In 1949, after the founding of New China, a number of founding fathers jointly wrote a letter requesting the central government to help find a life-saving benefactor, which was paid attention to by the central government, according to the clues provided by the founders, this life-saving benefactor was code-named "OX" in English, and in addition to the name, only his place of origin was known in Shandong Province.
In order to realize the demands of the founding fathers for retribution as soon as possible, the central government asked Shandong Province to inquire about the whereabouts of this man named "Niu Baozheng" on his behalf.
After receiving the order from the central authorities, the Shandong side did not dare to be idle, and soon launched an investigation. In the preliminary investigation, the existence of Niu Baozheng was not found in the household registration file registered in Shandong Province, and even if there was a duplicate name, it was also excluded one by one after investigation.
After the initial investigation was unsuccessful, in order to live up to the expectations of the founding fathers, Shandong Province set up a relevant investigation team and arranged for individuals to be responsible for finding the whereabouts of Niu Baozheng.
First, the whereabouts of the "life-saving benefactor"
In order to complete the central government's entrustment as soon as possible, the personnel in charge of this project in Shandong Province decided to personally go to the local area to investigate and issue an announcement throughout the province to collect clues.
In early 1950, the Provincial Office of Shandong Province received a phone call from a man who claimed to have been a colleague of Niu Baozheng, saying that he knew that Niu Bao was from Wudi County. In order to ensure the correctness of the message, the project team immediately confirmed the identity of the person who dialed the phone, who turned out to have worked in the anti-Japanese base area in the Bohai Sea, Shandong.
At this point, the specific address of Niu Baozheng's hometown was further reduced, and in April, the project team of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee officially entrusted the matter to the Kenli Land Committee of the Communist Party of China, which belongs to Wudi County, and the Shandong Provincial Party Committee also emphasized that this matter was entrusted by the central government, and the whereabouts of Niu Baozheng must be found as soon as possible.
Realizing the importance of this matter, the Kenli Prefecture Committee even sent special personnel to Wudi County. Due to the suddenness of this incident, the Kenli Prefectural Committee did not notify the Wudi County Party Committee in advance. Therefore, when he learned that the Kenli Prefecture Committee had dispatched special personnel to Wudi County, Zhang Yucun, secretary of the Wudi County CPC Committee who had not received any notice, was very confused: What happened and how could the superiors come so suddenly?
Confused, Zhang Yucun, secretary of the Wudi County PARTY Committee, hurriedly instructed his subordinates to prepare all the work and wait for the superiors to inspect.
Soon, the commissioners of the Reclamation Committee arrived at the county party committee. To Zhang Yucun's surprise, when they met, the appointing personnel did not express that they would conduct spot checks on the relevant matters, but only handed themselves a secret letter.
Zhang Yucun, who was confused, opened this secret letter in person, and there was only one thing written on the secret letter, looking for Niu Baozheng. "Niu Baozheng? Who's this? Or a secret letter from the provincial party committee? Suddenly, doubts in Zhang Yucun's heart sprang up.
"This..." Before Zhang Yucun could ask, the appointing personnel raised their hands to interrupt Zhang Yucun's inquiry, "This is the instruction of the central authorities, please be sure to find the whereabouts of Niu Baozheng as soon as possible, the central leaders attach great importance to it." After explaining everything, the appointees left the county party committee.
After sending away the assigned personnel, Zhang Yucun immediately explained, "Please ask Zhao Yanjin, the director of the office, to come." After Zhao Yanjin entered the office, Zhang Yucun directly proposed, "Old Zhao, the superior arranged a task, I think this matter is entrusted to you and I am most assured, find a person, called Niu Baozheng, just in our Wudi County, he also has a code name "OX"! ”
The clues are too limited, Zhao Yanjin alone is difficult to complete this task, and Zhang Xuede, a cadre of the county party office, also participated in the search for Niu Baozheng.
After the two men divided their work, they soon began to investigate. On the one hand, Zhao Yanjin was responsible for going to the police station to find files, and on the other hand, Zhang Xuede was responsible for contacting rural cadres and starting from the grass-roots level.
Not long after, a township chief reflected to Zhang Xuede: There is indeed a Niu Baozheng, but it is now under control. "A little clue is also a clue, a glimmer of hope is also hope, first go to see and then say", Zhang Xuede, who held this idea, immediately rode his bicycle and rushed to the place where Niu Baozheng was imprisoned.
