On October 1, 1949, the founding of New China, many revolutionary comrades who made great contributions to the victory of the revolution gathered in Beijing to witness this important moment in history.
Liu Lantao, then president of the North China People's Revolutionary University, was invited to Beijing, where he met An Ziwen, who had been promoted to deputy director of the Standing Department of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee
The two are old comrades-in-arms for many years, and it will naturally take a long time to meet, chatting and chatting, and talking about the years when they were imprisoned in Caolanzi Prison in Beijing.
Talking about this past, the two of them invariably thought of a person -
Niu Baozheng, the caretaker squad leader code-named "OX"
He immediately decided to find the whereabouts of Niu Baozheng, and if Niu Baozheng was still alive, he would take him to Beijing.
One was a big figure in the Organization Department, the other was the president of the North China People's Revolutionary University, at that time, both of them were high-powered, what did this Niu Baozheng do? Why do the two leaders attach so much importance to the caretakers of an old society?
Niu Baozheng, a native of Wudi County, Shandong Province, was born in a cold and miserable background, was poor when he was young, only studied private school for 5 years, and later moved his family to Dongguan, Wudi County.
In 1919, by chance, Niu Bao, who was already 33 years old, was recruited into the county police brigade, because he was honest and willing to work, first as a soldier, and later promoted to detachment leader.
Unfortunately, at that time, it was a chaotic world, warlords were fighting, around 1928, the Zhilu warlords were defeated, Shandong was no longer peaceful, coupled with the age, Niu Baozheng unloaded his armor and returned to the field and lived a plain life.
In his early 40s, it was a man's sad day, there were old and young, a large family was waiting for dinner, Niu Bao was no way, at home "idle" for a few days, he followed his friend "North Drift" and came to Beiping.
Strangers from a foreign land, Niu Baozheng's days of north drifting are not smooth, he has been seeking more than 2 years in the east and west, and he has not found a way to make a living.
It was not until 1931, through friends, that Gao Jiwu, the head of the Beiping Gendarmerie Investigation Team, was found, and with the help of Gao Jiwu, he entered Caolanzi Prison to fill the vacancy
。
In the same year that Niu Bao was entering Caolanzi Prison, the Hebei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China was destroyed, and the head of the provincial party committee was first the head of the provincial party committee
Chen Yuandao, Hao Qingyu, Zhou Qidun, An Ziwen, Zhou Zhongying, Liu Yaxiong
and so on.
In June of this year,
Guo Yaxian (Guo Zhenxiang), secretary general of the provincial party committee, Liao Huaping, secretary of the Military Commission, Li Guoyu, secretary of the provincial party committee, and Lai De, secretary of the Hebei Mutual Masonic Association party group, defected after being arrested
Subsequently, the underground party organization in the north of the CPC was greatly damaged, and the Hebei Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial Military Commission, the Youth League Provincial Committee, and the Beiping and Tianjin Municipal Party Committees suffered one after another.
Yin Jian, Yang Xianzhen, Liu Lantao and more than 300 other people were arrested and imprisoned one after another
After these comrades were arrested, they were first imprisoned in various places, tried, and then sent to Caolanzi Prison one after another; fortunately, due to the power struggle within the Beiping Kuomintang at that time, few of the comrades who were arrested were sent to Nanjing, basically all of them were serving sentences in Beijing, which also gave them a glimmer of life.
Now that many comrades are in the same prison, it is natural to unite and fight against the evil forces, and soon,
The "Party Branch in Prison" headed by Yin Jian, secretary of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee, was established, and comrades were determined to struggle and study in prison until they "got out of prison with the red flag"
In prison, it is essential to have a stable environment for learning and a good relationship with the guards.
Niu Baozheng, who had been promoted to the position of guard squad leader, became the target of the struggle
To everyone's surprise, it wasn't long before Niu Baozheng actually took the initiative to ask the "prisoners" in prison for help.
It turned out that Niu Bao was receiving a letter from his hometown saying yes
The old mother in the family was seriously ill and had no money to treat him, so he had to find a way
Although he is only a small squad leader, Niu Baozheng also wants face, right? He didn't want people to know that his family was poor, so he found Yang Xianzhen, who looked polite and polite.
