In 1949, General Zhang Zhizhong, who had served as a second-class general of the National Revolutionary Army and one of Chiang Kai-shek's eight kings, and who had friendly relations with our party, turned to Fu Zuoyi for several hundred yuan.
Knowing that his brother was in trouble, Fu Zuoyi generously donated money, and Premier Zhou felt very guilty when he learned about this, and repeatedly said that this was his own negligence, and quickly allocated 6,000 yuan for Zhang Zhi to use.
And why can this high-ranking general of the Kuomintang reactionary forces maintain friendly relations with our party, and why did Premier Zhou allocate more than 6,000 yuan to him? Who is this man, and what is the story of him?
The general came from a bitter background
Zhang Zhizhong had a good background unlike other high-ranking Kuomintang generals, he was born in rural Anhui, his grandfather was an authentic farmer, and his father was a carpenter.
In their life plan for Zhang Zhizhong, he will also be a badger in the future. But Zhang Zhizhong's mother insisted that her son study and go out to wander, and could not be confined to this poor mountain and bad water.
With the support of his mother, Zhang Zhizhong went to Anqing alone to take the Anqing Lu Primary School at that time, but the last exam was shady and failed to make the list, so he had to serve as a patrolman, and then went to Yangzhou to serve as a reserve policeman.
The Xinhai Revolution of 1911 became a turning point in Zhang Zhizhong's life, and Zhang Zhizhong, who had long complained about the old cannibalism system, joined the anti-Qing rebels in Yangzhou as a policeman. After the revolution won a phased victory, he entered the Baoding Military Academy to study.
Whampoa makes friends
After graduating from the Baoding Military Academy, Zhang Zhizhong did not choose to serve in the Beiyang government, but went to Guangdong to follow Sun Yat-sen, the father of the nation. He served as a commander in the Cantonese and Gui armies and participated in the Dharma Protector Movement.
In 1924, Chiang Kai-shek, who was the principal of the Whampoa Military Academy at the time, heard that Zhang Zhizhong was an excellent cadet of the Baoding Military Academy, so he invited him to serve as the acting captain of the third phase of the Whampoa Military Academy.
After Zhang Zhizhong came to Huangpu, he befriended Zhou Enlai, then director of the Political Department. Zhou Enlai had just returned from France at this time, and after seeing Zhang Zhizhong, the two talked a lot, and they recognized Zhang Zhizhong's theory very much.
Zhang Zhizhong's eldest Zhou Enlai is eight years old, for Zhou Enlai and his wife Deng Yingchao this is a loyal big brother, whether it is work or life, Zhou Zhang and the two have a good intersection.
The two met in the same year, Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao married in Guangzhou, the two married very low-key, and among the many friends around him, only Zhang Zhizhong knew about it.
At that time, the economic situation of the two was not very good, there were no eight sedans, no greetings, no wedding banquets, and some were just the vows of the two with affection and a vision of future life.
For the frugal attitude of the two, Zhang Zhizhong stood up and expressed his opposition, marriage is so important, how can it be so low-key? Two tables should be set up.
As the eldest brother, Zhang Zhizhong set up two tables of wine banquets at the Guangzhou Taiping Hall out of his own pocket to celebrate the wedding of Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao, and Chen Geng, Deng Zhongxia and others were all present.
Decades later, Deng Yingchao is still very moved to talk about this matter, and this big brother has provided a lot of help in the most difficult period for the two, and they will never forget it in their lives.
However, such a good friend could not see each other for various reasons in the next ten years, why is this?
The identity of the leftist wing of the Kuomintang, a reactionary force
Zhou Enlai and Zhang Zhizhong have a deep friendship, but there is also a practical problem in front of the two. They are in different camps, and there are many contradictions between the two camps that remain unresolved.
The two met during the first period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and the two parties supported each other and fought together against the warlords. However, after the defeat of the warlords, rifts between the two parties also appeared.
At that time, the conflict between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in society did not occur, and the Whampoa Military Academy had long been divided into two camps, one was the "Young Soldiers' Federation" that supported cooperation with the Communists, and the other was the rightists.
Zhang Zhizhong's intimacy with the Communists is an open matter, and Zhang Zhizhong does not hide his friendly exchanges with the Communists, so he is biased towards the idea of the "Young Soldiers' Federation".
During the Northern Expedition, Zhang Zhizhong recommended Zhou En's work in the Political Department of the Northern Expedition, but Chiang Kai-shek opposed him. Zhang Zhizhong was not angry with Zhou Enlai, and by this time his contradiction with Chiang Kai-shek had already appeared.
Among the senior generals of the Kuomintang, there were almost no senior generals who were as pro-communist as Zhang Zhizhong, which also made Zhang Zhizhong look very eye-catching in front of Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek once thought he was a communist.
