"I was so upset, I called the doctor." These were Chairman Mao's last words left in the world.
On September 8, 1976, chairman Mao woke up and, with the help of the staff, read documents, books and newspapers, and read them eleven times, for a period of two hours and fifty minutes.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, after reading for the last time, Chairman Mao suddenly fell into a coma. After the rescue of medical staff, the situation has stabilized.
But at seven o'clock in the evening, Chairman Mao became short of breath, did not even open his eyes, and uttered his last words.
After the examination, the doctor sadly informed the central leaders on duty that Chairman Mao's last moment was approaching. The central leaders on duty suppressed tears and quickly notified the principal central leaders to bid farewell to Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao
The main central leaders came one after another, and Ye Jianying, Li Xiannian, and Wu De came to Chairman Mao's hospital room in groups.
The three of them went to Chairman Mao's hospital bed in turn and reported their names to Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao originally closed his eyes and did not move, but when Ye Jianying announced his name, Chairman Mao's eyes opened slightly, and his arm was weakly raised, as if to let Ye Jianying get closer.
Ye Jianying looked at Chairman Mao at the last moment with tearful eyes, did not notice Chairman Mao's subtle movements, stayed in front of the hospital bed for a moment, and then retreated outside.
At this time, Chairman Mao exerted his last strength, increased the amplitude of his movements, and signaled to the people around him. A nurse understood Chairman Mao's intentions and quickly chased after Ye Jianying and said, "Chief, the chairman asked you to go back." ”
When Ye Jianying heard this, he was shocked in his heart, and he hurried back to Chairman Mao's hospital bed, gently grasped one of Chairman Mao's hands with both hands, and put his head close to Chairman Mao's mouth.
Chairman Mao's eyes opened slightly, his lips opened, but he didn't make any sound, and finally just his fingers moved on the back of Ye Jianying's hand, and he fell into a coma again.
What last words did Chairman Mao want to leave for Ye Jianying? And why did he leave his last words to Ye Jianying? This starts with the relationship between the two of them.
Ye Jianying was a comrade-in-arms whom Chairman Mao trusted and relied heavily, and Chairman Mao always remembered Ye Jianying's role at major junctures. When Chairman Mao's health was in trouble, Chairman Mao would think of placing Ye Jianying in a more important position.
Before the 1970s, Chairman Mao was in good health and rarely got sick. When Chairman Mao was sixty-five years old, he could still swim in the Yongjiang River in winter.
In 1966, Chairman Mao swam the Yangtze River for the last time at the age of seventy-three, and he swam in the middle of the Yangtze River for one hour and five minutes, a distance of thirty kilometers.
Such a good physical condition depends on the physical foundation laid by Chairman Mao's "barbaric physique and civilized spirit" when he was young.
But no matter how good the physique is, it cannot withstand the erosion of the years. On September 6, 1970, the Second Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee ended in Lushan. Soon after that, Chairman Mao developed symptoms of frequent coughing and low-grade fever.
Without instrumental testing, doctors suspected Chairman Mao of a lung infection. Chairman Mao was very reluctant to do instrumental examinations, but seeing that Chairman Mao had severe symptoms that had never been seen before, Chairman Mao's medical team was highly nervous and was very worried that the undiagnosed diagnosis would cause his condition to worsen.
When Premier Zhou learned of the situation, he patiently persuaded Chairman Mao, and Chairman Mao agreed to do a chest X-ray, which turned out to be indeed a lung infection.
After careful treatment by doctors, Chairman Mao's condition was once controlled, but in the winter of 1971, Chairman Mao's recurrence became more and more serious, and the frequency of colds and coughs became higher and higher.
The physical condition required Chairman Mao to reduce his workload, and Chairman Mao began to prepare for the placement of Ye Jianying in a core post at this time.
In August 1971, Chairman Mao, Wang Dongxing, and others, talking about their experiences during the Long March, said: "Comrade Ye Jianying has made meritorious contributions at this critical moment, so you should respect him. ”
Chairman Mao laid the groundwork for Ye Jianying and let Ye Jianying preside over the daily work of the Central Military Commission in his capacity as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission.
"Zhuge was only cautious all his life, and Lü Duan was not confused about major matters." Chairman Mao's appraisal of Ye Jianying is the basis for Chairman Mao's reliance on Ye Jianying at an important juncture.