Yang Xianzhen, who was in his 30s at the time, was a veteran party member who had been in the party for more than five years, and in the spring of 1931, he came to North China to carry out political intelligence and rescue comrades, but unfortunately, he was arrested in July.
Because the family was cold and embarrassed, unable to treat his mother, even in front of Yang Xianzhen, a "prisoner", Niu Baozheng could not hide his guilt, and his rich underground work experience made Yang Xianzhen keenly aware that Niu Bao was an object that could be won, so he immediately reported to the branch in prison, and the branch immediately agreed to Yang Xianzhen to do Niu Baozheng's work.
After getting the task, Yang Xianzhen not only actively advised Niu Baozheng,
He wrote a letter for Niu Baozheng and gave Niu Baozheng what little money he had, first asking him to treat his mother
When he entered Caolanzi Prison, he was over 40 years old and had experienced many things, Niu Baozheng, who had never been like other guards, did not lie to the prisoners in prison, and scolded them when they moved, but instead behaved very peacefully, and Yang Xianzhen's help made Niu Baozheng grateful, so the two became friends.
After helping Niu Baozheng solve the problem, Yang Xianzhen also told Niu Baozheng about his bitterness at the right time, saying that he usually had no hobbies, that is, he loved to read, but he could be imprisoned for several months, neither could see books nor newspapers, and he was suffocating, hoping that when Niu Baozheng was in charge, he could help buy books and newspapers.
For this kind of small busyness, Niu Baozheng naturally did not refuse, and immediately expressed his willingness to serve, but only asked Yang Xianzhen not to leak the wind, and Yang Xianzhen naturally agreed with his mouth.
Gradually, the two intersected more and more, and other comrades in prison also began to contact Niu Baozheng, unconsciously, under the influence of comrades,
Niu Baozheng's thinking also gradually changed, and he began to sympathize with the revolution
At that time, there were constantly prisoners being arraigned, and many times, Niu Baozheng served as a jury.
He saw many revolutionary comrades speaking passionately in the hall, arguing on the basis of reason, and these were even more like a giant hammer, knocking out Niu Baozheng's heart defenses little by little
Under the active struggle of the "prison branch," Niu Baozheng became the "first contact person" for the comrades, not only taking advantage of his position to take care of the comrades in prison, but also sending intelligence and information for the comrades.
Whenever comrades outside the prison pretend to visit,
Niu Baozheng would always take the position of "surveillance", secretly giving convenience, in order to better serve the comrades in prison, he even developed his wife and son into "offline", often letting them go to Dongsitiao, Gulou Street, Huangchenggen, Cuihua Hutong and other places, but taking letters
In addition to letters,
Niu Baozheng also brought some of Thelmesian writings to the prison, Caolanzi Prison, which became a school for learning Marxism-Leninism
The change in Caolanzi Prison soon attracted the attention of the Kuomintang, and even identified 18 key suspects, and a gendarmerie team was sent to conduct review and surveillance.
In the winter of 1934 and 1935, Niu Baozheng, based on the information he had, successively informed the "prison branch" of the second major review, the reactionary agents disguised as political prisoners, and informed the "prison branch", so that they could calmly deal with it and finally win the struggle.
In 1936, the national anti-Japanese call was high, and there was a shortage of organizational talents, and Liu Shaoqi, who was then the secretary of the Northern Bureau, believed that
The comrades in Caolanzi Prison are all strong backbones, and it is necessary for the organization to adopt certain "strategic means" to rescue them from prison
After receiving a positive reply from the Central Committee, the message was transmitted to the prison through Niu Baozheng, but the comrades in prison resolutely refused to carry it out, because they were worried that this was a trap set by the enemy.
Soon, the Northern Bureau sent a second letter through Niu Baozheng, saying that it was the decision of the organization and hoped that they would make arrangements as soon as possible.
It turned out that at that time, There was a rule in Cao Lanzi that political prisoners who had served more than one-fifth of their sentences could be released from prison as long as they published an "Anti-Communist Notice" in the newspaper publicly, and the Northern Bureau hoped that comrades would do the same so that they could get out of prison as soon as possible.
Many comrades are unwilling to exchange the "Anti-Communist Notice" for freedom against their hearts, because in this way, it is equivalent to openly abandoning the revolutionary belief, and the suspicion of defection and jumping into the Yellow River cannot be washed away...
