On October 1, 1949, on the tower of Tiananmen Square, Chairman Mao solemnly announced the founding of New China to the world. At that time, next to the great man stood an elderly man with a short beard, who was none other than Li Jishen, who had made special contributions to the victory of the Chinese revolution and was elected vice chairman of the Central People's Government after the New CPPCC session.
Li Jishen followed Dr. Sun Yat-sen since his youth and was a pioneer of the Chinese revolution. However, when he nominated the vice chairman, there was a lot of controversy, and many comrades thought that he had been an executioner and could not be elected vice chairman. What's going on?
In 1885, Li Jishen was born in a rural family in Cangwu, Guangxi, when he was a teenager, he had lofty ideals, hoping that the country would be prosperous and strong, and the national independence. In 1909, at the age of 24, he entered the Baoding Army Military Academy for further study, during which he assisted Yao Yuping in fighting against the Qing army, made great achievements, and was promoted by Yao to the chief of staff of the 22nd Division.
Five years later, Li Jishen graduated from the military academy and stayed on to teach, and in the following years, he trained a large number of military talents, many of whom were famous generals of the Republic of China, which allowed him to enjoy a high reputation in the military and political circles. In 1920, he moved south to Guangzhou, joined the military government established by Sun Yat-sen, and soon became the commander of the First Division.
In 1925, after the reorganization of the Guangdong Army into the Fourth Army of the National Revolution, he served as the commander, and the following year the Northern Expedition began, he stayed in the rear to preside over the work, in charge of the military and political power of Guangdong, and concurrently served as the vice president of Whampoa. On the battlefield of the Northern Expedition, the Fourth Army, as the main force, won many battles, especially the Ye Ting Independent Regiment of the Division, so it finally won the title of "Iron Army".
In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek staged a counter-revolutionary coup d'état to "purge the party". Li Jishen was opposed to Chiang's policy, but in the end he was not able to prevent the incident from happening, nor did he stay out of it, but became Chiang's accomplice, resulting in the killing of a large number of communists and revolutionaries, which became a matter of regret in his heart.
At the end of the 20s of the last century, the contradictions between Li Jishen and Chiang Kai-shek were increasing. In 1929, the Chiang-Gui War broke out, and in order to solve the matter, he approached Chiang Kai-shek and told him not to engage in separatism, hoping to mediate the war. Unexpectedly, Lao Jiang detained him on charges of collaborating with the Gui family, not only depriving him of his military power, but also expelling him from the party.
In 1931, Li Jishen regained his freedom, he rejected Chiang Kai-shek's bribe, and went south to Guangzhou to take a clear stand against Chiang's dictatorship. In 1933, during the Fujian Incident, he telegraphed against Chiang and contacted the Central Soviet Region, hoping to jointly oppose Chiang and resist Japan, but unfortunately he failed to make the trip.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Li Jishen responded to the call of the Communist Party of China, resolutely opposed the civil war, and contributed to the establishment of the anti-Japanese united front. In 1944, he returned to his hometown Cangwu, organized an anti-Japanese team, and fought guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. At that time, although he no longer had much military power in his hands, his political influence was still there, so some senior Japanese military officials wanted to win him over and send spies to give him high-ranking officials, but after hearing the spies' words, he immediately refused with righteous words and spit on the other party's face on the spot.
During the War of Liberation, Li Jishen resolutely opposed Chiang Kai-shek's civil war, and after being expelled from the party again by Chiang Kai-shek in 1947, he participated in the founding of the Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee and served as the chairman of the Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee. After that, he actively supported the party's call, firmly stood with the party, carried out a series of activities to overthrow the Kuomintang dictatorship, and promoted many uprisings within the Kuomintang. Not only that, but he also wrote letters to Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, Fu Zuoyi and others, doing their ideological work, and persuading everyone to part ways with Lao Jiang and move closer to the people.
At the same time, he also did a lot of other work, for example, in order to cooperate with the People's Liberation Army in the war, in many southern provinces, he sent people to organize a number of anti-Chiang armed forces to carry out guerrilla warfare.
In 1948, Li Ji was invited by the Central Committee to go to the liberated areas to participate in the preparatory work of the new CPPCC. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was elected vice chairman of the Central Committee, although he caused controversy in many people when he was nominated, but later after Premier Zhou came forward to do ideological work for everyone, everyone gradually let go of the mustard in their hearts.
Since then, Li Ji has been conscientious and devoted all his energy to the construction of New China. In 1959, this legendary figure died in Beijing at the age of 74, and before his death, he left these two verses: "I am with the people's aspirations, and I want to see Kyushu together."