During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song, Lü Duan was the prime minister and Kou Zhun was the vice chancellor. Emperor Taizong of Song had a purpose, and all the governments reported to Lü Duan in advance, and then Lü Duan forwarded it to Song Taizong, but Lü Duan did not specialize in himself, and consulted with Kou Zhun in case of trouble.
Seeing that Kou Zhun was superior, he later played Song Taizong and made Kou Zhun the prime minister, and he was the deputy prime minister.
This kind of humility to meritocracy is a manifestation of not being confused about big things. Adhering to the main views and having the courage to take responsibility on the issue of principle also shows that Lü Duan is not confused about major matters.
Once, when the Song army captured the mother of the rebel general Li Jiqian of the Xiang clan, Kou Zhun asked Song Taizong to publicly execute Li Jiqian's mother at the border to make an example.
After Kou Zhun reported to Lü Duan, Lü Duan immediately asked Kou Zhun to suspend the execution, and then went into the palace to express his feelings to Song Taizong, imploring Song Taizong to treat Li Jiqian's mother kindly, so as to shake the rebellion of Li Jiqian's family.
After Li Jiqian's death, his son surrendered to the Great Song Because Lü Duan handled it properly.
Chairman Mao compared Ye Jianying to Lü Duan because Ye Jianying had many times in history that he was "not confused about major events."
In 1926, during the Northern Expedition to Nanchang, Ye Jianying was the chief of staff of the Headquarters of the General Reserve of the First Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and the chief officer of the department began to reject Ye Jianying's plan, resulting in unfavorable operations, and only after Ye Jianying's vigorous maneuvering was he able to win a difficult victory.
After the Northern Expedition occupied Nanchang, Chiang Kai-shek summoned Ye Jianying in Nanchang and specially asked him to come with a sword to show his praise.
During this meeting, Chiang Kai-shek proposed that Ye Jianying be appointed as the commander of the First Division, which is Chiang Kai-shek's absolute concubine, and Chiang Kai-shek did not hide his co-optation and weight for Ye Jianying.
In the face of the "splendid future", Ye Jianying was not confused about major events. Chiang Kai-shek's creation of the "Zhongshan Ship Incident" made him vigilant about Chiang Kai-shek's political stance, and he did not want to become Chiang Kai-shek's concubine, so he did not accept the appointment of the commander of the First Division in the name of illness.
Chiang Kai-shek was eager to find talent and immediately arranged for a doctor to diagnose and treat Ye Jianying. The doctor could not find any disease, so he had to prescribe some Taiping medicine to Ye Jianying to cope.
Chiang Kai-shek also saw that Ye Jianying was pushing back, but he still did not want to give up Ye Jianying, so he let Ye Jianying become the commander of the newly organized Second Division.
The new Second Division was to absorb Sun Chuanfang's troops, and Ye Jianying had a certain degree of autonomy in reorganization, so he did not refuse and went to Ji'an to take office.
After taking office, Ye Jianying contacted some like-minded old colleagues, formed a division headquarters, and recruited some young students to transform the troops.
After Chiang Kai-shek launched the "April 12" counter-revolutionary coup, Ye Jianying saw through Chiang Kai-shek's true face and resolutely telegraphed against Chiang Kai-shek.
When Chen Keyu, deputy commander of the Fourth Army, reported Ye Jianying's actions to Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Kai-shek was incredulous, shook his head, and said, "Commander Ye will not oppose me." ”
Chen Keyu and helplessly told Chiang Kai-shek: "Master Ye is really against us. Chiang Kai-shek was still half-convinced, and only said "I know", so he asked Chen Keyu to retreat.
Later, Ye Jianying recalled that at that time, the division commander's monthly income was 20,000 or 300,000 yuan, and there were 200,000 or 300,000 yuan a year, and when the division commander easily became a millionaire in a few years.
Chiang Kai-shek promoted him to the position of division commander, but when Chiang Kai-shek slaughtered the workers and peasants and embarked on the road of counter-revolution, he could no longer follow Chiang Kai-shek. “...... Only the revolution has a way out. So I made up my mind. ”
At the critical juncture of history, Ye Jianying once again showed the characteristics of "not being confused about major events". After opposing Chiang Kai-shek, Ye Jianying left Ji'an with a group of leftist officers, and the remaining leftist officers launched a rebellion in the Second Division, and Chiang Kai-shek was convinced that Ye Jianying had really embarked on a path against him.
