On July 6, 1976, after Zhu De's death, Chairman Mao's condition became more serious. Before Chairman Mao's death, the members of the Politburo of the Central Committee came to Chairman Mao's bedside to bid him a final farewell. During this process, Chairman Mao also stayed on the bed listening to everyone's reports, until Ye Jianying came to the bed, and Chairman Mao's eyes flickered and beckoned Ye Jianying to come to him.
Chairman Mao and Ye Jianying
According to the recollections of those present at the time, when Ye Shuai bid farewell to Chairman Mao, they had just retreated to the door, and Chairman Mao called Ye Shuai back. Then, why did Chairman Mao summon Ye Jianying for the second time? What kind of instructions did he leave for Ye Jianying? Many years later, Ye Jianying also expressed Chairman Mao's deathbed instructions.
Chairman Mao and Ye Shuai shared a lot of time
On New Year's Day 1976, the last New Year's Day in Chairman Mao's life, Chairman Mao published two poems he filled out in May 1965, namely "Water Tune Song Head, Heavy on Jinggangshan" and "Nian Nu Jiao Bird Q&A". Chairman Mao was 83 years old this year, and Ye Shuai was nearly eighty years old.
Ye Shuai had an unspeakable fondness for Chairman Mao's poetry, and as early as the Yan'an period, he often read Chairman Mao's poems, and whenever he read something wonderful, he would always clap his hands and applaud uncontrollably.
And when Chairman Mao published these two poems on New Year's Day of this year, Ye Shuai, as always, held the scene, and he intently read them word by word, tasting the unique charm of them. When he saw the writing time on "Birds Q&A", Ye Shuai couldn't help but exclaim and muttered to himself: "It was also written in the autumn of 1965!" Ten years. ”
In fact, in the same year, Ye Jianying also wrote a seven-law poem "Distant Vision", and to Ye Shuai's surprise, Chairman Mao's poem and his poem were created at the same time and in the same background. The poem "Distant Prospects" was written on a small note during the meeting, and later transmitted by Elder Dong to Beijing and published in Guangming Daily.
Ye Jianying
Although Chairman Mao did not make any comments on this matter at that time, the next incident made Ye Jianying feel mixed feelings and shed tears. At Chairman Mao's 72-year-old birthday banquet, he immediately copied it to Mao Anqing and Shao Hua word for word.
Later, Mao Anqing forwarded chairman Mao's copied "Distant Vision" to Ye Shuai, and said in the annex:
"Uncle Ye, I remember that before New Year's Day in 1966, we went to visit my father, and my father wrote a poem "Distant Prospects" with a stroke of his pen to educate and encourage us."
Ye Jianying was not only an outstanding military expert, but also a poet with extremely profound attainments, and Chairman Mao also greatly agreed with this, so in 1965, Chairman Mao said in a letter to Chen Yi: "The Seven Laws of Sword Yingshan, the Five Laws of Dong Laoshan, you must study the laws and poems, you must ask them for advice." ”
In addition to the exchange of poetry, Ye Jianying and Chairman Mao also had a deep friendship in private. The exchange between the two began in the Soviet zone, when, at the time of the second and third encirclement and suppression, when Chairman Mao was in trouble, Ye Jianying unswervingly supported Chairman Mao's opinion.
For Chairman Mao, being able to get Ye Jianying's support was undoubtedly a charcoal in the snow, and in his recollection, Chairman Mao said emotionally: "At that time, there were not many people who insisted on my opinions, and Jianying was one. ”
Ye Jianying and Mao Zedong
Later, during the Long March, Ye Jianying also helped Chairman Mao escape from danger three times. Whenever he thought of that experience, Chairman Mao was always full of emotions, and often mentioned Ye Jianying to people praising his merits:
"Comrade Ye Jianying has made great contributions at the crucial moment; without him, he would not have himself; he saved the Party, the Red Army, and us."
Later, Chairman Mao's heavy use of Ye Jianying was not only based on this, as we all know, Chairman Mao was a commander who knew people well and used them well, and he was able to choose the most suitable job for each person according to his characteristics. In 1948, with the changes in the war situation, our army needed more cadres to come out and take the lead alone, and at this time, Chairman Mao did not hesitate to send Ye Jianying to serve as the president and political commissar of the North China Military and Political University.
