The fighting friendships forged by the older generation of revolutionaries during the revolutionary period are incomprehensible to many of us today. As comrades-in-arms with common beliefs, they not only call each other brothers spiritually, but sometimes take care of each other like brothers in life.
This friendship, based on common ideals and beliefs, is sometimes even deeper than the friendship between blood relatives. The relationship between the great Premier Zhou and the party's second-generation core leader, Deng Xiaoping, is such a great friendship that is above all else.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > starting in Paris, the two are comrades</h1>
Premier Zhou and Deng Xiaoping first met when they were working in France. In 1921, the brilliance of communist ideas shone over Paris, France, and the Paris Group of the Communist International was founded.
At that time, Premier Zhou was in charge of propaganda work in the executive committee of the Communist Group in Paris, and Deng Xiaoping, who was also working in Paris at this time, also joined in because he was baptized by revolutionary ideas.
In their days in a foreign country, Premier Zhou and Deng Xiaoping, who had the same nationality and Chinese blood, forged a deep friendship.
Although during that time in Paris, the struggle as a Communist was not as fierce as the revolutionary struggle in the country that followed. But the revolutionary friendship abroad has a special closeness.
As a work-study student in France at that time, everyone's life was very difficult. Therefore, mutual support and care for each other is particularly precious.
Since then, Premier Zhou and Deng Xiaoping, two great men, have formed revolutionary comrades-in-arms because of their common ideals and aspirations. In 1923, Premier Zhou and Deng Xiaoping joined the Communist Youth League of China in Europe.
Premier Zhou was elected secretary, and Deng Xiaoping took up branch work at Premier Zhou's side. During this period, the two successively founded publications such as "Youth" and "Red Light" to promote communist ideas.
Although Deng Xiaoping and Premier Zhou had a very difficult life in France at that time, the young revolutionaries were always full of expectations for the future and full of enthusiasm for the revolution.
Later, Premier Zhou returned to China in the autumn of 1924 to serve as the director of the political department of the Whampoa Military Academy in Guangdong during the period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, so the two comrades-in-arms who had fought together for more than a year had to say goodbye.
After Premier Zhou returned to China, Deng Xiaoping continued to participate in the tide of the workers' movement in Europe. It was not until the spring of 1927 that Deng Xiaoping was appointed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to leave the Soviet Union and return to China to work at the Zhongshan Military School in Xi'an, which belonged to the Nationalist Coalition Army, as the director of the political department.
But even so, these two good comrades-in-arms of the year have never been able to see each other because of their work.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > white zone work</h1>
It did not take long for the communist revolutionary movement in the country to undergo major changes. After the first kuomintang-communist cooperation broke down, the ranks of the Communist Party of China were "encircled and suppressed" by the reactionaries represented by Chiang Kai-shek.
After receiving an urgent transfer order, Deng Xiaoping moved to Shanghai with the central authorities at the end of 1927. During his time in the White Zone, Deng Xiaoping fought side by side with Premier Zhou in the "white terror" created by the enemy.
From the end of 1927 to the beginning of 1928, Deng Xiaoping and Premier Zhou fought side by side for about a full year and a half. Premier Zhou at the time served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo, director of the Organization Department of the Central Committee, and secretary of the Central Military Commission.
Deng Xiaoping, on the other hand, was appointed secretary general of the CPC Central Committee. Since then, in addition to being comrades-in-arms who trust each other at work, the two are also "brothers" who take care of each other in life.
At that time, Deng Xiaoping had just married his first wife, Zhang Xiyuan, but because of the limited revolutionary conditions, for a long time, deng Xiaoping and his wife, who had been newly married, had to live in the same room with Premier Zhou and Deng Yingchao.
Premier Zhou and Deng Yingchao lived upstairs, while Deng Xiaoping and Zhang Xiyuan lived downstairs. This special relationship of neighbor continued until liberation. In the compound of Zhongnanhai, two close comrades-in-arms still maintain such a friendship outside of work.
From the beginning of the Long March to the Liberation War. Because of their work, Premier Zhou and Deng Xiaoping, two of their former best comrades-in-arms, had to fight separately in their posts.
But true revolutionary friendship does not alienate, but on the contrary, the older the feelings between each other.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > a family member in the Zhongnanhai compound</h1>
In 1956, at the First Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee, Deng Xiaoping was elected as a member of the Politburo, a standing committee member of the Politburo, and a general secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, becoming an important member of the first generation of the leadership collective of the Communist Party of China with Chairman Mao as the core.
At this time, Deng Xiaoping and Premier Zhou were one in charge of party affairs and the other was the premier of the country. Because of the relationship between working together in the early years, the two also showed a very tacit understanding at work at this time.
Deng Xiaoping was at Premier Zhou's side from 1952 until a special period to assist the premier in his daily work. At that time, Premier Zhou's family and Deng Xiaoping's family were living in Zhongnanhai.
The parents in the compound let their children affectionately call Deng Yingchao "Deng Mama". Only Deng Xiaoping's wife, Zhuo Lin, allowed herself and Deng Xiaoping's daughter to affectionately call Deng Yingchao "aunt."