Inside the Chengguan Public Security Bureau, the excited Zhang Xuede got off his bicycle and ran to the director's office, "Director, hello, I am Zhang Xuede of the county party committee office, can I check Niu Baozheng's file?" ”
Seeing that Zhang Xuede was still gasping for air, Zhang Quanwen, director of the Public Security Sub-Bureau, did not directly answer Zhang Xuede's question, but poured Zhang Xuede a glass of water and asked Zhang Xuede to sit down and rest first, after which Zhang Quanwen, director of the bureau, opened his mouth and said: "This person's history is a bit complicated, you should be able to guess, otherwise he can't control it here now." For the answer of the director Zhang Quanwen, Zhang Xuede opened his mouth and could not say a word, but his heart was half cold, "It seems that this person is mostly not what he is looking for."
However, the next words of the bureau chief Zhang Quanwen made Zhang Xuede's mood take a sharp turn of one hundred and eighty degrees, "However, this Niu Baozheng is indeed a Dongguan person, and he first served as a police captain in the county before, and then as a guard squad leader in a Kuomintang prison." I had already looked at his file before you came and found nothing to do with my party. You can meet him first and see if he is the person you are looking for. ”
For the sake of conservatism, Zhang Xuede did not reveal his identity when he met Niu Baozheng, nor did he disclose to him the reasons for meeting him.
During the conversation between the two, Zhang Xuede learned that Niu Baozheng had served as a guard squad leader in the Kuomintang prison in Beiping, during which he had also helped the CCP personnel he was guarding secretly as a liaison, and in addition, Niu Baozheng also said the names of the CCP personnel he knew, such as "Xu Ziwen and Liu Huafu".
Zhang Xuede's unilateral dictation alone could not verify his identity, and after reporting all the information he had to his superiors, Zhang Xuede then rushed to Niu Baozheng's hometown for further confirmation.
In the end, the joint investigation and visit of Zhang Xuede and the local public security department finally confirmed that Niu Bao was serving as the head of the guard squad at Beiping Caolanzi Prison. Zhang Xuede's message to his superiors was also replied to, "Xu Zi'an, Liu Huafu" and so on were the pseudonyms used by An Ziwen and Liu Lantao at that time.
At this point, Niu Baozheng's whereabouts were finally found.
So, why did this person, whose code name was "OX" and whose name was Niu Baozheng, be valued by Many Founding Fathers such as An Ziwen, and what did Niu Bao do while he was serving as the head of the guard squad?
Second, the caretaker squad leader transforms into "OX"
In June 1931, under the betrayal of traitors, many secret party members, including An Ziwen, Yin Jian, Liu Lantao, and many other secret party members, were arrested by the Kuomintang, and later, even in order to prevent our party personnel from rescuing them, they were repeatedly transferred to the place of detention of these secret party members, and finally it was decided to detain them in Beiping Caolanzi Prison.
After their arrest, the arrested members of our party have been actively preparing for self-rescue work, determined to carry the red flag to open the prison gate, and in prison, in order to stabilize the belief in everyone's hearts, a number of party members headed by Yin Jian proposed the establishment of a party school in prison and insisted on studying Marxism-Leninism. In addition, one of the most important tasks is to fight for "OX".
"OX" is Niu Baozheng, and the origin of "OX" is based on the English pronunciation of Niu Baozheng's surname, when Niu Baozheng had just served as the prison guard squad leader.
In fact, the reason why the arrested personnel of our party chose to win over Niu Baozheng also began with Niu Baozheng asking them to write a letter.
One day, after lunch, Niu Baozheng, who was holding a pen and paper, came to Yang Xianzhen's cell with an anxious face. At first, Niu Bao was reluctant to say what he was in such a hurry. However, even if Niu Baozheng didn't say it, Yang Xianzhen also understood what Niu Bao was here for, "You brought paper and pen, you came to me for help." ”
Seeing that Yang Xianzhen had already taken the initiative to inquire, Niu Baozheng no longer twisted, "I want you to ghostwrite a letter to Lady Li." After saying that, Niu Baozheng felt that it was not appropriate for him to let others help in this way, so he continued, "My mother is seriously ill and needs money to see a doctor, but I just became the head of the work, I really don't have much money, I just want to write a letter to the family, let the family help." ”
At this point, Niu Baozheng, whose eyes were red, could no longer bear it and sobbed.
Niu Baozheng's letter not only touched Yang Xianzhen, but also brought hope to the party branch in prison, who felt that Niu Bao was an object worth developing.
In order to win over Niu Baozheng, whenever Niu Baozheng was on duty, Yang Xianzhen took the initiative to greet Niu Baozheng and inquire about the situation at home, and the party branch in prison even gathered the strength of everyone to collect his mother's medical expenses for Niu Baozheng.
