On January 8, 1976, in the central conference hall, Deng Xiaoping, then vice premier, was presiding over a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee, when suddenly someone pushed the door in, interrupting the important meeting, and when Deng Gong was ready to get angry, the man only whispered a word: "Premier Zhou has passed away!" This sentence made Deng Gong's tears instantly fill his eyes.
After a moment's pause, Deng Gongcai put away his grief and began to issue instructions, first sending people to report to Chairman Mao in Zhongnanhai, then notifying embassies stationed abroad to lower their flags to half-mast to mourn, and at the same time ordering the coastal border defense forces to enter a state of first-level combat readiness. After all the arrangements were in place, Deng Gong immediately left the venue and rushed to the hospital where Premier Zhou died.
At 11:00 a.m., when important leaders in Beijing rushed to the ward one after another, Ms. Deng Yingchao, the wife of Premier Zhou, spoke, saying: Comrade Zhou Enlai had three last wishes before his death, hoping that the central authorities would approve them.
When she said the specific content in detail, Comrade Li Xiannian was the first to stand up against it, and he said in a low voice: Resolutely no, the people of the whole country will not agree if they know it! Immediately after that, Deng Gong also expressed his opposition: none of these three last wishes could be agreed! Otherwise, Chairman Mao will not agree, and the people of the whole country will not agree!
When these three last wishes reached Chairman Mao, Chairman Mao was silent for a long time, and finally decided: If Comrade Enlai's first two requests were not approved, the third one would still be satisfied! So what were Premier Zhou's three last wishes before he died? Why are comrades Deng Gong and Li Xiannian resolutely opposed? After Chairman Mao approved the last last will, what was its implementation?
On February 2, 1967, due to long overtime work, lack of sleep, Premier Zhou, who had been in good health, began to have problems, and after being examined by doctors, he was diagnosed with heart disease. Although people around him urged the prime minister to rest more, there was too much work at that time, and the prime minister was reluctant to give up.
In April, Premier Zhou forgot to sleep and continued to work for 84 hours due to dealing with the Canton Fair, causing more serious heart disease such as "frequent ventricular premature beats". Since then, the prime minister has needed oxygen every night before going to bed, and a large number of drugs have been needed to assist treatment.
And that's not all, five years later Premier Zhou was diagnosed with a more serious illness. On May 11, 1972, Premier Zhou, in cooperation with health care workers, took stool and saliva samples for testing. This is a task assigned by the central government, and important leaders have to undergo tests once a month to ensure that they serve the people with physical permission.
And this time Premier Zhou's test results went wrong, and three or four red blood cells were found in his urine sample, which was a very dangerous signal! Soon the health doctor Zhang Zuoliang became nervous, did a more detailed test, and after many expert studies such as 301 Hospital and Union Hospital, he was finally diagnosed on May 18: Premier Zhou suffered from bladder cancer!
In order not to affect the mood of the prime minister, the "prime minister's medical team" was secretly set up to be responsible for the prime minister's physical examination and nursing treatment. In fact, they did not know that the wise prime minister had long since concluded that he was terminally ill from various unusual places, and only to relieve the pressure on the doctors was to pretend to know nothing.
Cancer did not stop Premier Zhou, but he worked harder, wanting to do more things while he could still persist. It is worth saying that at that time, Deng Gong was already in the second trough period, in order to let this comrade-in-arms who had the ability to shoulder heavy responsibilities come back as soon as possible, Premier Zhou overdrew his body every day to preside over the meeting, and has been paving the way for Deng Gong.
In 1973, due to overwork, Premier Zhou's body deteriorated again, and hematuria was already showing serious symptoms. The medical team was very worried about this and suggested that the operation be carried out immediately, but Premier Zhou's work could not be stopped. It was not until Deng Gong resumed his post as vice premier on March 10 that Premier Zhou had time for his first surgery.
After this treatment, Premier Zhou's symptoms improved significantly. In order to further improve Premier Zhou's health, the treatment doctor has been advising the premier to rest more, but the work of the state is not finished. On June 9, 1973, Premier Zhou dragged his sick body on a plane, this time to Yan'an. Although he accompanied Vietnamese diplomats on a tour of the red base this time, Premier Zhou did not forget the big problem of improving people's livelihood.
While having dinner with the leading cadres in Yan'an, Premier Zhou asked his goal: Can Yan'an change its appearance in three years and double its grain output in five years? Premier Zhou's attention to Yan'an made the leading cadres all very excited, and they replied in unison: "Yes!" After receiving a positive reply, Premier Zhou took out Moutai wine and poured a glass to every comrade present. When raising a toast together, Premier Zhou promised: As long as you have achieved this goal, I will definitely come back to Yan'an!
