On October 9, 1949, the 9th day of the founding of New China, Chairman Mao sent a telegram very seriously to Wang Shoudao, then the first deputy secretary of hunan province of the CPC, a member of the Hunan Military and Political Committee, and deputy director of the Changsha Municipal Military Control Commission:
First Comrade:
Yang Kaizhi and others should not come to Beijing, and assign appropriate work according to their abilities in Xiang, and any unreasonable demands should not be allowed. If her elderly mother is in difficulty, she can give some help. Please send someone to forward the other telegram.
Mao Zedong
Nine days
Chairman Mao's reference to "another telegram" in the telegram refers to a telegram he sent to Yang Kaizhi alone:
Mr. Yang Kaizhi:
I hope that you will listen to the work of the Hunan Provincial CPC Committee in Hunan province and cooperate with your ability, and do not have any extravagant expectations and do not come to Beijing. Hunan Province assigns you to do whatever work you want, and everything is handled according to normal rules, so as not to embarrass the government.
October 9
Regarding Yang Kaizhi, why did Chairman Mao send two telegrams about him in a row?
This stems from a letter written by Yang Kaizhi to Chairman Mao at the beginning of the founding of New China.
Yang Kaizhi
At this time, Yang Kaizhi was working at the Hunan Agricultural Experimental Field, and although he was conscientious and did a very good job, he was a little uneasy about the status quo. So he wrote a letter to Chairman Mao,
I hope to be able to arrange a job for him in Beijing.
This request of his was politely rejected by Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao, who has always been strict with himself and adheres to principles, will never seek private interests for his relatives and friends
。
In Chairman Mao's view, New China has just been founded, there are no rules and no circles, and everything must be done according to the rules, especially their own relatives, and they must be strictly enforced.
After seeing Chairman Mao's telegram, Yang Kaizhi dismissed the idea of going to Beijing to work, but he also germinated the idea of becoming a department director in Changsha.
When Yang Kaizhi's nephew Mao Anying learned of the incident, he wrote a letter of more than 3,000 words, in which Mao Anying made a harsh criticism of his uncle's idea.
In fact, during the war years, Yang Kaizhi was displaced, persecuted by reactionaries, and experienced hardships and tribulations unimaginable to ordinary people, in this process, his daughter Yang Zhan also died heroically, but even so, his faith in the Communist Party has never wavered by more than half a point.
In fact, how could Chairman Mao, who remembered the old days, forget the Itakura Yang family?
He will not forget that under the white terror of that year,
Itakura's relatives persisted in the struggle to protect Yang Kaihui's mother and son, and after Yang Kaihui's sacrifice, they waged an indomitable struggle against the Kuomintang reactionaries.
Itakura's relatives always touch chairman Mao's heart, because there is chairman Mao's endless thoughts and attachments.
The Itakura Yang family is a family of scholars, Yang Kaihui's taigaozu, gaozu, and great-grandfather are all full of poetry and books, and in today's terms, they are all "college students".
Yang Kaihui's grandfather, Yang Shuxiang, although he did not serve as an official, he also read poetry and books and spent his life at home as an apprentice.
Yang Shuxiang has a total of 4 children, of which Yang Kaihui's father Yang Changji is the second oldest, Yang Changji has studied in Japan and Germany, and is a famous modern scholar and educator.
Yang Changji
Yang Kaihui's mother, Xiang Zhenxi's family, is also a family of scholars.
In 1888, at the age of 17, Yang Changji married his cousin Xiang Zhenxi.
In 1898, their son Yang Kaizhi was born, and three years later, they gave birth to a daughter, named Yang Kaihui.
In 1913, Yang Changji returned from studying in Europe and taught at the Hunan First Normal School, after which the family moved to Changsha.
During Yang Changji's teaching of the First Normal School, he was deeply respected by the students, and at that time, Chairman Mao, Cai Hesen, Deng Zhongxia and other students often came to Mr. Yang's home to ask for advice.
Chairman Mao, Cai Hesen were particularly valued by Yang Changji, who once said to his family:
"Mao and Cai will be the pillars of China."
Young Chairman Mao
At that time, Yang Kaizhi and his sister Yang Kaihui at home would treat each other warmly every time they saw Chairman Mao and others, and they soon became good friends with similar interests.