In a fit of rage, Chiang Kai-shek announced the expulsion of Ye Jianying from the Kuomintang, and he couldn't understand why Ye Jianying would oppose him when he was so powerful that he gave Ye Jianying a high-ranking official, Houlu.
Chairman Mao and Ye Jianying met in 1931. That year, Ye Jianying returned from studying in the Soviet Union and went to the Central Soviet Region as a member of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission and head of the General Staff.
He was not bound by the military dogma of Huangpu and the Soviet Union, and in practice realized that Chairman Mao's military line was correct, so he resolutely stood in the position of supporting Chairman Mao.
"There were very few people who supported me during the second counter-encirclement and suppression campaign, and Ye Jianying counted one." Later, Chairman Mao mentioned Ye Jianying's support during the Central Soviet Period and was still full of emotion.
During the Long March, Ye Jianying hurriedly delivered secret telegrams, which made a great contribution to the Chinese revolution.
In 1967, Chairman Mao toured Hubei and Hunan and prepared to swim the Yangtze River in Wuhan. Yang Chengwu accompanied Chairman Mao on his southern tour and was fully responsible for the safety of Chairman Mao's southern tour.
One day Chairman Mao and Yang Chengwu were walking together and talking about a few old marshals, and Chairman Mao mentioned Ye Jianying's secret telegram during the Long March, pointed to his head and said, "... If it wasn't for Ye Jianying, all of us would have lost our heads. ”
This is not the first time Chairman Mao has praised Ye Jianying to other comrades.
On September 24, 1962, in his speech at the Tenth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee, Chairman Mao referred to an article written by Ye Jianying and said: "I send you two sentences, 'Zhuge is only cautious in his life, and Lü Duan is not confused about major matters'. Zhuge Ge, as everyone knows, is Zhuge Liang, and Lü Duan was a prime minister of the Song Dynasty, saying that this person is not confused about major matters. ”
Soon after, at another meeting convened by the Central Committee, some people used the story of the broken arm of the throne to praise "being loyal to the country and running day and night," and Chairman Mao interjected: "I once gave Ye Jianying two sentences, 'Zhuge is only cautious in his life, and Lü Duan is not confused about major matters.'"
Ye Jianying's moral integrity of "Zhuge Was only cautious in his life, and Lü Duan was not confused about major matters" was deeply valued by Chairman Mao, and when Chairman Mao had to reduce his workload for health reasons, Ye Jianying took on more important responsibilities.
Ye Jianying did not disappoint Chairman Mao, and after taking over the burden of presiding over the daily work of the Central Military Commission, he made important contributions to stabilizing the situation in the country and the army.
Moreover, Ye Jianying also actively promoted Comrade Xiaoping to return to a leadership post together with Premier Zhou.
In 1974, Premier Zhou was hospitalized for cancer and proposed to Chairman Mao that Comrade Xiaoping take the place of him in presiding over the daily work of the State Council, and Ye Jianying also made the same suggestion to Chairman Mao, and also proposed that Comrade Xiaoping be appointed as the chief of the general staff.
Chairman Mao adopted Ye Jianying's suggestion, and when discussing the personnel arrangements after Premier Zhou's hospitalization, Chairman Mao said: "The premier is still our premier. Deng is the first vice premier and general director, this is Ye (Jianying's) opinion, and I am in favor of following his opinion. ”
1974 was a very important year for the mainland, and chairman Mao's health was deteriorating due to Premier Zhou's hospitalization.
After chairman Mao's lung infection recurred, it opened a gap in the elderly body, after which Chairman Mao's always stable blood pressure continued to rise, and several geriatric diseases began to attack Chairman Mao.
In October 1974, Chairman Mao went to Changsha to recuperate.
In Changsha, Chairman Mao, who had loved swimming all his life, wanted to swim on the Xiang River. How dare the medical team in the autumn season let Chairman Mao, who is sick, swim in the cool autumn river water.
Under the doctor's persuasion, Chairman Mao could only swim in the swimming pool of the Hunan Provincial Gymnasium.
At this time, Chairman Mao needed to be taken care of when he walked, but when he was in the water, Chairman Mao's actions became free again.
From November 29 to December 5, Chairman Mao swam in the swimming pool five times, and the fifth time he went into the water, Chairman Mao obviously felt physically weak and weak.
