In March 1970, a worker named Xu Minqing, a worker at the Jiangnan Machinery Factory in Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, was unilaterally declared a "death row prisoner" by the rebels because he was framed during the special era, and was almost executed.
In the years that followed, Xu Minqing continued to plead to higher authorities. In the end, Xu Minqing was not sentenced to capital punishment, but "capital crimes can be avoided, but living crimes cannot be escaped."
After being imprisoned for one year and seven months, Xu Minqing was fired from the Jiangnan Machinery Factory and had to work as a worker in a township enterprise with a monthly salary of less than 50 yuan.
It was not until 1982 that Xu Minqing received a letter from Lu'an, Anhui Province, and the sender claimed to be Bao Jinfu, a staff member of the Anhui Lu'an Revolutionary Struggle History Writing Office.
After years of investigation, he finally found out that Xu Minqing's father was named Xu Jishen, an early martyr of our party.
But in Xu Minqing's impression, his father's name was Xu Zhang, who was the head of the Kuomintang before his death. It is precisely because of his bad background that Xu Minqing was framed by the rebels in a special era.
Was it because Xu Minqing's memory was wrong? Or did Bao Jinfu fail to figure out the original story during the investigation?
In 1929, Xu Minqing was born in Shanghai, his mother was from Yangjiang, Guangdong, named Tan Guanyu, and his father was named Xu Jishen, a native of Lu'an, Anhui.
In 1924, Tan Guanyu, who was working as a nurse at the Huangpu Military Academy in Guangzhou, met and fell in love with Xu Jishen, a first-term student of Huangpu, and the two married in Guangzhou in 1925.
In 1931, Xu Jishen lost his precious life because he was framed by Zhang Guotao, and Tan Guanyu on the other side had to take his son to live in Shanghai with difficulty.
The next year, because of the compulsion of life, she took her son from Shanghai to Guangzhou and handed over Xu Minqing to her brother Tan Zichang to raise.
After briefly explaining the child's life experience and the father's name and identity, Tan Guanyu left Guangzhou and returned to Shanghai.
For more than ten years, Xu Minqing lived with his uncle's family. After the outbreak of the full-scale Anti-Japanese War, Xu Minqing returned to his hometown to live with his fifth uncle, and then went to live in Lechang with his grandfather.
In the spring of 1945, Xu Minqing's mother, Tan Guanyu, died of lung disease. In 1946, Xu Mingqing and his uncle Tan Zichang's family returned to live in Guangdong.
At the beginning of 1949, Xu Minqing was admitted to the private car driving training class. On the eve of the liberation of the country, he was assigned to the automobile transport team of the People's Liberation Army and was stationed in Hengyang, Hunan.
After retiring, Xu Minqing was assigned to work in Jiangnan Machinery Factory in Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, and later married a woman of the same age, and the two had four children (two boys and two girls) after marriage.
During the "Ten Years of Turmoil", Xu Minqing was often disturbed by the rebels because of his background.
In his memory, when Xu Minqing talked to his mother for the last time, he clearly learned that his father's name was Xu Xu, who died in the early 30s of the 20th century, and was a head of the Kuomintang before his death.
At that time, everyone had to fill in their identity, that is, their parents or grandparents were Communist Party members, or old Red Army, People's Liberation Army, or officers on the Kuomintang side.
Xu Minqing did not hide it, he truthfully filled in his resume with his father's name Xu Xu, who was the head of the Kuomintang before his death.
Xu Minqing has always doubted his father's true identity, and has written to his hometown in Lu'an, Anhui Province several times to inquire.
Because his father's name and position were misremembered, the Lu'an public security organs did not find a Kuomintang leader named Xu Xu, so they replied to him, "There is no such person."
During the "10 years of turmoil," "leftist" ideological trends were rampant, and according to the logic of "leftism," a person whose father was the head of the Kuomintang naturally had problems, and Xu Minqing was burdened with heavy political baggage, and even paraded in the streets to criticize and fight.
In March 1970, an even greater catastrophe struck from the sky. On this day, Xu Minqing's house suddenly broke into two policemen who wanted to arrest him.
He cautiously asked: "I just have a bad background, and I haven't done anything illegal and undisciplined on weekdays, are you mistaken?"
The police sternly asked: "Are you Xu Minqing, we arrested you, you drove and killed several people a few days ago." ”
Xu Minqing hurriedly argued: "I have driven a car in the factory for so many years, and I have never had a safety accident, and if such a big traffic accident occurs, I will not be able to escape." ”
After some conversation with the police, Xu Minqing remembered that when he came back and drove past Jiuquling in Xiangtan a few nights, he found a group of people shouting halfway up the mountain, and he didn't know who the other party was, so he didn't have a driving light, and immediately accelerated through there.
