The story behind an old photo:
The 60-year-old Mao Zedong rowed for Cheng
In the autumn of 1952, Chairman Mao was boating in zhongnanhai, and directly opposite him sat an old man who was close to the age of ancient rarity, and the two of them talked and laughed, and looking at the beautiful scenery in front of them, Chairman Mao Zedong sighed:
"'Emerald floor floating tree branches, Hibiscus small hall out of the heart', this is the praise of the predecessors for Zhongnanhai, to this day, in the face of this scene, Song Gong you are in it, I don't know how to feel it?"
The old man, who was called Song Gong by Chairman Mao, smiled and nodded: "Zhongnanhai is indeed worthy of its name, and it is wonderful!" ”
At this time, the moment of tranquility and peace, as everyone knows, has experienced a small "dispute" before.
On the same day, Mao Zedong invited Mr. Song Gonglao, then chairman of Hunan Province, who was holding a meeting in Beijing, to his home, and after dinner, the two of them went to Zhongnanhai to relax, just when Chairman Mao Zedong saw a small boat parked on the edge of the lake, so he proposed: "Song Gong, how about we row a boat?" ”
As soon as he spoke, Chairman Mao had already boarded the small wooden boat, followed by Mr. Song Gong.
When Song Gong got on the boat, Chairman Mao had already picked up the wooden pulp and was ready to personally row a boat for Song Gong, which could frighten Song Gong at that time: let Chairman Mao Zedong row a boat for himself, where can he enjoy this treatment.
Therefore, he hurriedly went forward to snatch the oar in Chairman Mao Zedong's hand, and hurriedly said: "Chairman, if you can't do anything, how can you let the chairman swing the oar for me?" ”
Mao Zedong saw that Song Gong reacted so strongly, and immediately understood his meaning, explaining: "Where is Song Gong, you were once my old boss, or a senior patriotic general, we are fellow countrymen, what else do you divide each other, no matter how you say, you are nearly ancient, I am just a flower armor, the guest is at the mercy of the Lord, this oar is still suitable for me to paddle!" ”
In this way, Song Gong could not resist Chairman Mao Zedong and had to agree.
And such a warm and memorable picture was just captured by the accompanying photographer to capture the wonderful moment.
The praises that Mao Zedong said in his mouth were actually his former bosses and figures of the level of the Kuomintang elders, the old gentleman, from the Qing Dynasty Xiucai to the Kuomintang elders, and finally the uprising, and its high status is really rare in our party.
Cheng Qian, zi Songyun, born in 1882, his ancestral home is Liling, Hunan, and he is a fellow hunan native with Chairman Mao Zedong, and is respected by Chairman Mao Zedong.
In addition, he was once a highly respected senior general of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, and although he had previously served in the Kuomintang, he had long disagreed with Chiang Kai-shek's splittism and had always cooperated closely with our Party.
Chairman Mao Zedong once commented on Gong Gong in this way: "Song Yun has risen and fallen for decades, but it has never been overthrown, and it is indeed not simple!" ”
What does this sentence mean? Let's slowly understand from the life of Mr. Cheng Qian!
On March 31, 1882, during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, Cheng Qian was born in a family of scholars, although his parents were farmers, he never neglected the education of his children, and under the careful education of the youngest Cheng Potential's father, Cheng Ruofeng, he successfully passed the child examination at the age of 16 and became a talent in the Qing Dynasty.
In 1900, when Cheng Qian was 18 years old, under the ardent expectations of his parents, he entered the Yuelu Academy in Changsha to study, but during this period of study, as Cheng Qian came into contact with the changes in current affairs in China and abroad, he also made a major decision: he gave up the imperial examination to enter the army, abandoned the study of literature and martial arts, and decided to save the country and save the people by strengthening himself.
At that time, it was the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War at noon, the weakness and incompetence of the Qing government were revealed, and after being forced to sign the "Treaty of Maguan", the six gentlemen of Wushu rose up and made up their minds to change the law and try to survive, but unfortunately, because of the failure of the change of law, they were cruelly injured by the order of Empress Dowager Cixi, and it was not long before the Eight-Nation Alliance launched a war of aggression against China.
It is undeniable that Mr. Cheng Qian's analysis and grasp of the current situation was quite accurate, prophetic and prescient, and the changes in thinking also seized the opportunity for a series of life plans since then.
