When Chairman Mao asked Chen Mingren what he wanted, Chen Mingren's answer to Chairman Mao was "no demands." Chairman Mao was stunned by this sentence after hearing this, did not know the true meaning of Chen Mingren's words, and did not make a decision on what kind of treatment should be given to Chen Mingren.
To infer the true meaning of a person's words, we must start with his character. So, what is the character of Chen Mingren, who says that he "has no requirements"? What does this really mean? Let's take a look.
First, aspire to join the army
At the beginning of the 20th century, that is, in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the wealth of the country was concentrated in the hands of the royal family, corrupt officials and landlords and gentry, and ordinary peasant families had little savings and barely made ends meet. Chen Mingren was born a farmer's life, the family is poor, so he learned from an early age that grain is not easy to come by, and he learned to be diligent and thrifty in childhood.
Chen Mingren's parents knew that the best way to get rid of poverty was to study, so they saved money from between their teeth for Chen Mingren to attend private school. Chen Mingren did not disappoint his parents, and after attending private school, he also worked hard to enter middle school, and after graduation, he became a teacher to repay his parents. However, in the process of learning, Chen Mingren not only learned knowledge, but also learned that the eldest husband should defend his family and defend the country.
Looking at the withering Qing Dynasty and the gradually shattered land, Chen Mingren finally couldn't bear it anymore and made up his mind to give up the crepe work of a teacher and be admitted to the Whampoa Military Academy and become a soldier. After graduating from the military academy, Chen Mingren, who was brave and fearless in battle, soon became a general of the Kuomintang and officially embarked on the road of defending his family and defending the country.
2. Peaceful uprisings
Chen Mingren, who had attended a private school and studied the Four Books and Five Classics and the Three Principles and Five Constants, had a just and upright personality, and could not fully integrate into the corrupt team of the Kuomintang, but only became a clear stream alone. When discussing military affairs with Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Mingren never turned a corner when he believed that Chiang Kai-shek's arrangement was inappropriate. His upright personality made Chen Mingren no friends in the Kuomintang, and Chiang Kai-shek was lukewarm to him.
During the Liberation War, Chen Mingren saw that the Nationalist government did not have the ability to govern the country, and he himself had a hard time in the Kuomintang, so he tried to understand Marxism and the ideas of the Communist Party. After understanding this, Chen Mingren found that the Communist Party's ideology was in line with the actual situation in China and could truly benefit the country and the people, so he secretly led his troops to Hunan to participate in the uprising.
Third, do not enjoy
After Chen Mingren became a member of our Party, Chairman Mao treated him equally like other insurgents, and asked him to raise any demands, but Chen Mingren did not make any demands. Judging from Chen Mingren's personality, Chen Mingren's words are sincere.
In his heart, as long as the Communist Party can effectively restore the Taiping World, he has no demands for his future. Moreover, the Communist Party treated him with courtesy, treated him as a comrade and comrade-in-arms, and did not oppress him. In Chen Mingren's eyes, it is enough to have these as a reward for the uprising.
The party organization did not know much about Chen Mingren's character, and Chen Mingren's "no demand" really made the Communist Party feel embarrassed for a while, and it did not know how to reward this meritorious man.
Although Chen Mingren said that there was no requirement, the reward given to him by the Communist Party must be appropriate and not handled casually, otherwise it will be implemented. The wise Chairman Mao quickly came up with a way to directly ask Chen Mingren to ask him that he had no idea, so he gave Chen Mingren two options and let him choose one of the two.
Chairman Mao told Chen Mingren to choose between entering politics and staying in the army, and Chen Mingren chose to stay in the army without saying a word. After the founding of New China, there were still many bandits who occupied the mountains as kings to deal with, and Chen Mingren also participated in the battle. Chen Mingren could have chosen to enjoy his old age in political security, but he chose a military career, not enjoying it, willing to work hard, and admirable.
Conclusion: Chen Mingren's life has perfectly achieved the four words of not forgetting the original heart. From the moment Chen Mingren was transformed from a teacher to a soldier, he adhered to the main line of defending his family and serving the motherland, whether he served in the Kuomintang or became a member of our party after a peaceful uprising, his actions never deviated from this main line.
Chen Mingren's character and deeds show that what he said to Chairman Mao at the beginning that "there are no demands" was sincere. He spent his life with a contented attitude, and also let us future generations have a good example to learn from and pay tribute to Chen Mingren.