In the spring of 1973, before the Tenth Party Congress, the Central Committee held a preparatory meeting to nominate candidates for party chairmanship and vice-chairmanship. The chairman of the party is still the great leader Chairman Mao, and the vice chairman has nominated four people, namely Premier Zhou, Wang Hongwen, Kang Sheng and Marshal Ye Jianying.
At this time, Chairman Mao asked whether to add 1. At that time, it was stipulated that under 39 years old was young and over 60 years old was old. According to this standard, Wang Hongwen, who is exactly 38 years old, is a young man, and Premier Zhou, Kang Sheng and Marshal Ye Jianying are all elderly.
Lack of middle-aged strength. Chairman Mao believed that in the leading body, it is necessary to combine the old, the middle-aged and the young, and that another middle-aged comrade should be added. The vice-chairman of the Party, of course, must be elected from among the members of the Politburo.
Among the members of the Politburo, many meet the requirements for middle age, but there are not many representatives in the army. Chairman Mao said these two criteria, and Premier Zhou understood that the chairman already had the right person in mind.
This person is Li Desheng.
At a party plenum in 1968, Premier Zhou read Li Desheng's name, and Chairman Mao asked which was Li Desheng? After Li Desheng stood up, Chairman Mao asked his age, where is the person? Since then, I have remembered Li Desheng.
In 1969, Li was elected as an alternate member of the Ninth Politburo of the Communist Party of China. At the meeting, Chairman Mao again named Li Desheng and asked him to stand up. Chairman Mao asked again, how old is it? Li Desheng replied that he was 53 years old. Chairman Mao repeated it several times, ah, 53 years old.
In the same year, in accordance with Chairman Mao's instructions, Li Desheng entered Beijing to take up his post. Chairman Mao attached great importance to Li Desheng, telling him to read more books, learn more about the situation at the grass-roots level, and become more familiar with his business. In 1970, Li Desheng became the director of the General Political Department.
The following year, Li Desheng served as commander of the Beijing Military Region. He was born in the military and was just 57 years old, meeting the criteria for middle age. Premier Zhou then proposed that Comrade Li Desheng also be a candidate. Chairman Mao nodded in agreement.
Obviously, the appointment of Li Desheng as vice chairman of the party was jointly endorsed by Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou. None of the other members of the Politburo raised any objections, but it was Li Desheng himself who raised objections.
Li Desheng felt that his qualifications were shallow, he had just entered Beijing to work, his prestige was not enough, his ability was not good, and he was not suitable to be the vice chairman of the party. Li Desheng proposed that Comrade Li Xiannian should be the candidate for the vice chairman of the party.
Li Xiannian and Li Desheng are both disciples of Dabie Mountain, one is from Hubei and the other is from Henan. Li Xiannian served as a military political commissar during the Red Army period, a division commander of the New Fourth Army during the War of Resistance Against Japan, a commander and deputy commander of the Central Plains Military Region during the Liberation War, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was in charge of Hubei and was a local leader.
(Li Xiannian and Li Desheng, etc.)
In 1954, Li Xiannian entered Beijing and served as vice premier of the State Council for a long time, and has been working in the central government for nearly 20 years. Li Desheng believes that whether it is revolutionary qualifications or political experience, Li Xiannian is more qualified to serve as the vice chairman of the party than himself.
Only one thing, in terms of age, Li Xiannian belonged to the old age at that time, he was over sixty years old, and he did not meet the criteria proposed by Chairman Mao. After Li Desheng finished speaking, Li Xiannian, who was sitting next to him, pulled his clothes and said softly, the chairman has already expressed his attitude, you should not say it again.
Li Desheng was more modest, and Li Xiannian was more experienced than he was, and on that occasion, since Chairman Mao had already expressed his agreement, as a member of the Politburo, he had to resolutely obey. So Li Xiannian dissuaded him and didn't say anything more.
At the first plenary session of the Tenth Central Committee that followed, Li Desheng was successfully elected as the vice chairman of the party and became a state official.