Figure | Zaitao
introduction
After the founding of New China, Zhou Enlai mysteriously took a person to meet Chairman Mao, claiming that this was a "master of the Great Interior" of the Qing Dynasty, hoping that the chairman would entrust him with a heavy responsibility, in fact, to arrange a job.
But Chairman Mao still shook hands with him very respectfully, and he also greeted his family with greetings. In the end, this man was arranged by Chairman Mao at the Artillery Headquarters of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
He also affectionately called him "Bow Ma Wen", who was this man, who would be so appreciated by Chairman Mao.
This person's name was Zaitao, and he was also a figure who called the wind and rain at the end of the Qing Dynasty. This article tells you about the before and after of Zaitao's fate and the deep friendship between Zaitao and Chairman Mao.
He commanded tens of thousands of soldiers and horses
The reason why Zaitao can be appreciated by Chairman Mao is not only because he is both literate and martial, he actually has a special identity, that is, the younger brother of the Guangxu Emperor, the seventh uncle of the last emperor Puyi, who is the seventh son of Belle and Yizhen, the prince of Alcohol xian in the late Qing Dynasty.
A large amount of information by Ai Xinjue Luo Zaitao shows that he was good at horseback combat, could write and fight, and was an out-and-out martial arts master of the Qing Dynasty.
Figure | In the middle is Zaitao
We all know that Puyi ascended the throne as emperor at the age of 3, and this Zaitao became a great general when he was 3 years old. Zaitao was born in the thirteenth year of Guangxu (1887) and was made a second-class Zhenguo general in 1890. What really made him famous was around 1910, when Zaitao was the commander of the Janissaries, in charge of 100,000 elite soldiers.
At that time, the Janissaries were the main soldiers and horses of the Qing Dynasty to protect the imperial palace, they often fought heroically without fear of sacrifice, and swore to die to protect the safety of the emperor and the imperial palace, so Zaitao had such a military power, and his status at that time could be imagined.
And he was both commander and head coach of the Janissaries.
Think of Lin Chong in the novel, who was once the leader of the 800,000 Forbidden Army, which is enough to make people feel frightened, and this Zaitao is like this.
But the tree is a big move, Zaitao has the power of the army, naturally it is coveted by the internal ministers of the palace, but Zaitao has been reading poetry since he was a child, and he has already distinguished between right and wrong in the bad atmosphere in the palace. But at that time, all kinds of unequal treaties were signed, revolutionary armies were everywhere, and if the palace still had to fight for the right to seize military power, then the Great Qing would really die.
From this point of view, Zaitao is for the sake of the overall situation, so the military power in his hands is stubbornly held, and he is also to preserve the last family foundation of the Qing Dynasty.
But Zaitao's dream was quickly shattered by one thing, and that was famous
Luanzhou Autumn Exercise.
In 1911, in order to frighten the people and reinvigorate the people, the regent Zaifeng decided to conduct a large-scale military exercise, namely luanzhou autumn exercise. In fact, the real purpose of this act is to deter Yuan Shikai and thus show off his strength.
Luanzhou, which connects the city of Beijing and Fengtian Province, has been a stronghold of warriors since ancient times and has a very important strategic position, and the grand marshal who was appointed to this autumn exercise was Zaitao.
Figure | Luanzhou autumn exercise scene
The Qing government attached great importance to this autumn exercise.
It was even allocated 18 million silver dollars
It was specially used for funding, and more than 600 mountain cannons, more than 28,000 rifles, 28,800 shells, and 19,488 civilians were employed. This is something that has never been done in the history of autumn exercises in the Qing Dynasty.
In Zaitao's heart, since he had entrusted such an important task to himself, he was bound to show his fists, and he made detailed drill maps for several days in succession, and planned a major military parade.
So, can a single large-scale military exercise really deter anti-Qing people?
On October 10, 1911, a cannon in Wuchang City shattered Zaitao's dream of an exercise, and Zaitao, who was about to start a military exercise, received an urgent notice from the imperial court, Wuchang mutinied, and immediately stopped the military exercise.