In fact, the group of "chaotic people" were rebels engaged in martial arts, because the driver was not familiar with the local mountain roads when they got out of the car at night, and they overturned and fell and killed 6 people.
Xu Minqing drove past this place that night without turning on the lights, and drove past at a rapid pace, and the rebels saw and remembered his license plate number. After returning to the city, he insisted that Xu Minqing drove to kill people in order to get rid of his own responsibility.
happened to be crooked, Xu Minqing was still a person with a problematic identity, and the police arrested him in prison.
Xu Minqing always firmly believed that this was a major and important case of human life, and the organization would definitely find out, so he entrusted his wife to write a letter of appeal to the higher authorities.
Fortunately, the higher-level authorities found a problem from the report and reopened the coffins of the six bodies that had already been buried for examination. Verification results revealed that none of the six bodies had comminuted fractures. So, the deaths of these six people were not caused by the wheels.
After the truth was ascertained, Xu Minqing, who had been imprisoned for one year and seven months, was finally released. Although he was released, the Jiangnan Machinery Factory refused to let him go back to work. In the end, Xu Minqing could only work as a worker in a township enterprise, with a monthly salary of less than 50 yuan.
Xu Minqing worked in this township enterprise for nine years, and in the nine years he filed countless appeals, demanding that he be completely rehabilitated and return to work in the original Jiangnan factory. But one letter after another was like a stone sinking into the sea, and there was no response.
It wasn't until 1982 that a letter from Lu'an completely solved Xu Minqing's doubts. He also figured out that his father's name was not Xu Xu at all, nor was he the head of the Kuomintang, but one of the early leaders of the Communist Party of China, Xu Jishen, a "civil and military all-rounder" who was active in Anhui, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi.
In 1982, Xu Minqing's cousin, Tan Zhiheng, the son of his uncle Tan Zichang, came to Hengyang to find his cousin and explain to him what happened.
It turned out that Xu Minqing always said that his father's name was Xu Xu, and that was because when his mother Tan Guanyu was dying, her mouth and tongue were very stiff, and she couldn't speak. Coupled with a strong Cantonese accent, Xu Minqing, who was only 13 years old, misheard his father's name.
Then why was Xu Jishen the head of the Kuomintang? Because he graduated from the first phase of Whampoa, and after the defeat of the Great Revolution, he was entrusted by Zhou Enlai to join the enemy camp as the head of the Kuomintang, just for a better job.
As Xu Jishen's only child, Xu Minqing was not overjoyed when he learned the truth, he rarely saw his father in his life, and his mother died when he was 13 years old, and he lost a lot without the care of his parents since he was a child.
It was precisely because he misremembered his father's identity and position that he was wronged and even almost lost his life. For decades, he has lived like an "orphan" in Hengyang, Hunan.
At the end of 1982, the Organization Department of the Lu'an County Party Committee of the Communist Party of China sent an official letter about the life of General Xu Jishen to the Cadre Section of the Jiangnan Machinery Manufacturing Factory in Hengyang, Hunan, and the Party Committee of the Jiangnan Plant had recognized Xu Minqing as the descendant of the martyr Xu Jishen.
In the spring of 1983, Xu Minqing and his wife returned to their hometown in Lu'an with their four children to visit relatives.
Shortly after returning to Hengyang from Lu'an, Xu Minqing became a member of the Chinese Communist Party, and his two daughters had been unemployed at home because of their status.
Under the collective concern of Xu Xiangqian, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, Mao Zhiyong, secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, and relevant leaders, the work problems of the two daughters were successfully resolved.
Later, under the recommendation of Comrade Bao Jinfu, Xu Minqing was cordially received by General Hong Xuezhi. General Hong cordially and patiently inquired about Xu Minqing's daily life, and asked him to go back to his hometown in Anhui more often with a smile.
Perhaps at that moment, General Hong Xuezhi saw the shadow of his old comrade-in-arms Xu Jishen from Xu Minqing's body.
Bibliography:
[1] Chen Jinsong, Chen Rui, Xu Jishen: Zhou Enlai's "civil and military all-rounder" that he never forgets[J].Party Member Digest,2021(03):13-15.
[2] Bao Jinfu.Looking for the orphans of Xu Jishen martyrs[J].Party History Overview,2011(02):28-33.