preface
At the beginning of February 1968, Zhang Yaoci, deputy director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Central Guard Regiment, found Lu Laiqian: "Organizationally, it was decided to send you to Chairman Mao to do housekeeping work, and the main task was to be responsible for the cleaning of Chairman Mao's residence in Fortress Garden, warehouse management, and book and magazine management. ”
Lu Laiqian said: "I have no opinion, and I guarantee the successful completion of the task entrusted by the chief." ”
Chairman Mao celebrates the founding of the People's Republic of China
On February 8, Lu Laiqian was transferred to Chairman Mao's office and did not leave until August 1973, spending five full years.
Recalling the days and nights of these five spring and autumn periods, he deeply felt that Chairman Mao was not only our great leader, but also a great proletarian revolutionary and politician, and a great man of honesty and self-discipline.
Willing to give everything for the revolution
During the years of the revolutionary war, Chairman Mao endured countless hardships in order to Chinese the cause of liberation of the people.
After the liberation of the whole country, in order to build the mainland into a great socialist modern power at an early date, Chairman Mao worked day and night with all his heart and blood, sleeping and forgetting food. Lu Laiqian said:
"It is often seen that Chairman Mao returned to the dormitory late at night after meetings or meeting with foreign guests late at night, and always continued to work. The lamps in Chairman Mao's house were often lit until dawn. In the winter, when the nights are long, Chairman Mao sometimes sits for more than ten hours at a time, and still goes out to hold meetings during the day. Seeing Chairman Mao rest in the evening, we guards and fighters were very relieved. However, before the two-hour post was finished, the lights in Chairman Mao's house came on again. Chairman Mao's knowledge was very profound, but his old man still read and studied diligently. ”
Pictured: Chairman Mao in Beijing
Chairman Mao's bedroom was surrounded by bookshelves filled with books, newspapers, documents, materials, and so on. Whenever Lu Laiqian went to Chairman Mao's bedroom to clean up, he always saw dozens or dozens of books and newspapers folded on the shelves, beds, and coffee tables.
Even the chair next to the toilet in the toilet often has five or six books, no need to ask, Chairman Mao did not let go of the time to go to the toilet and squat on the toilet, they were all reading books.
Even in his later years, his health was not as good as before, but he was still working in the middle of the cold winter, or in the hot summer, whether in Zhongnanhai or in other places, and they rarely saw Chairman Mao resting or participating in any recreational activities.
One day in the spring of 1969, Chairman Mao was in a foreign country, and at two o'clock in the morning, he called his staff to find "Sun Tzu's Art of War" and said that it was a book that Chairman Mao suddenly wanted.
After answering the phone, Lu Laiqian immediately went to Chairman Mao's study to find this book and asked him to send it to Chairman Mao overnight. After the book was sent away, his heart could not be calmed for a long time. I thought to myself: I was woken up by the ringing of the telephone, and Chairman Mao was still working there day and night.
Pictured Chairman Mao in Lushan
Once, Chairman Mao was ill, but he still continued to work, reviewed documents, and finally fell unconscious on the desk, but fortunately, the head nurse Wu Xujun found it in time and went in to do first aid.
Afterwards, Wu Xujun, the head nurse, said that Chairman Mao had a high fever of 40 degrees Celsius this time. Hearing this number, Lu Laiqian was shocked: "40 degrees! Even a prime-age man cannot bear it, but our beloved Chairman Mao, for the sake of the revolutionary cause and for the sake of our happy tomorrow, has long ago put his personal safety aside. ”
Don't be special to yourself
Chairman Mao is the founding father of the People's Republic of China, a great leader of the party and the state, and is supported and loved by the people of the whole country. But his old man never took pride in his achievements and did not engage in a little special. On the contrary, his life was very simple, and he cherished the property of the state everywhere.
Even if it is a needle and a thread, a grass and a tree, pay attention to saving. He hated the extravagant decorations and opposed the pursuit of personal enjoyment.
On the first day that Lu Laiqian arrived at Chairman Mao's office, he went through the handover formalities with Zhao Hong'an, a former civil servant, and when he was counting the warehouses of Chairman Mao's house, he saw a pair of very badly broken slippers and asked Zhao Hong'an:
"This pair of slippers is already so broken, the help is not like a help, the bottom is not like the bottom, why don't you throw it away?"