Cheng Dive
In the face of the great changes in the country with internal and external troubles, Cheng Qian, who was young and vigorous and full of flesh and blood, wrote the "Book of Zhuangzhi", which was full of pride and ambition, and had already seen through the nature of the corruption and incompetence of the imperial court at that time, made up his mind, and made a vow: From now on, he will never participate in the imperial examination!
In 1903, under the circumstances of Cheng's unclear potential situation, he still resolutely wrote to Zhao Erxun, the inspector of Hunan at the time, to show his desire to serve the country, even if it was the responsibility of a puppet, to save the country and the crisis.
Zhao Erxun, the inspector of Hunan, after seeing Cheng Qian's impassioned writings, praised the young man's desire to serve the country, saying that his courage was commendable, and at the same time, he also gave Cheng Qian a big gift: If all the conditions are qualified, there is no need to go to great lengths to apply for the examination, and the cumbersome steps can be simplified.
After Cheng Potential received the encouragement of Inspector Zhao Erxun, with the help and support of Zhang Zhi'an, the governor of the county, through the primary election, together with Cheng Qian, a total of four people, each received a grant of 6 yuan, participated in the provincial examination, passed the physical examination, the written test ended, Cheng Qian was successfully admitted with the excellent result of the first place, successfully entered the Hunan Wubei Academy, and has since officially opened the road to saving the country.
In 1904, the 22-year-old Mr. Cheng Qian, because of his excellent academic performance, was given the opportunity to study in Tokyo, Japan, and it was during this period of study that Cheng Qian met many like-minded benevolent people, such as Huang Xing, Song Jiaoren, Qiu Liang and others.
The most important thing is that during this period, with the help of common revolutionary ideals, Mr. Cheng Qian came to know Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who occupied a very important position in the course of his future life.
Sun Yat-sen
In July 1905, Mr. Sun Yat-sen just returned to Japan from Europe, at this time he had heard of Mr. Sun Yat-sen, and Cheng Qian, who had long admired him, dreamed of getting to know Mr. Sun Yat-sen countless times, perhaps because of this fate, under the recommendation of Huang Xing, Song Jiaoren and others, Cheng Qian saw the true face of Mr. Sun Yat-sen for the first time in a Chinese restaurant in Yokohama, Japan.
Not only that, but also from the impassioned words of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, cheng qian's inner revolutionary enthusiasm was stimulated, and it was in this context of the times that the League was established.
Later, in the Akasaka District of Tokyo, Japan, Cheng Qian met Dr. Sun Yat-sen again, and the two also had the opportunity to have face-to-face in-depth exchanges and discussions:
Sun Yat-sen told Cheng Qian: We must overthrow our inner enemies, abandon the previous concept of wealth and wealth, love the country and the people, and not compromise with the enemy.
Cheng Qian also listened to Sun Yat-sen's in-depth and simple analysis of the situation at that time, of course, it was precisely because of this important conversation that he laid an important revolutionary ideological foundation for Cheng Qiansheng's life, just as listening to Jun's words and reading ten years of books, Cheng Qian benefited a lot at that time, and he became more firm in his belief in following The pace of Dr. Sun Yat-sen wholeheartedly.
In 1921, Cheng Qian was appointed by Dr. Sun Yat-sen as the commander-in-chief of the base camp, while Chen Jiongming, under the so-called strategy of joint provincial autonomy, secretly colluded with others to sabotage the united front of the Northern Expedition and killed Deng Zhen.
Later, under the repeated persuasion of Cheng Qian and others for two days and two nights, Chen Jiongming finally agreed to the Northern Expedition, but still deployed his own troops in private.
Sure enough, on June 16, Chen Jiongming actually shelled the presidential palace, and at such a critical juncture, Cheng Qian stepped forward, successfully covered Dr. Sun Yat-sen, and arrived safely at the Yongfeng ship, at which time he was also appointed commander-in-chief of the rebel army.
During the days when the Yongfeng ship took refuge, Cheng Qian often accompanied Mr. Sun Yat-sen, afraid of another accident, the rebels at that time were ready to attack the Yongfeng ship, and bought off some of the officers and men on the ship, so that later, after Mr. Sun Yat-sen escaped from danger, whenever he remembered the days when he was frightened, he could not help but sigh: Cheng Songgong was a bloody boy, after all, he was the one who suffered with me.
After getting along with Dr. Sun Yat-sen for a long time and overcoming difficulties together, Cheng Qian not only cultivated a character that was not chaotic in the face of danger, but also was deeply influenced by Mr. Sun Yat-sen's personality, and treated people and things with magnanimity, so that later Cheng Qian often said to Tan Yanmin: President Sun trusts us and entrusts us with heavy responsibilities, and we must also be loyal to Mr. Sun Yat-sen as much as possible, for the sake of the country and the people, and we must also bow down to the best of our ability and die.
