On September 9, 1976, Chairman Mao calmly closed his eyes from his hospital bed in Beijing.
As soon as this news came, the whole country was immediately grieved, and all corners of the country fell into a heart-rending cry.
After Chairman Mao's death, because many issues needed to be re-negotiated, the issue of the distribution of his inheritance was not resolved in a timely manner.
It was not until 1981, exactly five years after Chairman Mao's death, that the staff of the General Office of the Central Committee proposed a solution to the problem to Chairman Mao's children.
Among them, Chairman Mao's life administrator Wu Liandeng played a very important role.
Wu Liandeng
Chairman Mao's "Great Steward"
In 1941, Wu Liandeng was born into an ordinary peasant family in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province.
Because at that time, the country was full of war and chaos, and everything was in ruins and ruins, and everything was in ruins.
Therefore, as a child of an ordinary peasant family, Wu Liandeng lived a very poor life when he was a child, and he did not have much opportunity to receive education.
Before graduating from primary school, Wu Liandeng stepped into society.
During this period, he worked in farming, farming, and many heavy jobs. This also allowed him to develop a very diligent personality from an early age.
In 1958, Wu Liandeng was admitted to the guest house of the Yancheng Prefectural Committee in Jiangsu Province as a waiter.
Former residence of Chairman Mao of Shaoshan
Although he was a waiter, in that era when labor was the most glorious, Wu Liandeng did not feel inferior, but on the contrary, he believed that being able to do a good job and serve the guests of the guest house well was the most satisfying thing for himself.
"Even if it's cleaning, serving tea and water, I'm always faster than others." I can take 10 warm water bottles at a time, carry 4 in one hand, and sandwich one between each arm. The guest house is 500 meters away from the place where the water is fetched, and I get up at 5 o'clock every day and run back and forth like this, and one person is responsible for the whole building. ”
It is precisely because of such a diligent and conscientious and responsible work attitude that Wu Liandeng was quickly noticed by the superior leaders.
After a year of work, Wu Liandeng was selected by Jiangsu Province to be sent to the Great Hall of the People restaurant in Beijing as a waiter serving dishes.
Serving tea and water to the chiefs in the Great Hall of the People, Wu Liandeng did not dare to slack off at all.
Chairman Mao spoke to the soldiers
Before each meeting, Wu Liandeng and other colleagues came to clean up the place and work meticulously.
After working in the Great Hall of the People for two years, in May 1961, Wu Liandeng was transferred to Zhongnanhai as a waiter.
What he didn't expect was that here, he stayed for a full 15 years.
Shortly after being transferred to Zhongnanhai, Wu Liandeng met Chairman Mao.
At that time, Chairman Mao was holding a meeting at the Yinian Hall, Wu Liandeng went to pour tea for the chairman, because it was the first time he saw Chairman Mao, so he could not help but feel a little nervous in his heart.
This caught Chairman Mao's attention.
Then the chairman asked him, "You are new here, what is your name?" ”
Chairman Mao poses with the soldiers
Wu Liandeng said that my name is Wu Liandeng. The chairman asked who named it, and Wu Liandeng said it was a monk. The chairman smiled and said, "As soon as I heard it, I knew that it was not given by my parents, and this name is good." ”
The chairman also asked where Wu Liandeng was from, and Wu Liandeng said that he was from Yancheng, Jiangsu Province. He said, "Oh, from Salty City." Wu Liandeng said, "No, it's Yancheng." The chairman laughed: "Alas, isn't that the salty city?" Chairman Mao was so humorous, Wu Liandeng was not so nervous.
This incident made Chairman Mao very impressed with Wu Liandeng. Later, the two had several more encounters, and Chairman Mao felt that this young man was very focused and meticulous in doing things, and he also had the spirit of economy, so he wanted him to help him manage the housework.
"When Chairman Mao invited me to work in his home, my heart was both excited and nervous. I was afraid that I would not be able to do well and cause trouble for the chairman. ”
In his later years, recalling that he was invited by Chairman Mao at that time, Wu Liandeng still could not restrain his excitement.
Chairman Mao and Wu Liandeng
On National Day in 1964, when Wu Liandeng was twenty-two years old, Chairman Mao asked him to come to his home to "help and help."In the past few years, his work had been to "take care of chores, do sanitation, tidy up the warehouse, and fetch water and deliver food."
