Before his death, Premier Zhou gave his wife Deng Yingchao three last wishes, but Deng Xiaoping, then the first vice premier of the State Council, refused to grant any of them after learning of these three wishes. In the end, it was under Chairman Mao's consideration that Premier Zhou's third last wish was granted.
So, what exactly are Premier Zhou's three last wishes? Why did Deng Xiaoping refuse to agree to any of them? Today Uncle Kang will take everyone to see.
Photo of Premier Zhou in his later years
At 9:57 a.m. on January 8, 1976, Premier Zhou died unexpectedly at the age of 78 at the 305 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army in Beijing. After the bad news came out, Wang Dongxing, then a member of the Central Military Commission and a member of the Standing Committee, immediately reported the news to Deng Xiaoping, who was presiding over a meeting of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee.
But at this moment, someone stopped Deng Xiaoping, because no one knew. At this moment, Wang Dongxing told everyone the bad news of Premier Zhou's death, and the venue instantly became heavy.
No one wants to believe that Premier Zhou, who has always been beloved, has left everyone forever.
After a moment of silence, someone asked Deng Xiaoping about the premier's affairs, and Deng Xiaoping immediately issued three orders: First, immediately report to Chairman Mao; second, in the name of the central authorities, an obituary was issued to the outside world, informing the embassies stationed abroad to lower their flags to half-mast; and third, notifying the coastal border defense troops to enter a state of first-level combat readiness.
The simple three orders are enough to see that Deng Xiaoping's consideration is comprehensive, and his composure as the main backbone.
After the order was issued, Deng Xiaoping immediately rushed straight to the 305 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army, and at about 11 o'clock, Deng Xiaoping, Li Xiannian and other state leaders arrived one after another. Looking at the premier lying peacefully on the hospital bed, everyone couldn't help but shed hot tears, and Deng Yingchao, who was silently guarding on the side, had already cried into tears.
After seeing Deng, Li and others, Deng Yingchao endured grief and tears and gave them the friendship of a landlord. Later, Deng Yingchao told Deng Xiaoping that Premier Zhou had specially confessed three last wishes before his death:
First, do not engage in farewell ceremonies in the future, and do not add trouble to the country;
Second, resolutely do not open a memorial service, everything is simple;
Third, after cremation, no ashes are left, and the ashes are scattered on the land of the motherland.
Premier Zhou has always put the people first in his life, and he has always been conscientious and conscientious. But at the time of his death, he was full of thoughts about how to leave quietly, how not to alarm the people, and how not to cause trouble to the country. Even though Deng Xiaoping never shed tears in the ups and downs of his life, premier Zhou's last stubbornness at this moment still made him unable to control it anymore, and his eyes were full of tears.
After a while, Deng Yingchao broke the sad atmosphere, and she choked up and told Deng Xiaoping and others: "Enlai is such a style, you all know him, he is gone, everyone will respect his meaning!" ”
However, after consideration, the leaders present all expressed their disapproval, although Premier Zhou's last wish was like this, but after all, he had served the people all his life, and no matter what, a memorial service should be held to give everyone a good chance to send him. In this regard, Li Xiannian also said: If you do not hold a memorial service for the premier, you will not be able to explain to the people!
People's Memorial Week Prime Minister
After a while of discussion, everyone set their sights on Deng Xiaoping and wanted to see how he made his choice. Deng Xiaoping also fully agreed with the views of other leaders, saying: Mourning, farewell, and memorial services must be held, and he will not agree to a single wish of Premier Zhou. However, everything must be consulted by Chairman Mao, and then the final decision must be made!
So, what was the state of Chairman Mao after learning of Premier Zhou's death? What is his view of Premier Zhou's last wishes? Let's move on.
After hearing the news of Premier Zhou's death, Chairman Mao did not say a word, he only nodded his head to indicate that he knew, and then continued to read the official documents.
When he turned his head, Chairman Mao's eyes were already moist. Then he closed his eyes, and in an instant, hot tears slowly flowed from his closed eyes and fell straight down two lines. Obviously, the news of Premier Zhou's death made Chairman Mao feel pain in his heart.
