On September 28, 2009, the Babaoshan Cemetery in Beijing was low and solemn. Here, a solemn memorial service is taking place.
The memorial service was attended not only by many high-ranking figures in military and political circles, but also by Li Min, Mao Xinyu, and other family members of Chairman Mao. What kind of person is this deceased, who can receive such mourning?
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="2" > joined the army at the age of 11, and a small gesture impressed the chairman</h1>
In 1937, the July 7 Incident, Japan launched an all-out war of aggression against China.
The land of Kyushu was ravaged by Japanese fascist artillery fire, and life was ruined.
The young Li Yinqiao witnessed all this with his own eyes, and the idea of driving the invaders out of China took root in his heart.
The following year, 11-year-old Li Yinqiao joined the Eighth Route Army in North China and became a small soldier of the Eighth Route Army, and Li Yinqiao, who was just in his early teens, ate and lived with many older soldiers who were older than himself, and was deeply cared for by them.
In August 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender, and the Chinese nation finally ushered in the dawn of victory.
However, the people's vision of peace was soon broken by the Kuomintang government that launched the civil war, and the war of liberation was also launched.
As a close general of Chiang Kai-shek, Hu Zongnan led 250,000 troops north to northern Shaanxi, with the potential of "ploughing the court and sweeping the caves", in a vain attempt to eliminate our army, in order to achieve the purpose of occupying the magpie's nest.
At this time, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression had just ended, and our army still had more than one million troops, but most of them were scattered and stationed in North China, East China, South China, and other regions.
The dispersion of troops resulted in less than 20,000 troops around northern Shaanxi.
Faced with the threat of the enemy, the Party Central Committee had to move out of Yan'an and start guerrilla warfare.
In order to temporarily avoid the attack of Hu Zong's southern troops, the large troops were constantly moving in the mountains of northern Shaanxi.
On August 18, 1947, in the course of guerrilla warfare, a large force of our army marched all the way to the Yellow River, with the terrifying waves in front of them and the enemy troops chasing after them, and our army seemed to have entered a dead end.
Faced with such a situation, Chairman Mao began to think about how to get out of difficulties.
So I habitually said, "Give me a cigarette." ”
Everyone around me understood that this was a sign that Chairman Mao was deep in thought.
But the situation was so critical and the wind was so strong that the guards around the chairman couldn't even light it up several times.
Seeing that everyone's face was getting more and more ugly, the atmosphere was more and more anxious, as Zhou Enlai's guard, Li Yinqiao directly crossed the match, lit a cigarette at once, and the whole set of actions flowed smoothly and crisply.
The smoke was gone, and Chairman Mao glanced gratefully at this little soldier he was not familiar with. It was this match that changed the rest of his life.
One night, Li Yinqiao was laying a shop for Premier Zhou.
Ye Zilong and Wang Dongxing found him: "Comrade Li Yinqiao, you will go to a more important guard post and become a guard next to Chairman Mao." ”
Li Yinqiao froze, his mouth wide open, but he did not say a word.
< h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="12" > the shield of the great man, guarding the chairman for 15 years</h1>
In fact, he was not "reluctant" to be Chairman Mao's guard at first.
The two also reached a "gentleman's agreement" for this purpose.
It turned out that before learning that he would become the chairman's guardian, the chairman had asked for his opinion, and he also replied frankly: "No." ”
Chairman Mao was also very happy that he could tell the truth, so he asked him why.
Li Yinqiao replied: "I have been doing this job for too long, from the time I joined the army at the age of 11, all the way over, as a serviceman, a messenger, a hygienist, until now." ”
"Well, being a guard, progress is indeed not fast. Is there another reason? ”
"I've always wanted to go into the army and fight on the battlefield with real knives and guns, but I know that the chairman will not let me go, who has just come."
Chairman Mao laughed and said, "How do you know I won't let you go?" ”
"The chairman is a nostalgic person. The pen used, the horse I rode, the clothes I wore, the chairman would not change when he was used to it, not to mention that I was a big living person, and the chairman was used to it and was still willing to give up? ”
Chairman Mao laughed loudly: "You little devil, you still study me." But I like you, what to do? Otherwise, let's make some compromises on both sides.
When you come to me, we just have different divisions of labor, and we all serve the people. But it is not enough to talk about the big truth, the three-eight style, I will give you a long length, let you be my guard chief.
