On January 31, 1949, the Battle of Pingjin ended and Peiping was peacefully liberated.
For the people of Beiping City, they welcome the People's Liberation Army into the city, but the business of supporting their families cannot be delayed. Therefore, in the small market of Deshengmen in Beiping, traders set up stalls every day, selling antiques, furniture, and old clothes, although the place is not large, but it is often crowded.
Liberation of Peiping
Among the vendors who set up the stalls, there was a grandfather over sixty years old, dressed in simple clothes and skinny bones, who took his daughter-in-law with him every day at dawn, found a place to lay a mat at DeshengMen, put old clothes on the ground to sell, and sat down all day.
Uncle looks ordinary, but his prestige among the traders is extremely high, and people who meet him will enthusiastically call him "Seventh Master". Some people like to joke, while greeting and teasing: "Seventh Master, you are the Belle Grandpa of the Qing Dynasty, how did you get mixed up to such a point?" Selling rags to make ends meet? The Seventh Master didn't say a word either, fiddling with his stall.
Seventh Master's life was originally very ordinary, but by 1950, his fate had changed dramatically. When Premier Zhou heard that the "Seventh Master" lived in Beijing, he immediately issued an order: Don't let him set up a stall again, and quickly distribute relief funds. Soon after, a letter of appointment personally signed by Chairman Mao was delivered to the Seventh Master. At that moment, Qiye's eyes were red and he asked excitedly, "I have never seen Mao Zedong, how can he know me?" After learning the truth of the matter, his tears became even more: "Those who know me, Mao Zedong also!" I will certainly live up to the trust of the chairman and make more contributions to the new China! ”
So, who is the "Seventh Master" of Baylor Grandpa in everyone's mouth? Why is it suddenly reused?
Zaitao
The best player of the Qing royal family
As we all know, after the Manchu Qing entered the customs, the Eight Flags disciples became more and more arrogant, and each one of them was the lord who could play, but the one who said that the Qing Dynasty could play the most was none other than the "Seven Masters".
The Seventh Master's original name was Ai Xin Jue Luo Zaitao, and he was prominent as soon as he heard his surname. Indeed, he was the grandson of the Daoguang Emperor, the younger brother of the Guangxu Emperor, the uncle of the Xuantong Emperor Puyi, and a veritable imperial nobleman.
With such a birth, Zaitao enjoyed supreme glory from an early age, and at the age of three he was named a second-class Zhenguo general, and at the age of 15, he inherited the title of Baylor, becoming the well-known "Tao Belle" in the capital. Since then, Zaitao has been even more prosperous, serving as a military advisor, training the Janissaries, holding a high position of authority, and rich and noble.
But Zaitao, who holds the military power in Beijing, is really not a very good official. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Empress Longyu, who was worried about the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, asked him: "You are in charge of the army, how about leading the troops?" Zaitao was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and prostrated his head repeatedly: "Although the slaves lead the troops, they have never fought a battle, if they really put me on the battlefield, they may not be able to make any jokes!" Empress Longyu listened and had no choice but to give up.
Although Zaitao can't fight, his life is very dashing, he can be called the best player in beijing, and the things he has played may not be seen by ordinary people.
Zaitao is most interested in horses. As a disciple of the Eight Flags, he has been adhering to his ancestral training since he was a child, practicing riding and shooting, and his equestrian skills are superb. In order to improve his skills, he also went to the French Cavalry School to study cavalry tactics. Over time, Zaitao will not only ride horses, but also draw horses and heal horses.
Zaitao has become obsessed with horses. Once, Yuan Shikai bought a sweat and blood BMW from the Western Regions at a high price and gave it to the son of the prime minister, Prince Qing Yili. When Zaitao learned of this, he immediately rushed to prince Qing's mansion and expressed his willingness to pay double the price for a BMW. But Yi Li was not a money-starved lord and refused his request. In a fit of rage, Zaitao moved out of Empress Longyu: "If you don't give me a horse, I will go to the empress dowager to sue you!" Yi Li had to obediently hand over the BMW.