Picture 丨 Chairman Mao's leather slippers
Zhao Hong'an looked at Lu Laiqian and said very seriously: "This can't be moved, the chairman still has to wear it!" Saying that, he told Lu Laiqian the story of the slipper repair:
One summer, Chairman Mao went out to Changsha, and Zhou Fuming brought this pair of slippers to Changsha. This pair of slippers was broken, Zhou Fuming found four shoe repair shops in Changsha City, but the shoe repairman took the slippers and looked at them, all of which were a sentence: "Change a new pair, this shoe can't be repaired." ”
Zhou Fuming thought to himself: Chairman Mao did not want to lose it, and insisted that he could still wear it, but the shoe repair master could not repair it, so what should he do? Look for it again, and then touch it again. He turned left and right down the street and found a shoe repairer, this shoe repair master is an old shoe repairer, he is patient, good to say evil, and then help the shoe repairman to lay hands, and hand over cigarettes, which is to repair the slippers.
When I took it back, Chairman Mao was very satisfied with putting it on. After returning to Beijing for a while, the slippers were broken again, and the staff saw that the slippers could not be repaired, so they threw the slippers to the side and gave Chairman Mao a new pair.
But Chairman Mao did not wear the new ones, and he could not wear the old ones. The staff said: The old ones can no longer be worn, and the shoemakers are no longer replenished. Chairman Mao smiled and said, then trouble you, sew me a seam! So the staff thought of many ways, and finally used the suede skin to make up for the slippers.
When he gave it to Chairman Mao, he laughed happily and said humorously: "Isn't it like buying a new pair of slippers?" "Chairman Mao has been wearing it ever since.
After listening to this story, Lu Laiqian felt that Chairman Mao's image was even higher. He put away the slippers very carefully.
In the summer of 1967, when Chen Changjiang, deputy commander of the First Squadron, was drawing matches to light a cigarette for Chairman Mao,
Chairman Mao said humorously: "Self-reliance, I will come myself." ”
Pictured: Chairman Mao's leather slippers and belts
Chen Changjiang saw that there were no matches in the matchbox, so he threw the matchbox on the ground. Chairman Mao looked at the matchbox, picked it up again, and said, "The box is fine, and you can use it again in the future." ”
This incident reminded him of a teaching of Chairman Mao: "Save every copper plate for the cause of war and revolution...."
Chairman Mao's words and deeds truly embody this spirit.
In addition to receiving foreign guests, Chairman Mao generally wore the half-old gray uniform. His clothes were old and torn, and they were dismantled and washed, sewn and mended and re-worn. Chairman Mao also personally stipulated that he should not be allowed to change new clothes without his approval.
One day in the middle of the summer of 1972, when Chairman Mao went to a foreign country, Zhou Fuming, a staff member around him, brought back a piece of Chairman Mao's pajamas from the field and called Lu Laiqian to say that there were six holes in the pajamas and asked the Clothing Research Institute of the General Logistics Department to make up for them.
After Lu Laiqian arranged to mend the six small holes in his pajamas, he immediately gave Chairman Mao a return, but Zhou Fuming called again and said that there was still a big hole that had not been repaired. This may be when stacking pajamas, accidentally made a new hole.
It can be seen from this that Chairman Mao has been wearing this pajama for many years, and the whole dress is very worn.
It is said that this dress should have been replaced with a new one long ago, but Chairman Mao insisted on making up and wearing it again, and they had no choice but to do it according to the chairman's instructions.
Lu Laiqian said: "When I was sorting out Chairman Mao's indoor hygiene, it was common for him to have many holes in the small handkerchief he used. But he continued to use it. In five years, Chairman Mao added only one new garment, a sweater. According to the shape of the chairman, I calculated the size and went to a processing shop on Wangfujing Street in Beijing to process it. ”
Chairman Mao's diet was very frugal, often eating some ordinary grains, four small dishes per meal, most of which were green vegetables, such as hollow cabbage, amaranth, bitter melon, peppers and so on, sometimes to supply Ke buy, sometimes to eat the zhuanghu vegetables they planted in Chairman Mao's yard. Chairman Mao generally ate rice and sometimes nibbled on fresh corn cobs.
He loves braised pork, but not every day, every few days, once in a small bowl. As for mountain treasures and seafood, high-grade tonics or whatever, he never ate it.
