Wen | Yue Yue
Edited | Yue Yue Kan history
On January 8, 1976, the beloved Premier Zhou left us forever, and his death was a loss to all the people of Chinese.
In the last years of his life, the most reassuring thing was his motherland and people.
In the 587 days from hospitalization to departure, Premier Zhou held 245 talks – 17 with the staff around him, 55 with regional and departmental heads, 161 times at the central leadership level, 65 meetings with foreign guests, and more than 40 meetings.
These heart-wrenching data make us sigh:
If Premier Zhou can seek medical treatment in time and rest adequately;
If Premier Zhou thinks for yourself, even if it is just a little, you can have more time to witness the progress and prosperity of the motherland.
Heart to the motherland
In 1898, Premier Zhou was born in the poor and weak old China, and he was oppressed by the great powers and suffered from the embarrassment of life since he was a child, which made him establish a grand aspiration of "reading for the rise of China" from an early age.
During his studies, he worked hard and was admitted to Nankai School; later, in order to seek the truth of saving the country and increase his theoretical knowledge, he traveled east to Japan;
When the May Fourth Movement broke out, Premier Zhou, who returned to China, threw himself into the movement and published many articles, successfully graduating from Nankai University;
Later, in order to avoid the Beiyang warlords, he went to Europe to work and study;
After returning to China, Premier Zhou officially joined the revolution.
In 1924, at the beginning of his return to China, Premier Zhou served as the director of the political department of the Whampoa Military Academy, aiming to cultivate more talents for the National Revolution.
He then went to Shanghai to serve as secretary of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee and member of the Central Military Commission.
After Chiang Kai-shek sabotaged the achievements of the revolution in 1927, Premier Zhou immediately led the Nanchang Uprising. After successfully dodging the anti-encirclement and suppression and meeting the wa yao fort, Premier Zhou and his revolutionary colleagues protected the fruits of victory.
In 1937, when the Japanese invaded, Premier Zhou and the Communists joined forces with the Kuomintang to resist, blocking their plans to destroy China and successfully driving them out of the country.
Later, the Communist Party of China, which could have established a new China, encountered the Kuomintang led by Chiang Kai-shek sabotage the peace negotiations and had no choice but to launch a war of liberation.
After 14 years of war of resistance against Japanese Aggression, and after four years of arduous struggle, Premier Zhou and the Communists finally drove Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang to Taiwan, ushering in true liberation and independence on the mainland of the motherland.
From the victory of the war to the founding ceremony, the busiest person was Premier Zhou.
From September 1948 to September 1949, Premier Zhou organized and escorted democratic patriots and cultural elites to the Liberated Areas on many occasions, making indelible contributions to consolidating the democratic united front and uniting talents from all sides.
At the end of 1948, Premier Zhou began to prepare for the emergence of a new government.
In the first half of 1949, the Agreement on Many Issues concerning the New Political Consultative Conference, the Organizational Regulations of the Preparatory Committee for the New Political Consultative Conference, the Organizational Outline of the Government of the People's Republic of China, and, most notably, the Common Program of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference were completed.
From July to September 1949, Premier Zhou determined the nature and historical responsibility of the new CPPCC by organizing and convening several preparatory meetings of the CPPCC, the draft organization of the Central People's Government, the future of the democratic parties, and the domestic and foreign policies of New China.
It can be said that Premier Zhou is the chief architect and organizer of all aspects of New China.
On the day of the founding of New China in 1949, Premier Zhou, who paid attention to his appearance, only wore Zhongshan clothes to attend, and everyone was puzzled by this, not knowing that he had not closed his eyes for several days and nights for this day.
Standing on the upper floor of Tiananmen Square, Premier Zhou looked at his beloved land, and his inner cry believed that all Chinese could hear: "China has really stood up, and Chinese people have really stood up." ”
While he was pondering, the officer in charge of the military parade anxiously ran and said: "Premier Zhou, the number of planes in the military parade is not enough, what should we do?" Premier Zhou immediately ordered: "The number is not enough, increase the number of times, fly twice, and let the people of the whole world look down on China." ”
He is also The Minister for Foreign Affairs
After the founding ceremony, Premier Zhou experienced more such moments.