Here, it is necessary to mention Ye Jianying's resume to better understand the reasons why Chairman Mao reused Ye Jianying. Ye Jianying was a soldier who graduated from the Yunnan Daowu Hall of the regular military school, and was also a famous general in the Cantonese Army and an instructor in Huangpu, who also participated in the Eastern Expedition and the Northern Expedition, and planned the Nanchang Uprising and the Guangzhou Uprising. Not only that, Ye Shuai was also a person who drank foreign ink and studied in the Soviet Union, so for Chairman Mao's appointment, I am afraid that there is no more suitable candidate than Ye Jianying.
Thanks to Ye Jianying's outstanding deeds, when Peiping was about to be liberated, Chairman Mao once again appointed Ye Jianying as the first mayor of new Peiping and director of the Military Control Commission. After the People's Liberation Army reached Guangdong, Chairman Mao again drafted a telegram sending Ye Jianying out of the mountains to command the war of liberation between Liangguang and Hainan Island.
Along the way, with every appointment of Chairman Mao, Ye Jianying not only fulfilled his tasks brilliantly, but his work was also remarkable. Chairman Mao also commented that Ye Jianying was "only cautious in his life, and Lü Duan was not confused about major matters." ”
And Ye Shuai was able to achieve such an achievement, not only based on his own wisdom and open-mindedness and efforts, but also behind the leadership and influence of Chairman Mao. In the 1960s, the mainland's economy was in trouble, and in order to tide over the difficulties with the people of the whole country, Chairman Mao took the lead in tightening his belt and eating only vegetables without meat.
Under the influence of Chairman Mao, Ye Jianying also refused to eat meat, and Ye Jianying did not move his chopsticks when eating with his daughter, and when his daughter inquired, Ye Jianying confided the truth, and even Chairman Mao refused to eat meat, how could he eat it.
Ye Jianying and daughter
Ye Jianying choked up in front of his daughter and said what he thought in his heart, and his heartache for Chairman Mao was unmistakable in front of his daughter. In this way, the two of them cherished each other for a lifetime, and even before Chairman Mao's death, they never forgot Ye Jianying, and twice in succession asked him to leave instructions in front of the bed.
Chairman Mao left Ye Jianying with a deathbed entrustment
In the 1970s, Chairman Mao did enter the stage of old age, because of his long-term fatigue and old age and infirmity, he suffered from a variety of diseases and fell into the torment of illness. As his condition gradually deteriorated, the chairman could no longer eat, and even drinking liquid food would be choked.
In order to ensure the nutrition needed by the chairman's body, the medical staff and cooks specially configured the nasal feeding, which was injected through a catheter inserted into the nose. However, Chairman Mao also had a serious pulmonary heart disease, and often lacked oxygen and was held back so that even his lips turned purple.
When the medical staff recalled the situation at that time, they could not help but choke and said that at that time, Chairman Mao could not move on the bed for a long time, and pressure sores had grown on both sides of the hip, but Chairman Mao never cried out in pain, just a faint smile to comfort the staff around them and told them not to worry. Whenever the medical staff saw the chairman's devastated body, they all wept bitterly.
Mao Zedong
In 1976, Chairman Mao's physical condition was even worse. At the same time, the successive deaths of Premier Zhou and Marshal Zhu De dealt a heavy blow to Chairman Mao spiritually. Depressed every day, he became more and more aware that he was running out of time.
During the Spring Festival of 1976, Chairman Mao spent his time in sorrow and desolation, and the children did not return to his side, nor did they accompany him for the New Year. On this day, Chairman Mao ate only some rice and Wuchang fish as usual, and then he just sat quietly and looked at the staff around him.
At midnight, listening to the sound of firecrackers outside the red wall, Chairman Mao knew that it was the New Year, and the chairman of this Spring Festival was lonely, but he thought that he could not let the children around him sit with him, and the young people should put some firecrackers during the festival, lively and lively. When he said that, a kind smile appeared on his face. At any time, Chairman Mao can always put himself in the shoes of other people and take into account the ideas of others, and Chairman Mao always treats the staff around him as children.
