Before the founding of New China, the Rong family was the first household of China's national capitalists, famous in China and even in the world, and the family business was extremely influential, almost all over the country.
At that time, nearly half of China's population depended on the Rong family's business for food and clothing.
Chairman Mao even commented on the Rong family in this way:
"China is the only one in the world who can really be called a consortium."
In 1949, after the founding of New China, Rong Yiren's father, Rong Desheng, decided to retire, and the baton of rong enterprises was officially handed over to rong yiren, who became the third generation of the rong family at the helm.
After the liberation of Shanghai, Rong Yiren was invited to attend a symposium of industrial and commercial circles.
At the meeting, Chen Yi, the then mayor of Shanghai, informed Rong Yiren that in the future he would be the sole representative of Rong's enterprises in Shanghai, and all the family businesses of Rong's enterprises would be fully entrusted to him.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="4" > "red capitalists" who were deeply valued by Chairman Mao</h1>
In 1950, Chairman Mao held a banquet in Zhongnanhai, and Rong Yiren was invited to participate in it.
According to Rong Yiren's recollection, when he came to the banquet venue, Chairman Mao tightly shook Rong Yiren's hand and said enthusiastically: "Mr. Rong, you are a big capitalist!" ”
Rong Yiren was infected by Chairman Mao's enthusiasm and humbly replied: "Wherever." ”
Premier Zhou, who was sitting on the sidelines, was immediately attracted by the young man's eyes, and he jokingly called Rong Yiren the "young zhuang faction" of Chinese national capitalists.
After the banquet began, many party and state leaders offered sincere blessings and expressed their ardent hopes.
At the banquet, Chairman Mao encouraged: We must develop national enterprises in a down-to-earth manner, never forget our original intentions, and do more good things for the people.
These words were also deeply engraved in Rong Yiren's heart.
In 1954, Rong Yiren took the lead in proposing a "public-private partnership" to the Shanghai Municipal Government.
Although Rong Yiren understands that the transformation of socialism will cause certain losses to him personally and his enterprises, after all, the reform is beneficial to the country and the people, and this will be exchanged for a socialist country where everyone is rich and prosperous.
Therefore, he not only cooperated with the arrangements of the party and the government without complaint or regret, but also played a positive leading role in the socialist transformation of national industry and commerce.
In 1955, in order to let Chairman Mao know more about the development of national capital enterprises, Rong Yiren proposed to Chairman Mao at a meeting: I hope he can take the time to visit his factory.
To Rong Yiren's great surprise, three months later, Chairman Mao actually came to Shanghai and personally proposed to inspect the Shenxin Ninth Factory.
He did not expect that his sudden request would be put in the heart of Chairman Mao.
Rong Yiren later recalled: In my lifetime, Chairman Mao used his actions to make me realize the essence of national capital enterprises - to serve the people.
"Chairman Mao's words and deeds have profoundly affected the development of China's economy and national capital enterprises throughout my life."
Chairman Mao has become a well-deserved teacher in his heart.
In 1956, Chairman Mao conducted profound thinking and research on the new problems that arose in the socialist movement in China, and published many articles and speeches.
After studying some of Chairman Mao's speeches, Rong Yiren raised a very sensitive but extremely important question to Chairman Mao in person:
"After our country entered the period of socialist revolution, the antagonistic contradiction between the working class and the bourgeoisie became the main contradiction; but after the socialist transformation movement and the adjustment of class relations, can this antagonistic contradiction be transformed into a non-antagonistic contradiction?"
Chairman Mao said humorously: "You are a man who would use his brain to ask questions." ”
Half a year later, he delivered a speech on the correct handling of contradictions among the people, which perfectly resolved Rong Yiren's doubts.
In the process of learning theory, Rong Yiren often sought help from professional workers.
Not only that, he also led the broad masses of people in the industrial and commercial circles to conscientiously study Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, encouraged them to "follow the party and take the socialist road," and actively promoted the process of industrial and commercial transformation.
Two years after completing the public-private partnership, Rong Yiren made another unexpected decision.
He donated all his family businesses to the state free of charge, and he himself was transformed from business to government, and as a person from a democratic party, he participated in the construction of a new China in the political circles.
