On September 2, 1976, the head of state of Western Samoa was invited to visit China, and when he finished his journey and prepared to return to China, in accordance with the national diplomatic etiquette, Hua Guofeng set up a banquet in the Great Hall of the People to bid farewell. Just as he was talking to the guests, the secretary hurried over and said that there was an urgent call that needed to be dealt with immediately.
Hearing the words on the other end of the phone, the smile on Hua Guofeng's face disappeared, and he solemnly instructed his secretary: "Arrange the vehicle immediately, I will rush to Zhongnanhai!" ”
What exactly was said in this emergency call? Why did Hua Guofeng go to Zhongnanhai immediately after answering the phone? What is the big thing happening in Zhongnanhai?
In fact, this incident is related to China's supreme leader, Chairman Mao Zedong, who had been recuperating in Zhongnanhai because of his illness. Hua Guofeng was very concerned about Chairman Mao's physical health, on the one hand, out of the development of the country, and more importantly, the deep revolutionary friendship established between the two in the long-term side-by-side struggle.
In 1921, Hua Guofeng, whose original name was Su Zhu, was born into a working-class family in Jiaocheng County, Shanxi Province. When he was a student, he was deeply influenced by the advanced ideas of the Communist Party of China and had the consciousness to plunge himself into the torrent of revolution.
After the July 7 Incident, Hua Guofeng was very angry at the aggression and atrocities of the Japanese Kou, and he told his parents that "the world rises and falls, and the pirate has the responsibility", and then left the family and joined the anti-Japanese guerrillas. Later, due to the needs of the revolution, he changed his name to "Hua Guofeng" and began his own road of red revolution.
After joining the Communist Party, Hua Guofeng continued to draw closer to the party organization with a high degree of political consciousness and revolutionary enthusiasm. In order to awaken the consciousness of the people who are in chaos, Hua Guofeng led the patriotic compatriots of the CPC Jiaocheng County Propaganda Team to go deep into the mass organizations together to publicize the anti-Japanese national salvation trend, aroused the enthusiasm of the masses for anti-Japanese resistance, and made positive contributions to the cause of china's anti-Japanese national salvation.
During the Liberation War, Hua Guofeng stayed firmly in the revolutionary base area, and as secretary of the Jiaocheng County CPC Committee, he actively responded to the call of the party Central Committee and led the peasants in Jiaocheng County and Yangqu to carry out the agrarian revolution, fully arousing the enthusiasm of the vast number of peasant groups and laying a solid guarantee for the liberation of many revolutionary areas in Shanxi. Whenever people mentioned the Chinese political commissar, they would give him a thumbs up and praise his achievements.
In 1949, the domestic situation underwent profound changes, and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to dispatch some cadres to follow the army to the south in order to liberate many cities in the south of our country. Hua Guofeng's contributions to the revolutionary cause were also highly recognized by the Party Central Committee, so after going south, he was appointed secretary of the Xiangyin County Party Committee of Hunan Province.
During his work in Hunan Province, Hua Guofeng did not slacken off, he carried out in-depth investigation and research, actively contacted the people, and thus gained a relatively familiar understanding of the local situation. subsequently
Pictured: Comrade Hua Guofeng, who was appointed secretary of the Xiangtan County CPC Committee in Hunan Province in 1951
In the work of land reform in Xiangyin, Hua Guofeng creatively proposed the construction of a guidance and mutual aid group, with Liu Zhengchun in charge of carrying out the work, and achieved remarkable results. Because of the outstanding work results, the party Central Committee also transferred Hua Guofeng to the Xiangtan base area to carry out work. Here, Hua Guofeng's life and Mao Zedong began to intersect.
In 1953, Mao Zedong and others put forward the general line for the transitional period, to complete the socialist transformation of industry, agriculture, capitalist industry and commerce. Hua Guofeng actively responded to the call, combined with the actual situation in the Xiangtan area, led the agricultural cooperative movement, in his spare time, Hua Guofeng also conscientiously summed up experience and explored new ways of development.
Hua Guofeng followed our party all the way, fought guerrilla warfare on the Lüliang Mountains, experienced the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, was able to strengthen his political stand in the face of many tests, and was still so down-to-earth and willing to work hard and bear hardships in his work.