Work for half a year, this half a year when I borrowed you, half a year to come, I will let you go, do you think it is okay? ”
"Okay!" He promised to come down.
Without thinking about the half-year period, Li Yinqiao was reluctant to leave, so he stayed with Chairman Mao.
Li Yinqiao once recorded his relationship with the chairman in his memoirs, which is also a witness to the deep friendship between the two.
A few guards did not sleep for several days and nights, but accidentally slept during the vigil.
When the second morning sun woke them up, several people first panicked and blamed themselves, but instead found themselves wearing clothes.
It turned out that when the chairman summed up the situation late at night, he found several people asleep, worried that they were cold, and personally clothed them.
For 15 years, Li Yinqiao has been guarding the chairman's side, and he does not know how many sleepless nights he has accompanied the chairman.
When the chairman was tired, he gave the chairman a massage; when the chairman fell asleep, he draped the chairman with clothes and covered the quilt; every time he encountered the confusion in life, he confided in the chairman, and the chairman would talk to Li Yinqiao when he quarreled with others.
Even if the fish sent by Mr. He was sent, the chairman had to leave half of it to Li Yinqiao.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="16" > share weal and woe and are as close as family to the chairman</h1>
After the victory of the War of Liberation, the situation in the country had just stabilized, and every part of the country was in ruins to be rebuilt, and the chairman was busier than during the war.
One day, Chairman Mao worked continuously for more than twenty hours, and felt hungry in his stomach, so he asked the guards to cook a few taro for him to eat.
After the guards brought the boiled taro to the table in front of the chairman, they left the office for fear of disturbing Chairman Mao's work.
Unexpectedly, there was no movement in the office for half a day, and the guards looked inside and found that Chairman Mao was already asleep.
When he looked closer, Chairman Mao still had a piece of taro in his mouth that he had not swallowed, so Li Yinqiao consulted with the guards and cooperated together, either adjusting the clock or dragging out the time, and trying to let Chairman Mao rest for a while.
In order to guard the leader, Li Yinqiao sacrificed a lot of personal time. Seeing that his former comrades-in-arms have all become ministers and have established a family, he is still alone.
The chairman also understood Li Yinqiao's thoughts, so he thought of compensating him, so he introduced Han Guixin, who had been taking care of his children for a long time, to him.
The two were originally fellow countrymen, and worked together with the chairman, came and went to have a good feeling for each other, and finally formed a connection, the facts proved that the chairman's vision was indeed very accurate, Li Yinqiao and Han Guixin both raised their eyebrows, and the white head went to old age.
Chairman Mao was originally a person who was extremely nostalgic for the past, and after more than ten years of companionship, he had long regarded Li Yinqiao as a writer.
"Silver Bridge, I can't hide anything from you in my family, you're just like my family."
As he grew older, Chairman Mao gradually entrusted him with some personal matters, which was a great trust.
Seeing that his old man was nearly forty years old, but he had not yet made any military achievements, Chairman Mao had to think about the people who had followed him for 15 years.
So in 1962, a letter of appointment transferred Li Yinqiao to Tianjin and became the deputy director of the local public security bureau.
On the occasion of parting, Chairman Mao took Li Yinqiao's hand as if father and son were saying goodbye.
Li Yinqiao was also in tears, and he nodded his head in agreement with Chairman Mao's instructions.
"I don't want you to go, I don't see my family a few times a year, you work by my side, I see you day and night, just like my children..." Chairman Mao said.
Hearing this, Li Yinqiao couldn't help but cry even harder.
Chairman Mao shook his hand: "You are a guard commander here, and your status is high enough, but after all, you are only a regiment-level cadre." You've sacrificed a lot of time and can't continue to affect your future. You go to the grassroots level to exercise more and learn from experience. We must go deep among the masses and learn more from other comrades with an open mind. ”
"After I am gone, I will be satisfied every year when you come to see me at my grave."
In the end, the two bid farewell with tears, and Li Yinqiao became Chairman Mao's last defender.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="20" > died of illness in octogenarians, and Chairman Mao's poems hung in the living room</h1>
After coming to Tianjin, Li Yinqiao first became the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau and then the deputy director of a factory, during which he and his wife Han Guixin also visited Chairman Mao many times.
In 1976, Chairman Mao died, and Li Yinqiao, who received the news, was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, and the whole family wept bitterly.
