As the saying goes, "Fight the tiger and brothers, fight the fathers and sons and soldiers", and in Chairman Mao's revolutionary career, his relatives also gave him a lot of support and help.
Many of the Mao clan in ShaoshanChong followed Chairman Mao in the revolution, and Chairman Mao's own two younger brothers and a younger sister also participated in it, and even lost their lives. Therefore, in the history of the Chinese revolution, there is a glorious page that belongs to the Mao clan of Shaoshan.
Among the sons of the Mao family who participated in the revolution, there was such a person who did not charge the front line of the revolution from beginning to end, or even just a humble figure. However, this man has always supported Chairman Mao, and even blinded one eye because of this.
Chairman Mao
And because of his support for Chairman Mao, he also became the target of persecution by the warlords, so that he lived an extremely miserable life for more than ten years. This man was Mao Zelian, Chairman Mao's cousin.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was the first relative of Chairman Mao to receive, and he was also the person who was most worried about Chairman Mao before his death.
In 1976, Chairman Mao, who had been ill for a long time, was already dying, and this man, who had once been so tall and majestic, looked weak and vicissitudes at this time.
At that time, Chairman Mao's eyes were always full of worry, and there were still too many things in this world that he could not let go.
At the last moment of his life, Chairman Mao wanted to return to his hometown, and when he returned to Beijing from Changsha the previous year, he had promised the people of his hometown that he would return. However, his body was already struggling to support him on the long journey.
On his deathbed, Chairman Mao, who had always adhered to fairness and honesty and did not engage in privileges, made a rare opening to the organization. This time, it was for a person, a person who made him feel sorry for the rest of his life and could not let go, this person was Mao Zelian.
Maulzelian and Madame
Dragging the sick body, Chairman Mao took up his pen again with great difficulty and wrote a letter. The letter was addressed to the government and read: "Please help me take care of my ninth brother, I am really old." ”
Chairman Mao's ninth brother, named Mao Zelian, was born in 1912 and was the son of Chairman Mao's uncle Mao Jusheng. The Mao clan of Shaoshan is prosperous, and Chairman Mao has more than a dozen cousins in his generation, and Chairman Mao ranks third.
Above Chairman Mao, there were two of his brothers, but they both died tragically, so Chairman Mao, as the third child of his mother Wen Qimei, became the de facto eldest brother of the family brothers, but everyone was still more accustomed to calling Chairman Mao "third brother".
As a cousin, Mao Zelian was the son of Chairman Mao's cousin Mao Jusheng, but Mao Jusheng died very early, leaving his wife to raise a son and a daughter alone. Rural life was hard in those days, and it was very difficult for a widow to raise two children.
Chairman Mao's mother, Wen Qimei, was a very kind woman, and she had only three sons under her knees, but no daughters. Watching her sister-in-law struggle to survive, Wen Qimei felt pity and proposed to pass On Mao Jusheng's daughter to her own home. Therefore, Mao Zelian's sister came to Chairman Mao's house, which was Mao Zejian.
Mao Zejian
Because the two families are close, and now that my sister has passed on to Chairman Mao's house, the young Mao Zelian often comes to Play at Chairman Mao's house. As the elder brother, Chairman Mao naturally also loved this younger brother very much, and treated him as if he were his own brother.
As for his third brother, Mao Zelian also liked him very much, and Mao Zelian felt that Chairman Mao not only loved him, but also often told him about external affairs, so he admired the third brother very much and was very willing to listen to the third brother's words.
Later, when Chairman Mao went outside to study, the two brothers rarely saw each other, but as soon as Chairman Mao returned home, Mao Zelian would be very excited to come to Chairman Mao.
In 1925, Chairman Mao, who had been wandering for many years, returned to his hometown again. Chairman Mao returned home this time not only to recuperate from his illness, but also to launch a peasant movement. Hearing that the third brother had returned home, Mao Zelian, who was only thirteen years old at the time, rushed to see Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao returned this time with his wife Yang Kaihui and his two sons, Mao Anying and Mao Anqing. Hearing that the third brother and his wife were both revolutionaries, Mao Zelian, who could not even understand what the revolution was at that time, also shouted to join the revolutionary ranks.
When Chairman Mao heard him say this, he touched Mao Zelian's head very fondly and said, "You are really still making fun, are you still so young, can you stand it?" ”
A photograph of Chairman Mao when he was young
Mao Zelian said disapprovingly: "Third brother, no matter how old or old you are, you can let me enter the children's regiment first, and I will grow up when I grow up." Can you make me a correspondent? ”
Chairman Mao smiled and was very happy with this strange little brother, but in Chairman Mao's heart, he still felt that he was too young to do revolution.