In 1955, Mao Zedong took a special train to the Hunan region, met with the main representatives of Hunan, and inquired about the development of agriculture, industry and commerce in Hunan. This was the first time Hua Guofeng met Chairman Mao, and when Chairman Mao asked him about the work situation in the Xiangtan area, Hua Guofeng methodically reported the work content to Chairman Mao on the basis of his actual work experience and work summary.
Pictured: Mao Zedong talks with the responsible comrades of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee in 1955 (Hua Guofeng is the first from the left)
Chairman Mao saw that the young man in front of him answered so kindly and admired it in his heart. During the inspection, he saw that the economy of the Xiangtan area was improving step by step, and the people's living standards were also steadily improving, and he said to Hua Guofeng with great pleasure: "I am also a Xiangtan person, and you are my parents and officials..."
Later, at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Mao Zedong also invited Hua Guofeng to attend and let him share the grass-roots work experience in the Xiangtan area. This is the first time that Hua Guofeng has attended a meeting at the central level, and he has received so much attention from the central leaders, Hua Guofeng has no pride in his heart, and he is still down-to-earth and works conscientiously.
Due to the needs of united front work, Mao Zedong often came to Hunan to meet with many democrats. He repeatedly asked Hua Guofeng to arrange the affairs of welcoming guests and arranging banquets, and Hua Guofeng arranged them very properly each time. Chairman Mao saw all this in his eyes, and he appreciated the young man more and more, and once said to the people around him: "Hua Guofeng is an honest man..."
After the Lushan Conference, the Hunan Provincial Party Committee was reorganized, and in view of Hua Guofeng's down-to-earth and conscientious work and meticulousness, Mao Zedong nominated him as a member of the Standing Committee and Secretary of the Secretariat of Hunan Province.
Pictured: Chairman Mao and Hua Guofeng together
Mao Zedong admired him so much, and Hua Guofeng did not live up to the expectations of the chairman, he worked hard in his post, did practical things for the masses, and achieved remarkable results.
In order to promote agricultural development, Hua Guofeng advocated the construction of water conservancy projects, and built the Dongting Lake drainage project and the Shaoshan Irrigation District project. Among them, Shaoshan Irrigation District is the largest water diversion irrigation project in Hunan Province, benefiting 66,700 hectares of farmland in Shaoshan, Xiangtan and other places.
At that time, the Hunan region experienced a serious famine, and Yuan Longping and the scientific research team proposed that the cultivation of hybrid rice could increase rice production after many hybrid breeding experiments. Hua Guofeng attaches great importance to this project, and he has invited Yuan Longping to the Hunan Agricultural Science and Technology Conference many times and asked him to speak on the rostrum.
However, the initial experiment did not go smoothly, after several failures, there were many voices of doubt in the outside world, but Hua Guofeng always supported Yuan Longping's scientific experiments with practical actions. "Kung Fu pays off", hybrid rice was successfully cultivated, and the food problem of the Chinese people was solved.
Later, when recalling the research process, Elder Yuan sincerely sighed that Hua Guofeng had an important role in promoting the research of hybrid rice in China.
During his work in Hunan Province, Hua Guofeng made outstanding contributions and won unanimous recognition from everyone. In early 1971, Hua Guofeng came to Beijing to attend the National Planning Work Conference, and Chairman Mao nominated him to serve as the deputy head of the State Council.
During his work at the central government, Hua Guofeng adhered to the purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly and contributed his talents to the construction of the national economy. At that time, in order to formulate a correct agricultural development policy that was in line with China's actual situation, Hua Guofeng specially inspected agricultural production across the country.
With the gradual advancement of the inspection process, he discovered many practical problems, and after returning to the Central Committee, Hua Guofeng immediately reported to Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai on these problems. Everyone brainstormed and offered suggestions and suggestions one after another, and finally under the correct guidance of Hua Guofeng and others, China's agricultural economy achieved steady growth.
Since Hua Guofeng came to the Central Committee, he has been tested several times, but he has always firmly and correctly taken a correct political stand and has never wavered.
In June 1976, at the suggestion of Comrade Mao Zedong, the Politburo of the Central Committee passed a resolution appointing Hua Guofeng as premier of the State Council. At this time, Chairman Mao's body was already very weak, and he often needed Hua Guofeng to accompany him and assist him.
At that time, New Zealand Prime Minister Malden came to Visit China, and Mao Zedong met with him in his study, accompanied only by Hua Guofeng. According to the usual practice, after the meeting was over, Hua Guofeng reported to Chairman Mao on his recent work.