After discussion, the comrades in prison, through Niu Baozheng, wrote back to the Northern Bureau, expressing their disagreement with the publication of the newspaper and the release from prison, and if they insisted on this, the responsibility for publishing the newspaper would be the responsibility of the organization, and after going out, they would still be party members, and they would be placed according to the formal party members, and the organization would not be able to pursue the responsibility for this matter in the future.
Not long after, Niu Baozheng brought a reply letter from the Northern Bureau, which was accompanied by a copy of the main content of the Northern Bureau's proposal to the Central Committee, which was enough to prove that it was approved by the Central Committee.
Soon, the comrades were released from prison one after another, although the process was somewhat tortuous, but there was no danger.
Unfortunately, after the comrades were released from prison, Niu Baozheng was arrested, for the simple reason that Niu Baozheng had frequent contact with comrades in prison, which aroused the suspicion of the Kuomintang authorities, and he was arrested in prison and sentenced to death.
Niu Baozheng, who was tortured, was unyielding and unyielding, preferring to die rather than confess, which made the reactionaries angry and prepared to punish him with capital punishment.
Hearing this news, the comrades were very worried, this time, it was their turn to help him!
Under the active rescue of comrades, Niu Baozheng was released from prison, not only that, the underground organization also escorted him and his wife and children out of Beiping and returned to their hometown, but soon after returning to their hometown, for various reasons, Niu Baozheng lost contact with the organization.
After the Outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Shandong fell,
In order to make a living, while farming, Niu Baozheng also did some small business, life was very difficult, it was difficult to survive until the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the War of Liberation broke out again, and when Wudi County was liberated, Niu Baozheng was classified as a historical counter-revolutionary because of his position in the National Government, and his life was still difficult...
More than a decade later, in October 1949, when the original prison friends An Ziwen and Liu Lantao met in Beijing, Niu Baozheng was mentioned again, and the two immediately decided to look for this comrade who had given them great help.
then
An Ziwen and others, only know that Niu Bao is a Shandong person, more detailed information is not, looking for someone in Shandong, is tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack
Fortunately, soon after the order reached Shandong, he found comrades who had worked with Niu Baozheng and told them that Niu Bao was a native of Wudi County, so the matter of finding someone was entrusted to Zhang Xuede, who worked in Wudi County.
Therefore, Zhang Xuede began to travel from place to place, visiting everywhere, first finding the distribution of the local cattle surname, and then issuing a "search notice" to the rural grassroots cadres, and soon, someone provided him with a message saying that he was there
In dongguan, the county seat, there is a controlled element, called Niu Baozheng
For the sake of safety, Zhang Xuede checked the enemy and counterfeit files, but he could go through the data and did not find that Niu Baozheng had any relevant records with the organization.
With the mentality of trying it out, Zhang Xuede went to visit Niu Baozheng,
When he said the names of An Ziwen and Liu Lantao, Niu Baozheng was very honest and said that he did not know, but he admitted that he had indeed been a guard squad leader in Caolanzi Prison
Listening to Niu Baozheng say this, Zhang Xuede suddenly realized that at that time, the comrades working underground had many pseudonyms, and when they said names, Niu Baozheng probably did not know, so Zhang Xuede asked him to describe the appearance of the comrades in prison that year, and asked Wuwei County to report and inquire about the pseudonyms used by these leaders in those years.
After verification, it was finally determined that Niu Baozheng was the "OX" who had helped comrades in the past, so Zhang Xuede found Niu Baozheng again and wanted to send him to Beijing, but Niu Baozheng refused, for three reasons:
First, he was old and did not want to leave home; second, he did not make any great contributions, and he was ashamed; third, his only son was not there, and his family was difficult to leave
However, these problems were not problems, and soon the local government helped to solve them, Niu Bao was entering Beijing first, and his family members went later.
After arriving in Beijing,
Niu Baozheng received enthusiastic reception from Liu Lantao, Yang Xianzhen and others, and was placed in Caolanzi Prison to do pre-trial work
At this time, he did not expect anything,
As a prison guard, he would be invited to Beijing by a group of "prisoners" of that year
, and his son, who was properly placed, was assigned to a satisfactory job.
Unfortunately, because of years of suffering and suffering, Niu Baozheng did not enjoy a good old age for several years, and died in 1954 at the age of 68.