One day in the winter of 1960, Li Zhen, the first female general to be awarded the title since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and her husband, General Gan Siqi, returned to their hometown of Liuyang, Hunan.
After learning that Li Zhen returned to visit his relatives, the villagers in their hometown were very happy in their hearts, and they came to the village entrance to greet the general's fellow countryman.
But in the crowd of greeters, a middle-aged man quietly left the crowd and returned to his home.
After he returned home, he had been fidgeting, and the man's father was also frowning, but within two days, the father and son suddenly received a letter, and opened it to see that it was written by Li Zhen himself.
So why did Major General Li Zhen write a handwritten letter to the father and son duo? What is the content of the letter? And who are these fathers and sons?
Let's take a closer look at this story and understand the past of General Li Zhen.
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In 1907, in a poor peasant family in Liuyang County (now Liuyang City) in Hunan Province, a girl was born, and her father saw that it was a girl, and his heart was very unhappy.
Therefore, she was not named, but based on her birth in the first month of the lunar calendar, she was called "Danwazi".
And this girl, who was called "Danwazi" by her father, was the founding major general of New China and the first female general of New China, Li Zhen.
Li Zhen's family is very poor, the family only has a few acres of land to live on, in addition to Li Zhen, there are five sisters in the family! The family's life is all dependent on the father.
However, the father was influenced by feudal ideas and believed that he must have a son to pass on the lineage, so after giving birth to six daughters in a row, on the third day of Li Zhen's sister's birth, he died of a heart rhythm.
After the death of his father, the family's life fell on the shoulders of the mother, and seeing that the family of seven was about to starve to death, the mother could not bear it.
Therefore, when Li Zhen was six years old, her mother forcibly endured the grief in her heart and said to Li Zhen, "There is a family with the surname Gu.
There are no girls in the family, looking to find an adopted daughter, mom plans to let you go, are you willing? ”
The young Li Zhen already knew that the family could not open the pot for a long time, so in order to reduce the burden on the family, she said that she was willing to go.
So the mother sent Li Zhen away with tears in her eyes, but when Li Zhen came to the Gu family, she suddenly realized that something was wrong, because she found that there were already three daughters in this family!
It seems to see Li Zhen's doubts, so the eldest daughter of the Gu family smiled and said to Li Zhen,
"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh You don't know it yet, you're here to be my brother's mother-in-law. ”
After listening to this sentence, Li Zhen suddenly understood why her mother was so sad when she sent herself away, and it turned out that she was sent to be a child bride!
After understanding this, Li Zhen immediately cried bitterly, in fact, for a long period of time in China's history, child brides were a common phenomenon.
In order to pass on the lineage of their families, some rich families bought daughters from some poor families early to raise their daughters from childhood, and when they grew up, they became their daughters-in-law.
In the social context at that time, the social status of child brides was extremely low.
They will often be beaten and scolded by buyers, and even some child brides will die because of this.
Therefore, when Li Zhen came to the Gu family, the Gu family did not treat Li Zhen as a person, and often scolded him, and even the children of the Gu family looked down on Li Zhen.
Although Li Zhen was young at this time, he had already experienced the cold and warmth of this world, and the ancient family would ask Li Zhen to do extremely heavy labor every day.
If the firewood is not completed on the mountain, it is a beating; the water is not picked up, in exchange for another beating; the washing and cooking is not timely, it is even more a beating.
It was in this environment that Li Zhen grew up to the age of sixteen, and although she was beaten by her ancient family for many years, this cultivated Li Zhen's tenacious and tenacious character, and she never succumbed to the so-called fate.
Li Zhen
At the age of sixteen, Li Zhen's personality also became stronger and tougher, so once Li Zhen privately contacted several good child daughters-in-law and prepared to flee here together and go to the big city to work as a female worker.
However, before Li Zhen and the others could begin to act, they were detected by the Gu family.
The Gu family quickly contacted the main family of several other child brides- and stopped Li Zhen and others together.