The two-year treatment only alleviated Chairman Mao's condition and did not cure him, and Chairman Mao's body had been dragged down by the disease.
Coming up from the water, Chairman Mao said sadly to the secretary: "I may not have a chance with water in the future." "His own body knows it, and Chairman Mao knows that his body can no longer recover.
By the time the Fourth National People's Congress was convened in early 1975, Chairman Mao had taken up residence in the Great Hall of the People, so that Chairman Mao could sit in his seats in advance before the deputies entered the arena and not let the deputies see the scene of their support.
At the end of the meeting, the deputies waited for Chairman Mao to leave the scene first, but they did not know that Chairman Mao would wait for the deputies to leave the scene and let them leave.
In this situation, it was thanks to Premier Zhou's tact that Chairman Mao told the deputies that chairman Mao would watch the deputies leave the scene before covering up Chairman Mao's physical condition.
Both Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou were seriously ill, and history had reached a major juncture again, and Ye Jianying once again showed the demeanor of "not being confused about major matters."
He took the initiative to propose to Chairman Mao that Comrade Xiaoping take his place in presiding over the daily work of the Central Military Commission. Chairman Mao did not look at the wrong person, and Ye Jianying did indeed have the high wind and bright festival of Lü Duanjian.
When Premier Zhou died on January 8, 1976, Chairman Mao was completely unable to move. At Premier Zhou's memorial service, Zhang Yaoci made arrangements at the venue, set up the air conditioning temperature and prepared a wheelchair, waiting for Chairman Mao to attend, but Chairman Mao never came.
Before the memorial service began, Chairman Mao kept asking for the time. After the memorial service began, Chairman Mao's mood was difficult to calm down, and he could only hold a magnifying glass to see that he was distracted.
When Zhang Yufeng saw that chairman Mao was too late to go any longer, he asked Chairman Mao if he would go. Chairman Mao raised his head, clapped his legs with one hand, and said sadly to Zhang Yufeng, "I want to go but I can't go." ”
By July, Chairman Mao was unable to get out of bed, it was quite difficult to speak, and his voice was still confused.
When Li Min went to see Chairman Mao, Chairman Mao drew a circle on her hand with his fingers.
At that time, Li Min did not understand what it meant, and several years after Chairman Mao's death, when Li Min was sorting out Chairman Mao's relics, he found that He Zizhen was called "Guiyuan", and only then did he think about whether the circle represented Chairman Mao's thoughts of his mother.
In the last few months of his life, Chairman Mao used his fingers to express his meaning many times. In addition to drawing circles on Li Min's hands and lightly touching his fingers on the back of Ye Jianying's hands when he was dying, Chairman Mao also tapped his fingers on the head of the bed to express diplomatic ideas.
On that occasion, Chairman Mao had a serious myocardial infarction, and after being rescued, Chairman Mao made a voice in his mouth and wanted to speak, but he could no longer spit out words. The people around him quickly took a piece of cardboard and asked Chairman Mao to write on the cardboard with a pencil.
Chairman Mao drew three horizontal bars trembling on the cardboard, and he could not hold the pen. Everyone did not know what the three bars meant, and Chairman Mao used his fingers to knock three times at the head of the bed, but everyone still couldn't understand it.
Some people thought that Zhang Yufeng had spent the most time taking care of Chairman Mao, so they asked Zhang Yufeng for questioning. After hearing the situation, Zhang Yufeng said that Chairman Mao was referring to Takeo Miki, who was running for Prime Minister of Japan at the time.
Takeo Miki has publicly expressed his desire to develop relations with the mainland and recognizes that Beijing is the sole legitimate government of China and that Taiwan is part of China. When Chairman Mao woke up from a critical illness, the first thing that came to mind was a major state affair.
This time, Chairman Mao can also write and knock on the head of the bed, plus There is Zhang Yufeng's interpretation, and the meaning can be passed on to everyone. But after Chairman Mao's fingers moved on the back of Ye Jianying's hand, he soon closed his eyes forever.
Chairman Mao's silent last words to Ye Jianying are really difficult to guess.
Ye Jianying could only speculate on Chairman Mao's silent last words based on his understanding of Chairman Mao's thoughts before his death. He believed that Chairman Mao wanted him to help Comrade Hua Guofeng stabilize the situation, and he later did this.