On August 10, 1945, Chiang Kai-shek had just finished praying when he heard a crackling firecracker sound outside, and he didn't know what was happening, and just when he was wondering, people outside ran in and told him: "I heard that the enemy has surrendered!" Chiang Kai-shek was overjoyed, and after considering the current situation, he made a major decision to invite Chairman Mao to Chongqing for peace talks.
Before the negotiations began, Chiang Kai-shek's appraisal of Chairman Mao had always been that "there is no possibility of accomplishing anything" or "insufficient to hinder the cause of our reunification," and his attitude was extremely contemptuous, but when the negotiations were over, he began to be a little afraid, and his evaluation of Chairman Mao also became "this person should not be taken lightly."
This inevitably makes people wonder, what did Chairman Mao do at that time to make such a big change in Chiang Kai-shek's attitude? Why did he make such an exclamation?
Chairman Mao
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="11" > smokers, Chairman Mao's smoking past</h1>
Chairman Mao was addicted to smoking, from the age of eighteen to his eighties, and tobacco can be said to have run through his life.
Chairman Mao, who had initially embarked on the revolutionary road, was often quite depressed in the face of imperialist aggression and exploitation, as well as the situation of warlords in the country, and in order to alleviate the anxiety in his heart, he began to come into contact with smoke.
Later, Chairman Mao found that smoking could make him much more sober and think more smoothly, so he has been relying on smoking to relieve his fatigue since then.
In the Jinggangshan period, Chairman Mao led the revolutionary army to carry out guerrilla warfare and agrarian revolution in this area, during which the Communist Party organization had to be rebuilt, and the government affairs were very busy, often working all night, so after that, the smoke often accompanied the chairman.
Later, when he went to the counties in Hunan Province, Chairman Mao also smoked a cigarette while chatting with the common people.
During the War of Resistance Against Japan, Chairman Mao's addiction to smoking became more and more serious, and at that time, the national industries in various parts of the country were hit hard by the invasion of war, and the supply of tobacco was also very tight.
Even so, it could not stop Chairman Mao from smoking, at that time he almost caught what he smoked, even if the cigarette was out of stock, he would find a dry cigarette to smoke, or roll a roll of paper, and then put the tobacco into it to make a simple cigarette.
Later, when he wrote "On Protracted War" in Yan'an, Chairman Mao's addiction had developed to the point where he could smoke fifty or sixty cigarettes a day, but in that context, due to economic hardship, he could only smoke local tobacco made by himself in the border areas, which would undoubtedly cause great harm to his body.
At that time, the health doctor had been painstakingly advising him to suck less, but Chairman Mao replied in a humorous tone: "Let's wait until the revolution succeeds!" ”
It can be seen from this that Chairman Mao's addiction to smoking has accumulated over time and has long become a habit, and it will not be easy for him to quit smoking.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="98" > Japan was defeated, Chiang Kai-shek invited Chairman Mao to Chongqing for negotiations</h1>
In August 1945, victory was looming on the battlefields of Asia, and it was not until the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan that the Japanese emperor finally announced his surrender.
At that time, Chiang Kai-shek was still abroad, and he was very happy to hear the news of the victory of the national war of resistance, but the next question he had to consider was how to receive the Japanese puppet army scattered in the northeast to Guangdong as soon as possible, seeing that the Position of the Kuomintang Army was extremely unfavorable, while the Communist troops occupied the favorable time and place.
Chiang Kai-shek
In order to gain enough time, Chiang Kai-shek immediately pretended to be humble, openly invited Chairman Mao to come to Chongqing to "hold peace talks" with himself, and wrote in a telegram: "The great war is over, and internal strife brooks no more. "It looks like a sad and compassionate look."
However, when sending a secret telegram to his confidante Hu Zongnan, Chiang Kai-shek unabashedly used the words "traitor to the party" and said that this time it was mainly to spy on the demands and purposes of the Communist Party, and if the other side was unwilling to yield, it would be suppressed as a bandit.
Chairman Mao had already seen through Chiang Kai-shek's act of concealing his eyes and deceiving public opinion, and he told the whole party early on: "If Chiang Kai-shek must force the Chinese to accept civil war, in order to defend themselves and to defend the lives, property, rights, and happiness of the people in the Liberated Areas, we will have no choice but to take up arms and fight him!" ”
After everything was ready, Chairman Mao, together with Premier Zhou, boarded a plane to Chongqing and officially rushed to the "Hongmen Banquet."
At 5 p.m. on August 28, the group arrived in Chongqing, and when Chiang Kai-shek learned of this, he specially invited them to have dinner in the forest garden, and adhering to the policy of sincere and patient reception, he let Chairman Mao sit opposite him.
In the next few days, the two men were still politely testing each other at first, and in the later stages, Chiang Kai-shek believed that the conditions proposed by the CCP were too much in line with his own interests, and the two sides began to disagree, and there was no way to reach a unified opinion.
Seeing that the talks were getting worse and worse, Chiang Kai-shek changed his reception policy and decided to carry out "detention" and "trial."At that time, he even commented in his diary that Chairman Mao "concluded that there was absolutely no possibility for his people to succeed, nor was it enough to hinder our cause of reunification"!
It can be seen from this sentence that Chiang Kai-shek has always held a contemptuous and arrogant attitude in this negotiation, but soon Chairman Mao's move made him no longer able to casually look down on this "old enemy."
Because he already knew that Chairman Mao liked to smoke, at the next meeting, Chiang Kai-shek ordered people to prepare to put cigarettes on the table, and did not think that in the process of negotiations, Chairman Mao had been unusual and had not touched the cigarettes on the table at all.
