After the Second Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in September 1970, Chairman Mao pointed out in a conversation with Lin Biao:
"To train successors, we are all over 60 years old, and we must train people under 60 years old and over 30 years old, like Li Desheng, Ji Dengkui and others. ”
This shows that Lin Biao's status as "successor" has been shaken at that time, and Ji Dengkui was included in the scope of "successor", as a "red man" in a special period, Ji Dengkui has more or less some contact with the "Gang of Four", Chairman Mao once said this sentence when criticizing the "Gang of Four":
"Dengkui doesn't talk to me about something, and he doesn't talk to the prime minister, but he talks to Jiang Qing and Chunqiao, and he doesn't talk about most of the Politburo, he doesn't unite the majority, and only looks for a few people, what is the nature of this?"
Perhaps this is the key to Ji Dengkui's later resignation.
In 1966, an unprecedented political storm swept across the land of China, and Ji Dengkui, then alternate secretary and secretary general of the Henan Provincial Party Committee Secretariat, was arranged to be the deputy head of the Cultural Revolution Group of the Henan Provincial Party Committee.
For nearly half a year, Ji Dengkui was not heard from, and his appearance at the Criticism Conference let his family know that he was still alive.
From June to July 1967, after eight briefings by the Central Committee on resolving the problems of the two factions in Henan, Ji Dengkui was "liberated", and not only that, but he was also appointed deputy director of the Henan Provincial Revolutionary Committee, and actually presided over the work of Henan Province.
The Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in April 1969 became an important turning point in Ji Dengkui's life.
At that time, Ji Dengkui attended the meeting as a representative of Henan, and under the arrangement of Chairman Mao, he spoke at the meeting as a "representative of revolutionary cadres"; at the end of the meeting, Ji Dengkui was elected as a member of the Central Committee, and at the first plenary session of the next Ninth Central Committee, Ji Dengkui jumped into the list of alternate members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and became an "upstart".
During that period, many founding fathers and leading cadres were overthrown, but Ji Dengkui, who was born as a "38-style" cadre, became the leader of the central government and held many important positions in the party, government, and military, such as leading members of the Central Military Commission, members of the office group of the Central Military Commission, members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, vice premiers of the State Council, and so on.
On September 16, 1976, Hua Guofeng convened a meeting of Li Xiannian, Wu De, Chen Xilian, Ji Dengkui, Chen Yonggui and others.
"How to solve the problem of the 'Gang of Four' raised by Chairman Mao?"
Ji Dengkui said:
"I'm afraid these people still have to be treated differently. ”
Obviously, Ji Dengkui maintained a neutral attitude at this time, but after the "Gang of Four" was crushed, Ji Dengkui expressed his support and support for Hua Guofeng, so at the next 11th National Congress, Ji Dengkui continued to be elected as a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee.
In December 1978, the Communist Party of China convened the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee, which was of turning significance, at which Ji Dengkui was strongly criticized by the comrades attending the meeting, along with Wang Dongxing, Chen Xilian, Wu De, Su Zhenhua and other party and state leaders.
In fact, after this meeting, Ji Dengkui's resignation is basically a foregone conclusion.
At that time, Ji Dengkui was in charge of agriculture in the State Council, and after the Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee, Hu Yaobang solicited Ji Dengkui's own opinion on the issue of work handover, and Ji Dengkui first recommended Zhao Ziyang, but Zhao couldn't get away from Sichuan, so he recommended Wang Renzhong.
In the summer of 1979, Ji Dengkui and Wu De discussed the matter of preparing to submit to the Central Committee to resign from the leading posts of the party and the state.
"Listen to the arrangements of the central government for work and duties, and take into account the overall situation. ”
Before the Fifth Plenary Session of the 11 th CPC Central Committee, Song Renqiang and Wang Heshou were appointed by the Central Committee to talk to Ji Dengkui and inform him of his resignation.
In February 1980, at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Ji Dengkui officially resigned from all leadership positions.
In 1982, the central authorities arranged for Ji Dengkui to go to the Rural Development Research Center of the State Council to conduct research on rural policies, and he enjoyed the treatment of a ministerial-level researcher, and was given the position of "ministerial-level researcher." The organization said: After the Lushan Conference, Comrade Zhang Wentian was assigned to the Economic Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and his post was also a "researcher."
Ji Dengkui said: "I didn't expect that after stepping down, I would be treated the same as the general secretary of the Party Central Committee, which can be regarded as a great honor." ”