"The deep friendship between Zhang Wentian and Chen Yun"
In 1979, the central authorities officially announced that a memorial service would be held for Comrade Zhang Wentian. The widow Liu Ying was so excited that she immediately contacted her husband's old friend Chen Yun and invited him to give a eulogy. However, Chen Yun refused on the spot and proposed to let Duke Deng deliver a eulogy. Faced with this accident, people can't help but wonder, why was the friendship between Chen Yun and Zhang Wentian still rejected at the last moment?
Looking back on the relationship between the two, in 1931, Shanghai's Central Techco was betrayed by the traitor Gu Shunzhang. At a critical juncture, Chen Yun was ordered to go to Shanghai to prepare for the resumption of Techco's work, and Zhang Wentian also took over the secret radio station again. This is the first time the two have crossed paths. Since then, Chen Yun and Zhang Wentian have worked closely for decades.
Both were Shanghainese and often talked about current affairs and exchanged views together during the Central Soviet period. In addition to work, they play ball and run together. In September 1933, the Central Soviet Region suffered the fifth "encirclement and suppression" by the Nationalist army, and the Red Army began the Long March in order to preserve the revolutionary fire. During the Long March, Zhang Wentian and Chen Yun often discussed the Long March and the revolution together. At the Zunyi Conference, Zhang Wentian criticized the wrong line of Li De, Bogu and others, and proposed that Chairman Mao be a member of the Politburo Standing Committee.
Later, the two were transferred to the northeast together, with Chen Yun as the director of the financial and economic committee and Zhang Wentian as the deputy director. In 1951, Zhang Wentian was stationed in the Soviet Union, and Chen Yun specially visited him when he later visited the Soviet Union. During the small talk between the two in the Soviet Union, Zhang Wentian said that he did not want to engage in diplomacy, but wanted to continue to engage in economic work. Chen Yun agreed. Years later, Chen Yun still recalls the time of mutual support and tacit cooperation, which he misses the most.
Back in 1976, when Premier Zhou died, Zhang Wentian was deeply saddened, and his own heart attacks occurred from time to time. After recovering from his illness, Zhang Wentian thanked the medical staff for their treatment and care, and asked for a meal for them. The medical staff took the initiative to ask the chef to prepare the meal and made a table. However, Zhang Wentian and his wife could not enjoy it for health reasons. Chen Yun saw Zhang Wentian's loss, and in order to fulfill his wish, he clamped a piece of braised elbow and placed it in his bowl. This became the last time Zhang Wentian tasted meat.
Time passed, and Zhang Wentian's condition deteriorated day by day. He was open-minded about his own death. In his last wish, he asked his wife Liu Ying to hand over all his wages and savings to the party as his last contribution. Liu Ying paid a lump sum of 40,000 yuan in party dues in accordance with his last wish, and then donated her savings for many years to the Children's Welfare Foundation. This was the last stage of the lives of the two old revolutionaries, who put the interests of the Party and the people first all their lives.
Before the memorial service, the central government notified Liu Ying to hold a memorial service and invited Chen Yun to give a eulogy. However, Chen Yun declined the invitation and proposed that Duke Deng give a eulogy. Liu Ying felt that Chen Yun was Zhang Wentian's closest friend before his death, and proposed to him that he give a eulogy. However, Chen Yun refused, and said that it should be presided over by Duke Deng, so that it would be more solemn. In the end, Chen Yun's proposal was readily agreed to by Duke Deng.
On August 25, 1979, Zhang Wentian's memorial service was solemnly held in the Great Hall of the People. Chen Yun presided over the meeting, and Deng Gong delivered a eulogy. At the memorial service, Liu Ying handed over a one-time party fee of 40,000 yuan. This is the final farewell of the two old revolutionaries, who have made great contributions to the Party and the people, and the Party and the people will never forget them.
In Liu Ying's memoir "The Journey of Sharing the Fate of Zhang Wentian and I", she looks back on her revolutionary journey and the years when she was in contact with Zhang Wentian. The book was published in August 1997. Zhang Wentian and Liu Ying have a deep friendship, they put the interests of the party and the people first, and spend their lives interpreting unlimited loyalty and dedication to the party and the people.