After entering the political world, Rong Yiren has served as vice mayor of Shanghai, vice minister of the Textile Industry Department, and member of the State Import and Export Administration Committee, and he has worked hard and made great achievements in every position.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="6" > Deng Xiaoping: The Rong family is a great contributor to the growth of new China</h1>
If Chairman Mao was Rong Yiren's mentor, then Deng Xiaoping was his Bole.
In the decades of living together, the two have appreciated each other and supported each other, pushing China's economy to a new peak.
In the early days of reform and opening up, China's funds and talents were very scarce. In order to implement the policy of opening up to the outside world, the state encourages overseas people to invest in China and establish Sino-foreign joint ventures.
At that time, Rong Yiren, who was a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, when formulating the Law on Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures, took into account the specific conditions of our country and put forward the idea that "the proportion of foreign investment can only be set at the lower limit and the upper limit can be fixed."
Deng Xiaoping expressed his affirmation and support for his bold idea and adopted his suggestion that "the proportion of foreign joint venturers investing is generally not less than 25%."
In October 1979, with the support of Deng Xiaoping, Rong Yiren founded the China International Trust and Investment Corporation, now citic group.
In just a few years, the scale of CITIC Group has grown from more than a dozen people to nearly 30,000 people, and its total assets have exceeded 50 billion yuan.
Later, it developed rapidly and rapidly, not only becoming a business card of China's foreign trade, but also making great contributions to the country's reform and opening up.
In 1986, Deng Xiaoping held a grand meeting for the Rong family in the Great Hall of the People to warmly commend the Rong family's outstanding contributions to China's economic development.
At the meeting, Deng Xiaoping excitedly shook Rong Yiren's hand and solemnly said to all the participants:
Just as Chairman Mao once commented on the Rong family, they grew up with New China, they were great contributors to the economic development of New China, and when the country was in danger, they did not stay away from their homeland like other rich families. Instead, the most correct choice was made, living and dying with New China, sharing hardships, and everyone in the Rong family was a great hero who guarded the growth of New China. ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="8" > the later life of the outstanding politician Rong Yiren</h1>
In March 1993, at the 8th National People's Congress, Rong Yiren was elected Vice President of the People's Republic of China.
At the age of 77, he has once again become a hot spot in the international community.
After Rong Yiren retired in 1998, he stayed away from the media and rarely appeared in public.
Six years later, Rong Yiren returned home in Beijing from Shanghai to share a simple and happy old age with his wife Yang Jianqing, who had lived for nearly 70 years, in a small courtyard in Dongcheng.
Although Rong Yiren and his wife are rich and noble, they are not extravagant in life, and ordinary and simple living conditions can make them satisfied.
They never pursue big fish and big meat, simply drink a small bowl of porridge after a meal, accompanied by some fruit.
In their free time, they like to raise flowers and watch football;
Tired, they snuggled up to enjoy music and classical literature.
Rong Yiren's study and office are stacked with many Chinese and foreign books.
Every day he reads various newspapers and magazines, and through the newspapers, he learns about the latest political and economic news from all over the world.
When his eyes were tired, he closed his eyes and sat quietly, cultivating himself.
For him, nourishing the heart is health.
With a relaxed life and an optimistic and open-minded personality, the old man calmly completed the last journey of his life.
At 20:31 on October 26, 2005, Rong Yiren died of illness in Beijing at the age of 89.
Someone said, "This is the end of an era." ”
His memorial service is of a very high standard, equivalent to a state funeral, and extremely honorable.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" data-track="10" > thousands of people attended the memorial service, and the son shook hands with those who came to mourn</h1>
On the morning of November 3, 2005, the sky over Beijing was shrouded in dark clouds, and the whole city seemed to be plunged into a heavy atmosphere.
The auditorium of the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery was solemn and solemn, and mournful music echoed in a low voice.
At about 7:00 a.m., four or five groups of police officers on duty were set up on Shangzhuang East Street, the main street leading to the large farewell room of the Babaoshan Funeral Home.
Outside the three gates, a large number of police officers on duty have also gathered.