With this in mind, Chairman Mao did not want to dampen the enthusiasm of the children, and it just so happened that Chairman Mao was planning to open a night school in the local area, perhaps to let Mao Zelian do something.
Therefore, Chairman Mao arranged for Mao Zelian to stand guard at the place where he attended night school and help him set up a guard. At that time, Chairman Mao returned to Shaoshan to carry out the peasant movement, and the local warlords also sensed the movement.
The local warlord Zhao Hengxi, an international student who graduated from the Japanese Army Officer School and participated in the Xinhai Revolution, was a sustenance of the Nationalist government.
However, now Zhao Hengxi has also degenerated into a warlord and hates the revolutionary forces to the bone, and Chairman Mao is also a thorn in his eye, and he has long wanted to seize Chairman Mao, so he is very concerned about shaoshan's movements.
Zhao Hengxi
When he learned through his eyes and ears that Mao Zedong was running a night school in Shaoshan and was launching a peasant movement on a large scale, Zhao Hengxi did not fight a single blow and immediately dispatched troops to Shaoshan to arrest people. When Zhao Hengxi's troops touched Shaoshan, Chairman Mao was attending classes at night school without any knowledge of this.
At this time, Mao Zelian, who seemed to be playing outside, but was actually giving a sentry, sensed the movement, and he knew that these people had come to arrest the third brother, but The very clever Mao Zelian did not shout out loud, but used a horse lamp to signal Chairman Mao according to the prior agreement.
Chairman Mao, who was in class in the classroom, saw the flashing horse lamp outside, knew that the situation was not right, and quickly ran through the back door into the back mountain. At this moment, Zhao Hengxi's troops pounced, and they were even more angry.
On the other side, Chairman Mao, who escaped from danger, did not immediately leave Shaoshan, but returned to the village again. After meeting Mao Zelian, Chairman Mao greatly appreciated Mao Zelian's fearless performance and once again entrusted Mao Zelian to transfer with his wife Yang Kaihui and two children.
Mao Zelian, who was appreciated by the third brother, was very happy, and his face was full of proud smiles. After being entrusted again by the third brother, Mao Zelian also agreed with a full mouth.
Immediately after, Mao Zelian found his sister-in-law Yang Kaihui and asked her to take the child and pretend to be a husband and wife with himself. Although Mao Zelian is young, he looks very tall, and after some dressing, he also has a look.
Mao Zelian picked up a pair of flat burdens himself, put the two little hairy children in the basket one after the other, and then walked towards the village entrance with Yang Kaihui swinging. Along the way, the Mao Anying brothers lying in the basket were also very well-behaved and did not cry at all.
Yang Kaihui and Mao Anying, Mao Anying
In this way, Mao Zelian and Yang Kaihui's mother and son successfully passed the interrogation of the soldiers sent by the warlord, and the other party did not recognize Yang Kaihui, so they were confused from under their own eyes.
The boldness and wisdom displayed by Mao Zelian were seen by Chairman Mao, and Chairman Mao no longer dared to look at his ninth brother with the attitude of looking at the little hairy child. As a result, Mao Zelian was also absorbed into the revolutionary ranks and participated in revolutionary activities in the local area.
After that, Chairman Mao spent nearly a year in Shaoshan to examine the local peasant movement and wrote the famous "Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society."
Subsequently, Chairman Mao went to Guangzhou to participate in the peasant movement congress, and it was not until January 1927 that he returned to Shaoshan again because of his inspection of the peasant movement.
For the third brother to return home again, Mao Zelian is still very excited. But this time, Chairman Mao did not stay long. On the day Chairman Mao left, Mao Zelian looked very disappointed, and he asked Chairman Mao: "Third brother, when will we see each other again after you leave?" ”
Looking at the ninth brother, who had a deep friendship, Chairman Mao was very emotional, and he said: "When I overthrow the three mountains, I will come back." The revolution did not succeed, and I did not have the face to come back. ”
Hearing Chairman Mao say this, Mao Zelian was still very sad, and he knew that it might be difficult to see the third brother again, so he said to Chairman Mao: "Third brother, you must come back!" ”
Chairman Mao left to pursue his cause, and Mao Ze was not even idle, he was also doing his thing at the local workers' and peasants' training center. At this time, the two brothers of the Mao family, although they were on opposite sides, their hearts were touched by the same cause.
