Zhou Enlai commented that Li Zongren had done two good things in his life: one was Taierzhuang, and the other was to return to the motherland.
Since Chiang Kai-shek became the president of the Kuomintang, who was the person he was most afraid of in the party? Some people say it is He Yingqin, some people say it is Bai Chongxi, but in fact, it is not, the person that old Chiang Kai-shek is most jealous of is Li Zongren, who is the one who can force Chiang Kai-shek himself to step down.
Li Zongren
Li Zongren not only has outstanding military ability, but also in terms of politics, he is not a blank piece of paper like Bai Chongxi, but a scheming politician.
As the main figures of the Northern Expedition, the Gui army led by Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi became famous, laid the foundation of the Northern Expedition, and contributed to the final victory of the Northern Expedition.
As one of the leaders of the New Gui clan, Li Zongren was not ambiguous in terms of national righteousness, and during the War of Resistance Against Japan, Li Zongren commanded the Great Victory of Taierzhuang, which was of great significance in the entire War of Resistance Against Japan, annihilating more than 20,000 Japanese troops.
Taierzhuang Great Victory Li Zongren
During the Liberation War, Li Zongren no longer presided over military command and operations, but focused more on politics. Chiang Kai-shek was forced to announce his "retirement" in early 1949, including li zongren.
In 1949, the Kuomintang army was completely defeated, and Chiang Kai-shek also fled to Taiwan, Li Zongren knew that Chiang Kai-shek was a man, and he did not have a good end when he went to Taiwan.
After informing his friend Bai Chongxi, Li Zongren used the excuse of going to the United States to see a doctor and moved his family to the United States, where he spent more than ten years in exile.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > Li Zongren's temptation before returning to China</h1>
In 1959, the tenth anniversary of the founding of New China, Li Zongren himself had been in exile in the United States for more than ten years, and he hoped to return to the motherland, but he had some scruples in his heart.
In order to understand the attitude of the new Chinese leaders toward their desire to return to China, Li Zongren decided to first ask for directions so as to understand the views of the domestic high-level on his return to China.
Li Zongren first asked his friend Cheng Siyuan to go to Beijing five times to visit Premier Zhou to understand Beijing's attitude toward him, and then he hoped to prove his sincerity in returning to the motherland through some of his actions, so as to show his patriotism.
The clever Li Zongren thought that by donating cultural relics, he could not only express his willingness to return to the motherland through cultural relics, but also donate some valuable things to The country and bring the lost culture back to the motherland to show his patriotic feelings.
In the United States, Li Zongren collected a batch of Chinese cultural relics overseas through various channels, spent $110,000, and donated these things to China.
After china's top level learned of this incident, they expressed their appreciation for Li Zongren's behavior and also accepted a generous gift he brought to New China.
At this time, there were some problems in the authenticity of cultural relics, and when cultural relics experts classified cultural relics, they found that most of the cultural relics donated by Li Zongren to China were high-imitation fakes and had no collection value.
Since there are a large number of fakes in cultural relics, there is no point in collecting and recycling, so how should this matter be handled? At that time, two opinions appeared at the top.
The first opinion is to convert the real cultural relics into US dollars according to the market value, and return the money to Li Zongren to show his gratitude.
There is an inappropriateness in this method, that is, the vast majority of Li Zongren's cultural relics are fakes, and if this is done, the vast majority of Li Zongren's 110,000 US dollars will be adrift, which will cause certain misunderstandings.
The second opinion, chairman Mao and Premier Zhou both agreed to do so, the opinion is also very simple, can not let Li Zongren pay this money, even if li Zongren donated the vast majority of cultural relics are fakes, but to express recognition of his behavior and spirit.
Chairman Mao and Li Zongren
In the end, under the influence of the chairman, not only did he return Li Zongren's $110,000, but also rewarded him with another 10,000 U.S. dollars, thanking him for finding overseas cultural relics for the motherland and returning to China.
It is worth mentioning that when we handed over $120,000 to Li Zongren, we told him about the authenticity of cultural relics, and said that part of the money was considered to be travel expenses for Li Zongren to search for cultural relics, so as to express the gratitude of the new government of New China to Li Zongren.
On the question of whether to agree to Li Zongren's return to China, Premier Zhou also told him through channels: "I hope that Mr. Li Zongren can return to the motherland at the right time, and the previous historical issue will not be raised again." It is hoped that Mr. Li Zongren will attach great importance to the great righteousness of the nation, return to the motherland, and enter the embrace of the new Chinese people. ”
Premier Zhou shook hands with Li Zongren
There is a question worth mentioning, why are there so many fakes in the batch of cultural relics donated by Li Zongren to China?
The reason for this is nothing more than two points, Li Zongren took this opportunity to test whether New China really welcomed himself back to China, the cultural relics are difficult to distinguish between true and false, Li Zongren is not a professional, and it is normal to buy wrong.
In fact, the fact that the top Kuomintang generals bought the wrong cultural relics and antiques still existed, and Wang Lingji also donated a cultural relics and antiques to the new Chinese government during the transformation of Gongdelin, and this cultural relics was bought by Wang Lingji for tens of thousands of oceans that year, and he himself felt that this must be true.