The Qing government knew very well that the purpose of the Autumn Exercise at this time was to deter anti-Qing people, but before the exercise had even begun, was there a mutiny. For this reason, Zaitao was urgently recalled to the imperial court to discuss countermeasures.
According to the Beijing Military Advisory Office: "Zaitao, the minister of reading exercises, Wuchang is tight, and the troops are returning quickly..." Zaitao, who received the order, slashed his knife in the palm of his hand fiercely, and blood flowed in an instant, he was warning himself that he was vowing to be rehabilitated.
Zaitao took a train back to Beijing from Luanzhou overnight, but what Zaitao did not expect was that the mutiny caused an uproar in the imperial court, and there were even rumors that,
Zaitao has military power in his hands, will he also rebel?
Figure | Li Jingmai (son of Li Hongzhang), Ai Xin Jueluo Zaitao, and Yin Chang, Minister of War in the late Qing Dynasty
Zaitao, who had just returned to Beijing, told the regent Zaifeng that he proposed to transfer troops from Henan and send troops to Wuchang to suppress and rehabilitate. However, the prime minister of the cabinet at that time was strongly opposed, if all these forces were mobilized, there would only be Janissaries around Beijing, and if the palace was in danger, the Qing Dynasty would be over. Moreover, Zaitao has military power, in case this Zaitao plots rebellion... Before he could finish speaking, Zaitao thundered furiously.
"As a close relative of the royal family, I am naturally thinking about the Qing Dynasty, and it is nonsense to say that I am plotting rebellion." At this time, Wuchang is mutiny, and if we engage in civil unrest again, I am afraid that I will soon be cleared! ”
Although Zaitao retorted in public, he had the power to fight and advocated the transfer of troops, which made many ministers talk about it, and Zaitao was angry.
However, at this very moment, Wu Luzhen, the sixth town commander who participated in the exercise in the autumn exercise in Luanzhou, actually took the lead in plotting rebellion. When this news came, Zaitao's position was in jeopardy, and in order to show his loyalty, Zaitao could only send troops to suppress the Luanzhou mutiny around Beijing.
After Zaitao left, there was still a lot of discussion in the imperial court, and it was suggested that the regent Zaifeng use it
Yuan Shikai
, used to suppress Zaitao.
In fact, this incident left the Qing government completely without reliable people, and yuan shikai had just taken office and seized all military power except for the Janissaries, and in the eyes of the ministers, Yuan Shikai was at least loyal.
However, in order to gain the absolute status of the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shikai decided to get the military power of Zaitao. Deliberately, he spread rumors in the capital and decided to send Belle Ye, that is, Zaitao, to lead the Janissaries to Wuchang to quell the rebellion.
As soon as this rumor came out, Zaitao immediately felt bad, and There were only two roads that Zaitao had to face.
Either lead the army to a bloody battle with the Wuchang Revolutionary Army, or obediently hand over the military power to Yuan Shikai.
Although Zaitao was the commander of the Janissaries, he had never led a soldier to fight, to put it bluntly, he was a military theorist, and to let Zaitao lead the troops to suppress the revolutionary army was simply to send people's heads.
Although Zaitao was able to write and fight, in the face of Yuan Shikai's despicable practices, he was still frightened and obediently surrendered the important military power of the Janissaries.
This incident greatly angered Empress Longyu,
As an imperial uncle, he was so cowardly that he really threw away the royal face.
In fact, Zaitao was very much loved by the empress, and as early as when Zaitao was young, he was sent overseas to study various military theories, which shows that the royal family has high hopes for Zaitao.
But in the face of Yuan Shikai's conspiracy, Zaitao was bitter and could not say.
Figure | Zaitao of the Military Counsellor's Office
A year later, Puyi abdicated. The emperor is gone, the emperor is naturally gone, from the emperor uncle instantly became a commoner, this is what Zaitao does not want to see, he wants to save daqing has long been powerless to return to heaven.
In fact, there is another thing that made Chairman Mao approve of Zaitao, that is, after Puyi established the puppet state of Manchukuo, he asked Zaitao to take office, but Zaitao refused.
Later, chairman Mao saw Zaitao and asked:
Do you still have contact with Puyi?
Zaitao was so frightened that he quickly replied:
He's a war criminal, how can I relate to him?
