At the end of 1962, Puyi, who was already a citizen of the People's Republic of China, accepted Chairman Mao's invitation to go to Zhongnanhai to celebrate the Spring Festival together.
It was this meeting that gave Puyi a different understanding of the "leader", and there was also an episode about the "Jade Seal of the Kingdom" in this banquet, which is also the story we want to see today...
The last emperor - Puyi
Before we really tell today's story, let's first understand the hero of today's story and the historical background of the event...
Anyone who understands the experience of the last emperor Puyi will let out a sigh after understanding, Puyi has been acting as a puppet of various forces for most of her life, and when Puyi was chosen by Cixi as a child, she was the puppet of power in her hands.
After the death of Cixi and the fall of the Qing Dynasty, he was blackmailed by various warlord forces and reactionary forces, and after the Japanese launched an invasion, he was taken hostage by the Japanese to the northeast to become the emperor of Manchuria.
Although Pu Yi lived a pampered life in the first half of his life, compared with the toiling masses in the same era, Pu Yi's life was already considered a good one.
But the favorable living conditions can not hide the truth of the tragedy of his life, he is the emperor and not the real emperor, thinking of the glory of his ancestors, Puyi's heart is also very sad.
As a "special witness" of history, Pu Yi's life vividly shows the great changes from the feudal dynasty to the new China, although Pu Yi couldn't help himself in the first half of his life, but Pu Yi living in the new China also ushered in his new life.
After the founding of New China, Pu Yi was detained as a "war criminal" in the War Prisoners Management Center for reform and study, and Pu Yi in the War Prisoners Management Center underwent earth-shaking changes.
In the past, Puyi, who could not even wash his own feet, has become an ordinary person like thousands of people.
Puyi's excellent performance in the kwanli made him one of the first to be released, and after returning to Beijing, Puyi became a librarian under the care of Premier Zhou.
The origin of the "Jade Seal of the Kingdom"
According to historical records, Qin Shi Huang ordered the prime minister to use Heshi Bi to build a jade seal in order to show his great achievements, which is the earliest jade seal of the country.
In the feudal era, the status of the Chuanguo jade seal was equivalent to the identity of the Son of Heaven, and whoever could have the Chuanguo Jade Seal meant that this person had the qualifications to become the Son of Heaven.
It's just that after the change of history, between countless wars and battles, the real jade seal has long disappeared, and historians have a lot of opinions about the whereabouts of the jade seal, and interested readers can check it for themselves.
Today, we will first transfer the pointer of history to the Ming and Qing dynasties, when the Ming Dynasty was established, the jade seal of the kingdom was not yet in the hands of the Ming emperor, and the jade seal had been brought to Mongolia by the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty.
It was not until the destruction of the Mongol Lin Dan Khan at the end of the Ming Dynasty that he handed over this precious "jade seal of the country".
In fact, the jade seal of the country at the time of the Qin Dynasty had long been lost before this, and the jade seal handed over by the Mongols at this time was a jade seal handed down from the Han Dynasty.
And this jade seal is not a "jade seal of the country" in the true sense, but a token sent by the Han Yuan Emperor at that time when he was with the Xiongnu.
But although it was not a true heirloom jade seal, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty at that time were also thirsty for it, even if the world was in hand, they longed for the "symbol of power" inherited from this generation.
The clock is turned to 1942, when the Qing Dynasty had been overthrown for twelve years, but the Forbidden City at that time still had a pampered last emperor, Puyi.
However, in October of that year, the warlords invaded, and Puyi was reluctant to be driven out of the Forbidden City by the northwestern warlord Lu Zhongqi.
Before leaving the Forbidden City, Lu Zhongqi also asked Pu Yi if the jade seal was not in his hands, and Pu Yi at that time denied it and said that he had never seen it!
Chairman Mao set up a banquet to entertain Puyi
Chairman Mao had always wanted to meet Pu Yi in person and wanted to communicate with this special historical witness, so in the first year that Pu Yi returned to Beijing from the management office, he held a banquet and invited Pu Yi to visit Zhongnanhai.