At the beginning of the founding of New China, a hundred wastes were waiting to be rebuilt, and Premier Zhou began to prepare for the establishment of the Government Council. Since China did not have special diplomats at this time, Premier Zhou was appointed as the foreign minister of the motherland and began to preside over the important work of establishing diplomatic relations with foreign countries.
In order to thank the Soviet Union for its support and assistance, Premier Zhou visited the Soviet Union in early 1950 and signed the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance to create a peaceful international environment for the development of New China.
When the Korean War broke out in June 1950 and the U.S. Seventh Fleet sailed into the Taiwan Strait, Premier Zhou stood up and issued a foreign statement:
"This move by the US military is an armed aggression against China's territory, and China has defeated Chiang Kai-shek, the running dog of Japan and US imperialism, and will certainly succeed in expelling the US aggressors."
The following month, with Chairman Mao's consent, Premier Zhou formed the Northeast Border Defense Army and a strong reserve logistics force.
During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Premier Zhou also traveled to the Soviet Union many times to win its assistance and support.
As the situation deteriorated day by day, US imperialism directly sent troops to interfere in the internal affairs of the Korean Peninsula.
From the perspective of national development and defense, Premier Zhou and other national leaders decided to secretly send troops to support North Korea.
In the end Chinese two years of bloody struggle by the Democratic Volunteer Army gave US imperialism a taste of invincibility for the first time, and such achievements were inseparable from the Soviet support and logistical support won by Premier Zhou.
For post-war China, foreign countries are still in a wait-and-see attitude, which was fully reflected in the Bandung Conference.
In 1955, Premier Zhou went to Indonesia to attend a conference just after undergoing appendix surgery and still very weak.
Although the United States did not participate, it sent a delegation of 70 people, including many administrative officials who had just resigned. Behind the back of the US imperialists, the pro-American countries began anti-communist clichés.
In this regard, Premier Zhou changed his strategy: "If you still read the previous manuscript, the persuasiveness will be greatly reduced, and the pertinence will be very unsatisfactory, so I will write another one and distribute the manuscript to the representatives of various countries." ”
Soon, it was Premier Zhou's turn to speak:
"Mr. President and delegates, the text of my statement has been circulated to you. Having listened to your statements, I would like to add a few remarks.
China came to the meeting for unity, not to fight with each other, and it is normal for countries to argue over the lack of unity of government and opinion, but this should not prevent us from reaching consensus on the issue of opposing colonialism and safeguarding world peace. ”
After Premier Zhou's speech, the applause lasted for a long time.
At the Bandung conference, Premier Zhou eliminated differences and reached an agreement with all parties, which left a deep impression on the countries of the world and improved China's international impression.
Premier Zhou's act has won China a broader space in the international arena.
Every day
Premier Zhou can be said to be one of the leaders with the least sleep in the world, and after the founding of New China, all departments and all work urgently need to be carried out and developed.
As the chief architect of a big country, Premier Zhou is duty-bound to shoulder this heavy responsibility and knows the situation in various departments very well.
So how did he, who was so busy, do it? It can be seen from one detail: whenever the Ministry of Health personnel send documents to Premier Zhou's office, Premier Zhou will spend several days carefully reading the documents and materials sent, and find the heads and members of the department to meet.
Meetings usually begin with Premier Zhou's inquiry, and the questions are often very detailed and targeted. At the meeting, he encouraged professionals to speak freely, but would stop the false answers.
Finally, Premier Zhou will make a final summary and issue instructions based on his own records.
Premier Zhou was very disgusted by the answer that he did not think about the people, and used one of his words: "To do things for the people, it is better not to think about the people, it is better not to do it, and the people do not need him." ”
In the 1950s, in order to strengthen the national defense strength of the motherland, Premier Zhou began the construction and development of the Atomic Energy Division after receiving the instructions of the chairman.
"Atomic energy is the world's advanced technology, and we must pay close attention to preparation and rapid training of talents, and at the same time we must learn from the advanced experience of foreign countries and do a good job."
Premier Zhou said in a serious tone to the cadres and technicians he had personally transferred.
In the next step, Premier Zhou sent Chen Geng and Nie Rongzhen to visit the Soviet Union and signed a decision to assist in the development of nuclear weapons.
However, Premier Zhou also said to the two with great foresight: "You can't always rely on others, you must seize the time and learn the core of advanced technology most effectively." ”
Sure enough, the Soviet Union unilaterally tore up the agreement in the future, and Premier Zhou's words came true.