In fact, Zaitao did not lie, since the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, especially after Puyi colluded with the Japanese, Zaitao and Puyi turned against each other, and this uncle-nephew relationship has also become empty talk.
Chairman Mao personally received him
From the fall of the Qing Dynasty to the founding of New China, Zaitao has always lived as an ordinary citizen, he is good at riding horses, but also likes to raise some flowers and birds, although Zaitao is no longer a relative of the emperor and the state, but he is a patriotic and loyal Chinese, which others are convinced of.
After the founding of New China, Zaitao was invited to attend the second session of the first session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, but the hesitant Zaitao still went to the meeting.
At that time, Zaitao was 63 years old, but years of "maintenance" made him not look very old, he first met Zhou Enlai, what he did not expect was that Zhou Enlai was very kind.
Zhou Enlai shook Zaitao's hand and said: I did not invite you to the first meeting, Blaming me for Han chauvinism, hey, I actually forgot about you, the representative of the Manchu people!
This sentence made Zaitao, who was over sixty years old, instantly wipe away tears, yes, Zaitao has lived among ordinary people for decades, and he is about to forget his identity, and actually Premier Zhou still remembers, which can't help but make Zaitao cry.
Zhou Enlai said: In fact, Chairman Mao is also very concerned about you, and when the meeting is over, I will bring you to Chairman Mao's side, and he also wants to know where you have been all these years!
In fact, Zhou En's words are already very polite, and the story of Zaitao's "civilians" in those years is not unknown, after he became a commoner, the economic source of life was often to set up stalls to survive.
Figure | The streets of Beijing
There is a famous night market outside the Desheng Gate in the north city, called "ghost city", many ordinary people often meet Zaitao here, he often comes here less than 5 a.m. to find a stall, sell some daily necessities and melons, fruits and vegetables, many people will ridicule when they see it: Wang Ye also came out to set up a stall?
Zaitao can only smile and still do his own small business to support his family.
Even his mansion was sold to others because of financial constraints.
In fact, this was a serious setback in Zaitao's heart, when he was Grandpa Belle, he wanted wind and wind and rain and rain, and now he actually sells vegetables on the street, and it is not an ordinary person who can endure such an "insult".
It is said that during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, many traitor leaders went to the "emperor's uncle" Zaitao and asked him to serve as a high-ranking official, and the treatment was not shallow, and even the Japanese came to the door. In fact, this is using Zaitao's identity to do bad things, if Zaitao agrees, it is natural to eat and drink spicy, but Zaitao understands the righteousness and has never promised anyone.
In the eyes of the people of Beijing City, Zaitao has become a real ordinary person, he often rides a broken bicycle, carries a small bird cage in his hand, and hums a small song in his mouth, which is no different from those "old cannons" who sneak around the streets, but the bitterness in Zaitao's heart must be known only to himself.
Zaitao also has a stunt, that is, playing monkeys, when his life is very poor, he will take out his housekeeping skills and stage a monkey show on the street in exchange for some bounties.
Therefore, the more this happens, the more it gives those traitors a headache, in their eyes, this once glorious prince has long been abolished, why ask him to "go out of the mountain" again, it is simply superfluous.
When Zhou Enlai told Chairman Mao about these experiences of Zaitao, Chairman Mao also lamented that Zaitao's personality is difficult to meet.
Zhou Enlai told Chairman Mao with a smile: If Zaitao is still young, he can be your bodyguard?
Chairman Mao laughed: Zaitao used to be a master of Ouchi, and it was naturally okay to be a bodyguard, but he was more than 60 years old.
Chairman Mao said that he could personally see this Zaitao.
Figure | Chairman Mao received Zaitao
Zaitao was thrilled when he knew that Chairman Mao was going to see him, and in his heart, he hoped that Chairman Mao would arrange a job for him, but he also hoped that Chairman Mao would refuse, and this idea lingered in Zaitao's heart for a long time.
On the day of the meeting, Chairman Mao personally greeted him and said: Are you Zaitao? I'm only hearing about the big name and not seeing anyone.
Zaitao was overwhelmed with guilt, and shook Chairman Mao's hand and bowed his head vigorously and shed tears.
