At three o'clock in the afternoon of January 10, 1972, Chen Yi's memorial service would be held at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in the western suburbs of Beijing, which was a very special memorial service, because more than an hour before the start, Chairman Mao suddenly decided to attend Chen Yi's memorial service.
Originally, after Chen Yi's death, the General Office of the Central Military Commission took the lead, and the General Office of the Central Committee and the State Council Organ Affairs Administration Bureau assisted in handling funeral affairs, and the specifications of the memorial service were compared with li Tianyou, deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, who had passed away with the rank of general, and the place of the memorial service was located in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.
The original specifications were not high, and the number of people attending the memorial service was set at about 500; Chairman Mao and other members of the Politburo of the Central Committee would not attend the memorial service, and some democrats and foreign friends could not attend the memorial service.
Because of this, many people who wanted to see the memorial service were turned away, even Song Qingling, who once said, "Chen Yi's memorial service, I must attend." "But such a request is bound to be difficult to achieve."
At least at noon on January 10, when the whole memorial service was ready, Song Qingling still did not receive a notice for her to participate in the memorial service, which made her feel very uncomfortable, but she also knew that the specifications were there, and she could not make anything special.
But just when she was agonizing over not being able to attend the memorial service, at about two o'clock in the afternoon, she suddenly received a call from the prime minister's office informing her to attend the memorial service, and she knew that Chairman Mao was going to attend the memorial service.
She was the only one who knew about this matter, after all, Chairman Mao suddenly decided to attend this memorial service at one and a half o'clock.
At that time, Chairman Mao had already finished eating and was lying on the bed taking a nap, but he had something hidden in his heart, which made Chairman Mao, who had always been calm and unhurried, a little absent-minded, so that he could not sleep when he turned over in bed.
He simply got up and went down to the study to read a book with the help of his secretary Zhang Yufeng, but when he sat on the sofa and read a book, he found that the book could not be read, and a long time had passed without turning a page.
Zhang Yufeng had already discovered Chairman Mao's abnormality, but Chairman Mao did not take the initiative to speak, and she did not dare to come forward to disturb it, but only paid attention to it at all times on the side, and after a while, Chairman Mao, who looked haggard, raised his head and asked: "What time is it now?" ”
Zhang Yufeng looked at the time and said to Chairman Mao, "It is now one and a half o'clock." ”
Chairman Mao said, almost without any hesitation: "Shunting the car, I am going to attend Comrade Chen Yi's memorial service." ”
Zhang Yufeng was obviously stunned, she knew that Chen Yi's memorial service would be held at three o'clock, and she also knew that Chairman Mao would not attend this memorial service, but she never expected that Chairman Mao would suddenly ask to attend the memorial service at this time.
She had many questions in her mind, after all, Chairman Mao rarely attended the memorial service, and she had never said in advance that she would attend Chen Yi's memorial service.
But after all, Zhang Yufeng had worked a long time with Chairman Mao and was able to handle all kinds of unexpected situations, and she understood Chairman Mao's instructions, and she also felt that after Chairman Mao commanded her, her obvious mood had changed, so she immediately went to make preparations.
Zhang Yufeng informed the guard captain Chen Changjiang while preparing the clothes that Chairman Mao needed for his travels. When Chen Changjiang found out, he also hurried to get busy, informing Wang Dongxing, director of the Central Guard Bureau, and Zhang Yaoci, deputy director of the Bureau, while also informing the Prime Minister's Office.
Soon the vehicles and escorts needed by Chairman Mao for travel, as well as weapons, ammunition and medical personnel, were all in place, and chairman Mao could set off as soon as he needed them.
In fact, Chairman Mao was really anxious, and when he decided to attend the memorial service, he couldn't wait to rush to Babaoshan, so that Zhang Yufeng gave him the travel clothes he had prepared, and he was unwilling to change them, so he put on a Zhongshan suit that he often wore when traveling, and then put on a beige coat outside, and then got into the car under the support of the staff.
When Chairman Mao's car slowly drove out of Zhongnanhai, Premier Zhou's car also quickly drove out of Zhongnanhai and reached Babaoshan at a very fast speed before Chairman Mao.
When Premier Zhou received the news that Chairman Mao was going to attend the memorial service, he was also wearing pajamas and preparing to sleep for a while, but after receiving the notice, he immediately began to work, not only directing the premier's office to call and inform him that anyone who had requested to attend Comrade Chen Yi's memorial service could attend it. It is also necessary to call the commander-in-chief of the remote control memorial service site to expand the scale of the memorial service.