In June 1918, Yang Changji was hired by Peking University, Yang Kaizhi's brothers and sisters moved to Beijing with their parents, and soon After, Chairman Mao went to Beijing to seek a job, and he would visit his teacher Yang Changji every holiday.
On January 17, 1920, Yang Changji died in Beijing due to ineffective medical treatment.
The next day, Yang Kaizhi and Yang Kaihui jointly published an obituary in Beijing's Morning Post:
Know your relatives and friends with your father:
His father, Mr. Yang Changji, died at 5:30 a.m. on January 17, 1999 at the German Hospital in Peiping at the age of 49. Kaizhi, Kaihui and others personally watched Han Fu, suspended the Fayuan Temple in the brick factory hutong outside xuanwumen in Beiping, and regularly set up sacrifices at the temple on January 25, and chose a day to help shu return to the south to bury the hometown of Changsha Bancang. As with the note, mourn this supplement.
Yang Kaihui
Sincerely
After that, Yang Kaizhi and his sixth uncle Xiang Mingqing and Chairman Mao and others helped the coffin back to his hometown Ofan.
During this period, Yang Kaizhi and Chairman Mao got along day and night and formed a deep friendship.
At that time, Chairman Mao was advocating a work-study movement in France, and under the influence of this, Yang Kaizhi also wanted to study in a foreign country in order to seek the principle of saving the country through science.
After completing all the aftermath for his father, this summer, Yang Kaizhi went to Shanghai to study French and began to prepare for going abroad.
During his time in Shanghai, Yang Kaizhi met his father's close friend Mr. Zhang Shizhao, who was very praised for Yang Kaizhi's ambitions, but Mr. Zhang still advised him to go to Peking University for further study, and personally wrote letters to Yang Changji's former friend Yang Du in Beijing.
They asked them to assist this "son of the deceased" and jointly funded Yang Kaizhi as a "school meal fee".
In 1921, Yang Kaizhi was admitted to the Beijing Agricultural College, the predecessor of the current China Agricultural University.
During his time in school, Yang Kaizhi studied very hard, his grades were very good, and he also actively participated in school progress activities.
Under the leadership and direct contact of Deng Zhongxia, he and his classmate Lotte Yu and others initiated the establishment of a socialist group and served as the leader of the group.
In 1923, his classmate Lotte Yu and others were successively approved to join the Communist Party of China. At this time, Yang Kaizhi was once insane due to emotional reasons and failed to join the party.
In 1925, after Yang Kaizhi graduated, he was introduced to beijing women's normal university. During this period, he also had contact with Mr. Lu Xun.
At the beginning of 1927, Yang Kaizhi returned to Hunan and began to work in agricultural testing grounds related to his profession.
Soon after, Chairman Mao returned to Hunan to inspect the peasant movement and introduced him to the Changde area to serve as the director of the Changde Changde Forestry Bureau.
This year, Yang Kaizhi married 17-year-old Li Chongde in Changde.
Yang Kaizhi and Li Chongde took a group photo with their mother
Yang Kaizhi actively supported the revolutionary struggle of Chairman Mao and his sister Yang Kaihui and repeatedly covered their revolutionary activities.
In July 1920, Chairman Mao and others founded the Cultural Book Club in Changsha, and Yang Kaizhi did his best to fund it.
From 1921 to 1927, Chairman Mao went to Bancang four times to conduct social investigations under the cover of Yang Kaizhi and his family, establish underground organizations of the CCP, and inspect the organization of the peasant movement and lead the Autumn Harvest Uprising.
In February 1930, due to the extremely harsh environment of the struggle, Yang Kaizhi's cousin Yang Kaiming unfortunately died heroically, followed by his sister Yang Kaihui was arrested and imprisoned.
Yang Kaizhi, his wife Li Chongde, and his mother Xiang Zhenxi came to Nanjing, and they disregarded their personal safety and appealed to people from all walks of life to denounce the reactionary authorities for the atrocities committed by the reactionary authorities in persecuting progressive youth and killing revolutionary volunteers, and to ask their father's former friend to rescue his sister Yang Kaihui, but to no avail.