Zhou En: I would like zaitao to personally report to the chairman on the situation of Zaitao.
I didn't expect that Chairman Mao was very deeply aware of the great righteousness, and knowing that Zaitao could not speak, he took the initiative to ask, What position do you want to find?
Zaitao hurriedly said: No, no, no.
In fact, as early as the CPPCC session,
Zhou Enlai asked Zaitao to write a proposal on "improving the horse breed to benefit the military", Zaitao was once the leader of the Janissaries who was good at riding horses and was also proficient in weapons, so Zhou Enlai suggested that Chairman Mao would entrust Zaitao with a heavy responsibility.
Chairman Mao personally reviewed the proposal and quickly adopted it.
Within a few days, Chairman Mao consulted with Zhou Enlai and appointed Zaitao as an adviser to the Ma Political Bureau of the Artillery Headquarters, when Zhu De was the commander-in-chief, and when Zhu De was asked, Zhu De had no opinion.
This letter of appointment was quickly signed by Chairman Mao.
Figure | Zaitao's letter of appointment, signed by Chairman Mao
When Zaitao got this letter of appointment, he almost fell to his knees, and he burst into tears and excitedly shook Chairman Mao's hand and said:
Those who know me, Chairman Mao also!
In fact, Zaitao's heart is contradictory, on the one hand, he is a descendant of the Qing Dynasty royal family, which should not be reused; on the other hand, if Chairman Mao arranges his own work, he does not know how to arrange it. This is because Zaitao knows that he is already an old man in his 60s and no longer has the style of being able to write and fight when he was young, and Chairman Mao arranged to be an artillery adviser, which shows that Chairman Mao is really far-sighted.
Figure | Door number: Ma Zheng bureau, first from the right: Director Zheng Xinchao
Special thanks to Chairman Mao
According to zheng xinchao, one of the founders of the ma political bureau, in 1950, when Chairman Mao met with the artillery commander Chen Xilian, he hoped that he and Zaitao would make a friend, and give Zaitao more guidance work, and at the same time let Zaitao assist in affairs.
It can be seen that Chairman Mao was very attentive to Zaitao's work.
In addition to this job, Chairman Mao also arranged for Zaitao to do another personal work.
One day, Chairman Mao asked Zaitao, Are you still in touch with Puyi?
Zaitao informed Chairman Mao that he had not contacted Puyi very early on.
In fact, Chairman Mao knew that Zaitao had misunderstood, so he said:
We eliminate the entire exploiting class, not any one. Your family should care about him, help him, and work together to transform him into a new person, I heard that Puyi studied well, I give you a task, you go to see him. ”
Figure | From left, Pu Jie, Zai Tao, Pu Yi
Zaitao heard Chairman Mao's meaning, although Puyi was guilty of mistakes and guilt, in front of the Communist Party, as long as he could reform himself, there was still a chance, and Puyi had already turned against him, and visiting Puyi this time would inevitably make the former royal family look at Chairman Mao with disdain.
A few days later, at the Fushun War Criminals Management Center, the "last emperor" Puyi was informed that someone had come to visit his relatives, and Puyi, who had been imprisoned for many years, had long been numb and did not make any ideological preparations, but when he saw that it was Zaitao, he instantly fell to his knees on the ground and cried.
"Uncle Seven, is that you?"
Zaitao slowly walked to Puyi's side, and he did not expect that this nephew who had done wrongdoing actually recognized himself, and the two of them hugged their heads and cried bitterly.
"How did you come to see me?"
Puyi asked.
Zaitao choked up and said:
"It was Chairman Mao who asked me to come and see you, and he specifically asked me to instruct you to study hard and not make any more mistakes."
Puyi nodded frequently.
Zaitao told Puyi that he is now serving in the People's Liberation Army, and that the former royal family has been cared for by the central government, and everyone has been particularly well taken care of, and also talked about the Communist Party's policy towards ethnic minorities, which made Puyi cry, and he had no distractions in his heart.