On the day of the meeting, Pu Yi and Chairman Mao came to the banquet hall together, and Zhang Shizhao and Cheng Qian, who were present at the time, did not know who the guests were to be entertained today.
According to the description of the person concerned, Zhang Shizhao and others only saw a tall, thin middle-aged man with a bit of poetry and book temperament walking towards Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao enthusiastically took Pu Yi's hand and introduced Zhang Shizhao and the others present: "You don't know him, he is the Xuantong Emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty, and we used to work for him!" ”
Hearing Chairman Mao's joke, Pu Yi quickly waved his hand with trepidation: "It's all in the past, don't say it, don't say it." After that, Chairman Mao introduced to Puyi the origins of Zhang Shizhao and others present.
Pu Yi humbly greeted and shook hands with the officials present one by one.
During the banquet, Chairman Mao had a lot of exchanges with Puyi, and Chairman Mao first cared about his recent life and work.
Pu Yi was greatly shocked by the cordiality of Chairman Mao's exchanges, although it had been transformed, but before he actually met Chairman Mao, Pu Yi never thought that the "king of a country" would be as approachable and amiable as Chairman Mao.
While in prison, Puyi personally learned the necessary skills for independent living and accepted the study of new society and new ideas.
He painfully wrote an autobiographical record, which recorded the experience of these decades from Puyi's own perspective and restored a lot of historical truth.
Chairman Mao had read the book before he met Puyi.
Chairman Mao once said: "I can't read this book at all, Puyi blamed everything wrong on him, in fact, he is also a poor man, his fate is caused by history, and the torrent of history has changed his fate!" ”
During the banquet, Chairman Mao naturally also exchanged his thoughts on this book with Pu Yi, and Chairman Mao comforted Pu Yi and said: "You don't have to blame yourself too much, this is caused by history, not your fault, what you wrote yourself is too bad." ”
Pu Yi was even more moved to tears when he heard Chairman Mao's evaluation, and between the exchanges, Pu Yi no longer had the restraint he had when he first arrived, and his dialogue with Chairman Mao was as natural as a friend.
Between jokes, Chairman Mao mentioned the whereabouts of the "Jade Seal of the Kingdom", and Puyi replied at this time: "There should be, but it was lost by the elders."
When I was in the management office, I explained the whereabouts of a batch of national treasures, and also explained that they would be donated to the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and there was a small jade seal inside, but it was not a national jade seal. ”
Everyone present was slightly regretful when they heard the news that the jade seal had long been lost, but Chairman Mao responded calmly at this time: "If you lose it, you will lose it, the jade seal is originally a symbol of the feudal era, the feudal era has long ended, it is a stone now, if you lose it, what a big deal." ”
Chairman Mao also jokingly added: "It's a pity, it's a pity that I've grown so old, I haven't seen what the jade seal looks like, I'm a little curious." ”
Chairman Mao's jokes livened up the atmosphere again, and Pu Yi was also amused by Chairman Mao, who even "generously" showed the "Great Seal" of New China like Pu Yi.
Chairman Mao was also concerned about Pu Yi's marital status, and learned that Pu Yi had divorced his former concubine, and Chairman Mao also said that he could draw a red line for Pu Yi and introduce a daughter-in-law, and Chairman Mao also said jokingly: "How can there be an emperor without an empress?"
epilogue
After that, Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou took care of Pu Yi at different levels, and Pu Yi married Ms. Li Shuxian for the rest of his life, which was the red line drawn by Premier Zhou.
In addition, Chairman Mao also made Pu Yi the Commissioner of Culture and History of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, specializing in cultural and historical restoration and other work; When Chairman Mao also learned that Pu Yi's salary was not much, he instructed Zhang Shizhao to give Pu Yi a part of his manuscript fee.
After eating with Chairman Mao and others, Pu Yi had a new understanding of Chairman Mao and New China, and Pu Yi also felt more deeply why "Chairman Mao" and why history and the people chose the Communist Party.