At this time, Chairman Mao's face was very haggard due to illness, and after listening to Hua Guofeng's report, he said: "The general trend in the world has been determined, but domestic affairs must pay more attention..." Subsequently, Mao Zedong also wrote down the words with paper and pencil: "I am assured that you will do things."
Seeing that the chairman has such trust and expectations for himself, Hua Guofeng deeply feels a heavy responsibility on his shoulders, and he has not failed to live up to the chairman's hospitality, and during his tenure as premier of the State Council, he actively walked between international and domestic affairs.
On the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, my country has established diplomatic relations with the countries of Western Samoa, and at the invitation of the Chinese Government, their Head of State, His Royal Highness Maletoya Tanumafili II, came to Beijing on 2 September for a visit.
On the evening of September 8, the delegation of Western Samoa was preparing to return to China, and before leaving, Hua Guofeng set up a banquet in the Great Hall of the People to bid farewell. At that time, Mao Zedong was recuperating in Zhongnanhai due to illness, so he did not attend the banquet, so Hua Guofeng, as the premier of the State Council, became the host.
Originally, at the banquet, everyone laughed and was happy. But a rush of phone ringing shattered the beauty. The secretary said to Hua Guofeng: "Premier, this phone call is looking for you, saying that there is something particularly urgent to tell you. ”
The secretary's words made Hua Guofeng a little confused, and after he answered the phone, he only listened to the other end of the phone: "Is it Premier Hua?" The chairman is now in Zhongnanhai, and his condition has suddenly worsened..." When Hua Guofeng heard this, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared.
He hurriedly hung up the phone and said to his secretary: "Go and prepare a car, I will hurry to Zhongnanhai!" Subsequently, Hua Guofeng calmly arranged the follow-up affairs at the banquet and stepped on the car to Zhongnanhai.
But by the time he had rushed to Zhongnanhai, Chairman Mao had already closed his eyes and was lying peacefully on his hospital bed. Hua Guofeng did not even see the last side of the chairman, looking at Chairman Mao's remains on the bed, infinite grief emerged in his heart, and the scenes of the past poured into his mind, as if the next day.
"You're an honest man..."
"We should pay more attention to domestic affairs..."
"You do things, I am assured"
Pictured: Hua Guofeng delivers a speech at Mao Zedong's memorial service in 1976
Chairman Mao Zedong's memorial service was held in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, and Hua Guofeng suppressed the sadness in his heart and delivered a eulogy at the memorial service. At the memorial service, he choked on his words and nearly fainted several times.
However, the country was facing a test, and Hua Guofeng remembered Chairman Mao's advice before his death, and he packed up his mood and, together with Ye Jianying, Li Xiannian, and other leaders, represented the will of the people, sorted out the chaos in the country, and put China's socialist cause back on the right track.
During his tenure as chairman of the CPC Central Committee, Hua Guofeng fully listened to his opinions and actively adopted measures to enable China's industrial and agricultural production to be rapidly restored and developed, and China's educational and scientific and cultural undertakings gradually moved toward normalcy.
In 1980, Hua Guofeng resigned as premier of the State Council and general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and retired from leading positions. Although Hua Guofeng no longer holds a government post, he is still very concerned about the cause of socialist construction in the country and the livelihood of the masses of the people, and has never wavered in his heart to support our party.
After his retirement, Hua Guofeng learned about the national policies and guidelines and actively responded to the call of the state by watching the "News Network" and reading the newspapers every day. When he heard that Beijing was going to host the Olympic Games, he was very happy and asked people around him to buy tickets for him.
Hua Guofeng once said: "We must put the sufferings of the masses of the people in our hearts", and he has always been practicing the concept with his own practical actions. Once, his niece Su Fengxian came from Shanxi to visit him, and when she saw that the light in the house was very dark, she asked strangely: "Uncle, why don't you turn on the lights in the house?" ”
Hearing this, Hua Guofeng shook his head and said, "You don't have to turn on the lights, you can still see it." Now the country's energy is in short supply, many people do not have electricity, we must know how to save, do not waste ..."
After entering the old age, people's bodies are not very neat, but Hua Guofeng still insists on going to Chairman Mao's memorial hall every year to admire Chairman Mao's remains and remember the time when they struggled together.
Pictured: Hua Guofeng at Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall in January 1989
On August 20, 2008, Hua Guofeng died of illness at the age of 87. In accordance with his will, the family buried the ashes in his hometown of Jiaocheng County.