After the operation was destroyed, Li Zhen was exchanged for a more violent beating, and Li Zhen, who was directly beaten, could not get out of bed for several days.
At this time, the Gu family thought that Li Zhen was already sixteen years old, and his age was not small, in order to prevent Li Zhen from escaping, so the Gu family decided to let their sons Gu Tianshun and Li Zhen marry as soon as possible.
So soon after Li Zhen's injury healed, the Gu family held an old-style wedding for Li Zhen and Gu Tianshun, which was also the first marriage of Major General Li Zhen.
However, this marriage is not happy, because Li Zhen is a child bride, so she has been scolded by Gu Tianshun.
Gu Tianshun also always regarded Li Zhen as his own servant, and he would drink from him and punch and kick him if he was not happy.
The marriage between the two has no emotion at all, so the married life of the two has always been stumbling, and Li Zhen also hates this old-fashioned marriage very much.
Once Li Zhen went up the mountain to cut firewood, but suddenly it rained heavily, soaking Li Zhen's body, and in order to avoid the rain, Li Zhen hurriedly bundled up the chopped firewood and took it home.
But at the same time, Gu Tianshun and his mother were also working in the fields, because of this sudden heavy rain, they were also soaked and rushed home.
When both sides returned home, Gu Tianshun's mother was soaked with clothes and had no clean clothes to replace for a while.
Therefore, he accused Li Zhen of not washing clothes, making himself wet and had no clothes to change, and if he was sick with frostbite, it was not enough to sell Li Zhen.
Gu Tianshun's mother's groundless accusations immediately angered this increasingly hardened child daughter-in-law, so Li Zhen immediately refuted,
"I went up the mountain early in the morning to cut firewood, where is the time to wash your clothes?"
Gu Tianshun's mother was extremely annoyed by Li Zhen's words, and even pointed at Li Zhen and could not speak, and at this time, Gu Tianshun saw that Li Zhen dared to confront his mother, and immediately gave Li Zhen a slap!
Then she also scolded Li Zhen, and while scolding, she began to punch and kick Li Zhen again, which made Li Zhen even more angry in her heart, she stopped crying, and then plunged into the torrential rain.
Trotted all the way to the river and prepared to commit suicide by throwing herself into the river, but fortunately, at this time, an old grandmother who was also born as a child daughter-in-law saw Li Zhen and immediately ran over and pulled Li Zhen.
Constantly persuade Li Zhen not to look for short-sightedness no matter what.
Under the patient persuasion of this old grandmother, Li Zhen also gradually gave up the idea of committing suicide by throwing herself into the river, and later when the rain stopped, the Gu family came all the way and brought Li Zhen back.
However, at this time, Li Zhen did not have any good feelings for the Gu family, so when communism spread to Li Zhen's hometown, Li Zhen did not hesitate to join the revolution.
In October 1926, the Northern Expeditionary Army officially entered Liuyang, the revolutionary forces were rapidly expanded, and the revolutionary activities in Liuyang County immediately turned from the underground to the open, and began to continuously propagate revolutionary ideas.
Under the influence of revolutionary ideas, Li Zhen also took the initiative to devote herself to the revolutionary cause, so she actively joined the women's association formed by our Party.
When in charge of the staff of the women's association, Zhang Qilong, secretary of the Liuyang District Committee of the Communist Party of China,
When asking the name of the woman in front of her, although thin, but revealing a spirit, Li Zhen thought about it carefully.
Then he said, "I don't have a name, after I was born, my father called me Danwazi, and I gave myself a name, li zhen." ”
Zhang Qilong said very curiously, "Why did you take this name?" ”
Li Zhen replied that if he threw himself into the revolutionary cause, he would be loyal to the revolution to the end!
These words made Zhang Qilong feel good about Li Zhen, and in the days that followed, Zhang Qilong paid great attention to Li Zhen's every move, and gradually Zhang Qilong became fond of Li Zhen.