At this time, Premier Zhou made the decision to "do it yourself and start from scratch" in a timely manner, and used a short period of time to achieve self-reliance and complete the construction of an independent and complete nuclear science and technology industrial system in the motherland.
In addition to caring about military construction, the phrase "the people take food as the sky" has also always haunted Premier Zhou's mind, and he often said: "Only when the people have enough to eat can they build their own homeland." ”
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, against the background of serious difficulties in the national economy, Premier Zhou took command of the expedition and personally commanded and coordinated the allocation of grain throughout the country.
During the period, Premier Zhou clearly pointed out: "The revenue and expenditure of grain in the country is arranged according to the figures provided by the grain department. ”
He also personally summoned the grass-roots cadres of the northern counties and social organizations to listen to their opinions, and finally came up with the method of "weighing grain into the warehouse."
In addition, Premier Zhou also personally inspected the countryside and began to solve the problem of "big pot rice" and achieve his goal of "letting the peasants go home to eat."
During these years, Premier Zhou held a total of 115 talks on the grain issue, personally and timely checked each grain schedule, carefully calculated the grain arrangements, and even moved his office to the Ministry of Grain.
From the 32 surviving reports, we can clearly see that there are 994 handwritings of Premier Zhou.
Impressive is a photograph titled "Grain Parcel Production and Requisition Estimates, 1962-1963."
Last week, the prime minister marked 145 places with pencils of different colors, adjusted and modified more than 40 numbers, 6 handwritings calculated next to the table, and 70 annotated numbers.
Thanks to Premier Zhou's painstaking efforts, China has solved the grain problem and smoothly overcome its economic difficulties.
mainstay
At the beginning of 1964, Premier Zhou was still on the move across the country, dealing with severe droughts and organizing post-earthquake reconstruction efforts.
Premier Zhou used his thin body to resist pressure from all sides. He repeatedly stressed: "The economy is the lifeblood of a country's development, and we must not give up at any time, nor can we let it be chaotic, otherwise it will be irreparable." ”
Premier Zhou soberly saw the root cause behind the problem, and at the State Council meeting, he stressed: "At present, all kinds of indicators of economic construction must be implemented in accordance with the mainland's actual material and financial resources. ”
In reality, Premier Zhou also did the same, he called: "When the momentum of development exceeds reality, we must be willing to streamline and decisively remove the parts that have little effect with the determination of a strong man who breaks his wrist." ”
Then personally organize and arrange the extra workers to go to the city, so that they have been properly resettled and have a living guarantee.
Premier Zhou, who had been busy for a long time, finally saw the momentum of steady growth of the national economy on New Year's Day 1966 and began the belated Third Five-Year Plan.
Sick work
Such hard work made Premier Zhou's health worse and worse every day.
In 1967, Premier Zhou was diagnosed with a heart attack, but this did not stop Premier Zhou from working for the country, and Premier Zhou was still busy every day for the economic construction of the motherland and the improvement of people's lives.
People around me tried everything to persuade Premier Zhou not to work like this anymore, but Premier Zhou accepted it on the surface, but in fact he was still busy.
Finally, in April of that year, after working continuously for more than ten hours at the meeting presiding over the Canton Fair, Premier Zhou had an angina attack and had to rely on daily oxygen and medication to relieve the pain.
The medical staff around him are also on standby at any time, and often sigh: "Dedication is a good thing, but like Premier Zhou, they are almost in their seventies and still work hard, which is heart-wrenching." ”
Even so, Premier Zhou still could not rest assured of his beloved motherland and people.
According to Ms. Deng Yingchao, the wife of Premier Zhou at the time, "At about eight o'clock in the morning, Premier Zhou's hands would shake involuntarily, and his whole body would sweat, but after a while he would be fine." Every time I asked him what was wrong, he laughed and said it was okay, then washed up casually and went to the office, and it was dozens of hours. ”
Every time he listened to the heads and leaders of various departments report on their work, Premier Zhou stood at the table carefully and listened, and the staff next to him asked Premier Zhou the reason, and he smiled and said: "Standing can make yourself awake, and you may fall asleep when you sit down." ”
After entering the 1970s, Premier Zhou's work became even busier.
He did his best to protect the fruits of economic construction and maintain the smooth progress of the third five-year plan, and the pain had long been left behind by him.