Cheng Qian's arrogance and boldness made Tan Yanmin, who had once been prejudiced against Dr. Sun Yat-sen, feel ashamed and embarrassed, and after realizing his mistake, he took the initiative to hand over the two pieces of Hanbai jade ancient seal engraved with the words "Bow to Death" to Mr. Sun Yat-sen to express his inner apology and respect for Mr. Cheng Qian.
On March 12, 1925, When Dr. Sun Yat-sen passed away, Mr. Cheng Qian, who heard the bad news, expressed his remembrance of Dr. Sun Yat-sen in his own way, and immediately wrote a poem of seven words with his pen:
"A cold moon shines through the cold window, and the superstar falls on me sadly."
"After the encounter, I look back and look at the past."
In this way, it commemorates Dr. Sun Yat-sen.
In 1927, the National Revolutionary Army had gradually won the initial victory of the Northern Expedition, but Chiang Kai-shek, who had worked with Cheng Qian under Dr. Sun Yat-sen, increasingly exposed his military dictatorial ambitions, undermined the good situation of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and gradually deviated from the three major revolutionary policies formulated by Dr. Sun Yat-sen at that time.
To this end, under the resolution of the Nationalist government in Wuhan, Cheng Led the Right Army to be specifically responsible for containing Chiang Kai-shek.
After all, Cheng Qian still underestimated Chiang Kai-shek's strength and looked up to Chiang Kai-shek's character, originally Cheng Qian had the opportunity to arrest Chiang Kai-shek first, but he was thinking of the division and going out of the same door, and as the founding elder of the Kuomintang, he hesitated at Cheng Qian's kung fu, but instead He was taken by Chiang Kai-shek to be strong first, and bribed General Cheng Qian's subordinates, causing the Sixth Army to be disintegrated and taking the opportunity to weaken General Cheng Qian's strength.
Chiang Kai-shek was anti-guest-oriented, and then sent people to hunt down Cheng Qian, after feeling Chiang Kai-shek's deep malice, Cheng Qian also began a thrilling escape road, with 10,000 yuan in cash, a group of 7 people, immediately took a small steamer from Nanjing, halfway there was a warship chasing after it, fortunately, Cheng Qian at that time was dressed in civilian clothes, hid in the fire pod, plus yue Lin stepped forward to fight for cover at that time, so that Cheng Qian escaped from danger smoothly.
At that time, Cheng Qian joined the Alliance in 1905, after returning from Japan, Cheng Qian had already begun to serve as a staff officer of the new army, responsible for training new soldiers, and when the Xinhai Revolution broke out, he also played an important role, going to Wuchang to help Huang Xing, and in 1920, Cheng Qian was officially valued by Dr. Sun Yat-sen.
In 1924, Dr. Sun Yat-sen decided to establish a revolutionary military academy, according to the original plan at that time, Cheng Qian was the principal and Chiang Kai-shek was the vice president.
Chiang Kai-shek
However, Chiang Kai-shek was not satisfied with such a decision, and in order to protest, he ran to Shanghai to pick a quarrel and not do it; In order to take into account the overall situation, Mr. Sun Yat-sen also consulted Cheng Qian, and Cheng Qian was very generous and gave up the position of principal to Chiang Kai-shek.
Judging from Cheng Qian's early experience, it is almost unrelated to Mao Zedong, so why did Chairman Mao Zedong call Cheng Qian an old boss?
In 1911, the Wuchang Uprising fired the first shot of the Xinhai Revolution, and with the smooth progress of the revolutionary tasks, Cheng Qian also continued to be responsible for the training of new soldiers.
Coincidentally, when Mao Zedong was young, he went to the barracks to visit his compatriots, and happened to see that there were revolutionaries in the barracks at that time giving speeches, with fierce and passionate speeches, and it was under such a deaf ear that Chairman Mao Zedong, after several days and nights of careful consideration, also made up his mind to join the revolutionary army and respond to the call of the revolution.
Chairman Mao Zedong resolutely abandoned Wen to join the army and joined the Hunan Revolutionary Army, and during the time when Chairman Mao Zedong was a new soldier, Cheng Qian was already the chief of staff of the Hunan Governor's Office.
From this point of view, according to seniority, Cheng Qian is indeed Chairman Mao Zedong's old superior and old boss.