Chairman Mao often taught them that thrift and diligence are the true colors of the Chinese nation and the excellent qualities of the Chinese Communists; when they are diligent and thrifty in life, they will be close to the working people ideologically, and everyone must carry forward the spirit of building the country with diligence and thrift and thrift in all undertakings.
In terms of life, Chairman Mao was very strict with himself, and he demanded that the staff make rational plans for his life, not to overspend, and to do things according to the regulations for his food, clothing, housing, and use.
He paid the furniture depreciation fee, dormitory, toilet usage fee, utility bill and so on on. The monthly contribution of 120 yuan is deducted from his monthly salary.
Chairman Mao voluntarily lowered his salary to 400 yuan in the early 1960s, so this fee alone used 30% of his salary.
When Chairman Mao went down to investigate, study, or inspect the work, he always brought his own cooks and hairdressers with him, and used his own money to spend his living expenses, trying not to add trouble to the grass-roots units.
Chairman Mao refused to accept any gifts from the grassroots. Chairman Mao solemnly admonished them: They would never accept gifts from him. If it has been sent, it will be resolutely returned, and if it is not convenient to return, it will be handed over to the general office for unified handling, and the money will be sent back at the price.
During the five years that Lu Laiqian worked as a civil servant in the chairman's office, he did not find that the chairman had received a single gift. Inside his warehouse was a bottle of ginseng wine, which was dug up by warriors deep in the mountains.
But this bottle of wine was placed there from the time he went to work in Chairman Mao's office, and it remained there untouched until he left. Chairman Mao did not like to drink alcohol, and had no other hobbies than smoking and drinking tea.
Chairman Mao himself was very frugal in his life, but when he heard about any guard soldier or learned who had special difficulties in society, he tried his best to take care of it and was willing to spend money.
During that special period, Li Qinglin, a teacher in Fujian, had a difficult life, and although Chairman Mao did not know this person, he learned about the situation and sent 200 yuan to solve his rice cooking.
An elderly democrat had a difficult life, and Chairman Mao sent 1,000 yuan. The money was personally spent from his salary.
Strict requirements for relatives and friends everywhere
As the saying goes: "Near the water tower platform first get the moon, the sun flowers and trees early in the spring." However, Chairman Mao never gave special consideration to his relatives and friends, but set strict demands everywhere.
Chairman Mao was very fond of his youngest daughter, Li Ne, but never let her eat with him, but told her to eat in the canteen of the Guard Bureau.
The Central Guard Regiment performed special tasks, and Lu Laiqian's squadron was a guard soldier on Chairman Mao's side.
At that time, some people believed that the housing conditions of the staff around Chairman Mao might be better and the living standards might be higher. But the truth is that they, like the soldiers of other troops, have a daily living expense of four dimes and a half cents, and there is nothing special except that they can often see the head of the central government.
Pictured chairman Mao and Li Ne
Chairman Mao did not give special care to his relatives and friends economically, and politically he only had strict requirements.
On the eve of the Ninth National Congress, the Preparatory Committee for the Ninth Central Congress nominated Zhang Yaoci and three other comrades who had worked beside the chairman for many years as candidates for members of the Central Committee.
However, when Chairman Mao was reviewing the list of candidates, he crossed out the names of the three comrades, including Zhang Yaoci, and said that these people did not have rich work experience and were still far from the conditions for the members of the Central Committee.
These personnel who worked around Chairman Mao, no matter where they were later transferred, were all on a flat basis, and they were never deliberately promoted because they had worked around Chairman Mao.
One of Chairman Mao's secretaries went to the factory to become the secretary of the party branch, and Li Yinqiao, the head of the guard, became the corresponding section chief after he went to the local area. Lu Laiqian was a deputy district captain in the Central Guard Regiment, equivalent to the post of deputy company commander, so he was still a company-level cadre when he was transferred to the Changwei Military Subdistrict.
Chairman Mao sent Lu Laiqian to be a "mother's family member"
In 1968, Chairman Mao issued an instruction that "intellectual youth should go to the countryside and receive re-education from poor and lower-middle-class peasants."
Pictured: Chairman Mao
Even though Li Ne was nervous and mentally ill at the time, he took the lead in responding to his father's call, put on his old military uniform, and happily stepped on the train to the countryside of Jiangxi.
