By the 1970s, Chairman Mao's physical condition was deteriorating.
After November 1975, Chairman Mao's illness began to repeat itself, not only worsening his asthma, not speaking clearly, but also encountering problems with swallowing.
Late at night on June 26, 1976, Ye Jianying and other leaders came to Chairman Mao's side, and Chairman Mao shook Ye Jianying's hand, and on July 6, Chairman Mao even clicked a few times on the back of Ye Jianying's hand, leaving a silent will.
Silent wills
From May 11, 1976, Chairman Mao's body suffered a terrible myocardial infarction.
On this day, Chairman Mao suddenly fell ill, his face became very pale, and his condition was very serious, and in view of the development of Chairman Mao's condition, the Central Committee specially arranged several people to be responsible for Chairman Mao's medical work.
When Chairman Mao's heart problems were gradually controlled, the medical team found the development of other diseases, and more seriously, Chairman Mao was unable to eat at this time.
At this time, even the staff had become difficult to feed him, and only some liquid food could be fed.
As his resistance continued to weaken, the members of the medical team offered to use a gastric tube for the chairman to increase nutrition, but he still refused to accept the gastric tube, and even Hua Guofeng personally persuaded him to do little.
Late on the night of May 30, Chairman Mao's heart problems recurred.
At this time, the chairman was short of breath, sweating profusely, and in a brief coma.
Fortunately, the staff who accompanied them found the abnormality in time and quickly rescued them, and after this illness, Chairman Mao agreed to draw blood on the earlobe for testing, and for more than half a month, Chairman Mao's condition has been relatively stable.
Until June 26, Chairman Mao's condition changed again, and the electrocardiogram showed that Chairman Mao had an accelerated heart rate and premature beats.
Chairman Mao, who was immobile, still asked the staff around him from time to time to transfer him to the sofa to rest, and later, he felt very uncomfortable and wanted to move back to the bed.
At 7 o'clock that night, the remote sensing electrocardiogram also detected that Chairman Mao had a myocardial infarction, and the area of this myocardial infarction was slightly larger than the area on May 11, and Hua Guofeng and others rushed to Chairman Mao's residence.
During this time, the members of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee came to the hospital bed one after another, and they did not know at the time what the chairman's physical condition was.
The revolutionary friendship between him and Ye Jianying has been many years, of course, Ye Shuai is also a marshal he trusts very much, and the two are close comrades-in-arms.
Since Premier Zhou had also passed away, the two most core and senior figures at this time were actually Deng Xiaoping and Ye Jianying.
Deng Xiaoping helped preside over the day-to-day work of the Central Committee during Premier Zhou's illness, while Ye Jianying held military power and presided over the day-to-day work of the Central Military Commission.
On July 6, Zhu De died of illness, and Chairman Mao's condition was also worsening.
On the occasion of Chairman Mao's death, the members of the Politburo of the Central Committee lined up to Chairman Mao's sickbed to make a final farewell to him.
When Ye Jianying came over, Chairman Mao's eyes suddenly opened slightly, and he saw Ye Jianying standing in front of him, the light at that time was relatively dim, but everyone also obviously noticed that Chairman Mao was trying to open his eyes.
He waved his arm vigorously, trying to get Ye Jianying closer.
At this time, Ye Jianying was very sad, his eyes had long been blurred, and he did not notice Chairman Mao's subtle movements.
By the time Ye Jianying had already walked out of the ward, Chairman Mao's consciousness gradually woke up and he gestured with his hand.
At this time, a nurse observed this situation, immediately caught up with Ye Jianying, and said to him: "Chief, the chairman is greeting you." ”
Ye Jianying heard the nurse say this, and hurried back to the bedside, he bent down, put his ear next to Chairman Mao's mouth, and saw what the chairman wanted to explain.
Chairman Mao's lips moved slightly, trying to say something, but in the end he could not say it.
Ye Jianying was very nervous, worried about missing some valuable information, he shook Chairman Mao's hand, his expression was very anxious, staring at the chairman, still could not hear what the chairman said.
In the end, Chairman Mao's fingers moved lightly on the back of Ye Jianying's hand a few times, and it was over.
Seeing that the chairman really had no way to open his mouth to speak, Ye Jianying had no choice but to take heavy steps and leave the ward.
After returning to his residence, he immediately began to ponder: Why did Chairman Mao specifically greet him, what else did he need to explain specifically, and what was the meaning of the gentle movement of the back of his hand? What is the specific meaning of this silent will?
The secrets that a "silent will" may contain
In 1970, Ye Jianying also spent a period of time in Hunan as an ordinary person, but his heart was already very complicated.
One night, it was already dark, but Premier Zhou's phone call came to Secretary Ye Jianying, and the first sentence was to ask: "Is Ye Shuai sleeping?" ”
The other party replied that "I have slept", and after confirming that Ye Jianying was not taking sleeping pills, Premier Zhou asked the secretary to wake up Ye Jianying and reminded him that the car was coming immediately.
After a while, the car came to the outside of the building where Ye Jianying was staying.