After informing the work, Premier Zhou took the clothes he needed to wear to go out and left Zhongnanhai, changed his pajamas on the car, and then arrived at the memorial service site before Chairman Mao, personally arranged and inspected all matters at the memorial service site, and strived to make the memorial service run smoothly and in an orderly manner with the sudden expansion of the specifications of the memorial service.
At about 2:30, Chairman Mao's motorcade arrived at Babaoshan Mountain, and Chairman Mao got off the bus with the support of the staff and entered the scene of the memorial service.
Chairman Mao walked into the spirit hall and saw a momentary pause in the portrait of Chen Yi hanging in front of the auditorium, he did not expect to know each other for more than forty years, and now goodbye can only be seen through photos.
Chairman Mao and Chen Yi met in Jinggangshan in 1928, and after Mao Zedong's Autumn Harvest Uprising, he led the uprising team south to Jinggangshan in the middle of the siege and blockade to create the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base Area.
After Zhu De and Chen Yi led part of the Nanchang rebel army to set off a hunan rebellion in Chenzhou, they heard about Mao Zedong's situation at Jinggangshan and sent Mao Zeqin to Jinggangshan to make contact, hoping to unite the two teams.
At the end of April 1928, under the liaison of Mao Zeqin, Mao Zhu and his two teams met in Ninggang, which was a new beginning of the Chinese revolution, and Chen Yi witnessed and participated in this important historical moment, after which Chen Yi became Mao Zedong's right-hand man and subordinate, marching together on the road of saving the country and the people.
Although Chen Yi did not follow Mao Zedong to participate in the Long March because of the serious injury on his thigh, but stayed in the Soviet zone to continue fighting, Chen Yi later made great achievements in both the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, and at the same time, he was also a firm supporter of Mao Zedong.
It can be said that the friendship between Chen Yi and Mao Zedong was established in the process of the establishment and development of the Red Army, they walked through the most difficult revolutionary years together, and together they served the people after the founding of the Country.
Ten days before Chen Yi's death, that is, December 26, 1971, was Chairman Mao's 78th birthday, and although Chairman Mao had never allowed everyone to celebrate his birthday, Chen Yi still asked Wu Hengxing, the president of Ritan Hospital, to allow him to eat a bowl of noodles on this day to celebrate Chairman Mao's birthday in this way.
This is a kind of true feeling after life and death and time, which makes people move.
After Chen Yi's death, Chairman Mao also fell into great sorrow, he thought of the past years, thought of the hero's curtain, and thought of the friendship with Chen Yi for more than forty years.
He thought about it a lot, and the more he thought about it, the more anxious he became, so that when Chen Yi's memorial service was about to begin, he could no longer control the feelings in his heart, and suddenly asked to attend Chen Yi's memorial service.
This is also a kind of true feeling after going through life and death and time, and this true feeling can no longer be heard with Chen Yi, and can only participate in his memorial service, in this way to release emotions and transmit signals.
After seeing Chen Yi's portrait, Chairman Mao thought a lot in his heart, and then turned his eyes to the wreaths placed on both sides of the spiritual platform.
Wreaths were placed there, making the whole auditorium seem a little crowded, and on the way to the third lounge, Chairman Mao kept an eye on these wreaths all the way. The content on the wreath is basically the same, and there are not many points to pay attention to, but there is still one wreath that attracted Chairman Mao's attention.
The wreath was placed in the corner, very inconspicuous, but the above link made Chairman Mao stop and watch, only to see that the league was written like this:
"The sword from the clouds to the dry city, loyalty is not easy, the military voice is in Huaihai, the love is in Jiangnan, Wan Shu is mourning, looking back at the great rivers and mountains, forever leaving Chi County."
Waving the day to receive the honor, the arrogance is still there, worthy of life, meritorious to the world, the nine original should be smiling, looking at the new world, all over the red flag. ”
The link was long, but Chairman Mao read it word for word, nodding his head as he read it, praising the good writing. It can be said that this pair of links is exactly the portrayal of Chen Yi's life.
When Chairman Mao saw that it was Zhang Boju who had fallen, he said directly: "Well, Mr. Zhang Boju's elegy is well written and very imposing, summarizing Chen Yi's personality and life. ”
Zhang Boju is one of the famous four princes in modern times, is the real piano, chess, calligraphy and painting omnipotent, the Zhang family was originally considered to be a rich world, especially when Zhang Boju's father Zhang Zhenfang was alive, Zhang Zhenfang was an official in the dynasty, and the positions he held were also rich and oily, so he accumulated a lot of wealth.