On September 8, 1976, the day before Chairman Mao's death, Chairman Mao finally met his child Li Min, and it can be seen from the medical records of that day that chairman Mao still insisted on reading documents as many as 11 times when Chairman Mao was critically ill and rescued, adding up to two hours and fifty minutes.
But who knows that at that time, Chairman Mao's upper and lower limbs were inserted with intravenous catheters, chests were installed with ECG monitoring wires, nose feed tubes were inserted in the nose, and documents and books were also shown to the chairman under the support of others. It is conceivable that Chairman Mao had amazing perseverance and attached great importance to major state affairs.
On the evening of September 8, when Chairman Mao was dying, the Politburo members, including Ye Jianying, bid him a bitter farewell.
According to Wu De, secretary of the Beijing Municipal CPC Committee at the time, he was in the same group with Ye Shuai and Li Xiannian that day, and Chairman Mao was still conscious at that time, because Chairman Mao knew when they reported their names, and his hands were still moving as if they were looking for glasses or something. According to Wu De, after their meeting with Chairman Mao, when they had just retreated to the door, Chairman Mao asked Ye Shuai to go back, and the two stood at the door waiting for Ye Jianying.
At the door they saw Ye Shuai walk up to Chairman Mao's side and shake his hand, and Chairman Mao seemed to want to say something, but he couldn't say anything anymore. Therefore, they do not know exactly what the two said. After a while, Ye Shuai came out.
But that night they did not leave, and all the people were outside Chairman Mao's hospital room looking at the electrocardiogram monitor, and it was not until they saw that there was no change or beating on the monitor that the crowd realized that the great Chairman Mao had left them forever.
Chairman Mao is dead
In fact, at that time, except for Wu De's version of Recalling Ye Jianying's Meeting with Chairman Mao. There is another version, when the members of the Politburo of the Central Committee came to Say goodbye to Chairman Mao's hospital bed, Chairman Mao's eyes were closed and there was no movement, but when Ye Jianying came over, Chairman Mao opened his eyes and flashed his eyes, and used his last strength to gently swing his arms, but at that time Ye Jianying was immersed in sadness and could not extricate himself, so he did not notice Chairman Mao's actions, and when Ye Jianying walked out of the ward and just stepped out of the door, Chairman Mao suddenly woke up and beckoned him to go back.
The nurse next to her saw Chairman Mao's subtle movements, so she quickly informed Ye Jianying and said, "Chief, the chairman greets you." Ye Jianying immediately walked back to the ward and bent down to listen to Chairman Mao's words, but Chairman Mao only opened his eyes, the corners of his mouth were slightly open, and he couldn't say anything, Ye Jianying grabbed Chairman Mao's hand and wanted to guide him to say it, but he never heard Chairman Mao say the same word, and finally Chairman Mao gently patted the back of Ye Jianying's hand with his finger, and Ye Jianying had to drag his feet out of the ward.
Ye Jianying and Chairman Mao
Many years later, Ye Jianying also gave Chairman Mao's last instructions to him before his death at a Politburo meeting.
Combined with Chairman Mao's feelings during his lifetime, he believed that Chairman Mao wanted to assist Hua Guofeng, then the first vice chairman of the CPC Central Committee, after his death, because Hua Guofeng was still in a shallow seniority at that time, and there was a great need for a central leader like Ye Jianying, who was wise and had a certain prestige, to assist him. In this regard, Ye Jianying said that he did regard Hua Guofeng as a post-lord, and although his energy was limited, he still wanted to do his best to assist him.
Hua Guofeng Ye Jianying gathered at Chairman Mao's former residence
In fact, long before Chairman Mao's death, Ye Jianying and Hua Guofeng also came to Chairman Mao's former residence. Here the two had a brief encounter.
On the eve of the founding of New China in 1949, Ye Jianying was in charge of South China, while Hua Guofeng went south with the army and also came to Hunan, serving as the secretary of the Xiangyin County Party Committee and the Xiangtan County Party Committee.