Chairman Mao's group photo with Cheng Qian and others
Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why Chairman Mao Zedong, when he led Mr. Cheng Qian, chairman of Hunan Province, for a walk in the Zhongnanhai Sea, insisted on rowing the old boss himself, in addition, the friendship between the two was not limited to this.
In the summer of 1963, when Mr. Cheng Qian was still in Beidaihe, he had already started ahead of time and began to prepare a gift for Chairman Mao Zedong's 70th birthday, after all, General Cheng Qian, who was also a reader, also prepared a special gift for Chairman Mao Zedong.
Although chairman Mao Zedong's 70th birthday was still a few months away, at that time, because the transmission of information was not as convenient as today, Elder Cheng wrote a letter in advance, contacting Ma Yifu in Hangzhou, Shen Yinmo in Shanghai, Zhang Shizhao and Ye Gongqi in Beijing, and Xie Wuliang in Sichuan to write poems in advance and prepare to wish Chairman Mao Zedong a happy birthday.
How much did Mr. Cheng Qian, who was old at that time, attach importance to this activity?
First of all, it took a few months to prepare not to say, plus according to the young daughter of Mr. Cheng Qian at that time: "When Daddy goes to the toilet, he must sing!" ”
Later, when she was a little older, she learned that her father was chanting poetry.
Although Mr. Cheng Qian himself has a good ability to control words, in order to prepare for this great gift, he often spends time to find Zhang Shizhao, who is in Beijing, and the two discuss together, repeatedly deliberate, afraid of not being able to reflect the meaning he wants to express, writing over and over again, reading again and again!
Cheng Qian in his later years
Space is limited, choose a few representative sentences for everyone to feel:
"The most expressive husband should not be pardoned, and there is no falsehood in the chapters and periodicals."
"Unity and vengeance are tight and tight, and the wounds and the poor are white and wise."
"The mountain hu yong xuechen slave shame, the sea sodium long reserve to create a long."
Between the lines, there is a sense of gratitude for Chairman Mao Zedong's recklessness.
In fact, as early as the autumn of 1945, with the end of World War II, Chairman Mao Zedong negotiated with Chiang Kai-shek in Chongqing on behalf of our Party, during which Chairman Mao Zedong deliberately asked Cheng Qian to reminisce about the past, and when talking about universal suffrage for the Kuomintang government, Chairman Mao Zedong also encouraged Cheng Qian to participate in the vice presidential election.
However, on June 20, 1948, Mr. Cheng Qian's bid for vice president failed, and at the same time, bad news followed, when Cheng Qian was appointed by Chiang Kai-shek as the director of the Changsha Appeasement Office, but unexpectedly at this time he was already on the list of war criminals of the CCP.
Later, after Chairman Mao Zedong learned about it, he immediately explained to Mr. Cheng Qian, eliminated his inner concerns, and said that the previous things could not be investigated, after all, in the process of CCP cooperation, Mr. Cheng Qian had always taken a clear stand and had a firm will.
Therefore, under the direct guidance of Chairman Mao Zedong, Cheng Qian and Bai Chongxi, then commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang's East China Bandits, fought with wisdom and courage, skillfully maneuvered, and successfully launched an uprising in Changsha, with as little bloodshed and sacrifice as possible, so that Hunan at that time avoided the baptism of fire, greatly promoted the development of the liberation cause, and finally completed the great cause of peaceful uprising.
A group photo left by Chairman Mao and Cheng Qian when chatting
On the eve of the founding of New China, on the evening of September 7, 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong, accompanied by Marshal Zhu De and Premier Zhou Enlai, personally went to the Beiping Railway Station to meet Cheng Qian, so that after Cheng Qian got off the train at that time, he was surprised to see the chairman excited at the same time, after all, the chairman was a very busy person, and he rarely had time to personally pick up the station, and to be able to receive such treatment also made Mr. Cheng Qian at that time feel very honored.
In fact, Chairman Mao Zedong has always respected Cheng Qian, the old boss:
Chairman Mao Zedong knew Cheng Qian a little earlier than Cheng Qian knew Mao Zedong, after all, when Chairman Mao Zedong was a soldier, Mr. Cheng Qianqian was already a veteran figure of the Kuomintang.
Back then, Cheng Qian and Chairman Mao Zedong first met, but only in 1924 at the Kuomintang conference, when It was held by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, chairman Mao Zedong was a member of the Communist Party, although he was only in his early 30s, he had already shown extraordinary courage.