Until 1968, he was officially appointed administrator, managing Chairman Mao's salary, various financial expenditures at home, purchasing, and formulating recipes for Chairman Mao.
Therefore, from then on, Wu Liandeng became Chairman Mao's "great housekeeper" and helped Chairman Mao take care of the family's big and small affairs.
So, what is Chairman Mao's financial situation, and how much of his legacy has he left behind after his death?
Wu Liandeng (first from left)
Chairman Mao's salary
Perhaps in the eyes of many people, Chairman Mao' standard of living as a state leader is not very rich, but it is also quite generous.
But this is not the case.
When it comes to Chairman Mao's economic income, in fact, it mainly comes from two aspects.
One is the salary paid by the government, and the other is Chairman Mao's own writing fee.
In Wu Liandeng's recollection, he once mentioned the difficulties encountered in taking care of Chairman Mao's household chores. For him, the most difficult thing is to manage the financial situation of the Chairman.
"For a total of 12 years before and after I managed the accounts, Chairman Mao's family said that it was easy to manage and manage, and it was difficult to manage them. No money. ”
Chairman Mao's living bills
At the beginning of the founding of New China, a dual-track system of supply system and wage system was implemented for the payment of salaries to government department staff.
That is to say, in addition to the basic salary of each month, there are also some necessary daily necessities.
In today's parlance, it's low wages plus benefits.
This policy was still very useful at the beginning, but in the later stage, the problems gradually appeared.
Therefore, in 1955, the State Council decided to abolish this system and uniformly adopt a single wage payment system, that is, a wage hierarchy system.
Ranks are divided according to administrative levels.
The president of the country (grand marshal) is the first rank, with a monthly salary of 600 yuan, the vice chairman and prime minister are the second rank, with a monthly salary of 550 yuan, and the marshal is the third level, with a monthly salary of 500 yuan.
Chairman Mao's office
As a result, when the plan was presented to Chairman Mao, the chairman immediately refuted it.
The reason was that the chairman thought that letting him do the first rank alone was not conducive to unity, and the country's economic situation at that time was not good, and the chairman thought that the monthly salary standard was also a little high.
Therefore, Chairman Mao said at the Second Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee: "The current set of wage distribution standards makes the salaries of high-level leading cadres too high, and compared with the people's living standards, the difference in income levels is really too large, and in the future we can consider reducing some salaries." ”
In response to Chairman Mao's proposal, Premier Zhou and others went back to work out a new set of wage plans.
As a result, Chairman Mao was still somewhat dissatisfied.
So, everyone took another pay cut. In the end, the salary of the first-level administrative staff was reduced to 504 yuan, and the second-level administrative staff was reduced to 454 yuan; The third level was reduced to 405 yuan.
Chairman Mao took a group photo with the staff
At the beginning, this plan also won Chairman Mao's approval, but after a period of implementation, Chairman Mao still felt that the salary was somewhat high, and he did not need so much money at all.
Coupled with the fact that at that time, it happened to coincide with a more difficult stage of economic development, so Chairman Mao consulted with Premier Zhou to continue to reduce wages and use the money where the country needed it.
On September 26, 1960, the State Council issued a notice: the wages of senior cadres were again adjusted, with a 12% reduction in the third level, a 10% reduction in the fourth level, an 8% reduction in the fifth level, a 6% reduction in the sixth level, a 4% reduction in the seventh level, a 2% reduction in the eighth level, and a 1% reduction in the ninth to seventeenth levels.
The reason why there was no first and second level was because Chairman Mao was unwilling to classify himself as a first-level administrative officer, saying that the first level should be given to Marx and Engels, and the second level should be given to Lenin and Stalin.
Thus, since that time, Chairman Mao's monthly salary has been stable at 404.80 yuan.
Chairman Mao at work
Often not making ends meet
As the leader of a country, Chairman Mao set an example by receiving only a meager salary every month and never spending more than a penny on the country, which is very admirable.
However, it is precisely because Chairman Mao's administrative position is high, coupled with the fact that there are still children to take care of at home, so there are many things that need to be spent, and they often encounter the situation of not being able to make ends meet.
