao Zijian and let him come to Yan'an smoothly.
Yao Zijian, who received the letter of recommendation, was very excited, and this note meant that he would leave his previous underground job and go to the front line to fight the enemy. As Pan Hannian said in his letter of recommendation, Yao Zijian had a strong patriotic heart and anti-Japanese enthusiasm, and was a very good and loyal Communist Party member. In fact, whether it is underground workers or frontline fighters, their goal is always the same, that is, to defend their country and people, even if they sacrifice their lives.
Fourth, 67 years later, Yao Zijian's identity was finally "exposed"
Since joining the Communist Party, Yao Zijian has been engaged in revolutionary work, but in a slightly different form. During the Cultural Revolution, Yao Zijian received the attention and suspicion of the rebels, because he had previously worked in the Kuomintang government and was justified in the investigation. Fortunately, Lu Zicheng personally justified his name and said: "I am Yao Zijian's introduction to the party, and I can prove that he is in the enemy camp to deliver secret information to our party, and his contribution is worthy of recognition." Lu Zicheng's words allowed Yao Zijian to get rid of the crisis of reputation damage.
Because of the nature of the work of the Central Special Branch, Yao Zijian had been in a one-line contact with others until the end of the war, and he did not know his true identity. In 2001, Shen Anna received an invitation to give a speech to the crowd, and Yao Zijian's son happened to sit in the audience, which finally revealed Yao Zijian's work secrets and made his identity known to the world.
Shen Anna mentioned in her speech that her sister Shen Yina and brother-in-law Shu Yuexin are both special agents, and Shu Yuexin is Yao Zijian's good friend and on-line.
Because of the war, Yao Zijian broke off contact with Shu Yuexin and others, which made him "buried" for 67 years, which is really impressive. With the help of Shen Anna, Yao Zijian's identity was affirmed by the relevant departments, and the identity of this old man who was more than a flower armour was finally "exposed".
In 2017, Yao Zijian was invited to watch the military parade as a special guest, and the strength and development of the new era is the best comfort for the veterans.
summary:
For the sake of the victory of the revolution and the founding of New China, countless revolutionary martyrs threw their heads and spilled their blood, completely disregarding their personal interests and the safety of their lives. It is precisely because of their sacrifice that we have the happiness and tranquility we have now.
Among these people are fearless generals and soldiers, as well as unknown underground workers, whose revolutionary spirit deserves to be remembered forever.
There are many "nameless fighters" like Yao Zijian, and what young people in the new era should do is to pass on their spirit. There is no end to the rich country and the strong army, and each generation needs to work hard to live up to the sacrifices of the martyrs.