However, in the early spring of 1927, Chiang Kai-shek brazenly staged a counter-revolutionary coup d'état and rounded up and massacred revolutionaries. Naturally, the storm quickly affected Shaoshan, where workers' and peasants' training centers were destroyed and a large number of revolutionaries were arrested and persecuted.
When the warlord's soldiers came to arrest people, astutely Mao Zelian quickly fled to the back hill, but the warlord's soldiers chased after him. Mao Zelian used the ability to shuttle through the dense forest all year round, running at a rapid speed in the complex terrain.
However, because he was running too fast, and the woods were overgrown with grass, Mao Zelian's eyes were scratched by branches. Mao Zelian felt a sharp pain, but he was anxious to escape, and he couldn't care about these things at all, so he could only continue to take the road and run.
When he came to a safe place, Mao Zelian could finally catch his breath, and only then did he clearly feel the sharp pain from his eyes. Mao Zelian's eye was seriously injured, but he himself did not realize it, but felt that it was only a small injury, and it would be fine in a few days.
In that era of underdeveloped medical treatment, and farmers often insisted on self-healing because they had to spend money on medical treatment, Mao Zelian's practice was not unusual. But this time, Mao Zelian obviously did not realize the seriousness of the problem.
After only a few days, Mao Zelian's eye wound began to become inflamed and suppurative, the left eye was the most serious and the most severe, and the right eye was lighter, but it was not optimistic. At this point, Mao Zelian finally realized the seriousness of the injury, but because of poverty, he still chose to let it heal itself.
As a result, it didn't take long for Mao Zelian's left eye to be completely blind, and although the injury to his right eye was lighter, his vision was also blurry.
Even so, Mao Zelian still did not give up the idea of revolution, and he still wanted to return to the organization. However, seeing that Mao Zelian's eyes were already in this situation, and the people in the organization were not good enough to let him work again, they advised him to recover first.
In 1929, Mao Zejian, the younger sister who followed Chairman Mao in the revolution, was sacrificed, but the reactionaries did not stop there, but continued to send people to the village to arrest people, and Mao Zejian's brother Mao Zelian also became the target of arrest.
Mao Ze built a cemetery
Fortunately, someone in the village found out in advance and helped Mao Zelian and his family to transfer in time, so that their family escaped this disaster. This time, he was not taken away by the warlords, but his family certainly could not go back, and Mao Zelian's family could only go into exile.
In order to survive, Mao Zelian gave a short-term job to a landlord. The employer is a mean person, not good for short-term workers, Mao Ze even hard work, can only barely feed. The family had no place to live, and they had to live in caves.
During that time, Mao Zelian's life was extremely miserable. But even so, he did not complain about the third brother, nor did he try to write a letter to the third brother to complain.
Mao Zelian was so kind that even if he just told the third brother that he was short of money for his eye injuries, he would not just watch his eyes gradually necrosis. Mao Zelian's love for Chairman Mao was from the bottom of his heart, he knew that the third brother was doing great things, and he was unwilling to influence the third brother because of himself.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Kuomintang and the Communists began their second cooperation, and the revolutionaries who had been persecuted could finally live a normal life in a fair and upright manner, and the persecuted Mao Zelian could finally return home.
Mao Zelian
Then, it was more than ten years, until the peaceful liberation of Hunan, and the Mao clan in Shaoshan also ushered in a day of raising their heads and chests.
When the People's Liberation Army passed through Xiangtan, the commander of the 138th Division realized that Chairman Mao's hometown was in Shaoshan, so he specially came to Shaoshan to search for Chairman Mao's relatives. So they met Mao Zelian and planned to send him to Beijing to visit Chairman Mao.
More than twenty years had passed, and mao Zelian was very excited at the thought of seeing his third brother who was thinking about twilight. Considering that Mao Ze's eyes were inconvenient, he could not go out alone, and he also went with Chairman Mao's cousin Li Zhuhua.
Mao Zelian and the two were sent to Changsha by comrades of the army, then to Wuhan by special personnel, and finally to Beijing with comrade Nie Rongzhen's family.
After the founding ceremony, Mao Zelian was arranged to meet Chairman Mao in Zhongnanhai. When the brothers, who had not seen each other for more than twenty years, were reunited again, Chairman Mao immediately recognized Mao Zelian, and he shouted excitedly: "You are Runfa, my ninth brother!" ”
When Mao Zelian heard this, he was even more excited than he could say, he held Chairman Mao's hand tightly, and at the same time as he kept nodding his head, his eyeballs, which were yellowed due to lesions, also kept flashing tears.