At that time, Li Min and Li Ne were both young and it was time for school, so Chairman Mao had to bear their usual tuition.
As a child of Chairman Mao, in the eyes of others, he must enjoy pure happiness.
However, this is not the case.
Chairman Mao and Li Min take a group photo
Chairman Mao's tutoring was very strict, and he did not allow Li Min and Li Ne to say in school that they were the president's daughters, for fear that they would be given some special care and unfair to the children of other ordinary people.
Even Chairman Mao did not agree to the Central Guard Corps quietly picking up the two children, who usually lived in the school's student dormitory, just like everyone else.
Once, on a weekend, when the school was a little late, the head guard was afraid that the two little girls would encounter Kuomintang agents, so he drove the two children home.
After Chairman Mao learned of this, he severely criticized him.
"Other children can walk home, so should my children be special?"
Since then, the captain of the guard has only dared to send someone to quietly follow behind the child and protect him.
Li Min and Li Ne
Chairman Mao spent 100 yuan a month on the cost of his two children going to school, and the rest would be spent on his own.
Chairman Mao usually eats very simply, and can only eat meat dishes once a day.
It's only on Saturdays when the family gets together that you'll eat a bit more hearty, but it's just a fish and a braised pork.
Chairman Mao spends a few tens of yuan a month on meals.
As for clothing, there is almost no expenditure on this aspect.
In addition to public work clothes, almost every piece of Chairman Mao's personal clothes can be worn for more than ten years.
Once, when the guard accompanied the chairman out for a walk, he felt that the temperature was very cold, so he asked the chairman to go back and add an extra pair of cotton pants. It turned out that the cotton pants were covered with patches.
Chairman Mao
For Chairman Mao, the biggest expenses may be his hobbies.
Chairman Mao's usual work is very cumbersome. Writing articles, reading reports, grading materials, often busy late into the night.
At this time, you need to smoke to lift your spirits.
Chairman Mao's addiction to smoking is still relatively large, and he can almost smoke a pack of cigarettes in two days, so he will spend 100 yuan per month on this.
As a national leader, it is natural to make friends with the understanding of all walks of life and some democratic parties.
Long before the founding of New China, Chairman Mao had met many non-party figures and became friends with them.
Don't look at Chairman Mao is very frugal in his own eating and drinking, but he is very generous when entertaining these guests, and he can often spend 100 yuan on a meal.
Chairman Mao felt that it was not a polite act for customers to come from afar and not take good care of them, so he would not be stingy in this regard.
Chairman Mao entertained the guests
The biggest expense is to buy books.
As we all know, Chairman Mao's greatest hobby is to read. It is precisely because of reading a large number of books that Chairman Mao has a very profound understanding of all things.
According to Wu Liandeng's records, during the twelve years that he was in charge of Chairman Mao's finances, Chairman Mao spent more than 8,000 yuan on books.
In those days, it was an astonishing sum of money.
It is precisely because there are so many places where money needs to be spent that Wu Liandeng is in charge of Chairman Mao's accounts, and there are often situations where they cannot make ends meet.
Fortunately, Chairman Mao also often published some articles to earn contributions, which allowed the use of daily use to be barely maintained.
Therefore, even as the leader of a country, Chairman Mao's living standards are not very different from ordinary people's homes.
Chairman Mao's living bills
A legacy to children
The usual income is not high, and after chairman Mao's death, naturally he did not leave much of an inheritance to his children.
Later, Li Min revealed the legacy left to him by his father in 1981 by the staff of the General Office of the Central Committee: 8,000 yuan in writing fees, a 20-inch color TV, and a refrigerator.
And Chairman Mao's other children did not get much difference from Li Min's.
It was true that these things were much higher than the incomes of some ordinary people at that time, but you must know that these things were earned by Chairman Mao's hard work for decades without rest, through work and writing.
In his later years, Li Min and his daughter
Compared with some large families, leaving a few properties for their children is not a luxury.
Even compared with the leaders of another country, Chairman Mao's living conditions and relics are much more difficult.
In fact, as the masses of the people in New China, Chairman Mao is more like the father of all the Chinese people. The spiritual legacy he left behind is the most precious thing for us and the thing that we should cherish the most.
These things will also remain in the long river of history with the development of New China.