In a conversation with Zhou Enlai, Zhang made it clear that he did not want infighting between the two parties. Even the idea of wanting to join the Communist Party was raised. But his goal was too big to join, so he had to give up.
The efforts of Zhang Zhizhong's leftists failed to bring peace between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and the persecution of the Communists soon began after the end of the Northern Expedition.
The persecution of the Communists by Chiang Kai-shek and others shocked Zhang Zhi. He always believed that the Communists could cooperate, and that many of their ideas should also be assimilated by the Kuomintang.
Zhang Zhizhong, together with leftist officers, jointly told Chiang Kai-shek not to persecute the Communists, but failed to get a response from Chiang Kai-shek, and in anger, Zhang Zhizhong resigned and went abroad to study, only to return to China a year later.
But Zhang Zhizhong, who had always opposed fighting the Communists, became a target for snub. In Chiang Kai-shek's eyes, although Zhang Zhizhong had command ability, he was far less obedient than Chen Cheng, He Yingqin and others.
After returning to China, Chiang Kai-shek arranged for him to be sent to the Military Affairs Department, hoping that Zhang Zhizhong would help him recruit troops to support him against the Communists. Unwilling to confront the Communists, Zhang Zhizhong gave up his post and was willing to take a back seat.
Subsequently, Zhang Zhizhong served as the director of the training department and the chief education officer of the Central Army School. Although Qu Cai, this is what he is willing to see, and he can avoid confrontation with his friends in the sunset here.
Over the next decade, Zhang Zhizhong became the only senior Kuomintang general not to lead troops against the communist army. Twenty years later, Zhang Zhizhong even became the door god of the Communist Party's negotiating delegation.
Security escort for Chongqing negotiations
On August 28, 1945, a special plane took off from Yan'an and landed at Chongqing Airport, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and others walked out of the cabin in turn, and Zhang Zhizhong, who had been waiting for a long time, hurried forward to greet him.
With the full cooperation of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the War of Resistance Against Japan finally ended with the complete victory of the sons and daughters of China. The relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party has reached a tense moment.
How should China go in the future, how to maintain cooperation between the two parties, and how to proceed. These key issues had to be resolved at the negotiating table, and Mao Zedong and others flew to Chongqing to negotiate.
Zhang Zhizhong was assigned by Chiang Kai-shek to pick up the airport at Chongqing Airport as a representative of the Kuomintang government, and in the arrangement of the residence, Zhang Zhizhong voluntarily gave up his residence to Mao Zedong and others.
Zhou Enlai was grateful for this, and before going to Chongqing, Zhou Enlai had been looking for a safe place for the chairman and others to live in, and Zhang Zhizhong helped a lot.
For security issues, Zhang Zhizhong and Zhou Enlai made many plans. At that time, Chongqing could be described as an undercurrent, and Chairman Mao's visit to Chongqing for negotiations was already a big risk, and once there was a problem with safety, it was a big matter.
In terms of security, Zhang Zhizhong directly found the commander-in-chief of the gendarmerie to protect Guiyuan, in addition to the gendarmerie, Zhang Zhizhong also personally transferred a pistol company to keep an eye on the mansion at all times in case of accidents.
Zhou Enlai also had many exchanges with Zhang Zhizhong during the negotiations while accompanying Chairman Mao. In Zhang Zhizhong's view, the two parties can cooperate with each other, and even if there is a conflict, it is a fraternal wall.
However, Zhou Enlai refuted this view, saying that the contradiction between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party is not a brotherly dispute at all, but a struggle between revolution and counterrevolution, and this cannot be changed. Now the outcome of the Chongqing negotiations is not known to last for a few days.
After the Chongqing negotiations, Chairman Mao would leave Chongqing, but according to some grapevines, there may be accidents on Chairman Mao's plane leaving Chongqing, and Kuomintang agents may have manipulated the plane.
This matter is very important, Chairman Mao did not bring many people to Chongqing this time, the planes back and forth were arranged by the Kuomintang, and the Communists had no opportunity to check at all, and the danger was great.
At this critical moment, Zhou Enlai found Zhang Zhizhong and hoped that the other party would help. If a senior Kuomintang official had accompanied Chairman Mao back to Yan'an, the probability of an accident would have been much smaller. In Chongqing at that time, Zhang Zhizhong was the only choice.
"No problem, I promised this!"
Zhang Zhizhong heard Enlai's request and readily agreed. Although Chiang Kai-shek showed displeasure when he heard about this, Zhang Zhizhong and Chairman Mao got on a plane and flew to Yan'an together.
In Zhang Zhizhong's view, he escorted not only Chairman Mao, but the peace of all of China. This zeal for peace is admired by the world.
Become a citizen of New China
However, the outcome of the Chongqing negotiations came to naught within a year. This made Zhang Zhizhong, who loved peace and always believed that the Kuomintang and the Communist Party could get along well, was once again disappointed with Chiang Kai-shek.