This time in Yan'an, Premier Zhou stayed for 22 hours and basically did not rest much. At 10 a.m. on June 10, he hurriedly boarded a plane and rushed back to Beijing. With such high-intensity work, how can Premier Zhou's health get better?
In late October, Premier Zhou's heart disease became more and more serious, the malignant tumor also recurred, and the phenomenon of hematuria became more and more obvious, and a second surgical treatment was urgently needed. But this time he still couldn't let go of the work at hand, and it was not until March 12, 1974, that Premier Zhou went to the second surgery.
However, this treatment was not ideal, not long after the end of the operation, Premier Zhou's condition recurred again, the whole process of hematuria, bladder bleeding from tens of milliliters per day to more than 200 milliliters, the need for frequent blood transfusion treatment. On June 1, due to his aggravation, Premier Zhou was admitted to the 305 Hospital for treatment. Here, the Prime Minister still did not give up the work at hand, using the ward as an office until the last moments of his life.
During the hospitalization, his wife Deng Yingchao would go to the hospital every afternoon to accompany the premier for a walk and chat, and once when chatting with Deng Yingchao, he felt that he did not have much life, and Premier Zhou mentioned to his wife the decision made together 20 years ago. On April 27, 1956, in order to protect cultivated land and save land resources, Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou, Deng Gong and 151 other chiefs jointly signed a pledge to place themselves by cremation after their deaths, and to advocate the implementation of cremation throughout the country throughout the country through personal names.
At that time, Premier Zhou supported this initiative from the bottom of his heart, believing that when people die, everything will return to nothingness, and if they still occupy the territory of living people, it is a manifestation of the concept of private ownership. So as early as 1952, Premier Zhou personally instructed that if the graveyard of the family's ancestors could be planted, it could be distributed to the people to plant.
However, although Premier Zhou gave instructions, he was deeply loved by the people, and no one in his ancestral grave was willing to go to peace. Until 1958, during the period of national construction, Premier Zhou personally wrote a letter to the hometown government, so that the government could not worry about it and could be buried in the grave. Even so, no one in the Zhou family cemetery was willing to deal with it.
In 1965, after consulting with his relatives, Premier Zhou sent a representative back to his hometown to deal with the matter of leveling graves. Premier Zhou specifically advised: Do not affect the machine cultivation, and bury the coffin deep below one meter. Because of the prime minister's leading effect, the state set off a campaign to "level the grave and return the land".
Premier Zhou treats the family graveyard with such no selfishness, and he is even more selfless to himself. In 1956, when the cremation was proposed, Premier Zhou, in order to better implement the leadership's leading role and not to work hard and hurt the people's wealth, premier Zhou consulted with his wife Deng Yingchao and made three decisions: first, not to bid farewell to the body; second, not to hold a memorial service; third, to insist on cremation and not to keep the ashes.
Now suffering from cancer and could die at any time, Premier Zhou has his own concerns. He feared that his request would not pass, especially for the fact that he did not keep the ashes, and he did not want to occupy the resources of the hereafter after death, which was also a change of customs, and he hoped to play a leading role. However, because he is deeply loved by the people, Premier Zhou also understands the difficulty of implementing these three decisions. Therefore, he also said to his wife: No matter what decision we make, we must obey the arrangements of the central authorities and obey the command of the central authorities.
On January 7, 1976, the seriously ill Premier Zhou fell into a coma again, and under the emergency rescue of the hospital, at about 11 p.m., the premier regained consciousness, opened his eyes and looked around, and only said a word to the medical staff who were still busy around him: "I have nothing to do now, you go to treat other comrades, where you are more needed..."
At 9:57 a.m. on January 8, after repeated rescue efforts were ineffective, Premier Zhou left this world forever, weighing only 61 pounds when he died. Then came the opening scene, when all the leaders arrived, Deng Yingchao announced Premier Zhou's three-point will. After a moment of silence, many leaders present, including Li Xiannian and Deng Gong, spoke out against it. If they agreed to these three last wishes, they would not even be able to hold a farewell and memorial service for the remains, not only for themselves, but also for the people of the whole country.