Two years later, Li Ne met the person he liked, and wrote to the chairman, reporting his marital status, and preparing to marry his boyfriend in the near future, asking his father to decide.
In late September, wang Dongxing, under chairman Mao's instructions, summoned Lu Laiqian to his office and gave him a very special mission -- that is, to be Li Ne's "mother's family" and to attend Li Ne's wedding ceremony by running the "May Seventh" cadre school in Jiangxi.
Coming out of Wang Dongxing's office, Lu Laiqian's heart was beating wildly, and Chairman Mao personally designated himself as Li Ne's "mother's family", what a high honor!
In this way, Lu Laiqian came to the "May Seventh" cadre school in Jiangxi with the wedding gift that Chairman Mao had brought to Li Ne, and Li Ne also came from the Shazhouba Brigade in Ruijin County.
While warmly thanking Lu Lai, she opened the letter written by her father to herself and read it intently.
As she read it, a happy smile broke out on her face. Then she carefully opened the big bag again, and Lu Laiqian also stared at it with curious eyes.
Figure丨57 Cadre School
This was something he never expected, that the "dowry" that Chairman Mao had sent to his daughter was a complete set of "The Complete Works of Marx and Engels"!
Li Ne's wedding was held at the "May Seventh" cadre school, and only a dozen people attended the wedding. A portrait of Chairman Mao hung on the wall, and the wedding was presided over by Cao Quanfu, the principal of the cadre school, who after a simple speech, set off a firecracker to make the bride and groom bow three times to Chairman Mao's statue, and then announced that the wedding was over.
Lu Laiqian has been sitting in the seat of the "mother's family", and after the wedding, he sent the bride and groom to the new house.
Care and love for the warriors everywhere
Chairman Mao was very concerned about the guards and soldiers. His old man said to Wu Xujun, the head nurse, many times, that he told the comrades of the first squadron that the inside and outside of the house did not need to be cleaned too clean, so that they could take some time to study, and the youth period was a period of long body and long knowledge, and it was most necessary to learn.
When the head nurse relayed Chairman Mao's instructions to them, they all burst into tears of excitement.
Lu Laiqian graduated from junior high school and joined the army. He completed and graduated from the Central Guard Corps in his high school curriculum, and Chairman Mao was the honorary principal of the school.
Chairman Mao often taught them that we should carry forward the party's fine traditions and work style, work hard, and build the country through diligence and thrift.
There was a time when Chairman Mao planted some flowers and plants in his yard, and when he found them, he asked people to pull them out and kindly taught them that it was better to plant vegetables than flowers, and that they could be eaten.
The guards and fighters knew that Chairman Mao liked to eat shrimp and sparrows, so they used their spare time to catch shrimp and sparrows to let Chairman Mao improve his life.
Pictured: Chairman Mao in the 1960s with Wu Xujun, the head nurse
Once, after eating shrimp, Chairman Mao asked Wu Xujun, the head nurse: Where did you buy the shrimp? The head nurse said that it was a squadron of fighters fishing in Zhongnanhai. Chairman Mao said: Please tell them that you thank the comrades of the first squadron.
Later they planted grapes in the chairman's yard, and after autumn the grapes grew round, purple and purple, big and beautiful. They found the largest ear, weighing about five pounds, and gave it to Chairman Mao, and when he saw that the grapes were growing well, he asked: What kind of dung did you use to plant it? After they answered, the chairman said humorously, "The fruits of your labor are really not small!"
In August 1973, when Lu Laiqian wanted to transfer away from Chairman Mao's side, the chairman called him to his side, his eyes were moist, and he said with some reluctance: "Why didn't you do it after five years?" ”
Lu Laiqian couldn't hold back any longer, his tears couldn't stop flowing out, he choked and said, "Chairman, I don't want to leave, but you told us to study more and constantly improve ourselves..."
Speaking of this, the chairman nodded, sighed and said: "Yes, I hope you are getting better and better, young people, learning more cultural knowledge is the most critical, more learning, more practice, you can grow." ”
In this way, Lu Laiqian left Chairman Mao's side, but in his heart, he always kept in mind the chairman's earnest teachings to himself, and in his work, no matter when and where, he strictly demanded himself, fulfilled his duties, and did not fail to live up to the chairman's teachings to him.