However, after testing, China's experts found that the batch of cultural relics and antiques donated by Wang Lingji were all fake imitations and had no collection value, which means that Wang Lingji, who spent a lot of money and bought a large number of antique cultural relics, was deceived and lost tens of thousands of oceans in vain.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="22" > return to China "important official" is not successful, Premier Zhou personally explained</h1>
With the attitude of the new China's top brass, Li Zongren's determination to return to China has been determined, and he has already seen the sincerity of the mainland.
Before returning to China, Li Zongren also did a good thing, on February 12, 1964, he published a heavyweight open letter in the Herald Tribune in the United States.
In the letter, Li Zongren advised the United States not to go far on the wrong road, but to learn from France, quickly change its china policy, establish diplomatic relations with Chinese mainland, and benefit each other for mutual benefit.
As soon as the letter came out, Chiang Kai-shek, who was sitting in Taiwan, was very angry, and he forced Bai Chongxi to write a letter that was roughly against What Li Zongren said.
Gui li zongren, Bai Chongxi
Of course, Li Zongren understood that the tone and meaning of this letter did not come from Bai Chongxi's intention, but was forced by Chiang Kai-shek to write it as a last resort.
In this regard, Li Zongren laughed and simply ignored the letter from Taiwan, which further strengthened his determination to return to China.
On July 20, 1965, Li Zongren made several transfers and returned to the motherland with his family, and on that day, Premier Zhou personally came to the airport to greet him, in order to show his attention to the former acting president of the Kuomintang.
After getting off the plane and meeting With Zhou Enlai, Li Zongren read out a statement in public at the airport, indicating that he wanted to contribute to the reunification of the motherland.
The news of Li Zongren's return to China has aroused great repercussions in the international community and has become a hot news in newspapers at home.
In addition to the Taiwan side angrily calling Li Zongren a "traitor," the media of various countries have praised the great mind of the Communist Party leader, and the people at home have welcomed Mr. Li Zongren back to China to make contributions to the reunification of the motherland.
Mr. and Mrs. Li Zongren
Premier Zhou made great efforts to smoothly return to China, which shows that the central authorities attach great importance to Li Zongren.
After returning to China, Under the arrangement of Premier Zhou, Li Zongren successively met with Chairman Mao and many other state leaders. In order to welcome Li Zongren back to China, the chairman specially set up a banquet to receive him.
After Li Zongren returned to China, he hoped that he could do something for the country, so at the banquet, he asked the chairman to give him a vice-state-level official position, and wanted to serve as vice chairman of the National People's Congress, and through this post, he contributed to the construction of new China.
According to Li Zongren's position and resume during the Kuomintang period, he was completely competent to serve as vice chairman of the NPC; in addition, At that time, Li Zongren's health was still good, and he had spare strength to do a good job in this work; if he could fulfill his wishes, it would also be of great benefit to the united front work in the future.
During the banquet, in the face of Li Zongren's request to "ask for an official", the chairman just smiled and did not give a reply, in fact, this was a euphemism to refuse. Later, Li Zongren never got this vice-state-level position, why is this?
Chairman Mao talked to Li Zongren
In fact, it is not that the chairman does not want to give Li Zongren the post of vice-state level, but that if Li Zongren holds the post of vice chairman of the National People's Congress, he will be completely wronged by him.
Because Li Zongren's previous position was too high, he had served as the acting president of the Kuomintang, which was a proper state-level position according to the time.
If Li Zongren is allowed to hold a vice-state-level post after returning to China, this will obviously reduce his status, which is not in line with our party's policy toward those who return to China, and there will be a certain loss to the image of new China, so Li Zongren's request to "want to be an official" was rejected.
In order to avoid misunderstanding by Li Zongren, the chairman specifically instructed Premier Zhou to personally come to the door and explain his intentions to Mr. Li Zongren.
Under the prime minister's earnest explanation, Li Zongren also expressed full understanding that as long as it is beneficial to the country, he can personally obey it completely.
Chairman Mao shook hands with Li Zongren
Although Li Zongren did not receive a vice-state-level official position after returning to China, the chairman personally approved the living conditions, and Li Zongren's living treatment was enjoyed according to the retirees of the vice-state level.
In his later years, Li Zongren's life was still good, there were special people to serve his life, and there were guards, drivers and other people to protect his safety and make him travel convenient.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="36" > conclusion</h1>
Premier Zhou was also particularly considerate, and after learning of the death of Li Zongren's wife, he introduced a 27-year-old beautiful girl, Hu Yousong, to Li Zongren, who met and married, so that Li Zongren spent a happy old age.
It is worth mentioning that Bai Chongxi, who was good friends with Li Zongren in the early years, died mysteriously after being trapped in Taiwan by Chiang Kai-shek, and the two chose different paths and had different endings.
Li Zongren's return to China was the right decision, and for him, the fallen leaves returned to their roots and enjoyed their old age and left a good reputation.
As far as the state is concerned, it is conducive to the progress of the united front work, and it can better propagate the idea of the reunification of the motherland, so that more people who are living abroad and in a remote corner of Taiwan can see the attitude of the new China, and have a positive propaganda effect on realizing cross-strait reunification.