That night, Chairman Mao and Ye Jianying also talked a lot, and the chairman expressed some ideas and said: "No matter when and where the marshal is, he is his right hand and right arm. ”
After the lushan conference, Ye Jianying was left behind by Premier Zhou and told him that they would have a more important mission to return to Beijing together.
Before returning to Beijing, Ye Jianying met with Chairman Mao alone once again in Lushan, and the two also chatted for a long time.
In the days that followed, Ye Jianying also properly handled the tasks proposed by the chairman and the premier, and everything showed that Ye Shuai was Chairman Mao's right hand and left arm.
And history is constantly proving all this.
In the earliest course of the revolution, Chairman Mao once used Lü Duan to evaluate Ye Jianying, mentioning that "Ye Jianying was able to see the key points at the big joints, proceed from the overall situation, and play an extremely important role at key moments." ”
And Ye Jianying's revolutionary history also confirms an evaluation of him: big things are not confused.
When Chen Jiongming rebelled in 1922, Ye Jianying stepped forward to save Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who had already been killed in Guangzhou, and his ability was already seen by everyone.
In 1926, the Northern Expeditionary Army captured Nanchang, and Chiang Kai-shek wanted to take this general under his command, and hoped that he could be the commander of the first division of the First Army of his own lineage, but Ye Jianying completely rejected these, and in his heart, he already had a scale.
Later, after Chiang Kai-shek launched a coup d'état, Ye Jianying even telegraphed against Chiang Kai-shek and secretly joined the CCP.
The famous Nanchang Uprising in history, Ye Jianying also played a great role, and his work ultimately guaranteed the smooth progress of the uprising.
During the Red Army period, everyone was short of materials, and all the commanders were living a life of sharing weal and woe with the soldiers, Ye Jianying had always been firm in his choice, and he was responsible for the staff work of the headquarters.
The marshal's demeanor had long been engraved in Ye Jianying's bones.
Ye Jianying was also a "marshal poet", and he also left a lot of dashing sentences, for example, when he re-read Chairman Mao's book "On Protracted War" in 1965, he wrote a sentence "A lasting re-reading, and the bottom of the eyes is endless."
This is even more a profound reflection on the international tension at that time.
And the communication between him and the great man is always full of cultural atmosphere, and there is also a deep meaning in it.
In March 1975, Chairman Mao presided over the last meeting of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee before his death, quoting Xin Zhiyi's "Nanxiangzi Dengjingkou Beiguting Youhuai" in "Who is the hero of the world?" Cao Liu. Having a son should be like Sun Zhongmou. ”
He also said that Sun Quan during the Three Kingdoms period was a very capable person.
The meeting was held in a serious but lively manner, and Chairman Mao publicly demanded that Ye Jianying be able to recite the next full text.
After that, Chairman Mao even said: "There is no Sun Zhongmou today, Ye Jianying has some culture, he looks down on Wu Faxian, that is, Wu Faxian can't do it." ”
This is actually a metaphor: Ye Jianying is always able to maintain a clear mind and a firm stance when dealing with many major events, which is very rare.
In the 1970s, Chairman Mao constantly put Ye Jianying in the position of "cutting bones".
During this period, Chairman Mao asked Ye Jianying to preside over the office meeting of the newly established Central Military Commission, which was a special appointment during the crucial period.
Ye Jianying also lived up to his instructions and worked with Premier Zhou to deal with some of the remaining problems in the army.
After that, Ye Jianying also presided over the work of the Central Military Commission and was elected vice chairman.
In 1973, when Comrade Deng Xiaoping returned to Beijing from Jiangxi, Ye Jianying took the lead in proposing: Comrade Xiaoping has returned, and I put forward a request, hoping that Comrade Xiaoping can come and preside over the work of the Central Military Commission.
On December 12, Chairman Mao made a special proposal: Comrade Jianying and I invited Comrade Deng Xiaoping to join the Central Military Commission and serve as a member of the Committee.
Especially during Premier Zhou's serious illness, Ye Jianying helped Deng Xiaoping everywhere to make suggestions, which was also appreciated by Chairman Mao.
This all stems from Ye Jianying's "big things are not confused.".
In the past few years, Ye Jianying has always played an extremely crucial role, and Chairman Mao's understanding of people and his trust in Ye Jianying have also been fully demonstrated.
This also shows that Ye Jianying's open-mindedness and temperament as a person, as well as his ability to do things, are standing on the high ground of history.
However, before Chairman Mao's death, the specific meaning of those few knocks on the back of Ye Jianying's hand is unknown, but Ye Jianying has always been on the right track in the handling of follow-up work.
After Chairman Mao's death, Ye Jianying devoted all his energy to Chairman Mao's funeral work.
In the face of the current situation, Ye Jianying may suddenly understand: Now only he is still the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, and perhaps major matters can only be done by him, and this may be the content of Chairman Mao's "silent will."
And what Ye Jianying did after that was also fully worthy of Chairman Mao's trust in him, after which the country gradually returned to the right track.
reference
A silent will and testament by the Chinese Communist Party News Network
In 1970, Mao Zedong secretly met Ye Jianying in the middle of the night and entrusted him with a special mission on the People's Daily News
Mao Zedong looked at Ye Jianying's "big joint" on the Chinese Communist Party News Network