Once Li Zhen's mother was seriously ill, but because the family was poor, she did not have the money to go to the doctor, Zhang Qilong learned the news
He directly took out his own living allowance and transferred it to the Li family by the comrades of the Women's Federation.
Li Zhen's mother was also rescued in time, and after Li Zhen learned about it, she was extremely grateful to Zhang Qilong and admired Zhang Qilong more and more.
Later, Chiang Kai-shek rebelled against the revolution, launched the April 12 coup d'état, wantonly slaughtered Communists, and Zhang Qilong's father, uncle and cousin were brutally killed.
At this time, Li Zhen was responding to the autumn harvest uprising led by Comrade Mao Zedong and officially joined the Communist Party of China after the uprising.
After the Gu family knew that Li Zhen not only participated in the revolution, but also joined the Chinese Communist Party, they were afraid of being implicated by Li Zhen, so they hurriedly sent a letter of resignation, declaring that they had nothing to do with Li Zhen from now on.
This also allowed Li Zhen to finally get rid of the shackles of the ancient family and devote himself to the revolutionary cause, and in a battle, Li Zhen's guerrilla group was surrounded by the enemy at Lion Cliff.
The enemy's offensive was extremely fierce, and the guerrillas had only six or seven men left after a bitter battle, and in order not to be captured by the enemy, Li Zhen and the remaining fighters sacrificed themselves to jump off the cliff.
However, during the descent, Li Zhen was blocked by a branch and survived, highlighting the enemy's encirclement, but Li Zhen, who was already pregnant, miscarried, which was the child of Li Zhen and Gu Tianshun.
Li Zhen's mood was very depressed after the child's miscarriage, especially after Li Zhen learned that Zhang Qilong's wife and daughter had also been brutally killed by reactionaries.
Li Zhen was full of pity for Zhang Qilong in her heart, so she often quietly sent hot rice and hot dishes to Zhang Qilong, and also helped Zhang Qilong wash clothes, and compiled a pair of cloth shoes to put under Zhang Qilong's pillow.
Gradually, Zhang Qilong and Li Zhen got closer and closer, and their feelings continued to deepen, and finally the two were approved by the organization in 1932.
Forming a couple, this is also Li Zhen's second marriage.
Soon after, however, a political movement began in the Soviet union, and Zhang Qilong was seriously affected, mistakenly branded as a "reformist" member, and imprisoned.
In order not to implicate Li Zhen, Zhang Qilong signed a "divorce application" during his imprisonment and announced the formal termination of the conjugal relationship with Li Zhen.
After receiving this divorce application, Li Zhen was extremely sad in her heart, and she cried unceasingly, and then she took the initiative to find the security bureau personnel, claiming to continue to maintain her husband and wife relationship with Zhang Qilong!
However, this request was resolutely rejected by the personnel of the Security Bureau, so Li Zhen and Zhang Qilong were forced to end the marriage relationship in tears.
Although Li Zhen once again fell into infinite sorrow, Li Zhen did not fall silent because of this, but instead dried her tears and continued to fight in the front line of the revolution.
Once in order to conquer an enemy stronghold, Li Zhen disguised herself as a bride.
The team disguised themselves as a welcoming party and captured this stronghold in one fell swoop.
However, in the battle, the later founding lieutenant general Yang Meisheng lost a gun, and according to the discipline at that time, if he lost his gun for no reason, he would be shot!
However, Li Zhen, as the chairman of the Soldiers Committee at that time, vigorously advocated that Yang Meisheng be made a meritorious deed, and Yang Meisheng also escaped the disaster, and later Yang Meisheng took the initiative to find an opportunity to attack the enemy army and snatched back three guns in one fell swoop. This also made Li Zhen very happy in her heart.
After the failure of the fifth anti-encirclement and suppression campaign, the Party Central Committee decided to temporarily abandon the Soviet zone and carry out a strategic shift, and the world-famous 25,000-mile long march began.
However, the day before the Start of the Long March, He Long, commander-in-chief of the Red Second Front, summoned Li Zhen, who was then the head of the organization of the Sixth Army of the Red Second Front.