Comrade Deng Yingchao was not surprised by this, and she also made it clear that she would obey the central arrangement. But leaving no ashes is a common agreement between the two, and it is also in line with Premier Zhou's concept of opposing private ownership, so Deng Yingchao did not agree to veto the third point, and at her insistence, the final decision on this matter fell to Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao was also deeply sad about the death of Premier Zhou, believing that Premier Zhou had been a public servant all his life, poor and toiling, and deserved the highest standard of funeral treatment. However, considering Premier Zhou's personal wishes and out of respect for his old comrades-in-arms, Chairman Mao decided to agree to the last will and testament, allowing the ashes to be scattered on the land of the motherland, so that Premier Zhou could be integrated into the mountains and rivers he loved all his life.
On the morning of January 9, the people of the whole country heard the obituary of Premier Zhou's death, and immediately after the flag was lowered to half-mast, hundreds of millions of people in the country fell into deep sorrow. It was also on this day that the farewell ceremony for Premier Zhou's body began. Until January 11, the farewell ceremony ended, the hearse carrying the prime minister's body slowly started, and under the escort of hundreds of thousands of people, the prime minister's body was sent to the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery for cremation. After the cremation, another three days of public condolences were held.
On January 15, an hour before the memorial service began, Comrade Deng Yingchao elaborated on Premier Zhou's last wish, saying: In 1956, Comrade Enlai and I signed the proposal of the Central Committee to advocate cremation, and at that time we promised each other that we would not keep our ashes after death! Going from burial to cremation is a change, and from keeping ashes to not keeping ashes is also a change. We are willing to be the leaders of this change! Now that the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao have agreed to Comrade Enlai's wish and not to keep their ashes, this is a great comfort to me...
For Premier Zhou's memorial service, Chairman Mao also very much wanted to participate, but at this time he was also plagued by illness, and even his ability to move was basically lost, and after a long silence, he helplessly sighed to his secretary Zhang Yufeng: "I can't walk either!" In fact, the main reason why Chairman Mao did not go to the scene of the memorial service was that he did not want to cause trouble for others on such a day.
After the memorial service officially began, Deng Gong stood in the center of the Great Hall of the People, read the eulogy in memory of Premier Zhou word by word, and since then Premier Zhou has left the world and lived forever in the heart of Chinese!
At about 8 p.m., Premier Zhou's ashes were delivered to a modified An-2 plane, and Gao Zhenpu, Zhang Shuying, and four other comrades were responsible for carrying out the secret task of scattering ashes. The main reason why it is said to be a secret mission is to comply with Premier Zhou's last wishes and not to let people know the specific location of the scattering of the ashes, so as not to arouse the people and mobilize the masses to carry out various commemorative activities. This is also the main reason why Comrade Deng Yingchao did not personally scatter the ashes.
At 20:15, the plane took off, and soon after, the premier's first ashes were scattered over Beijing. This is the capital of the country, the place where the prime minister has lived in the office for decades, and staying here, Premier Zhou can always feel the heartbeat of the motherland.
The plane flew a little more, and after reaching the sky over the Miyun Reservoir, the second ashes were scattered with the wind. Beijing is a water-scarce city, in order to ensure that the capital's water supply is sufficient, under the direct leadership of Premier Zhou, here built Huairou Reservoir, Miyun Reservoir and other reservoirs, especially the Miyun Reservoir, which can store more than 4 billion cubic meters of water, carrying the efforts of the Premier, he wants to quietly guard the people's livelihood here.
The plane continued to fly southeast, and when it reached the sky over the HaiHe River in Tianjin, the third ashes were scattered. Tianjin Nankai School is Premier Zhou's alma mater, where the Premier completed his ideological enlightenment, and it was also here that the Premier and his wife Deng Yingchao met. Here are too many memories of the prime minister, and it is also his best home.
The plane then continued to fly eastward, and when it reached the mouth of the Yellow River in Binzhou, Shandong, the crew scattered the last handful of ashes. The Yellow River is the mother river that has nurtured the Chinese nation for thousands of years, and Premier Zhou chose to finally return to the embrace of his mother here! Later, according to Luo Qingchang, who participated in the ashes scattering activities, "The prime minister expected the ashes to be scattered into the mouth of the Yellow River, and there was another meaning, he wanted to ride the waves of the Yellow River to the Taiwan Strait, and he wanted to watch the peaceful reunification of the two sides of the strait in heaven!" ”
Today, Premier Zhou has left us for 45 years, but his spirit of selfless dedication to the country and the people has not disappeared, but has been passed down by generations of Chinese and has become a major foundation for the rapid development of the country, which is also the most precious legacy he left us. Hats off to Premier Zhou! In the future, the development of the motherland will be as you wish!