Lao Qin wrote an article yesterday entitled "In 1973, Chairman Mao Said to Li Desheng, Commander of the Beijing Military Region: You Are a Companion," in which he mentioned that after graduating from study at the Beijing Higher Military Academy, Major General Li Desheng returned to the Twelfth Army as a military commander and did several major things that attracted the world's attention.
On October 13, 1968, Li Desheng attended the opening ceremony of the Twelfth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Chairman Mao asked him to talk about the experience of the Twelfth Army in rectifying Wuhu. Li Desheng's simple sentence "great public opinion" is precise, concise, and humble. Chairman Mao liked him from the bottom of his heart.
The First Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China would be held on April 28, 1969, and Li Desheng was elected as a member of the Central Committee at the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China held earlier. When he was reading the list of members and alternate members of the Politburo sent by the Secretary Group of the Congress for discussion, he suddenly saw his name -- it was among the candidates for the Politburo of the Central Committee!
He couldn't help but be surprised.
When he found that Xu Xiangqian, Nie Rongzhen, Chen Yi and other veteran coaches were not on the list, he felt even more confused.
With this confusion and uneasiness, he went to Xu Shiyou, commander of the Nanjing Military Region, the old leader, and Chen Xilian, commander of the Shenyang Military Region, to talk to him.
Both Xu Shiyou and Chen Xilian were also nominated as members of the Ninth Politburo.
They told Li Desheng that this was a special arrangement made by Chairman Mao and the Central Committee.
Li Desheng felt a little incredulous and begged them to go to Chairman Mao and reflect, "Don't choose me."
Both Xu Shiyou and Chen Xilian waved their hands and said, "Absolutely not, this is chairman Mao's decision." We resolutely cannot do this. ”
In this way, Li Desheng was elected as an alternate member of the Politburo at the First Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
That day, Zhou Enlai read his name when announcing the election results. Chairman Mao, who was sitting on the rostrum, was greatly encouraged, interrupted Zhou Enlai's reading, and said in a loud voice: "I want to see Comrade Li Desheng again." ”
Li Desheng stood up somewhat shyly and saluted Chairman Mao with a military salute.
Chairman Mao looked at Li Desheng, who was physically strong and full of spirit, and asked from afar: "How old are you this year?" ”
Li Desheng replied in a loud voice: "Chairman of the report, I am 53 years old. ”
"53 years old, 53 years old is the age of rich and powerful." Chairman Mao muttered to himself.
Li Desheng was elected as an alternate member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee as a commander of the People's Liberation Army. This is the only time in the history of the Party.
After the First Plenary Session of the Ninth CENTRAL Committee of the Communist Party of China, Xu Shiyou, Chen Xilian and others returned to local work.
Li Desheng thought that he was the same as them and would always work at the local level.
However, shortly after he returned to Anhui, Zhou Enlai personally called him and said, "Chairman Mao and the Party Central Committee have decided to transfer you to Beijing to work. ”
Thus, on July 28, Li Desheng returned to Beijing.
Zhou Enlai told him clearly that the Central Committee had decided that in addition to participating in the activities of the Politburo, he would also participate in the work of the State Council's operational group and the Central Military Commission's office group, and at the same time still hold the posts of Anhui Province, the Anhui Provincial Military Region, and the Twelfth Army.
He instantly felt a tremendous heaviness on his shoulders.
Subsequently, Zhou Enlai went with him to Zhongnanhai to meet Chairman Mao.
The first time he talked to Chairman Mao face-to-face, he was both excited and nervous.
However, as soon as he arrived at Chairman Mao's study, his nervousness was swept away.
Chairman Mao was particularly easy-going, wearing a pair of pajamas, and cordially beckoned them to sit.
Chairman Mao was reading before they came, and he put down the book in his hand, asked Zhou Enlai's reading glasses to try on, and looked at them from near and far.
At the end, he also handed his glasses to Li Desheng and asked him with concern: "How are your eyes?" Old flowers? Give it a try. ”
Li Desheng's eyes are already old, and reading books and newspapers is to wear reading glasses.
Chairman Mao's very casual demeanor, like treating an old friend, made him feel very cordial.
Their conversation that day was very lighthearted.
Chairman Mao pointed to his room full of books and suggested that Li Desheng also read more books, and also specially recommended to Li Desheng the books "Dream of the Red Chamber," "The Theory of Heavenly Speech," and "The End of the Chronicle of the General Jian."
After becoming acquainted with Chairman Mao, Li Desheng boldly made a request to him, saying that since he had been transferred to Beijing to participate in the work of the Central Committee, he was still concurrently serving as secretary of the Anhui Provincial CPC Committee, director of the Provincial Revolutionary Committee, and deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Region.
Chairman Mao laughed heartily and said, "Don't be exempt, don't be exempt from a single one." Nanjing's are not exempt, and Anhui's are not exempt. ”
It can be said that Chairman Mao was very appreciative and trusting of Li Desheng.
On August 17, 1967, the CENTRAL Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission decided to establish the Central Military Commission Office Group, and the list of personnel in the preparation did not contain Li Desheng's name. When Chairman Mao examined and approved the list, he personally added the words "and Comrade Li Desheng." In this way, Li Desheng once again entered the work of the Central Military Commission's office group.
Compared with the military, Chairman Mao attached more importance to political construction.
At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chairman Mao clearly instructed: Political work is the lifeline of our army.
Therefore, in addition to arranging for Li Desheng to enter the work of the Central Military Commission's office group, Chairman Mao also began to arrange for Li Desheng to be the director of the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army.
The predecessor of the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army was the General Political Department of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, which was founded in 1930, and Chairman Mao, Wang Jiayan, Ren Bishi, Liu Shaoqi and others all served as directors of the General Political Department during the revolutionary war years. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, those who served as directors of the General Political Department included Luo Ronghuan, Tan Zheng, and Xiao Hua.
Chairman Mao proposed Li Desheng at a meeting of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee to discuss the selection of the director of the General Political Department.
Xie Fuzhi, then a member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, vice premier of the State Council and minister of public security, and a member of the Central Military Commission's office, objected.
Xie Fuzhi was an old leader of Li Desheng for a long time from the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression to the War of Liberation, and he said in his speech: "Li Desheng is a pure soldier and is not suitable for political work. ”
Chairman Mao was very unhappy, and immediately asked him back: "Li Desheng is not suitable, are you suitable?" ”
Xie Fuzhideng was speechless and stopped talking.
In this way, under the personal interrogation of Chairman Mao, Li Desheng eventually became the director of the General Political Department.