Premier Zhou personally did the big and small things up and down the country, and while assisting the chairman to actively govern the country, he formulated specific measures to save the country.
After a long period of construction, the country's economic and cultural life has returned to a normal state of operation, but new problems have emerged in Premier Zhou's body.
In 1972, doctors found 4 red blood cells when he urinated routinely — Premier Zhou suffered from bladder cancer. This is due to the fact that Premier Zhou often does not drink water and holds back urine during the office process.
Whenever he asked about this, he said: "Drink more water to go to the toilet, which reduces the office time, there are many jobs waiting for me to do, time is precious, can not be wasted." ”
Bow down
The year 1972 coincided with a critical period of normalization of Sino-AMERICAN and Sino-Japanese relations. Premier Zhou was aware of his condition and understood his physical condition.
To recuperate one's body one must suspend state work, and one cannot rest oneself in order to continue one's state work.
After weighing the weight of the matter, Premier Zhou decided to continue to burn himself and dedicate himself to the country to the end.
"Only in this way can we be worthy of the trust of the people, so that the people dare to hand over the whole country to me." Whenever he talks about this matter, Premier Zhou will say this.
When liberating old comrades, Premier Zhou was always able to skillfully resolve one contradiction after another with witty words and prompt the participants to quickly reach a consensus;
In the work of normalizing diplomatic relations with the United States and Japan, Premier Zhou influenced the leadership of the two countries through superb diplomatic skills and talents, as well as the admirable personality charm naturally displayed;
Even during Nixon's visit to China in 1972, the US president would naturally help Premier Zhou remove his coat like an old friend.
But Premier Zhou is a normal person, who also needs to rest and will feel tired.
For the sake of his health, the staff could only forcibly set a schedule for him and constantly tried to persuade Premier Zhou to implement it.
One day in 1973, Premier Zhou had not closed his eyes for more than 30 hours. The staff who persuaded him to rest changed batch after batch, but premier Zhou firmly refused.
Later, when everyone recalled this incident, no one knew how much work Premier Zhou had done during this period and how many guests he had received.
From the sun sinking in the west to the moon rising in the east, it is late at night, and Premier Zhou is still reviewing documents.
In the sound of turning the page, the sky was already slightly white, and the secretary on night shift gently walked over to Premier Zhou and said, "Premier Zhou, you have 14 minutes left." ”
Hearing this, Premier Zhou turned to him and said, "You prepare first, I will shave my beard." ”
He originally wanted to stand up at once, but he sat too long, his body was sore, and he slowly stood up through the help of the desktop and walked to the bathroom.
However, after a long time, the secretary did not see Premier Zhou come out, and considering that the time was too late, he returned to Premier Zhou's office, but he did not find anyone.
At this time, a staff member said: "Premier Zhou said to shave, will not come out yet?" ”
As soon as they heard this, everyone quickly ran to the bathroom.
As soon as the door was pushed open, everyone was stunned by the scene in front of them, only to see Premier Zhou's hands drooping, his right arm slightly bent to hold a razor dipped in soapy water, and his left hand holding a towel, and he actually fell asleep leaning on the mirror!
This is our good week premier, who is eager to break one hour into two hours.
Ward = Office
In September 1972, through the continuous efforts of Premier Zhou, China and Japan successfully established diplomatic relations, but his illness worsened.
A few months later, on January 5, 1973, Premier Zhou had a very serious bloody stool situation, and the surrounding staff realized at this time that if Premier Zhou did not go to the hospital again, and then disregarded himself for work, something big would happen!
After Premier Zhou heard about the illness, he seemed to be fine: "I know that everyone cares about me, and after I finish this stage, I will go to the hospital for treatment." "After only a few days of rest, I returned to my previous high-intensity work.
Repeated delays exacerbated Premier Zhou's condition and he was admitted to hospital in 1974. After that, Premier Zhou underwent several surgeries, but the condition was never completely treated, and by the second half of the year, the cancer cells had metastasized.
The medical team, in consultation with the Politburo, decided to perform the resection. As a result, Premier Zhou basically could not return to the office.
But how can Premier Zhou, who can't forget the people and his work, give up? He called in the staff to move all the files into the ward and renovated the ward according to the appearance of his office.
After the resection, Premier Zhou began to gradually increase his workload. The number of meetings, conversation time and approvals have increased significantly.