However, Zhang Boju is not a person who loves the officialdom, although he also entered the Army Model Regiment to inherit his father's ambition, and also entered the military after graduation, but he basically hung up a post and was not specifically responsible for military affairs.
Especially during the warlord wars, he shifted his focus to the financial and cultural circles and made a great contribution to the protection of cultural relics.
He is a collector of cultural relics, and his love for celebrity monuments is full of atmosphere, not a simple personal collection, but he can prevent the cultural logistics from falling overseas, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he has actively donated many national treasure-level cultural relics in his collection to the country free of charge, which is worthy of the respect of the world.
And such a patriotic democrat who has made achievements in collecting and appreciating, paintings and calligraphy, poetry, peking opera art, etc., wrote such a pair of elegies after Chen Yi's death, and it is not difficult to see that there is an exchange between him and Chen Yi.
Chairman Mao and Chen Yi intersected for much longer than Zhang Boju and Chen Yi, so his understanding of Chen Yi was also more comprehensive, and he could naturally understand the meaning expressed by Zhang Boju's alliance, and it was precisely because he knew that he could pay so much attention.
At the same time, Chairman Mao was also more curious, and he turned to the people around him and asked, "Are Chen Yi and Zhang Boju very familiar?" ”
He did not know why Zhang Boju knew and respected Chen Yi so much, and if he could have such an understanding and respect, he must have had more contact, so he asked so, and some comrades who were familiar with this period of history informed Chairman Mao in concise language about the story between Chen Yi and Zhang Boju, although it was a short sentence, Chairman Mao also heard the deep feelings between Chen Yi and Zhang Boju.
Chen Yi and Zhang Boju met after the founding of the People's Republic of China, originally when Chen Yi was the mayor of Shanghai, Zhang Boju once went to the Shanghai Municipal Government to ask chen Yi and wanted to discuss poetry, but Zhang Boju did not go at the time, Chen Yi was not in Shanghai at that time, but went to Nanjing, Zhang Boju pounced on an empty space.
In the summer of 1957, Chen Yi went to visit the Exhibition of Ming and Qing Calligraphy and Paintings held in Beihai, which had many famous artists and extremely high specifications, which made Chen Yi very interested.
Then he learned that the exhibition was led by Zhang Boju, contacted various units and collectors, and jointly organized with the Chinese Calligraphy Research Society, and many of the famous works in the exhibition were donated by Zhang Boju, for which Chen Yi gave great affirmation, and he also wanted to meet and chat with Zhang Boju.
Within a few days, Chen Yi invited Zhang Boju to his home, Chen Yi first affirmed Zhang Boju's contribution to the protection of national cultural relics, and then talked to Zhang Boju about poetry.
Therefore, the two talked more deeply, Zhang Boju did not want to leave, Chen Yi did not want to let Zhang Boju leave, the two were eager to talk for three days and three nights, and then Chen Yi could not help but take out Go, and Zhang Boju played, the common hobby made the first time the two met like an old friend who had not seen each other for many years.
Many years later, Zhang Boju still remembers this meeting, he once said in a reminiscence article: "In the summer of 1957, we first met in Beijing, sitting in the spring breeze, Chen Shuai was as cute as winter, approachable, talking smoothly and directly, all out of sincerity. ”
Chen Yi's sincerity, boldness, approachability and respect for intellectuals deeply touched Zhang Boju, and Chen Yi was as lovely as the warm sun in winter and as harmonious as a spring breeze, leaving a deep impression on Zhang Boju.
The so-called friendship is not how often they meet, but to put each other in an important position in their hearts, even if they meet very little, they can also care about each other, Chen Yi and Zhang Boju are like this. At a meeting in 1957, the two formed a deep friendship, and later, although they rarely met, they never stopped caring for each other.
Shortly after this meeting, Zhang Boju encountered a turning point in his life, he was depressed in his heart, he wanted to write to Chen Yi several times, but he was unwilling to let Chen Yi worry about him, so he did not contact Chen Yi, but Chen Yi actually knew what happened to Zhang Boju, although the work was very busy, he still took time to talk to Zhang Boju and wanted to solve the problem.