They looked solemn, directing passing vehicles and pedestrians.
An administrator in the parking lot of babaoshan funeral home told reporters: "At about 6 o'clock this morning, when we came to work, the three gates leading to the large farewell room no longer allowed irrelevant personnel to enter and exit. ”
Outside the farewell room of the first remains, dozens of wreaths were neatly arranged.
Above the main hall is a banner on a black background with nine large white characters written on it - "Mourning Comrade Rong Yiren with Deep Sorrow".
Below the banner, Rong Yiren's portrait hangs upright, and in the photo, he is radiant, with a gentle and elegant smile, which makes people feel extremely kind.
Among the flowers and cypresses were Rong Yiren's body, and the bright red Chinese Communist Party flag quietly covered him.
The wreath placed in front of the body reads: "We will always miss you for leading your children to cry."
At 9 a.m., a number of party and state leaders accompanied by mourning and took slow and heavy steps to the body of Rong Yiren to solemnly observe silence.
They solemnly bowed to Rong Yiren's body and shook hands with his family one by one to express their deep condolences.
Responsible comrades of relevant state departments, employees of the units where Rong Yiren worked, friends before his death and representatives of his hometown also went to bid farewell.
Many of the people waiting in line outside the farewell room were staff members of the Rongshi Group.
Among them, a staff member of China CITIC Bank said:
"Rong Lao once served as the chairman of CITIC Group, we have met him in the company, and today the company's employees dressed uniformly to bid farewell to Rong Lao."
Outside the police martial law line, there were two young men wearing white flowers on their chests and with solemn expressions.
It turned out that they were second-year students from the Department of Business Administration of North China University of Technology.
One of the students was clutching a newspaper that reported Rong's death.
The student's name was Zhai Dongfang.
He told reporters: "The Rong family is a very great family in my mind, and Rong Yiren has always been an idol I worship. ”
"After seeing the news of the death of Mr. Rong Lao published in the newspaper, I was shocked and saddened. So early that morning, I took a leave of absence with my classmates and came to Mr. Rong's memorial service together to send off Mr. Rong. ”
Thousands of people came to mourn, dressed in black, standing in a long line.
Rong Yiren's son Rong Zhijian led the whole family to stand next to Rong Lao's body, shaking his hands and shaking hands with the people who came to mourn one by one, and constantly saying in his mouth: "Thank you!" Thank you! ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="12" > the "Spirit of Rong" passed down from generation to generation</h1>
Although Mr. Rong Yiren has passed away, the story of the Rong family is not over. The descendants of the Rong family are still passing on the "Rong spirit" with practical actions.
Rong Yiren had five children in his lifetime, four of whom were daughters and one was a son.
The third daughter, Rong Zhiyuan, suffered from encephalitis as a child, was misdiagnosed as dementia, and later died of lung cancer.
The remaining four children grew up under the pure family style of the Rong family and are now shining in their respective fields.
The only son, Rong Zhijian, grew up with no worries about food and clothing, which gave him a period of spending money, but later he also began to be diligent and down-to-earth, working in citic group.
Inheriting his father Rong Yiren's keen mind and unique vision in the business market, he achieved success in his first venture and gained a lot of wealth.
Later, he founded CITIC Pacific, a company that grew under his management.
However, due to a failed investment by Rong Zhijian, the company lost a large amount of money.
As chairman, he had to take the initiative to take responsibility, resign, let his children inherit the assets of CITIC Pacific, and help him manage the company.
Fortunately, Rong Zhijian's three children also inherited the family's business genes, and they lived up to expectations and achieved very outstanding achievements in their careers.
Rong Yiren's three daughters are also very prominent, the eldest daughter Rong Zhihe was once the director of Shanghai Shanghai-Hong Kong Kindergarten, and now lives in Shanghai for the elderly; the second daughter Rong Zhiping is also in Shanghai; and the younger daughter Rong Zhiwan is married to Ma Youheng, the son of Ma Manqi, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and lives in Macao.
They are all low-key and humble, and rarely appear.
Nine years after Rong Yiren's death, his wife Yang Jianqing died in Hong Kong.
The two have been together for 69 years, buried together after death, and met again in another way.