Just as twenty years earlier, Zhang Zhizhong remained unwilling to follow Chiang Kai-shek against the communist army. With rich combat experience and great prestige in the army, he was willing to be on the second line and served as the head of the political department of the Military Commission.
During the entire Liberation War, Zhang Zhizhong did not lead troops to fight, and it was not until the end of the three major battles and the beginning of the Battle of Crossing the River that Chiang Kai-shek remembered Zhang Zhizhong and asked him to go to Beiping to negotiate.
At this time, the main economic zone north of the Yangtze River had been liberated, the defeat of the Kuomintang was decided, and negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party resumed, but the differences between the two sides brought the negotiations to a stalemate.
The Communist Party listed eight conditions, among which the Communists would definitely cross the Yangtze River and accept the Nanjing government, reorganize the Nationalist army, and severely punish war criminals.
The Kuomintang attempted to rely on the Yangtze River to rule the river, and there were many differences with the Communist Party on the list of war criminals and war responsibility.
Zhang Zhizhong, a KMT negotiator, was also helpless, and he also wanted to promote cooperation between the two sides, but it was impossible to reach an agreement on the current situation.
In the end, Li refused to sign the treaty, and the negotiations eventually broke down. After deciding not to sign the peace treaty, Li Zongren urgently ordered Zhang Zhizhong to return to Nanjing. After discussing with the rest of the delegation, Zhang Zhizhong also decided to return to Nanjing to resume his life.
After learning the news, Zhou Enlai rushed to the Six Nations Hotel non-stop and earnestly persuaded him to stay. Chiang Kai-shek's methods are vicious, and after the peace talks are broken, Zhang Zhizhong does not play much role in front of him, and he may be in the mouth of the tiger when he goes back!
Zhang Zhi also had concerns in the center, he was a person sent by the Nationalist government, and now not going back to resume his life is equivalent to an uprising, which is not an open confrontation with Chiang Kai-shek, which is contrary to the purpose of the peace talks.
But Zhou Enlai does not think so, now that the failure of the KMT-CPC peace talks can be said to be inevitable, the war will continue, and the next peace talks will hardly appear, and staying is the best choice for Zhang Zhizhong.
At the same time, Zhou Enlai arranged for members of the Shanghai underground party to transfer Zhang Zhizhong's family to Beiping, so that Zhang Zhizhong did not have to worry about whether to revolt because of his own family.
In the end, Zhang Zhizhong did not board the plane sent by Bai Chongxi to pick up the delegation back to Nanjing. In June of the same year, Zhang Zhizhong announced his separation from the Guangzhou Nationalist Government, a move that shocked the world.
As a high-ranking general at the core level of the Huangpu clique in Chiang Kai-shek's leading clique, Zhang Zhizhong's actions were undoubtedly a serious blow to the Kuomintang ruling class.
After the founding of New China, General Zhang Zhizhong served as vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and other posts, and continued to contribute to the national reunification and national unity movement.
Friendships endure
After Zhang Zhizhong's family was reunited in Beiping, they lived happily and happily, and Zhang Zhizhong, who was far away from war and political persecution, was able to relax his heart and concentrate on accompanying his family.
However, the life of a large family also occasionally had problems, Zhang Zhizhong did not have a formal position at that time, and there was no money in the hurry of the uprising, so he had to go to Fu Zuoyi's house to borrow money.
When Premier Zhou learned this, he hurriedly wrote a letter to apologize to Zhang Zhizhong, saying that it was his own lack of consideration that caused them such distress. Along with the letter came six thousand yuan of living funds for Zhang Zhizhong's family.
Twenty-five years ago, Zhang Zhizhong generously donated to the wedding of Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao, and now Zhang Zhizhong's life is in trouble, and Zhou Enlai's personal efforts to solve the problem are also a form of gratitude. Over the next two decades, the friendship between the two became stronger.
In 1958, Guo Moruo pointed out that Zhang Zhizhong was mainly responsible for the "Changsha Fire" and included it in the list of arsonists, which made Zhang Zhizhong very painful.
Seeing that his friend's reputation had been damaged, Premier Zhou stood up to support Zhang Zhizhong, the "Changsha fire" was a product of Chiang Kai-shek's "scorched earth policy", and Zhang Zhizhong, as the chairman of Hunan Province at the time, had to obey orders, and could not be said to be an arsonist.
In 1969, when Zhang Zhizhong died in Beijing, Premier Zhou personally arranged the farewell ceremony for the big brother, and after the farewell ceremony, he personally received Zhang Zhizhong's family and told them that they could find him if they had any difficulties in the future.
Six years after Zhang Zhizhong's death, Premier Zhou took part of his savings from his hospital bed and gave it to Zhang Zhizhong's children, hoping that they would tide over the difficulties. It's so heartfelt and moving.