In October of this year,
Yang Kaihui was killed by the warlord He Jian outside the Liuyang Gate in Changsha.
Yang Kaizhi and his wife risked their lives with their relatives and friends with a sad mood to transport the body of their sister Yang Kaihui back to Bancang for burial and erected a monument to commemorate it.
thereafter
Yang Kaizhi disregarded his personal safety and raised his sister's three children.
In the spring of 1931, Yang Kaizhi, in accordance with Mao Zemin's instructions, was escorted by his wife Li Chongde and his mother Xiang Zhenxi to Shanghai via Wuhan, disguised as relatives.
Yang Kaizhi and Li Chongde take a group photo with Mao Anqing Shaohua and his grandmother Xiang Zhenxi (center).
Faced with a cruel environment of struggle, Yang Kaizhi resolutely and firmly supported his daughter Yang Zhan to participate in revolutionary activities.
In 1938, Yang Kaizhi sent his daughter to Yan'an through the Eighth Route Army's communication office in Hunan Province.
In 1941, his daughter Yang Zhan died heroically in the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region, and Yang Kaizhi was deeply saddened, but even so, he still firmly supported the Communist Party, and he never wavered in this regard.
On the eve of the peaceful liberation of Hunan in August 1949, Yang Kaizhi returned to his hometown to relax.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yang Kaizhi worked at the Hunan Agricultural Experimental Field, devoting himself to tea production and scientific research.
But shortly after the founding of New China, Yang Kaizhi had the idea of going to Beijing to work, but chairman Mao politely refused.
To this end, Chairman Mao also wrote the two telegrams at the beginning of the article to persuade him
"Don't embarrass the government."
After Yang Kaizhi's plan to go to Beijing was blocked, he germinated another one in Changsha
"The position of the director."
To this end, he also wrote a letter to his cousin Xiang Sanli, who was already working in Beijing.
In the letter he asked his cousin to intercede with Chairman Mao on his behalf.
After receiving a letter from his cousin Yang Kaizhi, he wrote a letter to Mao Anying to Sanli, relaying the wishes and ideas of his cousin Yang Kaizhi to Mao Anying.
When Mao Anying saw the letter written by his cousin to Sanli, he was very angry, and Mao Anying thought that his uncle Yang Kaizhi's approach was very inappropriate.
Mao Anying was deeply influenced by his father
He did not follow his personal feelings, set strict demands on himself, did not seek selfish interests, and insisted on building the party for the public good, Mao Anying once said:
"Young people should have the right political direction, and they should pay attention to maintaining a hard and simple style of life."
For this reason, Mao Anying set strict demands on himself, he lived simply, dressed simply and simply, ate large stoves, ate coarse grains, and never engaged in any special.
After entering Beijing, he actively participated in the demining team, regardless of personal safety, and bravely shouldered heavy burdens.
Mao Anying never takes a small sleeping car for personal matters, and he always travels by tram, bus or simply a bicycle.
On October 24, Mao Anying returned a long letter of more than 3,000 words to his cousin Xiang Sanli, in which he severely criticized his uncle Yang Kaizhi's practices, for which he was willing to bear the "infamy" of "filial piety" and "unrighteousness".
Mao Anying wrote:
I am very ashamed of the letter mentioning that my uncle "hopes to have a position as director in Changsha"...
The reason why New China is different from old China, the reason why the Communist Party is different from the Kuomintang, the reason why Mao Zedong is different from Chiang Kai-shek, and the reason why Mao Zedong's children and uncles are different from Chiang Kai-shek's children and uncles is precisely this, among other more basic principles: the era when the emperor's relatives and noble relatives became rich and the minority ruled the majority is gone forever. The time has come to eat on one's own labor and talents! At this point, the Chinese people have won a fundamental victory.
And for this layer, my uncle is probably not yet enlightened...
Regarding talking about human feelings, Mao Anying wrote in his letter:
Reactionaries often scold the Communist Party for having no human feelings and not talking about human feelings, and if they refer to this kind of human feelings of helping relatives and friends and colleagues in the same village to become officials and get rich, then our Communist Party does not have this kind of "human feelings" and does not talk about this kind of human feelings.