In fact, as early as the day before, when the premier was ill and rescued, Chairman Mao was very concerned about his situation, and the hospital's critical illness notice, rescue plan, and treatment plan were all personally overlooked by him, and he knew that his old partner was likely to survive this pass. However, despite the preparations, when he heard the news of the old man's death, the chairman could not hold back the tears, and even fell into a temporary language barrier due to excessive grief.
In the days after the premier's death, Chairman Mao often lay alone on the sofa and secretly shed tears, and no one could understand how he felt when he lost his closest comrade-in-arms.
Later, the letter about Premier Zhou's last wish was sent to Chairman Mao, and when he saw the last wish of his old partner, he once again shed tears. With regard to the three last wishes, Chairman Mao, in conjunction with the opinions of his comrades, rejected the two last wishes of not holding a farewell ceremony and not holding a memorial service; as for the last wish without leaving ashes, he marked a circle with tears, which meant that he agreed to it.
In fact, a long time ago, Premier Zhou said to Deng Yingchao that when a person dies, he still has to occupy a piece of land, which is the embodiment of the concept of private ownership. For Premier Zhou, who has devoted his life to selfless pursuit of grand dukes, this is obviously unacceptable, so he has repeatedly asked Deng Yingchao to sprinkle his ashes on the mountains and rivers of the motherland when he dies, so as to continue to nourish all things and serve the people.
When the central leaders disagreed with Premier Zhou's last wishes, Deng Yingchao repeatedly found relevant leaders, indicating that the first two last wishes could be vetoed, but the third must be fulfilled for the premier. This appeal, like The mission of Sister Deng, was firmly remembered by her, and she even went so far as to find Chairman Mao for this purpose. Chairman Mao was naturally able to appreciate the old man's good intentions, and at the same time he was also touched by Deng Yingchao's persistence. Therefore, in the final review, he decided to help his old comrade-in-arms fulfill this last wish and approved the scattering of his ashes into the great rivers and mountains of the motherland.
Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou braved the rain to watch military sports matches
On January 14, 1976, the day before Premier Zhou's memorial service, when the draft eulogy at the memorial service was delivered to Chairman Mao, he could no longer bear his sad emotions and suddenly burst into tears. That scene was very rare in Chairman Mao's life, and everyone present was moved by it.
Beginning at two o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, Chairman Mao kept asking about the premier's memorial service, and everyone knew very well that he wanted to attend the memorial service. However, Chairman Mao himself knew that his physical condition was already very unoptimistic, and his feet were so puffy that he could not even wear shoes, let alone walk. Therefore, in order not to cause trouble for the masses, he only asked someone to send a wreath, and then asked alone about the progress of the memorial service, and did not see his old fellow for the last time.
Although he was unable to personally go to the scene to bid farewell to Premier Zhou, Chairman Mao paid special attention to the television of the day, and when he saw the peaceful remains of his old comrades-in-arms in the picture, tears once again burst out of his eyes.
That evening, when the ashes of the prime minister were to be sent to the plane, the masses from all over the country who spontaneously came to bid farewell to the premier stood on the streets of West Chang'an Avenue, Xidan to Babaoshan, stretching for more than ten kilometers, forming an unforgettable picture of "ten miles long street to send the prime minister".
At 8:15 p.m. on January 16, a Y-5 plane secretly took off from Tongxian Airport in the eastern suburbs of Beijing, and in the vast night sky, Deng Yingchao personally sprinkled Premier Zhou's ashes over the four places in Beijing, Miyun, Tianjin, and the mouth of the Yellow River in Binzhou, completely fulfilling Premier Zhou's last will.
Looking at all the aftermath of Premier Zhou,Chairman Mao did not personally participate in it, but handed it all over to Comrade Deng Xiaoping with confidence. In his view, Deng Xiaoping was the one he had chosen together with Premier Zhou to carry the big banner, and he had the ability and courage to solve all problems.
In Premier Zhou's farewell ceremony and memorial service, Deng Xiaoping has always been the one who silently presided, and in the process of hosting, he choked up several times and wiped his tears several times, and no one did not feel his grief deeply. You must know that the person lying in the coffin is not only his brother and comrade-in-arms who have respected and loved all his life, but also the great public who has always been committed to serving the people, so he said that he was unwilling to agree to Premier Zhou's attempt to quietly leave such an "unreasonable request."