After the meeting, Chiang Kai-shek revealed his heartfelt words to his confidants, saying that chairman Mao absolutely "should not be taken lightly", after all, as a person who loves to smoke and smokes 50 cigarettes a day, he can persist in not smoking for 8 hours, which shows that his determination is very great.
Indeed, although it was only a small gesture, Chiang Kai-shek was able to draw such a summary from it, indicating that his judgment was very accurate. Before coming to Chongqing, he learned that Chiang Kai-shek did not like to smoke and did not like to smell smoke, so he began to try to smoke less, and deliberately let people remove the smell from his clothes.
After arriving in Chongqing, Chairman Mao basically did not come into contact with cigarettes, not only to show respect, but also to show Chiang Kai-shek his determination to negotiate, but what he did not expect was that the result could not be as he wished.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="99" > civil war began, and Chairman Mao commanded the operation</h1>
On October 11, Chairman Mao and Chiang Kai-shek had one last conversation, but still could not reach an agreement, Chiang Kai-shek was furious and attributed the reason to Chairman Mao, believing that if the Kuomintang and the Communists wanted to achieve cooperation again, it would inevitably be "thorny", and his words also indicated that there would inevitably be a war between the two parties in the future to determine victory or defeat.
Sure enough, soon Chiang Kai-shek tore up the peace agreement, the civil war officially began, and in the face of the rekindled flames of war, Chairman Mao had to tense up his spirits and quickly consult with everyone on countermeasures.
At the same time, Chairman Mao began to smoke one cigarette after another, and the war room was often clouded with fog, and at that time he was not only extremely sober, but also inadvertently came up with many wonderful tricks.
For example, in August 1947, the PLA troops were pursued by the Kuomintang, and when they reached the fork of the Yellow River, they were basically surrounded, because at this time there were not only pursuing soldiers in the rear, there were planes in the sky, and what was even more unfortunate was that at this time, it was still raining heavily in the sky, and the waves of the Yellow River were terrible, and if the raft was crossed, the danger was particularly great.
At the moment of this thousand gunshots, Chairman Mao took a deep breath of smoke, and then ordered that the troops should not cross the Yellow River, turn around and rush directly in the direction of the pursuing soldiers.
The pursuing soldiers saw that the BEHAVIOR of the PLA was so strange, thinking that there was an ambush ahead, thinking repeatedly and could only choose to retreat, the PLA successfully escaped this fate, and Chairman Mao also had an even more inseparable fate with cigarettes.
In the next few years, Chairman Mao and a number of generals continued to work together to defeat the Kuomintang army one after another, and Chiang Kai-shek gradually became unpopular within the Kuomintang.
In 1949, he could only announce his resignation for the third time and return to his hometown to hide, and when the Liberation War was close to victory, Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan with the remaining forces, and in the end, he was driven out by this old enemy who "could not be despised".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="102" > the founding of New China, Chairman Mao struggled to quit smoking</h1>
The land of China is no longer full of smoke, and the people have finally had a peaceful life, but for Chairman Mao, the next step is even more rational, because at this time everything in the country is in ruins, there are still many problems that need to be solved, his anxiety will not be alleviated, and his dependence on cigarettes is even worse than ever.
In order to improve the efficiency of his work, Chairman Mao began to smoke "555" brand tin can cigarettes, which was compared with the previous ones to choke the throat, and in the later period, he began to smoke domestic brand cigarettes "Panda" and "Zhonghua".
Since then, Chairman Mao's addiction to smoking has become more and more serious, whether it is going out or going to various places to tour, every time he wants to smoke, Chairman Mao will pay for local specialty cigarettes.
When he usually checks documents or writes books in the office, he can smoke three packs a day, and even when swimming, he will deliberately change to a backstroke posture and finish the cigarette in his mouth.
Later, after being exposed to cigar smoke, Chairman Mao found that the smoke was easy to get damp in the spring and could not be smoked, so he proposed to let the staff use their brains to find a way.
After some thought, the crowd found that incandescent lamps can "flue-cured tobacco", and then designed a special flue-cured cigarette box, which successfully solved Chairman Mao's problem.
Seeing that Chairman Mao's addiction to smoking was getting bigger and bigger, and his health was getting worse and worse, everyone began to advise him that it was best to try to quit smoking, otherwise as he grew older, the pain would come one after another.
Chairman Mao was well aware of his physical condition, but smoking was not so easy to quit, and he was still a little hesitant, until later the Marshal of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union came to visit China and specially relayed the conclusions of a Soviet medical expert on Stalin's condition, saying that if he could follow his instructions to quit smoking, he might not have died so early.
However, what was unexpected was that after only 10 months, he picked up the cigarette again, and the health doctor Wang Hebin could not see it anymore, and he began to inform Chairman Mao's daughter and the children of the staff around him and all the guards that as long as they saw Chairman Mao smoking, they should come forward to persuade or directly confiscate it, and try to prevent him from smoking.
Chairman Mao knew that everyone was for his own good, so he began to try to quit smoking again, and for this reason, he deliberately filled his pockets with candy and melon seeds, and when he wanted to smoke, he took it out to eat a few distractions.
However, after a long time, he still felt that such a method was not feasible, and for this reason Chairman Mao once said: "I don't smoke much, most of them are burned in my hands, there are no cigarettes in my hands, or I take a few sips. ”
Although the words are said, but as he grew older, in his old age, all kinds of illnesses in Chairman Mao's body were found, and he had high blood pressure and cataracts, and he often coughed, and after the doctor's examination, he found that he had laryngitis again.
Chairman Mao finally agreed to try to quit smoking again, this time it took a long time, every time he wanted to smoke, he took out a stick in front of his nose to smell or put it in his mouth to bite, but absolutely did not light it, so it took an unknown amount of time, Chairman Mao finally succeeded in quitting smoking, until his death he did not touch the cigarette again.