In addition to horses, Zaitao has other "money-burning" hobbies, for example, he likes Peking Opera, all the major pear gardens in Beijing can see his figure, sometimes he comes to be interested, he will also perform on stage; he is also obsessed with collecting bicycles, there are no less than dozens of bicycles at home, which are rare objects; he also has a lot of research on astronomy, in order to see the astronomical phenomena of "five stars and pearls" and "Halley's Comet", he spends a lot of money to buy a bunch of astronomical equipment, often a look is a whole day.
If the Qing Dynasty had not been overthrown, the life of "Tao Belle" Youzha Youzha would have continued, but with the sound of gunshots in the Wuchang Uprising, his life was completely disrupted.
Old Beijing City
Grandpa Belle, who made a living by setting up stalls
On October 10, 1911, the Wuchang Uprising broke out, and Zaitao, who was the minister of the Janissaries, did not dare to lead troops to suppress it, so Empress Longyu had to send Yuan Shikai instead, who monopolized power and seized the opportunity to seize the command of the Janissaries. Zaitao could not swallow this breath, and secretly united with the imperial relatives and state relatives to form the Sectarian Socialist Party in an attempt to assassinate Yuan Shikai. But not long after, a member of the Sect Socialist Party was killed, and Zaitao was so badly fed that he never dared to mention the assassination of Yuan Shikai again.
In February 1912, under the persecution of Yuan Shikai, the Xuantong Emperor Puyi announced his abdication and the Qing Dynasty died. Losing his patron, Zaitao's situation plummeted, from a towering member of the royal family to a depressed Baylor. Fortunately, the Royal Family of the Qing Dynasty received preferential treatment, Puyi still lived in the Forbidden City, and Zaitao also saved his "Baylor Mansion".
Traders in Peiping
However, by 1924, Feng Yuxiang staged a coup d'état in Beijing, no longer providing preferential treatment to the Qing imperial family, and even expelled Puyi from the Forbidden City. For a time, these imperial relatives and state relatives were all in danger, and each of them began to run for their livelihood. Zaitao is no exception, in order to make a living, he sold his beloved horse, sold the family's antique calligraphy and paintings, and even sold the excellent location of Baylor House, moving to live in a hutong near the ancestral cemetery on the outskirts of Beijing.
If you change to an ordinary person, this money is enough for the rest of your life. But Zaitao can't, he has five sons, with daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law, housekeeper, servant, a family of thirty or so people have to open their mouths to eat, which is sad to conceive this pampered Belle Grandpa.
In desperation, he packed up a bunch of antiques and old clothes and pulled them to the small market of Deshengmen to sell them. At first, he was not embarrassed, but over time, he relaxed, learned to bargain, and the money he earned could also be used to supplement the family. The big and small vendors of Deshengmen are also very kind to Zaitao, whether they are sarcastic behind him or not, they will call him "Seventh Master" when they meet him.
Zhang Zuolin
I'd rather set up a stall than sell the country
Setting up a stall is a very hard thing, getting up early and being greedy, sometimes not making money for a day. Zaitao is not without the opportunity to change his fate, but he has chosen to give up, and a sentence he often hangs on his lips is: People can have no ambition, but they cannot have no bottom line.
In 1924, Zhang Zuolin, the "King of northeast China", won the second Zhifeng War and occupied Beijing. Soon after entering Beijing, Zhang Zuolin invited Zaitao to race horses and invited him to dinner. During the banquet, Zhang Zuolin said with a sincere face: "I don't know if Mr. Is willing to go out of the mountain, as long as Mr. Zhang agrees to work with me, whether it is a high-ranking official or Houlu, everything is available." ”
As a result, Zaitao rejected Zhang Zuolin in person, laughing and saying: "It is okay to play horse racing, but I am only shallow and shallow, and it seems inappropriate to take on a big responsibility." ”
In 1933, when Zaitao was eating at home, three uninvited guests in suits and leather shoes came, and after one of them took off his hat, Zaitao immediately recognized him, and this person was Kenji Toihara, the number one spy of the Japanese invasion of China and helped Puyi establish a "puppet Manchukuo". Seeing that it was him, Zaitao suddenly lost his temper, he was not only a villain who mutilated Chinese, but also took Puyi to the evil road, so that Puyi became a traitor pointed out by thousands of people.
