A happy marriage with very different origins
Zhang Jieqing, born in 1912 in Baxian County, Hebei Province, graduated from the English Department of Beiping Women's Normal College in 1934, joined the Party in 1936, and married Peng Zhen in 1939. Peng Zhen is the son of a peasant, and Zhang Jieqing is a lady of an official eunuch's family, two people from very different backgrounds who love each other for decades.
In order not to attract the attention of the enemy, Zhang Xiuyan asked Zhang Jieqing to serve as a traffic officer. Zhang Jieqing, who had just graduated from the Beiping Women's Normal College, only knew that he was going to send a secret document to "Mr. Wei", who was a high-level leading cadre.
At that time, Peng Zhen, who was in his 30s, was already a professional revolutionary with rich experience in fighting against the enemy. Every time she delivered a letter, Zhang Jieqing and Peng Zhen rarely spoke, but she had a good impression of this "Mr. Wei" who was thin and tall and wore a coat, and felt that others were very wise. Soon, Peng Zhen left the Dayi Society and went to Yan'an, the revolutionary base area, while Zhang Jieqing continued to stay in the Bai District to engage in secret work.
In February 1939, the party organization sent Zhang Jieqing to the Jin-Cha-Ji Party School to study. Here, Zhang Jieqing actually met "Mr. Wei", whom he had not seen for several years. At this time, "Mr. Wei" had changed his name to Peng Zhen, serving as the secretary of the Northern Branch of the CPC Central Committee and the secretary of the Jin-Cha-Ji Branch, and at the same time serving as the president of the Jin-Cha-Ji Party School. Peng Zhen lectured at the party school many times, and was soon deeply attracted by Zhang Jieqing's unique charm and frankly expressed his thoughts to her.
Peng Zhen's expression of love made the young Zhang Jieqing hesitate, feeling that he and Peng Zhen's age difference was 10 years after all. In the end, it was Peng Zhen's ordinary but extremely weighty "declaration of love" that made her make up her mind.
In the winter of that year, Zhang Jieqing fell ill with malaria and had a high fever. Peng Zhen went to the party school to visit Zhang Jieqing, saw her being tormented by illness, and said bitterly: "Move to me, let's get married, let me take care of you." ”
An ordinary sentence, but full of deep love. It was this simple and practical sentence that touched the girl's heart. So Zhang Jieqing, who was ill, became a bride and was carried into the cave room on a stretcher. On November 24, 1939, Zhang Jieqing and Peng Zhen married. After that, the story of Zhang Jieqing using a "stretcher" as a "flower palanquin" became a beautiful talk for the people in the Jin-Cha-Ji base area at that time.
The ordeal remains unchanged
In 1966, the unprecedented Cultural Revolution broke out in Beijing, and the cause of the new Chinese legal system that had just been on the right track was destroyed, and Peng Zhen, who personally created the foundation of the new Chinese legal system, was also criticized at the enlarged meeting of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee and suspended from his posts as a member of the Politburo and the secretary of the Secretariat, and at the same time was dismissed from his posts as the first secretary and mayor of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, and was formally imprisoned on December 3, 1966.
Half a year later, Zhang Jieqing, who had been Peng Zhen's secretary, was also imprisoned in Qincheng Prison, which was 7 years. Since then, the communication between the husband and wife has been interrupted. Their daughter, who was studying at Peking University, was sent to a farm in Henan; the eldest son was placed under house arrest on the farm; the second son was sent to work in a line just 200 kilometers from the border; and the younger son was arrested and sent to a juvenile correctional center in Beijing.
The "Gang of Four" gang wanted to open a breakthrough from Zhang Jieqing and designate Peng Zhen as a "counter-revolutionary", and they asked her to expose Peng Zhen's "counter-revolutionary crimes". Until the end, the Gang of Four did not get any "confessions" from her.
In May 1975, after their release from prison, Peng Zhen and Zhang Jieqing were exiled to Shangluo Mountain, Shaanxi Province, in a 10-square-meter hut with two benches supporting a wooden bed. His son Fu Yang and daughter Fu Yan were allowed to take care of them. Until december 28, 1978, he left Shangluo. This was the first time that Zhang Jieqing and Peng Zhen lived a bitter and sweet ordinary family life, and it was also the only time in Peng Zhen's 74-year revolutionary career that he left work to share the joy of life with his family.
In Zhang Jieqing's heart, the feeling of happiness when she reunited with her husband in Shangluo for a long time was unforgettable. At that moment, Peng Zhen stared at the white hair on Zhang Jieqing's head and said, "You are suffering!" Zhang Jieqing burst into tears.
On December 28, 1978, Zhang Jieqing and Peng Zhen were notified to return to Beijing with their families. Not knowing what awaited them, they packed up the tattered furniture and brought it back. As soon as the plane stopped in Beijing, it saw more than 300 people hugging up under the plane, and an airport waitress greeted: "Mayor Peng, we have been waiting for you for many years, and you have finally returned!" It caused a cry from those present.
Soon, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a document to topple all the untrue words imposed on Peng Zhen's head, and Peng Zhen returned to the political arena.
Farewell
In September 1992, Peng Zhen's condition suddenly worsened, and he was critically ill several times. One night, Peng Zhen suddenly felt that he couldn't do it and wanted to say goodbye to everyone. He first said goodbye to Zhang Jieqing: "The two of us, I am very happy with you." This short sentence is the last "declaration of love" that Peng Zhen wants to leave to his wife. Fortunately, after careful treatment, Peng Zhen's body recovered. After lying in bed for nearly a year and a half, he got back on his feet and walked.
5 years later, Peng Zhen became seriously ill again. When death threatened his life, he said to his relatives and staff with the openness of a thorough materialist: "I have no regrets in this life, and we want to say goodbye happily." I hope you continue to struggle! On April 26, 1997, the darkest day in Zhang Jieqing's life, Peng Zhen, a life partner who had been with her for decades, left the world.
Now, 103-year-old Zhang Jieqing also drove to the west, as a comrade-in-arms, as a wife, she finally reunited with her husband in another world.