Most of the founding generals of New China did not necessarily care about their positions, but they all attached great importance to their reputations.
Many veteran cadres wrote to the Central Committee after the Third Plenary Session of the 11 th CPC Central Committee, hoping that they would not resume their work but would be rehabilitated, so that at least they would be able to leave innocently in the future and have their names accurately presented.
In addition to the official evaluation, many generals also tell their lives by writing memoirs, which allows us to see history from another perspective.
Among so many memoirs, the most popular and best-selling is Mr. Peng's "Peng Dehuai's Self-Statement", which was rushed by tens of thousands of people as soon as it appeared, and the publishing house had to reprint it many times.
Even so, it is still in short supply, which shows Mr. Peng's status in the hearts of the people.
During the Red Army, Yang Shangkun once served as the political commissar of the Red Third Army, and he was also very curious about what his old partner wanted to stay the most.
Among the many cadres of the People's Liberation Army, the marshal can be said to be the only one, and it seems that he is only one level higher than the general, but there is a huge difference in reality. The full name of the marshal is "Marshal of the People's Republic of China", and the epaulette is the national emblem with a star;
The full name of the general is "General of the Chinese People's Liberation Army", and the epaulettes are four stars. From these two intuitive differences, it can be seen that the marshal is the leader of the country, and the general is only the leader of the army.
Therefore, whether official or non-governmental, the respect for the marshal is greater than that of other PLA cadres, and the enthusiasm of the masses to buy memoirs is also the most important for the marshal.
It is a pity that only three of the ten marshals left in the memoirs: Luo Ronghuan died of premature illness and did not have time to start writing; He, Lin, Chen, and Zhu all died during the Great Movement, and the circumstances at that time did not allow personal accounts;
Liu Shuai was bedridden in his later years, and he personally did not want to recall the pain of the war years, and Ye Shuai was humble and low-key, not wanting to publicize his exploits.
Only Xu Shuai has written "A Review of History", Nie Shuai has written "Nie Rongzhen's Memoirs" and Mr. Peng's "Peng Dehuai's Self-Statement". The two marshals Xu and Nie had time to write slowly after the 80s, and Mr. Peng was more special.
He began to take a back seat in '59, and when he returned to the third line in the southwest in '65, he had a lot of free time to recall his experience.
After the Great Movement, he was repeatedly shocked and often needed to write materials, and he wrote these two parts, both voluntarily and under compulsion, which were combined into his memoir, which was first published in December 1981.
At that time, the publisher was still very worried, thinking that the sales would not be too good, but who knew that the first printing of 130,000 copies was sold out in less than two weeks. Under the strong appeal of the masses, another 2 million copies were immediately printed, and they were quickly sold out.
In the same year, "Peng Dehuai's Self-Statement" sold more than 2.9 million copies, setting a record. Later, the book was translated into English, Japanese, Korean, Russian and other Chinese, and also sold well.
There are many celebrities in this world who have written memoirs, but why did Mr. Peng's work cause such a sensation? There are many reasons for this.
First, Mr. Peng is too unique, and that turning point is like asking for the people's lives and being like a moth to a fire. Originally, he was the Minister of Defense in charge of the work of the Military Commission, but the reason for his criticism was not at the military level.
As recorded in the "Self-Statement", his wife Pu Anxiu complained afterwards: "It is enough for you to do your job well and be your own marshal, so why should you take care of the issue of economic construction." ”
It is completely possible to stay out of the matter, but out of the heart, bravely speak up for the people and the country. This feeling is very respectable and sympathetic.
Therefore, many people hope to have a deeper understanding of Mr. Peng and see his mental journey at that time.
Second, the content of "Self-Statement" is very profound and true. In fact, many of the memoirs of the founding generals are not completely equivalent to history, some are the products of special times and have limitations;
And a large part of Mr. Peng's "Self-Statement" comes from "explaining materials", and the words in it are just like his character, which would rather bend than bend.
He was far away from the center of power, imprisoned, and had no scruples, and wrote whatever he wanted. Anyway, there will be no other good results after it is written, so it will simply be written according to the real situation. For future generations, the research is particularly high.
In 1974, before his death, Mr. Peng entrusted his niece Peng Gang to General Huang Kecheng, which allowed many contents to be preserved. After Huang Kecheng returned to his leadership position at the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee, he strongly promoted the editing and publication of the book.
For the public, it is obvious how to choose between a somewhat high-sounding autobiography and an autobiography that can lift the fog of history.
The third is that Mr. Peng's autobiography is not a "merit book", but more like an old friend slowly telling the ups and downs of his life in front of you.
Many people write memoirs that describe their contributions at great length, overlap a lot in terms of content, and sometimes complicate things.
Just like General Zhou Xihan's complaint: A battle, the commander's memoirs say that he commanded, the political commissar's memoirs say that he deployed, and the deputy commander's memoirs say that he fought, is the same battle fought three times?
But Mr. Peng's "Self-Statement" is not like that, he talks about his command of operations very little, more about his own life, and these experiences inadvertently reveal one word - bitterness.
In his childhood and youth, Mr. Peng lived a miserable life, and once went to ask his elderly grandmother for food on Chinese New Year's Eve; in order to survive, he herded cattle for landowners, worked as child laborers in earthen coal kilns, and worked as embankment workers on dams;
Later in the war years, he often carried out the most arduous tasks, staying in Jinggangshan, the Long March took the initiative to revoke the number of the Red Third Army, the War of Resistance against Japan rushed to the front line, and the War of Liberation was in the most barren northwest...
He never thought of enjoying the convenience of rising status, but often gave his military salary to grassroots soldiers who were living in difficulty.
In terms of food and housing, Mr. Peng lived an ascetic-like life, and he was not close to women, and refused the pursuit of female reporters and writers.
The most admirable thing is that there is very little ink in the "Self-Statement" to resist the United States and aid Korea, and there is no other content except for the experience of victory and defeat after the war.
As a supreme commander on the battlefield, he did not record as many as some middle-level cadres, and from this point alone, it can be seen that Mr. Peng's indifferent fame and fortune did not write a big book in a place where he could have been proud.
Yang Shangkun, the old partner of the Red Third Army, sighed after reading "Peng Dehuai's Self-Statement":
Mr. Peng has the power of thunder against the enemy, the innocent devotion to the organization, the festival of pines and cypresses, the sentiment of ice and snow, and his personal style is simple and unpretentious, worthy of the model of our army and the loyal son of the people.
His words are also the voice of the majority of readers. Many people still can't enjoy it after watching it in one sitting, so they watch it repeatedly and spontaneously run to promote it.
In this way, the sales of "Peng Dehuai's Self-Statement" cannot be low.
In general, Mr. Peng's life is very legendary, and his related items can naturally create legends, this great figure is worthy of future generations' reverence.