All this made Premier Zhou very tired, and the medical team advised him to reduce his workload. But with the Fourth National People's Congress about to convene, how can Premier Zhou put it down?
During the examination before going to Changsha, Premier Zhou had another occult blood in the stool, and the doctor advised him not to go, but after careful consideration, Premier Zhou replied: "Since I am on this historical stage, I must complete the historical task." ”
After the Fourth National People's Congress and the successful determination of the central personnel arrangements, Premier Zhou returned to the hospital to receive treatment and recuperation with peace of mind, and it was 1975.
During the routine review, the doctor found that Premier Zhou had blood in the stool every day, and a tumor was also found during the gastrointestinal examination. Subsequently, Premier Zhou underwent tumor resection and bladder cancer electrocautery. After this operation, Premier Zhou's body became even weaker.
People send off
After completing the ceremony to place He Long's ashes in 1975, Premier Zhou underwent a clinical examination.
The medical team found that the lump in Premier Zhou's lower abdomen was the size of an egg, and after examination, it was determined that the cancer cells had metastasized and spread to the entire internal organs, and the doctor had to perform conservative life-sustaining surgery for Premier Zhou.
After this operation, Premier Zhou never got out of his hospital bed again.
At the end of the year, Premier Zhou could only rely on nasal feeding, infusions and blood transfusions to maintain his life. On this occasion, he made a verbal will to his wife.
On New Year's Day 1976, Premier Zhou's life was in danger, and he fell into a long-term coma from time to time. As the cancer spread and the internal organs could not function properly, he underwent colon surgery again.
On January 7, Premier Zhou was unusually sober. At this time, Premier Zhou explained and handed over the affairs of state affairs in detail, and finally he said to the doctor: "I have nothing to do here, you hurry to take care of other comrades, they need you even more." ”
On the morning of January 8, Premier Zhou's vital characteristics dropped sharply, and he entered the dying moment, and died at 9:57 a.m., at the age of 78.
Mrs. Deng Yingchao was responsible for the operation of Premier Zhou's affairs: first, the body of Premier Zhou was pathologically dissected.
"Before his death, Enlai was most worried about the development of medicine in the motherland, and before leaving, he wanted to do something for the country and the people, hoping for everyone's support." She told the truth.
After the autopsy was completed, Master Zhu from the Beijing Hotel came to give Premier Zhou a final haircut. When Master Zhu saw Premier Zhou's remains and thought of his closeness to himself before he died, the tears couldn't help but fall to the ground.
When he was in a good mood, he carefully trimmed his hair and beard.
After all this was done, Master Zhu cleaned his hair and beard on the ground while crying, and took away a wisp of premier Zhou's green silk as a forever remembrance.
Finally arriving was Premier Zhou's dentist, Han Zongqi, who was responsible for the final birthday dress of Premier Zhou's body.
But when he picked up the clothes with tears in his eyes, he found that the shirt was old, and he said unhappily: "How is it old?" How can Premier Zhou Shouyi be like this? If you don't have a new one, I'll pay for Premier Zhou!" ”
The staff hurriedly stepped forward and said: "This was prepared by Sister Deng herself, and she said that Premier Zhou has always been frugal and is usually reluctant to buy new clothes." If you give him a new one, Premier Zhou will not be happy to know it. ”
Han Zongqi had no choice but to give up and silently change Premier Zhou's clothes.
Before Premier Zhou's body was cremated, Han Zongqi took off the "Serving the People" badge on Premier Zhou's clothes and the watch tied to Premier Zhou's hand with a cloth strip as a memorial to Premier Zhou, both of which were later preserved in the memorial.
After cremation, the staff selected the most ordinary and cheapest urns according to the requirements of Premier Zhou's life.
Unfortunately, there are only two such urns left, and they are all flawed. Through comparison, the staff selected a less problem to sheng zhou's ashes.
On January 9, the news of Premier Zhou's death spread across the country.
On January 11, hundreds of thousands of people spontaneously stood guard on both sides of the long street from Beijing Hospital to Babaoshan, holding flowers in their hands and sending their beloved Premier Zhou on his last journey.
Without Premier Zhou's painstaking efforts, China would not have developed today; without Premier Zhou's efforts, China would not have the international status it has today.
No matter when it comes, we must always remember that China has such a great man, who has shown the glorious image of a country's leader to the world with practical actions.