The brothers were reunited, and Chairman Mao was also very anxious, and he asked Mao Zelian: "Are the villagers all right?" I miss you so much. ”
Mao Zelian said to Chairman Mao: "The villagers miss you very much and hope that you will go back and have a look." At this moment, Chairman Mao sensed that Mao Zelian's eyes were not quite right, and he quickly asked, "What happened to your eyes?" ”
Mao Zelian did not know how to answer for a while, or Li Zhuhua told Chairman Mao the origin of the matter one by one. After learning the truth, Chairman Mao suddenly felt a pang of pain in his heart and gave birth to infinite guilt.
In the whole family, there were already two younger brothers and a younger sister, and a nephew had sacrificed for the revolution, and even the youngest and most beloved Mao Zelian had suffered so many sins that it really made him feel heartache as an older brother.
Chairman Mao took a group photo with his mother, Wen Qimei, and his two younger brothers
Chairman Mao felt that Mao Zelian's eyes should still be treated in the hospital, and perhaps saved. Therefore, he told Mao Zelian: "You stay in Beijing for a few more days, and I will ask Shore Ying to accompany you to the Union Hospital." ”
Before arranging for Mao Anying to take Mao Zelian to see a doctor, Chairman Mao explained to Mao Anying with concern: "We must take good care of your ninth cousin, let him listen to the doctor's words, and cooperate with the treatment." Everything went out of my fee, so he didn't have to worry. Mao Anying nodded, and Mao Zelian beside him was even more moved to tears.
After coming to the hospital, the doctor examined Mao Zelian, but unfortunately, because of the delay for too long, Mao Zelian's left eye has been completely necrotic, but fortunately, the right eye is still treated.
The doctor said to Mao Zelian: "Your left eye has not been cured, you can only remove the left eye, and then install a false eye." The right eye is still saved, and if combined with treatment, part of the vision can be restored. ”
After Mao Zelian listened, he felt a little disappointed, but he said to the doctor: "Since the left eye is not cured, let's remove it, but there is no need to pretend to be a false eye, that is a match, it is useless, and it will cost the third brother a lot of money." Please ask the doctor to help me get a cure for my right eye, thank you. I have to say that Mao Zelian is still so kind-hearted, even now, he is still thinking about the third brother and does not want to waste his money.
Chairman Mao returns to Shaoshan (Mao Zelian front row, first from right)
After staying in the hospital for a month, Mao Zelian's right eye has improved, and Mao Zelian feels that it is useless to live any longer, so he asks to be discharged.
After being discharged from the hospital, Mao Zelian saw Chairman Mao again, and Chairman Mao was also very sad when he learned that the left eye of the Ninth Brother could not be cured, as if this was his responsibility.
At this time, Li Zhuhua said to Chairman Mao: "Mao Zelian's family is really difficult, his mother is sick in bed, and his children are still young. I would like to ask you to arrange a spare job for him so that he can have an income and be able to make ends meet. ”
Chairman Mao listened to him from the sidelines, sniffed out a cigarette, and his expression was very solemn.
After a long silence, Chairman Mao began to say: "I know the difficulties of Zelian, but I am the chairman of the whole country, and I must put the interests of the people of the whole country first, and I cannot just think of taking care of my own family." I don't have this privilege, and I can't set this precedent. Zelian's family is in difficulty, so I will use my writing fee to help, and I can't trouble the government. ”
Mao Zelian nodded frequently from the sidelines, and he said earnestly: "I came to Beijing to visit the third brother, not to solve difficulties." ”
Chairman Mao was also very touched to hear Mao Zelian say this, and he shook Mao Zelian's hand and said, "If you have difficulties in the future, you must write me a letter." I'll go back to see you when I'm free. Mao Zelian also nodded continuously.
After living in Beijing for two months, Mao Zelian also planned to go home. At the time of parting, Chairman Mao specially prepared a new dress for him and bought some daily necessities and medicines.
Touching the new clothes, Mao Zelian's heart gushed out a warm current, and he felt that even though the third brother was already the president of the country, he was still the same as before, the third brother who loved him. Mao Zelian had never regretted making a revolution with his third brother before, and he would never regret it in the future.
Mao Zelian in his later years
After Mao Zelian returned home, Chairman Mao also wrote him two letters, one of which contained two hundred yuan in an envelope to subsidize his family, all of which Chairman Mao took out of his own manuscript fees. Holding the envelope and the money inside, Mao Zelian felt another sigh in his heart.
Many people saw that Mao Zelian had gone to Beijing, and Chairman Mao treated him and sent him something, and everyone was very envious. In fact, since I learned that Chairman Mao became the president of the country, some Mao family members in Shaoshan have had ideas and hoped that Chairman Mao would arrange work, arrange for his children to go to school, and help solve difficulties.