In 1960, Chen Yi's old friend Yu Yifu went to Beijing for a meeting, and when old friends met for many years, they naturally had to have a good chat, and as they chatted, Chen Yi thought of Zhang Boju.
Yu Yifu was the secretary of the Jilin Provincial Party Committee at the time, and perhaps Zhang Boju could be sent to the northeast for a while, so he said to Yifu: "I have a good friend named Zhang Boju, and the current situation is not very good, can Jilin Province arrange a job?" ”
Yu Yifu immediately agreed, but how to arrange it specifically, he still had to go back and think about it and make arrangements. Yu Yifu also had a certain understanding of Zhang Boju, and after returning to Jilin, he consulted with Song Zhenting, the minister of propaganda, to see how to arrange Zhang Boju and his wife.
Song Zhenting attached great importance to this, only because after investigation, it was learned that Zhang Boju and his wife were rare talents, and at that time, Jilin happened to be recruiting talents, Song Zhenting was thirsty for talents, and soon arranged for Zhang Boju and his wife to go to Jilin.
When Zhang Boju received the telegram from the Jilin Provincial Bureau of Culture, the excitement in his heart could not be hidden, and he could not wait to share this good news with Chen Yi, so he wrote a letter: "Once I saw him in five or seven years, I felt that the public was as amiable as winter, and I am still unforgettable, and I am now hired to go to Jilin and plan to resign." ”
After the letter was sent, Zhang Boju and his wife waited at home for Chen Yi's reception, and a few days later, Chen Yi sent a car to take Zhang Boju and his wife to their home, and it was another free conversation.
Zhang Boju informed Chen Yi of his intention to work in Jilin and expressed his willingness to contribute to the construction of the motherland, and Chen Yi also told Zhang Boju: "Going to Jilin has great potential for the development of cultural undertakings there, and it is also what you should do, and I believe that you will make achievements." ”
With Chen Yi's instructions, Zhang Boju and his wife went to Jilin and then worked at the Jilin Provincial Museum, where Zhang Boju was mainly responsible for the identification of cultural relics.
He always remembered Chen Yi's entrustment to work diligently in Jilin, but this job did not last long, and later Zhang Boju and his wife's situation became worse and worse, and when they were transferred back to Beijing after several turns, the job was not settled, and the hukou was nowhere to be found.
Chen Yi was very sad after knowing it, although he himself was also involuntarily and sick, he still inquired about Zhang Boju's situation several times and cared for Zhang Boju with practical actions, and Zhang Boju had also been paying attention to Chen Yi, who was ill and hospitalized, but Zhang Boju had never had the opportunity to visit Chen Yi in the hospital.
He also thought that when Chen Yi was cured, he might be able to see him again after returning home, but no one thought that on January 6, 1972, Chen Yi died of illness.
As Chen Yi's wife, Zhang Qian was aware of the deep friendship between Chen Yi and Zhang Boju, so Zhang Qian also sent someone to inform Zhang Boju of Chen Yi's death. Zhang Boju was three years older than Chen Yi, but he did not expect Chen Yi to walk in front of him, thinking of Chen Yi's voice and smile and his yin yin care, the 74-year-old man could not help but cry bitterly.
After crying bitterly, with reverence and miss for Chen Yi, he wrote a pair of ties and entrusted them to Zhang Qian. After that, he also hoped to participate in Chen Yi's memorial service and officially say goodbye to Chen Yi, but no matter how far the specifications of the memorial service were set, Zhang Boju could not participate in the memorial service, and his expectations and waiting were doomed to not be answered.
But he did not expect that Chairman Mao would attend the memorial service, still less did he expect that Chairman Mao would notice the letter he had written.
Chairman Mao not only noticed the letter he had written, but also paid attention to him as a person, and after hearing about the deep friendship between Chen Yi and Zhang Boju and Zhang Boju's situation, Chairman Mao asked, "What about Zhang Boju?" Is Zhang Boju coming? ”
Chairman Mao wanted to talk to Zhang Boju for a few words, but he did not expect that Zhang Boju was not at the scene of the memorial service. Chairman Mao looked at Bang Lian and fell into deep thought, he still knew Zhang Boju very well, and knew Zhang Boju's contribution to the protection of cultural relics.