Kenji Toihara
Kenji Toihara quickly made it clear that he had come, inviting Zaitao to serve in the "puppet state of Manchukuo" and offering generous conditions. Unexpectedly, Zaitao refused on the spot, saying: "I am old and can't stand the bumps, your excellency still asks you to be smart!" ”
Kenji Toihara touched a nose of ash, cursed a Japanese word in anger, and directly pulled out the pistol in his arms and pointed it at Zaitao. But Zaitao did not compromise, straightened his waist, patted his chest, and said with a straight face: "Come! ”
Kenji Toihara did not expect that his bones were so hard, and he was not afraid of life and death, and his momentum was stronger than his own, so he had to leave in ashes.
After that, Zaitao continued to set up his stall, he did not do anything about betraying the country, and later Puyi returned to Beijing to worship his ancestors, he was very dissatisfied with this nephew, did not meet with Puyi, and also called on the clan not to receive him.
Premier Zhou
He was reused by Chairman Mao and buried in Babaoshan after his death
After the founding of New China, the government began to search all over Beijing for former Qing royals, and Premier Zhou Enlai personally took charge of the matter. After learning the news, Li Jishen, who had a good relationship with Zaitao, hurriedly reported his situation to Premier Zhou.
After carefully understanding Zaitao's past, in June 1950, Premier Zhou personally made a decision and invited Zaitao to attend the Second Session of the First National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Zaitao, who had been down for decades, was proud to learn that Premier Zhou attached so much importance to him as a "former dynasty widow". What made him even more excited was that during the meeting, Premier Zhou took the time to meet him and said guiltily: "You were not invited to participate in the previous meeting, and I blamed you, the representative of hundreds of thousands of Manchu people, forgetting you, the representative of hundreds of thousands of Manchu people!" ”
After the meeting, Zaitao put forward a bill on "Improving Military Horses to Benefit military use" based on his many years of experience in raising horses and soma horses, and expressed his willingness to contribute his life's learning to the newborn China. This bill was highly recognized by Chairman Mao and the Central Military Commission, and in August of the same year, Chairman Mao personally issued a letter of appointment appointing Zaitao as an adviser to the Ma Political Bureau of the Plaster Artillery Command.
On the day he received the letter of appointment, Zaitao was overjoyed, but at the same time a little puzzled: "I have never met Mao Zedong, how can he know me?" After learning the origin of the matter, he said excitedly: "The chairman can trust me, I will be a little Bow Ma Wen, take out Sun Wukong's ability to make a big fuss in the sky, and serve the People's Liberation Army well!" ”
Zaitao shook hands with Mao Zedong
Although Zaitao is already a sixty-year-old man, his enthusiasm for the revolution is extremely high. During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the US military used air superiority to cut off the supply lines of the volunteers, and the transportation of materials was temporarily stagnant. Considering that the transportation of materials by military and horses is convenient and hidden, Chairman Zhu De personally ordered the Ma Political Bureau: Transport a large number of military horses and horses across the Yalu River!
"A large number of military horses", how much is "a large number"? During that time, he led the working group to northeast China, Inner Mongolia, and even contacted Outer Mongolia to collect warhorses, and finally successfully completed the arduous task entrusted by Zhu De and made outstanding contributions to the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
In 1955, Zaitao met Chairman Mao for the first time in Zhongnanhai. Chairman Mao warmly received him, and during the banquet, the chairman asked Zaitao: "You are Puyi's uncle, are there any contacts between you?" ”
Zaitao was startled when he heard this, and hurriedly explained: "He is a war criminal, how can I have contact with him?" ”
Chairman Mao saw that Zaitao was very nervous, and said with a smile: "We are eliminating the exploiting class, not individuals, Puyi has reformed well in the war criminals management center, you can go and see him." ”
Zaitao also truly felt Chairman Mao's concern. Once, it rained heavily in Beijing, which washed away a big hole in the house where he lived. When the chairman learned of this, he immediately called out to his secretary: "Take 2,000 yuan from my manuscript fee and repair the house for Mr. Wang!" ”
On September 2, 1970, the "last prince" Zaitao died of illness at the age of 83, and his ashes were buried in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.
Zaitao's life is extremely legendary, he was born royal, ups and downs, in the face of national righteousness is not ambiguous, rather than starvation rather than traitor. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he made many contributions and can be described as a national hero.