Indeed, after years of fighting side by side, the friendship between the two families has always been as close as relatives. On weekends, the two families also go to the countryside together.
After seeing the children in Deng Xiaoping's family, Premier Zhou always played with the children like elders. And Deng Xiaoping and Zhuo Lin's children also treated Premier Zhou and Deng Yingchao as if they were their parents.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the "revolutionary friendship" of two great men during the "special period"</h1>
However, the time of happiness is always too short. As the special period begins, so does this happiness. Although Premier Zhou protected many old cadres at the behest of Chairman Mao, life was never so good.
Many of the old cadres that Premier Zhou could not take care of were arrested and beaten. Deng Xiaoping also almost became the object of "fighting" many times. In 1969, Lin carried out the "No. 1 Circular Order" to drive the old cadres out of Beijing and send them to other places.
And this time, even Premier Zhou felt powerless. Deng Xiaoping was sent to Jiangxi. Originally, according to the intention of the "Revolutionary Committee" of Jiangxi Province at that time, Deng Xiaoping was to send Deng Xiaoping to Ganzhou, but under the repeated efforts of Premier Zhou, Deng Xiaoping was allowed to stay in Jiangxi.
That was the most depressed time in Deng Xiaoping's life, but Premier Zhou, who was in Beijing, never forgot his old comrade-in-arms.
After the "913" incident, Premier Zhou fought several times, and finally Chairman Mao decided to resume Deng Xiaoping's work in the Central Committee. However, under the circumstances of the time, the implementation of the Chairman's decision was very difficult.
Later, Premier Zhou first approved a document restoring Deng Xiaoping's salary to relieve the urgent needs of his old comrade-in-arms; then approved Deng Xiaoping's son Deng Pufang to enter Beijing for medical treatment.
After everything had stabilized slightly, Premier Zhou began to work with Chairman Mao, who also wrote a letter to Chairman Mao in Beijing in August of that year.
Finally, at the end of December 1972, Ji Dengkui and Wang Dongxing formally proposed that Deng Xiaoping return to Beijing to resume the work of vice premier.
Finally, in February 1973, Deng Xiaoping was notified to return to Beijing. At this time, Premier Zhou was already suffering from illness. In just a few years, when he saw his comrades-in-arms again, Premier Zhou, who was still healthy, had changed his appearance.
But in the midst of his serious illness, Premier Zhou was still trying his best to deal with the "hostile faction," and Premier Zhou knew that he had been seriously ill and that time was running out.
At this time, Premier Zhou wanted Deng Xiaoping to take over his job. This was not out of friendship with Deng Xiaoping, but out of trust among revolutionary comrades-in-arms and recognition of his ability to work.
After returning to Beijing, Deng Xiaoping's road to reinstatement was not smooth, and many times it was only under the mediation of Premier Zhou that he was able to survive. For this reason, Premier Zhou was also criticized by Chairman Mao on many occasions.
Many years later, deng Xiaoping said when recalling the "special period": "At that time, Premier Zhou said things against his heart, but the people of the whole country forgave him, and he was respected by the people of the whole country. "
During the "special period," Deng Xiaoping also comforted Premier Zhou and said, "You had to do this at that time, otherwise you would not be able to protect so many old cadres." "
In December 1975, when Premier Zhou was dying, Premier Zhou, who had woken up after many rescues, looked at Deng Xiaoping, Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Dongxing, and others in front of the hospital bed, and said to Zhang Chunqiao: "Comrade Chunqiao, you and Hong Wen should help Comrade Xiaoping more in our work. "
This sentence was Premier Zhou's last struggle at the time of his death, trying to support Deng Xiaoping in the overall situation under the extremely deteriorating political situation.
But in fact, when he heard Premier Zhou's last instructions, Zhang Chunqiao did not have the slightest idea of giving up his ambitions. Still dreaming of being prime minister.
On January 8, 1976, after the death of Premier Zhou, Deng Xiaoping endured great grief to deliver a eulogy for the premier. Originally, according to Premier Zhou's wishes, he was afraid of another incident, and when he died, he instructed not to hold a memorial service.
However, after the death of Premier Zhou, Deng Xiaoping still insisted on holding a memorial service for Premier Zhou, and Deng Xiaoping also said: This people will not agree. It is precisely because of Deng Xiaoping's persistence that Premier Zhou did not pass away quietly in the end.
The spontaneous burial of the premier by the masses outside "Tiananmen" also became a rare victory over the "hostile faction" at that time. In October 1976, the "hostile faction" was subjected to quarantine and scrutiny by the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, and a "special period" of ten years came to an end.
At the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 1978, Deng Xiaoping delivered a speech entitled "Emancipating the Mind, Seeking Truth from Facts, Uniting as One and Looking Forward." After this plenum, Deng Xiaoping finally became the core of the new party's leading body.
Looking back on the honor and disgrace of Deng Xiaoping's life, we have always been inseparable from Premier Zhou. The two have been comrades side by side since they were young, and this close relationship has lasted a lifetime.
How many people in ancient and modern China and abroad can do such friendship? But in their friendship there is not a single selfishness, it is all for the Chinese people's dedication.
Text/Wen Shi Wangwang