Once, at a meeting of the Central Committee, Chairman Mao lost his temper and severely criticized Marshal Nie Rongzhen. Nie Rongzhen was not good at speaking, so Zhang Zhen interjected to explain. As soon as the words fell, Liu Shaoqi criticized him fiercely and said that it was only reduced after you Zhang Zhen came!
What's going on?
It was 1952, Chairman Mao held a meeting of the Military Commission in the Yi Nian Hall, and the participants were very high-level, several vice chairmen of the Military Commission, Premier Zhou, Liu Shaoqi, and President Zhu, as well as Nie Rongzhen, acting chief of the General Staff, and Mr. Peng, who had just returned from North Korea and was ready to preside over the daily work of the Military Commission.
They're all marshals. It stands to reason that Zhang Zhen, a founding lieutenant general, is not qualified to participate in this kind of meeting. However, the Military Commission informed two people that they could attend the meeting as observers. One was Lieutenant General Su Jing, Minister of Military Affairs of the General Staff Headquarters, and the other was Lieutenant General Zhang Zhen, then Minister of Operations of the General Staff.
At this meeting, Chairman Mao criticized Nie Rongzhen for blockading him, and fewer and fewer military documents were handed to Chairman Mao and several vice chairmen of the Military Commission. In the face of Chairman Mao's criticism, Nie Rongzhen bowed his head and remained silent. He has a hard time.
Nie Rongzhen considered that Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou and other central leaders were too busy, working day and night, and they needed to worry about all aspects of the country, big and small, and I was afraid that their bodies would not be able to bear it.
For the sake of the health of Chairman Mao and other central leaders, Nie Rongzhen thought of a way, he asked Zhang Zhen to hand him the documents on the military system first, and he first prioritized and only handed some important documents to Chairman Mao and several vice chairmen.
Some unimportant documents, Nie Rongzhen dealt with. As a result, there are fewer military documents handed to Chairman Mao. In this regard, Chairman Mao was quite sensitive and angry, and even said that Nie Rongzhen was blocking him.
This characterization is serious. Mr. Zhu and Liu Shaoqi were also very angry. There is no trivial matter in the military system. As the leaders of the Central Military Commission, they need to keep abreast of the military dynamics in the country, even if it is something unimportant, they must know.
Besides, what is important and what is not, Nie Rongzhen's evaluation criteria are not necessarily accurate. His method of dealing with it is indeed well-intentioned, but it may not necessarily be a good deed. In the face of Chairman Mao's criticism, Nie Rongzhen was speechless.
When he didn't speak, Chairman Mao became even more angry, and even had to organize him. At this level of meeting, it stands to reason that Zhang Zhen has no right to speak, but he understands what happened and feels that he should explain it for Mr. Nie.
Zhang Zhen interjected and said that the chairman was too busy with work, so he would not send general documents, and only select the most important reports. This explanation is obviously far-fetched and unreasonable.
did not wait for Chairman Mao to speak. Mr. Zhu criticized Zhang Zhen first, saying that no matter how busy we are, we also have a secretary by our side, and the secretary can watch for us, and then report to us. Liu Shaoqi's criticism of Zhang Zhen was even harsher, saying that it had only decreased since you Zhang Zhen came.
Zhang Zhen is just a minister of operations, a person who does things concretely, and it is impossible for him to decide such a big matter. Doesn't Liu Shaoqi know about this? Why does he directly blame Zhang Zhen? Zhang Zhen can't afford such a big responsibility.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Liu Shaoqi once served as the political commissar of the New Fourth Army, and Zhang Zhen was the general of the New Fourth Army and Liu Shaoqi's old subordinate. Liu Shaoqi is criticizing Zhang Zhen on the surface, but in fact, he loves Zhang Zhen.
On such an occasion, Zhang Zhen should not have interjected. If it provokes criticism from Chairman Mao, Zhang Zhen is unimaginable. Sure enough, after Liu Shaoqi finished criticizing, the knowledgeable Zhang Zhen didn't dare to speak anymore. His page has just been closed.
Chairman Mao continued to criticize Nie Rongzhen. Everyone came out to play a round and said that Nie Rongzhen would go back and write a review report first, and quickly rectify it, and the meeting was over.
(Reference book: "Zhang Zhen's Memoirs")