At this time, Cheng Qian was already the minister of military affairs of the Nationalist government, subordinate to the Kuomintang camp, although the two were in different parties, but on the basis of the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the two could also be regarded as the first acquaintance.
With the passage of time, the ordinary soldier of that year has become a great man who changed the era, but he has never forgotten the pure teachings of Cheng Qian's old boss: gun on the shoulder, gun down, aiming, shooting... The familiar word is still fresh in my mind.
Mao Zedong and Cheng Qian
Whenever it comes to the matter of Mr. Cheng Qian, Mao Zedong must first find Mr. Cheng Qian's brother of the same ethnic group, Cheng Xinling to discuss, the two agreed and then conveyed to Cheng Qian, Chairman Mao Zedong knows that Mr. Cheng Qian's old subordinates are more, so as far as possible to find a way to arrange, at that time in order to solve the difficulties in Mr. Cheng Qian's life, Mao Zedong also specially approved, arranged 50,000 kilograms of rice per month to let Cheng Qian spend, enough to see the high status of Mr. Cheng Qian.
The starting point is very simple, that is, I hope that Mr. Cheng can enjoy his old age in peace and have no worries.
In the autumn of 1952, Mr. Cheng Qian and Mao Zedong were boating in the South China Sea, and they also spoke freely. Chairman Mao, while rowing a boat, told Mr. Cheng Qianlao about the history of Zhongnanhai, from the Ming and Qing dynasties to the Republic of China, one by one about the development and change of Zhongnanhai, which not only has charming scenery, but also includes historical buildings with rich cultural characteristics, so that Mr. Cheng Qian at that time not only listened to it, but also praised Chairman Mao's erudition.
The laughter and laughter of the two also reverberated on the surface of the Zhongnan Sea with the turquoise water waves, and could not be calmed down for a long time.
In 1952, Mr. Cheng Qian's old Ji Futuo, despite his age, still adhered to a serious and responsible work attitude, in-depth investigation of various problems along the Jingjiang River, mastered a large number of first-hand information, sorted out and gave it to Chairman Mao Zedong for reference.
Later, Chairman Mao Zedong also launched a nationwide rectification campaign under the suggestion of Mr. Cheng Qianlao, just to rectify the unhealthy atmosphere.
On December 26, 1963, chairman Mao Zedong's 70th birthday, a banquet was held at home on the same day, and among the invited guests was Cheng Qian and his wife Guo Yiqing.
Cheng Qian took a group photo with his family
To this end, Chairman Mao Zedong also specially asked the chef to add two dishes for Mr. Cheng Qianlao, one is tempeh fried pepper, the other is smoked fish, many years of getting along, Chairman Mao Zedong is also well aware of Mr. Cheng Qian's hobby taste.
On the day of the birthday, even Cheng Qian, who usually does not drink alcohol, raised a glass to celebrate Chairman Mao Zedong's birthday, and by the way, he also presented 12 groups of poems that he spent several months carefully preparing, praising and praising Chairman Mao Zedong's great deeds.
Time has passed, the years are hurried, and life is still inseparable from life and death after all.
In 1968, the 87-year-old Mr. Cheng Qian was hospitalized for an accidental fall and a fracture, but the disaster was not alone, due to physical weakness, Cheng Qian died on April 9.
At that time, it was a particularly sensitive period, and just when everyone was hesitating whether to hold a memorial service for Mr. Cheng Qian, Premier Zhou Enlai clearly stated: "In mourning Cheng Songgong, is there anything that needs to be hesitated?" ”
To this end, it is emphasized: "Not only to hold a memorial service, but also to solemnly hold it!" ”
Zhou Enlai
On April 12, the memorial service for Mr. Cheng Qian's death was successfully held, and the next evening, Premier Zhou Enlai also took time to visit Mr. Cheng Qian's home to comfort his relatives and children.
At that time, Cheng Qian's wife, Guo Yiqing, plucked up enough courage to ask Premier Zhou a question:
"Who is Cheng Qian?" What is the composition of our family? ”
Despite the special sensitive period at that time, Premier Zhou Enlai said firmly and passionately after a moment of contemplation:
"Cheng Songgong is of course a revolutionary cadre, who has worked closely with the Communist Party for many years, made great achievements in the War of Resistance Against Japan, and peacefully revolted, and is also a well-deserved recipient of the first-class medal. Of course, your family is a revolutionary family, and of course your relatives belong to the revolutionary family! ”
Premier Zhou Enlai's remarks were a pertinent and accurate evaluation of Mr. Chen Qian at that time!