Figure | On the right is Jae-taung's daughter Yun-hui, later renamed Kim Yoon-sung
In 1959, Puyi was pardoned for his good performance, and when he came out, he saw his well-to-do family, the second sister had founded a street nursery, the third sister was participating in the study of the district CPPCC committee, the fourth sister worked in the archives department of the Forbidden City, the sixth sister was a painter, the seventh sister was an educator, and the fourth brother was a primary school teacher.
All this made Puyi very happy, knowing that Puyi came out, Zhou Enlai also went to visit Puyi and took a group photo with the family.
Figure | Zhou Enlai received the Ai Xin Jue Luo Zaitao family
At the family banquet, Puyi cried and said to Zhou En: Thank you and Chairman Mao so much, as well as the benefactors of the Party Central Committee, there is no embarrassment to us, and let us all live a stable life, and we will certainly do our best where there is a need in the future.
After Zaitao took office, he did his best.
In November 1950, the Korean War was raging, when we had no air superiority and enemy aircraft bombed our transportation lines indiscriminately. At that time, in order to solve this situation, the Central Military Commission decided to "you hit yours, I hit mine" and immediately and quickly sent 25,000 military horses to the Korean front. At that time, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De personally called Zaitao and told him about the decision.
Figure | The first on the right is Director Zheng Xinchao, and the second from the right is the adviser Zaitao
Zaitao immediately led the working group to the northeast, Inner Mongolia and other places to select military horses, in order to familiarize himself with the situation of the national military horse farms, he personally came to Mudanjiang, Zhaodong and other military horse farms to investigate, which can be said to have done a lot of work. Within a few days, he selected 25,000 military horses to safely cross the Yalu River, winning time for the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. Because of this incident, Zaitao was also commended.
According to Zaitao's granddaughter, they were full of pride whenever they mentioned this matter, and grandpa was 63 years old at the time, and still personally went out on the expedition, setting an example for us.
In 1951, Chairman Mao specially sent someone to give Zaitao a gift, which was a brand-new bicycle, and Zaitao smiled when he saw it:
This Chairman Mao probably saw that I could not go on riding a broken car for many years, and this was good, and I had a "BMW".
Since then, I have ridden this "BMW" to and from work, showing off a lot, claiming that the chairman gave it to me.
Later, once, when Zaitao's house was leaking and there was no money to repair it, Chairman Mao instructed his secretary to take a part of his own manuscript fee and repair the house for Mr. Zaitao, which made Zaitao grateful to Chairman Mao.
In fact, because of the horse selection in the Korean War, Chairman Mao already admired Zaitao, and Zaitao liked to play monkeys, and every time he saw Zaitao, he was affectionately called "Mr. Bow MaWen".
Figure | Zaitao and Puyi and other relatives were together
Since then, Zaitao has a strong preference for military horses, and if someone dares to beat military horses with a whip, Zaitao will be very angry, he knows horses, loves horses, lets horses serve people, contributes to the people's army, and becomes a beautiful talk in the People's Liberation Army.
Later, Zaitao was elected as a deputy to the National People's Congress and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and was elected as the deputy head of the Ethnic Group of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and served as the deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Ethnic Affairs Committee. Although he was the emperor's uncle, he always believed that in the second half of his life he should have set up a stall among ordinary people to survive, and it was Chairman Mao who gave him great help, and this kind of affection could not be repaid no matter what.
According to Zhang Shizhao's recollection, one day he went to Zaitao's house to visit him and found him lying on the side of the case writing, crying while writing.
Later, I learned that it was Zaitao writing a thank-you letter to Chairman Mao, crying bitterly while writing it.
Zaitao's son PuXuan, a teacher at Beijing's No. 85 Middle School, recalled that Zaitao was very strict about the education of his children and grandchildren, and that he should always do things in peace and security under the leadership of the Communist Party, and change his surname to Jin.
On September 2, 1970, zaitao died of illness in Beijing at the age of 83
The ashes were placed in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing. He was the commander of the Qing Dynasty Janissaries, he was the last emperor's uncle, and he was also an adviser to the PLA artillery.
Resources:
"Biography of Mao Zedong", "The Last Emperor Uncle: The Biography of Zaitao", "Memories of the Qing Palace", "The Story of Leader Mao Zedong"