Li Yinqiao cried and recalled that in the 15 years that he was the guardian of the chairman, the chairman had only fired at him once, and he said that he would rather the chairman be angry with himself every day than accept the fact that Chairman Mao had died.
He placed Chairman Mao's poems and quotations at home, always alerting himself to serving the people.
After retiring, Li Yinqiao and his wife Han Guixin were invited to hold hundreds of "Mao Zedong Stories" lecture meetings in party and government organs and schools in various places, telling the glorious deeds of great people and propagating Mao Zedong Thought.
Wherever invitations were made to him, he was almost entirely present.
According to family recollections, during that time he once jokingly said: "After leaving retirement, I went all over China again." ”
In his later years, Li Yinqiao was in poor health and suffered from cerebral thrombosis for many years.
In 2008, Li Yinqiao was infected with the lungs and went to the hospital for examination and treatment many times, and his body became weaker and weaker.
In August 2009, Li Yinqiao fell ill and entered the hospital for treatment.
Lying on the hospital bed, Li Yinqiao weakly took his nephew's hand and said, "Let's go see the chairman." ”
The nephew was shocked, and he was worried that the old man's spirit was wrong.
So he carefully asked Li Yinqiao: "Is Chairman Mao still here?" ”
Li Yinqiao's face was heavy: "Alas, it's gone." ”
On the 25th, after being discharged from the hospital, his body recovered very well.
Unexpectedly, he relapsed again on the morning of September 5 and was admitted to the hospital.
During this period, the hospital has been using the best drugs for treatment, but the area of inflammation in Li Yinqiao's body is too large to be controlled, and the high fever has not receded.
At 7:15 a.m. on the 22nd, when the nurse inspected the room, she found that the old man had no heartbeat and had passed away.
After learning the news, Mrs. Han Guixin muttered to herself: "When he left, he didn't even have time to leave a word." ”
The next morning, the reporter came to the morgue of the Affiliated Hospital of the Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Medicine, saw the last side of the old man Li Yinqiao, and bowed deeply to him three times.
Then the reporter came to the home of the elderly Li Yinqiao. When the reporter interviewed his family, he found that the furniture in Li Yinqiao's home was very old and simple.
In the living room, there are still poems of Chairman Mao, next to a photo with Mao Zedong, and the most placed in the home is the items related to Chairman Mao, which shows the deep friendship between the two people.
Li Zhuowei said: At present, the family is discussing the specific matters of the memorial service with the Ministry of Public Security, the unit to which Li Yinqiao belonged before retirement, and the family has decided that the memorial service will be open to the public.
At 10:00 a.m. on the 28th, Li Yinqiao's memorial service was held at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing.
The old man's body was covered with a bright red party flag, surrounded by chrysanthemums, and in front of it was placed the old man's remains.
Above the farewell hall hung a link sent by the masses: "Rong Ma has worked hard all his life to pass on his good deeds, and his heart is frank, bright, upright, high-spirited, and bright and loyal," and he criticized "mourning Comrade Li Yinqiao with deep sorrow."
Chairman Mao's daughter Li Min arrived at the memorial service at around 9:55.
Sadly, she was helped by the guards to stagger to the center of the venue, and the people around her kept comforting her, hoping that she could take care of her body.
Mao Xinyu then came to the scene. A large number of media reporters took pictures, and the veterans who attended the memorial service also waved excitedly.
Mao Xinyu responded one by one and greeted everyone.
Li Min and Mao Xinyu came to send Li Yinqiao on his last journey and expressed their deep condolences for the death of the old man, which was an affirmation of Li Yinqiao's lifelong service to the people.
On the day of the memorial service, many people who did not know Li Yinqiao came to mourn, and they all wanted to express their respect for the 15-year-old chief of the first chairman, and at the same time express their nostalgia for Chairman Mao.
There are also many officers and men of the People's Liberation Army dressed in military uniforms.
There was also a white-haired old man holding a statue of Chairman Mao and waiting quietly in the crowd.
According to him, he arrived at the scene by bus at seven o'clock in the morning, and although he and Li Yinqiao's family were unknown, they also wanted to send the chairman's loyal guards on the last trip.
After bowing to Li Yinqiao, the people took a detour, li Yinqiao's wife Han Guixin sat in a wheelchair, with a sad face, and thanked everyone, and the rest of the family members lined up in a line to thank all the people who came to see them off.
The old man Li Yinqiao also followed his most beloved Chairman Mao, believing that he could accompany the people he respected most in another world.