In Chairman Mao's hometown, Hua Guofeng made extremely rapid progress. In 1959, Chairman Mao went out to inspect Changsha, and Hua Guofeng accompanied Chairman Mao on a tour of his hometown. After this inspection, Chairman Mao nominated Hua Guofeng as secretary of the Secretariat of the Hunan Provincial CPC Committee. After this, Ye Jianying also came to Shaoshan, so the two had a separate contact.
In fact, before this, the two people were not familiar, but the first time they met, the two were not strange, on the way to Shaoshan, Marshal Ye Jianying gently hummed a song about the bandits, seeing this, Hua Guofeng also sang along. And when Hua Guofeng came to Shaoshan, he could see that his mood was very good, because every villager around him was greeting Hua Guofeng and calling him Secretary Hua kindly.
Hua Guofeng
In this regard, Ye Jianying was very confused, so he asked him if he often came to Shaoshan. Hua Guofeng replied that when he was working in Xiangtan, he came more and knew the villagers. At this moment, Mao Jisheng, deputy secretary of the party committee of the Shaoshan Administration Bureau, ran over, greeted Ye Jianying, and then directly said to Hua Guofeng that the management of Chairman Mao's former residence is now no longer under the control of Xiangtan, and it has been given to the leaders of the Provincial Cultural Bureau. He also laughed and said: The culture is low, the people's hearts are united, and they can also move Taishan.
Hearing this, the two people laughed loudly, and Hua Guofeng said in a serious tone that Chairman Mao's former residence was changed to a provincial leader in order to unify management, and now there is a special office collecting historical materials on Chairman Mao and preparing to set up the Chairman Mao Exhibition Hall as soon as possible.
After hearing this, Ye Jianying also excitedly asked the central authorities whether they had not approved it. Hua Guofeng has agreed to return to the present Central and Southern Bureau, and if the Central Committee does not agree, it is ready to cut first and play later.
After coming out of Chairman Mao's former residence, Ye Jianying came to the Shaoshan Administration Bureau to visit the Mao Zedong Youth Showroom here. In order to see the words on the picture clearly, Ye Jianying bent down and looked at the pictures on it word by word, while Hua Guofeng stood behind him and discussed something with Ye Jianying from time to time.
And when Ye Jianying read it, he wrote a poem "Seven Absolutes" in his excitement: "Six hundred million compatriots call for longevity, and the five continents are called teachers." If you want to trace the source of the river to the stars, the Shaoshan wind is intriguing. In fact, of these six hundred million compatriots, Ye Jianying first wrote five, but because it was repeated with wuzhou, it was changed to six.
After Hua Guofeng, who followed behind him, read this poem, he clapped his hands and applauded, in his opinion, although he did not understand any poetry, he felt that this poem was very flavorful, especially on the "patience" word of "Shaoshan wind and things are intriguing", this word of resistance tells the things of thousands of generations. Seeing this, Ye Jianying also smiled modestly and shook Hua Guofeng's hand.
After this, Hua Guofeng became the "successor" at the behest of Chairman Mao. So, by what did Hua Guofeng gain Chairman Mao's trust and affection?
First, Hua Guofeng's resume is well known, both grassroots work experience, as well as provincial and central work experience, so in terms of resume, Hua Guofeng can pass the pass. Second, and most importantly, Hua Guofeng is honest and loyal to his leaders.
Chairman Mao also had a high appraisal of Hua Guofeng, saying that his style of doing things fairly and acting was not pure. However, from Ye Jianying's point of view, the main reason why Chairman Mao chose Hua Guofeng was that he was someone that Chairman Mao could accept in all aspects.
Whether it is from work experience, work style, style of conduct, or temperament, personality, every bit of Chairman Mao of Hua Guofeng is in the eyes, so after careful consideration, Chairman Mao selected Hua Guofeng as the ultimate successor. Therefore, Ye Jianying believed that Chairman Mao's dying instructions were to ask him to assist Hua Guofeng. However, for this successor, Ye Jianying naturally agreed with the chairman's opinion, adopted a supportive and cooperative attitude, and said that Hua Guofeng was "an extraordinary person at an extraordinary time."