After that, He Long said to her: "The Long March of the Central Red Army has been gone for a long time, and we are about to start the Long March." The Long March is far away and bitter, let me introduce you to a companion.
His name was Gan Siqi, he was the political commissar of the Red Eighteenth Division, a student who stayed in the Soviet Union, had a high culture, and was also a very upright person.
”
Li Zhen was stunned by this, so he replied, "There are so many people on the Long March Road, what other companions do you want to find?" He has such a high culture, but I can't read a few big characters.
Besides, now it's a march to fight, and the bullets don't recognize people, and if I die, he'll have to worry, and if he's dead, I'll have to worry too.
I think it will be said after the Long March! ”
After listening to Li Zhen's words, He Long smiled, Comrade Li Zhen, do you really have to wait for the end of the Long March? Then I will introduce another one to Gan Siqi.
At this time, Li Zhen's face turned red after listening to He Long's words, so he nodded shyly, and then trotted all the way away from He Long's command post.
Later, He Long found Gan Siqi again and said, "There is a female soldier Li Zhen in the Red Sixth Army, she is brave in battle, and she can cook, there are not many female comrades in the Red Second Front, so we can't miss this opportunity!" ”
This happened a year after Li Zhen and Zhang Qilong were forced to divorce, when Zhang Qilong had not yet been rehabilitated. From then on, Li Zhen learned that there was a male show in the Red Second Front army named Gan Siqi.
Gan Siqi, on the other hand, had a good impression of Li Zhen earlier. In 1931, Gan Siqi returned to China from Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow, Soviet Union, and participated in the revolution.
Gan Siqi was born on December 21, 1903, to a peasant family in Nanzhushan Village, Ningxiang County, Hunan Province.
He suffered from illness from an early age, and only entered the village primary school at the age of ten, and later promoted to The High School of Yunshan in Ningxiang County.
Influenced by the revolutionary ideas of Xie Jueya and others, in the summer of 1919, he was admitted to Changsha Changjun Middle School with excellent results, transferred to Hunan Political science and law college in 1923, joined the Chinese Communist Youth League in 1925, and became a member of the Chinese Communist Party in 1926.
In 1927, the party organization sent him to study at Sun Wukong University in Moscow, the Soviet Union, and from then on, he changed the name "Jiang Fengwei" to Gan Siqi. Four years later, Gan Siqi returned to China and was sent by the Party Central Committee to the Xianggan Soviet District to serve as a party representative of the Independent First Division of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.
Soon, Gan Siqi was transferred from a party representative of the Independent First Division to the propaganda director of the Xianggan Provincial CPC Committee. After he arrived at the post, he learned that Li Zhen, military minister of the Ji'an County CPC Committee, was originally planned to be transferred to this post.
Because Li Zhen considered that his culture was not high, he was afraid of personally mentioning the marriage to him, so he had to know her further.
Soon, Gan Siqi was transferred to the Red Sixth Army, serving as director of the political department and acting political commissar, working with Li Zhen, director of the organization department, and had more opportunities to contact each other and understand them thoroughly.
On several occasions, Gan Siqi also directly found Li Zhen for a long talk, from talking about work and ideals to talking about love, and he also helped Li Zhen write a report summarizing the work situation.
Li Zhen was extremely touched to see that this knowledgeable chief was so approachable and cared so much about their work. She specially made a pair of cloth shoes for him, in the words of others, it can also be regarded as a promise gift.
The common work, the common goal, and the common language made the two hearts get closer and closer, and finally accepted the arrangement of Mr. He.
At the beginning of the Long March, he long personally undertook the marriage,
Borrowed a house from a common man's house and formed a pair of deeply affectionate revolutionary couples.
This is also the third marriage of Major General Li Zhen, and this marriage is also a marriage with a beginning and an end, and Major General Li Zhen and Admiral Gan Siqi have always supported each other and gone through the most difficult years until the founding of New China.
