Chairman Mao once humorously said in the 1955 appraisal of the ranks of the whole army: Boys have tears and do not flick, only because they have not yet reached the time of awarding the title. For the soldiers of the revolutionary era who have been in the battlefield and escaped from the battlefield, the rank is undoubtedly a sufficient recognition, but because of various factors, it is always controversial when evaluating military ranks, and some generals with personalities have been dissatisfied with the military ranks awarded to themselves, complaining, such as Wang Jinshan, Ding Sheng, and Ding Sheng even claiming to hang the medal on the dog's tail.
However, not everyone attaches so much importance to military ranks, General Xu Liqing took the initiative to find Marshal Luo Ronghuan and asked for a demotion, he, as the main person in charge of the evaluation of military ranks, felt that he had to play a leading role, at his insistence, the rank of general who was originally to be awarded to him became a lieutenant general, and the high wind and bright festival were enough to make many people ashamed. There was also General Xu Guangda, who also repeatedly asked Chairman Mao, saying that his seniority was too shallow, even inferior to many generals, so he asked to be conferred on himself as a general, but Chairman Mao and others were in his contribution to the construction of armored forces and did not agree, even so, Xu Guangda requested to reduce his administrative treatment, and he was the only general who enjoyed the treatment of a general.
Of course, when it comes to the highest realm, it belongs to Deng Xiaoping, who has resigned his military rank twice, the first time not to be a marshal, and the second time not to be a first-class general.
In 1955, in addition to the well-known Ten Marshals, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, and Deng Xiaoping were also proposed to be awarded the rank of Marshal, while Chairman Mao was also proposed to be awarded the rank of Grand Marshal.
After this plan was submitted, Chairman Mao resolutely rejected the Grand Marshal, saying that he was uncomfortable wearing the grand marshal's costume and did not say anything, how to deal with the masses of the people? Therefore, he resolutely did not want the Grand Marshal. At the same time, he focused his attention on Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, and Deng Xiaoping, and said: "According to me, you do not want the rank of marshal, and comrades who work in the localities should not participate in the conferment of military ranks." ”
Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, and Deng Xiaoping naturally understood Chairman Mao's meaning and expressed that they did not want the rank of marshal, and at the same time, Li Xiannian and others who were present at the meeting also expressed their intention not to have the rank of grand general.
During the Period of the Red Army, he was the political commissar of the 129th Division, the political commissar of the Erye during the War of Liberation, the secretary of the General Former Committee, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, before going to the Central Committee, he served as the political commissar of the Southwest Military Region.
For historical reasons, the rank system was abolished in 1965, but with the end of the 1970s, the army began to modernize, and in the war of self-defense against Vietnam, the lack of ranks brought inconvenience, the central government decided that in 1988, the People's Liberation Army would be awarded the rank for the second time.
In this ceremony, Hong Xuezhi, Liu Huaqing, Qin Jiwei and 10 others were awarded the rank of general, and at that time, on top of the rank of general, there was also a first-class general. In the eyes of everyone, Deng Xiaoping, as the chief architect of reform and opening up, was a candidate for a first-class general.
However, Deng Xiaoping refused, and he stated that although he was the chairman of the Central Military Commission, he still did not want a good rank; at that time, many people persuaded him many times, but he said: "Chairman Mao does not want a grand marshal, and I do not want a military rank." It is worth mentioning that Yang Shangkun, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, also rejected this rank, another candidate for the first-class general at that time.
Why not have the rank of general at the first level? Yang Shangkun specially explained: "Chairman Deng said that he does not want military ranks, I am a civilian official in the Wuya Gate, nor do I want military ranks, if the chairman and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission do not want military ranks and become civilian officials, I see that it will be a good influence on the whole army, and it will be a promotion for the whole army to smoothly change to civilian posts." ”
It can be seen from this that Deng Xiaoping's resignation as a general of the first rank, in addition to his high moral character, also set an example for the whole army and promoted the reform of the army; at the same time, as mentioned above, it is impossible to evaluate military ranks, because of various factors, it is impossible to level the bowl of water, and Deng Xiaoping did this to set an example for some people -- there is no dispute. This also guarantees the unity of the army.
In addition, Deng Xiaoping's refusal to be a first-class general was also considered for the face of his old comrades-in-arms, and when preparing for the evaluation of military ranks (1986), 4 of the 10 marshals in 1955 were still alive, namely Liu Bocheng, Xu Xiangqian, Nie Rongzhen and Ye Jianying, and 3 of the ten generals were still alive, Huang Kecheng, Tan Zheng and Xiao Jinguang. If they are given ranks, what ranks should they be awarded? You can't always be awarded a first-level general! In fact, at that time, some people also proposed not to replace the first-class generals with marshals and generals, but Deng Xiaoping finally decided not to have marshals and generals after consulting the above 7 people.
In the end, in 1988, there was no first-class general in the award, which was officially abolished in 1994, and the highest rank in the People's Liberation Army is currently general.