You know, for Deng Xiaoping, Premier Zhou can be regarded as one of his most respected people, whether it is his guidance and help to himself in his early years, or the protection and trust he gave when he rose and fell later. It can be said that without Premier Zhou, there would be no him today.
Deng Xiaoping and Premier Zhou
It was out of this selfishness that Deng Xiaoping did not want to see Premier Zhou's brilliant life end in loneliness, so he said that he would not agree to the premier's last wish. Of course, he knew that not only did he not agree, but all the thousands of Chinese people who had received the prime minister's favor would not agree, and they would definitely want to send the beloved prime minister on his last journey.
And the truth is just as Deng Xiaoping expected, when the news of the premier's death was made public, the whole country was in mourning, and countless people spontaneously traveled thousands of miles to Beijing, just to send the premier on his last journey. For a time, the phrase "the people's premier and the people love" were vividly displayed, and the beautiful talk of "sending the prime minister to the prime minister on a ten-mile long street" was handed down.
It can be seen that Deng Xiaoping understood the people, although he also understood Premier Zhou and the sincerity of his last wish.
Deng Xiaoping and Zhou Enlai knew each other very early, as early as during the boom in studying in France, they met in France, and the two joined the Chinese Communist Youth League in Europe together, thus embarking on a revolutionary career together. Since Zhou Enlai was 6 years older than Deng Xiaoping, he always treated him like a younger brother and gave him a lot of care, and they formed a very deep friendship.
Later, Deng Xiaoping joined the army, Zhou Enlai was always in the rear, and although the two did not have much direct intersection in work, they were always very cordial every time they met, and their private relations were also very good.
Later, in the special period, because many of Deng Xiaoping's views were not accepted by the mainstream, he suffered a lot of criticism, and the three ups and downs of his life were also experienced during this period. Fortunately, because Premier Zhou had been protecting Deng Xiaoping, he was not greatly affected and was later given the opportunity to return to work.
In 1972, Premier Zhou was found to have bladder cancer during a routine physical examination, which was undoubtedly a thunderbolt for the central government. However, although suffering from an incurable disease, Premier Zhou did not show any decadence, but instead increased his enthusiasm to carry out his work, as if he were racing against the disease. However, Premier Zhou knew that his energy and life were limited after all, and he must find a successor as soon as possible.
So, the following year, at the recommendation of Premier Zhou, the Central Committee resumed Deng Xiaoping's work, and he was able to re-enter the Central Committee.
In 1974, under the extremely severe situation in China, the elderly Chairman Mao and the seriously ill Premier Zhou secretly held a far-reaching conversation in Changsha, which is known as the "Changsha Decision". During this period, both of them made a very high evaluation and trust in Deng Xiaoping, and finally Chairman Mao made a resolution: Let Comrade Deng Xiaoping go.
Beginning in January 1975, when Premier Zhou's illness worsened and he had to be hospitalized, Deng Xiaoping became the first vice premier of the State Council and began to coordinate the affairs of the State Council. From this point on, Deng Xiaoping had effectively become Premier Zhou's successor and was highly recognized and trusted by Chairman Mao.
Deng Xiaoping and Chairman Mao
It can be said that Deng Xiaoping's ability to go to the step of carrying the flag is inseparable from Premier Zhou's strong recommendation and Chairman Mao's trust, so these two great men are the people he most admires and respects. Therefore, he has a very deep affection for both of them, and he has more respect for his brother to Premier Zhou.
Deng Xiaoping and Premier Zhou had known each other for many years and had been together for many years, and he had never been clear about the premier's thoughts. He knew that Premier Zhou's last wish was not only a true portrayal of his low-key and simple heart, but also out of a comprehensive consideration of "when god has things to do", and he did not want to bring some unnecessary trouble.
However, Deng Xiaoping was unwilling to give in, he was not afraid of difficulties, he wanted to let the premier go vigorously, he wanted to declare war on those who had ulterior motives. This is his selfish heart, but also his public heart, and even more his pure heart.