The Communist Party has another kind of human feeling, that is, infinite love for the people, infinite love for the toiling masses, including its own parents, children, and relatives... However, if this special feeling goes beyond the scope of private affairs and conflicts with the interests of the people, the Communist Party is resolutely on the side of the latter, that is, "the great righteousness and annihilation of relatives", and it is not spared.
...... As for my father, he was the staunchest opponent of this practice, because it was incompatible with communism and Mao Zedong Thought, and it was extremely unfair and irrational.
……
Mao An yingyang sprinkled more than 3,000 words, expounding in detail the communist party's position of building the party for the public and not showing favoritism.
Mao Anying
Yang Kaizhi, under the enlightenment of Chairman Mao and his nephew Mao Anying, finally gave up his unrealistic ideas. He conscientiously obeyed the organization's assignments, obeyed the organization's arrangements, and worked conscientiously in his existing positions.
On November 7, 1949, Yang Kaizhi wrote another letter to Mao Anying, in which his thinking also changed a lot, and soon after receiving the letter, Mao Anying wrote a letter to his cousin Xiang Sanli, in which he once wrote such a sentence:
My uncle had written a letter, and his thinking seemed to have changed somewhat.
In 1950, in view of the fact that Yang Kaizhi was a graduate of Beijing Agricultural University and had been engaged in agricultural work for many years, according to his strengths, the Hunan Provincial Party Committee arranged for Yang Kaizhi to work in the Provincial Department of Agriculture, and after that, he also served as the deputy manager of the Hunan Provincial Tea Company and the deputy director of the Provincial Tea Operation and Management Department.
In April 1950, Mao Zedong sent his eldest son Mao Anying back to Hunan Province to personally wish his grandmother Zhenxi a happy birthday.
When Mao Anying was leaving, Chairman Mao specially entrusted his son to carry a letter in which Chairman Mao praised Yang Kaizhi and Li Chongde in this way:
You work in the provincial capital, very well.
And encourage them
"Positive efforts, performance"
At the end of 1950, Yang Kaizhi went to Beijing for a meeting, and his wife Li Chongde and daughter Yang Ying came to Beijing with her, and they wanted to visit Chairman Mao after work.
Chairman Mao knew they were coming,
Immediately sent a secretary to take them to Zhongnanhai's home as a guest.
When Yang Kaizhi's family arrived at Fortress Garden,
Chairman Mao was already waiting for them at the door
After a long time of reunion, Chairman Mao was extremely excited and talked to them about many past events.
Speaking of Yang Kaihui's sacrifice, Mao Zedong was extremely sad and asked:
"How is Kaihui's tomb repaired?"
"Kaihui's tomb has been renovated, and we often go to visit the tomb."
Yang Kaizhi replied to Chairman Mao.
Hearing Yang Kaizhi say this, Chairman Mao was very pleased.
They talked for a long time, and before they knew it it was time for dinner.
Mao Zedong looked at his watch and said:
"I've prepared a meal, let's eat it together."
"Why did you eat your dinner so late?"
Yang Kaizhi said.
"Oh, I've already eaten dinner, it's breakfast!"
Chairman Mao said with a smile.
It turned out that Mao Zedong took care of everything day and night, working day and night, often working until late at night, sometimes not falling asleep until two or three o'clock in the morning of the next day, and often eating something before going to bed, and Chairman Mao called this meal "breakfast."
In his later years, Yang Kaizhi
In 1958, Yang Kaizhi was no longer suitable for staying at work due to physical reasons, and the organization decided to let him take sick leave and give him many cares in life.
However, Yang Kaizhi did not stop working because of his sick leave, and he often actively engaged in various social activities with a sick body, uniting people from all walks of life and jointly doing his best for the cause of socialist construction.
On June 25, 1959, Chairman Mao returned to Shaoshan, his hometown after a 32-year absence, and then returned to Changsha, where Chairman Mao cordially received Yang Kaizhi and Li Chongde at his residence in Changsha, and had dinner with them and took a group photo.
During his tenure as secretary of the Hunan Provincial CPC Committee, Comrade Hua Guofeng visited Yang Kaizhi and his wife many times at the behest of Chairman Mao and took good care of their lives.