In 1956, Zhang Boju, who was nearly sixty years old, deeply felt that he was dying of old age, and he was afraid that after his death, the national treasure cultural relics would be lost, so he consulted with his wife and donated eight national treasure-level cultural relics to the state, such as the "Pingfu Ti Scroll" of the Jin Dynasty Lu Ji, the "Spring Tour Map" of the Sui Dynasty Zhan Ziqian, the "Upper Balcony" of the Tang Dynasty, the "Zhang HaohaoShi" volume of the Tang Dynasty Du Muzhi, the "Taoist Costume Praise" volume of the Song Dynasty Fan Zhongyan, the "Zhangcao Thousand Character Text" of zhao Mengfu of the Yuan Dynasty, the self-written poems of Cai Xiang of the Song Dynasty, and the "Cursive Book" volume of huang Tingjian of the Song Dynasty.
To this end, the government wants to reward Zhang Boju and his wife with 200,000 yuan, but the two did not receive it, and this is not the only time Zhang Boju donated, and most of these treasures of the two are bought by Zhang Boju at a heavy cost, and it is not too much to say that they have poured out their family wealth.
Later Zhang Boju and his wife really lived very poorly, and zhang Boju's collections were not appropriated for themselves, as he said: "To give what you receive, you don't have to give your body, in order to give, but to make it last forever, and the inheritance is complete." ”
This sentence is not just talking, he really spent his life practicing this sentence, before the founding of the country, in order not to let the national treasure go overseas, he did not spend less money to buy.
When Zhan Ziqian's "Spring Tour Map" was to be sold overseas by antique dealers, he had no money to buy, directly sold a 13-acre residence to make up enough money, and then bought back the "Spring Tour Map", and donated it to the Palace Museum after the founding of the People's Republic of China, so today we can see the only surviving work of Zhan Ziqian and the earliest surviving picture scroll.
As far as the protection of national cultural relics is concerned, Zhang Boju has made great contributions to the country, and even for this reason, he has sold his wealth to the point that his life is difficult.
Thinking of this, Chairman Mao was very unhappy in his heart, and such an old man deserved attention, so Chairman Mao turned back to Premier Zhou and said: "I think that a talent like Mr. Zhang Boju still has to give a way, at least to give people a bite of food to eat, you are the premier, you arrange a job for him." ”
Premier Zhou nodded and said that he would implement the matter, and then Chairman Mao went into the third lounge and waited only for Chen Yi's memorial service to begin at three o'clock. In the third lounge, Chairman Mao met Chen Yi's wife, Zhang Qian, and several children, affirming that Chen Yi was a good comrade and full of expectations for Chen Yi's descendants.
Originally, Zhang Qian considered Chairman Mao's physical condition and wanted Chairman Mao to go back to rest quickly, but Chairman Mao insisted on bringing a black veil to the memorial service and sending his comrades on the last journey.
After the memorial service, Chairman Mao left Babaoshan with the support of the staff, and Premier Zhou also left Babaoshan shortly after, and Chen Yi's memorial service ended, but Zhang Boju's matter had just begun.
At that time, Zhang Boju did not know what happened at the memorial service, he was still in pain and could not come out, and the memorial service could not participate, he could only understand everything about the memorial service through the front-page headlines published in the People's Daily, as well as the eulogy of the memorial service, the original sad heart felt great comfort at that moment, he was happy for Chen Yi.
On January 21, 11 days after Chen Yi's memorial service, Zhang Shizhao, director of the Central Research Museum of Literature and History, sent a special person to send the letter of appointment of Zhang Boju as a librarian of the Research Museum of Literature and History to Zhang Boju.
This is what Chen Yi has been paying attention to and wanting to do before he dies.
This is something that Chairman Mao personally instructed.
This is something that Premier Zhou personally asked.
Since then, Zhang Boju has become a librarian of the Central Museum of Culture and History, and soon after, Zhang Qian commissioned others to give Zhang Boju a pair of Go that Chen Yi had always loved most during his lifetime, as a souvenir.
Zhang Boju slowly opened the marble chess box, which contained the familiar Nanyang jade finely ground green and dark chess pieces, as well as a chessboard carved from boxwood.
Seeing this familiar thing, Zhang Boju seemed to have returned to the summer of 1957, when they used this game of Go, Chen Yi talked and laughed about the strategizing between the winds and the wind, and there was an unspeakable approachability in the decision to kill, such as the warm sun in winter, such as the warm spring breeze, as if it was yesterday's scene, and in the blink of an eye it was already a vicissitude.
On January 6, 1972, Chen Yi died of illness; on February 26, 1982, Zhang Boju died of illness.