Mao Zelian also realized this, he knew the third brother's personality, and he did not want to embarrass the third brother, so he often said to people: "As the family of the third brother of the chairman, we must take the lead and not use our status as the chairman's relatives to trouble the government." It was not easy for the third brother of the chairman to get to today... We can't let him get criticized because we can't. ”
Mao Zelian was interviewed by reporters
Mao Zelian's approach really played a role, alleviating Chairman Mao's troubles and preventing him from always having to deal with human feelings when he was busy with official duties. But there are still such things, and Chairman Mao can only write letters one by one to refuse.
In fact, the villagers of Shaoshan were all kind to Chairman Mao's family, and they repeatedly protected Chairman Mao's family during the revolutionary years, and protected Chairman Mao's ancestral grave from being destroyed by warlords.
These villagers are simple and kind, they love and trust Chairman Mao, but the life of the villagers is too hard, and the Mao family has a hard time producing a big figure, so they hope that Chairman Mao can pull them along and help them solve practical difficulties.
It is only for Chairman Mao that if he responds to every request, it will not turn New China into a corrupt "Chiang Family Dynasty," so such a thing must not be opened.
But for the difficulties of the villagers and their help to the Mao family, Chairman Mao also saw it in his eyes and remembered it, so he always did his best to help everyone without violating the principle.
Chairman Mao was always very concerned about the affairs of the Ninth Brother. Later, Mao Zelian's mother died, and Chairman Mao took three hundred yuan as burial expenses. Because the last treatment was not thorough, Mao Zelian's condition recurred, and Chairman Mao arranged for him to go to Beijing for treatment again.
Mao Zelian was also ashamed of these things, and he repeatedly said to Chairman Mao: "I have caused trouble for the third brother of the chairman." ”
Chairman Mao also advised him not to care about these things, because as a brother himself, he should bear these responsibilities. What's more, Chairman Mao has always felt very guilty about Mao Zelian's eye injury.
In Chairman Mao's view, he could take care of his ninth brother for a lifetime, but it was not until his old age that he realized that he might no longer be able to take on this responsibility.
In 1976, Chairman Mao, who felt that there were not many days to come, had to worry about the evening scene of the Ninth Brother. There are not many relatives of the Ninth Brother, he really has no one to entrust, thinking about it, Chairman Mao can only drag the sick body to write a letter to the government, hoping that they will take care of the Ninth Brother on their behalf.
Chairman Mao in his later years
In fact, strictly speaking, Chairman Mao did not count his relatives in the care of the government, because Chairman Mao donated all his savings to the state, which can be regarded as entrusting the government to provide pensions on his behalf.
After receiving Chairman Mao's letter, the government officials agreed to Chairman Mao and planned to give Mao Zelian a poverty allowance of twenty yuan per month.
When this money was first sent to Mao Zelian's hands, his mood was touched, but he also felt a little guilty, Mao Zelian cried and said to his family: "I let the third brother bother, but also humiliated him, and in the end it still troubled the government." ”
Before Chairman Mao's final death, he called his children to his side and instructed them: "After I leave, there will be two of your uncles in my hometown, especially your ninth cousin, and you must take good care of them for me and go back to see them more." ”
Chairman Mao's sons and daughters, with tears in their eyes, took Chairman Mao's words to heart, and they always remembered their relatives in their hometowns, even if their own lives were very difficult, but they never forgot to help them.
Until 1995, Mao Zelian finally passed away, this old man who had a hard life, but extremely simple, was respected by the people at the end, and the people of Shaoshan specially held a memorial service for this "Ninth Grandfather" to show his remembrance.
Mao Anqing's family returns to Shaoshan (in the middle of The front row of Mao Zelian)
The vitality of New China is precisely because we have a political party that truly serves the public and the people, a group of revolutionary leaders who always put the public heart in the first place. It was precisely because of this that we defeated the decadent Kuomintang and established a new China.
Chairman Mao regarded this point very importantly, so he was always unwilling to abolish public affairs because of private interests, would not harm the interests of the state because of individuals, and did not engage in "special privileges."
As Chairman Mao's cousin, Mao Zelian was a respectable man who actively threw himself into the revolution in his early years, thus enduring more than twenty years of hardships and hardships, but also without complaint or regret.
Mao Zelian admired his third brother and was willing to risk a revolution for him because he trusted him. Mao Zelian respected his third brother more, so he always maintained the principle of the third brother. Therefore, we feel that this old man's life is ordinary, but also respectable.