Slowly, seeing that the time was ripe, once in a small talk with Niu Baozheng, Yang Xianzhen hinted that he had not read a newspaper for a long time, to see if Niu Baozheng could help bring some newspapers in from outside, and the expired ones could also be done. Niu Baozheng, who had been greatly favored by Yang Xianzhen and others, after tangling for a while, said cryptically, "You must look at it quietly, not too obviously, otherwise it will be very difficult for me to do it." ”
This incident shows from the side that the party branch in prison has completed more than half of the co-optation of Niu Baozheng.
Gradually, under the influence of the revolutionaries' ideas, the balance in Niu Baozheng's heart had turned to the Communist Party.
After that, Niu Baozheng would often secretly protect Yin Jian and others, and even secretly help to get in touch with organizations outside of prison. Letter after letter, batch after document, and group of books were smoothly brought into the cell under the cover of Niu Baozheng, and the prison slowly became a prison full of Marxism-Leninism.
Even if he gives up his life, Niu Baozheng will definitely save the lives of the party organization personnel in prison, and at the same time, the task of jointly rescuing detainees with organizations outside the prison has become Niu Baozheng's "heart".
In 1936, under the unprecedented high tide of anti-Japanese enthusiasm throughout the country, there was an extreme shortage of party members and cadres in our party, and the rescue of the personnel of Caolanzi Prison became the top priority. Niu Baozheng became an intermediary in conveying instructions and the situation in prison.
After the instructions of the Central Committee were issued, Ke Qingshi, then head of the Organization Department of the Northern Bureau, immediately found Niu Baozheng and asked him to convey to the prison the instructions of "asking the prisoners to strive for release from prison as soon as possible."
Niu Bao agreed to Ke Qingshi at that time and took the initiative to take on the task of rescuing the prisoners. With the release of Niu Baozheng's third letter, the release operation of the party branch in prison began to start.
At that time, as long as the CCP personnel in prison took the initiative to publish the "Anti-Communist Notice" in the newspaper, they could leave prison, and in order to be released from prison as soon as possible, after the central authorities gave clear instructions to the prisoners to "publish anti-communist articles and not to be prosecuted after being verified after being released from prison," the detainees headed by Yin Jian were released from prison in batches.
In early September 1936, nine people, including An Ziwen, Yang Xianzhen, and Liu Lantao, were released; on the 22nd, the remaining 21 detainees were released. In this way, under the contact of Niu Baozheng, as many as 61 Communist Party members were released.
Unfortunately, at the end of 1936, on the eve of the Chinese New Year's Eve of the new year, Niu Baozheng was arrested by the Kuomintang Prison Bureau for his many contacts with "political prisoners". After being arrested, in order to get relevant information about the Communist Party members from Niu Baozheng's mouth as soon as possible, the prison bureau interrogated Niu Baozheng overnight. In the face of the prison bureau's severe torture to extract confessions, Niu Baozheng remained silent, and Niu Baozheng's unyielding attitude of death completely angered the prison bureau, and after the trial was terminated, Niu Baozheng was sentenced to death.
Learning of Niu Baozheng's dangerous situation, the CCP secret organization in Beiping immediately arranged a rescue plan, and in the end, Niu Baozheng and his family were secretly sent out of Beiping by the party organization. After escaping from Peiping, Niu Baozheng lost contact with the party organization.
Third, the "OX" legend came to an end
Niu Baozheng, who almost paid for his own life, disappeared after saving as many as sixty CCP members.
After the founding of New China, "Xu Ziwen, Liu Huafu" and others who were rescued by Niu Baozheng at that time, as the founding fathers, could never forget the "OX" squad leader who rescued himself from the Kuomintang prison at that time. This began with a joint request from the founding fathers to the central government to seek a lifesaver.
After Zhang Xuede found Niu Baozheng, niu Baozheng, whose identity was confirmed, learned that the Communist Party member he had saved had now become the central leader, and Niu Baozheng, who did not yield even in the face of severe torture, left tears on the spot, and sighed one after another: "Good, good, good!" ”
In 1950, the streets of Wudi County, Shandong Province, were noisy with gongs and drums, and even the county party committee came to send Niu Baozheng's family to Beijing.
Niu Baozheng, a 64-year-old man from Shandong, was arranged to do pre-trial work in Caolanzi Prison after being taken to Beijing, "Thank you to the party, thank you to the leaders, I really thank you so much!" Niu Baozheng never thought that he would one day be able to enjoy the eighteenth level of cadre administration.
In November 1954, the 68-year-old Niu Bao was dying in Beijing, and before he died, Niu Bao was specially instructing his son to return to the roots of the fallen leaves and bury himself in the ancestral grave of the old Niu family. After the memorial service in Beijing, Niu Baozheng's son fulfilled his last wish and returned to his roots.
Source: Rubin focuses on the web