On September 27, 1955, New China held the first awarding ceremony of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in Zhongnanhai, Beijing.
As the only woman, Li Zhen is particularly eye-catching among those generals who are in the limelight. After Li Zhen performed a standard military salute, Premier Zhou personally awarded her the rank of major general, shook her hand, and said:
"Congratulations, Comrade Li Zhen, you are the first female general in New China!"
After being awarded the rank of major general, in the winter of 1960, Li Zhen suddenly missed her relatives in her hometown, thinking that she had not been able to go home to visit for so many years, and she was very nostalgic, so she took the initiative to mention the matter to her husband.
After hearing about it, Gan Siqi also agreed to Li Zhen's suggestion, so the husband and wife together sent a family visit report to the central authorities and applied to return to their hometown to visit, and the central authorities approved their applications.
Premier Zhou also personally instructed the two that if there are difficulties, they can be mentioned to the central authorities, and the central authorities will certainly try their best to solve them.
After Premier Zhou left, the two set off to return to their hometown, so there was an opening scene, the middle-aged man who secretly left
It is Li Zhen's first husband, Gu Tianshun.
After gu Tianshun saw Li Zhen, his heart was very scared, so he went home and talked to his father about it, and the father and son were very worried that Li Zhen would take revenge.
However, for several days, the father and son of the Gu family did not see any movement of Li Zhen, until the end of Li Zhen's family visit leave, the father and son of the Gu family suddenly received a letter.
When I opened it, it turned out to be written by Li Zhen himself, which said that he had forgiven the Gu family for his original behavior and let the Gu family live in peace, and this letter also made the Gu family completely at ease.
Before the Spring Festival in 1983, Director Zhang of the Welfare Bureau of veteran cadres of the General Political Department and his party went to Li Zhen's house on behalf of the leaders of the General Political Department to pay respects to li Zhen's house, and Director Zhang took out 200 yuan to tell Li Zhen
"This is an organizationally subsidized living allowance. ”
Li Zhenlian shook his head and said, "This money cannot be collected." We, the surviving old comrades, are already very happy compared with those comrades who sacrificed their lives, and please do not give special care to the organization. ”
Li Zhen's salary is not high, but her living expenses are not small.
More than 20 righteous women and righteous sons want to live, and they can't leave money without opening their mouths.
Often some old comrades came to Beijing to live in her house, and when the money ran out, she also paid for them to buy them tickets and give them travel expenses.
Since 1975, Li Zhen has lived in a very ordinary dilapidated courtyard at the foot of Xiangshan Mountain. The house was in disrepair, the equipment was poor, and the bathroom was often leaking.
Several households share a boiler to boil water for heating, and the indoor temperature is relatively low in winter. The general political leaders repeatedly advised her to move to the city, but she always said: "The house can still be lived." I have a way to keep out the cold. ”
Li Zhen's "method" is very primitive,
She put the bulky and heavy canvas wool toes on her feet, a cotton coat, and a hot water bottle on her knees.
In the spring of 1984, the organization sent someone to persuade her to move. Only then did she agree to move into a military cadre's room in an apartment near Zizhuyuan.
On March 11, 1990, Li Zhen completed her glorious life; when her adopted son cleaned up the relics for her, he found that the female general who had participated in the revolution for 64 years, in addition to the 4 medals that recorded her outstanding military achievements, the other relics were so simple that they could be called "destitute".
Four old rattan chairs that have been used for 15 years and are still reluctant to throw away; a marching box that has been used for 40 years and refuses to replace; a single-door refrigerator with a "snowflake" brand that has been used for 14 years; 11,000 yuan, 2,500 yuan treasury bills; and two small gold bars left over from the war years.
Li Zhen arranged her relics in her will as follows:
One gold bar was donated to his hometown of Liuyang County, and one was donated to Gan Siqi's hometown of Ningxiang County for the development of education;
The deposit is divided into two parts, part of which is donated to the Beijing Children's Palace and part of which is used as its own party fee.