Wake up（302）

 

302

 

Little Kong Ming and Li Si talked to his young friends about Deng Xiaoping's official career during the Cultural Revolution, especially the power struggle among the top leaders of the Communist Party of China after Lin Biao fell to his death.

Li Si sighed:

Between August and September 1971, Mao Zedong thought of Deng Xiaoping again during his southern tour to prepare to overthrow Lin Biao.

On September 10 of that year, Lao Mao’s southern tour to build public opinion for the purge of Lin Biao, when he talked with the person in charge of the party, government and army in Zhejiang, he said: "Deng Xiaoping is different from Liu Shaoqi, there must be a difference. A million troops crossed the Yangtze River. At that time, there was a former committee member , mainly due to Deng Xiaoping’s role.” Apparently, before the September 13, 1971, event of Lin Biao’s departure, Mao Zedong revealed that he was promoting Deng Xiaoping again.

On November 6, 1971, Deng Xiaoping, who was still under house arrest in Jiangxi, took the opportunity of Lin Biao's downfall to write a letter to Mao Zedong, scolding Lin Biao and admitting that he "pushed a counter-revolutionary bourgeois reactionary line together with Liu Shaoqi." He also expressed his loyalty to Lao Mao insincerely, saying, "The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution exposed me and criticized me, which is absolutely right." "The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution is absolutely necessary and very timely." Deng Xiaoping also once again promised to "never reverse the case" and hoped to come out and work. Deng Xiaoping played his ability to keep a low profile.

After Lin Biao's death, in mid-January 1972, Mao was seriously ill and asked Zhou Enlai to preside over the work of the Central Committee. Five months later, Zhou Enlai was also diagnosed with bladder cancer. However, Zhou Enlai persisted in his work despite his illness. In a short period of time, the situation of the disabled who had endured the toss of the Cultural Revolution has been significantly improved. His governance of the economic order and opposition to the rampant "ultra-left ideological trend" can be understood as the first of its kind in Deng Xiaoping's "rectification". In particular, the effectiveness of Zhou Enlai's adjustments in foreign policy and the substantial progress in Sino-US relations have formed the so-called "superior achievement" trend, which cannot but arouse Lao Mao's suspicion.

During the decades of working together, Mao and Zhou have always been in the same bed, and Lao Mao has never really trusted Zhou Enlai. But because Lao Mao could not make up for Zhou Enlai's strength in handling complicated state affairs, Zhou Enlai's handling of people and affairs, including his cautious and considerate treatment of Lao Mao, and because of Zhou Enlai's strong influence inside and outside the party, there were so-called rumors that "the people who oppose Zhou must oppose Zhou Enlai". Mao has turned down several times but failed. Mao Zedong believed: Now is the time. One is resentment. Historical grievances against Zhou Enlai; from the Ninth National Congress to the Second Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee, Zhou Enlai and Lin Biao co-produced; since Zhou Enlai presided over the work of the Central Committee, it reflects his attitude towards the Cultural Revolution, such as criticizing Lin for being extremely "left". The second is that the time is ripe, Liu Shaoqi has fallen, Lin Biao has been eliminated, especially Deng Xiaoping has come back, and Zhou can be eliminated. Lao Mao made his decision last week, which accelerated the pace of Deng Xiaoping's ascension to the central power platform.

On January 10, 1972, Mao Zedong attended Chen Yi's memorial service. In his conversation with Chen Yi's wife, Zhang Qian, in addition to shifting the responsibility for the rectification of Chen Yi and other veterans during the Cultural Revolution to Lin Biao, he also released rumors of reappointing Deng Xiaoping, clearly stating that, Deng Xiaoping is different from Liu Shaoqi, it is "contradictions among the people".

Wang Zhen also wrote to Mao Zedong, asking Deng Xiaoping to come out to work.

On April 24, "People's Daily" published an editorial titled "Learn from past mistakes and learn from past ones to save people" after Zhou Enlai's review: "Just as people who have suffered from typhoid fever can develop immunity, people who have made mistakes only need to correct them carefully and be good at learning from them. Lesson learned, with immunity, it is possible to work better."

In May, Zhou Enlai was diagnosed with bladder cancer. Mao Zedong urged the matter to be kept secret from the outside world, saying: "Operation is easy to spread and is dangerous. Is it possible to use traditional Chinese medicine to control the disease through traditional Chinese medicine."

In June, Deng Xiaoping and his wife were notified that their salaries began to be paid.

Deng Xiaoping, who was good at keeping a low profile, wrote another long letter to Mao Zedong on August 3: "Up to now, I still admit all the contents of my review, and reaffirmed my guarantee to the central government that I will never reverse the verdict." He also asked to resume work. Will he "never reverse the case"? This is just his strategy of hiding.

Li Si said: Deng Xiaoping's strategy of keeping a low profile has succeeded.

On August 14, Mao Zedong commented on Deng Xiaoping's letter: "Please read the Premier and send it to Director Wang for printing and distribution to all comrades in the Central Committee. The mistakes made by Comrade Deng Xiaoping are serious. But they should be distinguished from Liu Shaoqi. (1) He was in the Central Soviet Area. One of the four sinners, Deng, Mao, Xie, and Gu, is the leader of the so-called Mao faction. The material on his rectification can be found in the two books "Two Lines" and "Since the Sixth National Congress". The person who came forward to rectify him is Zhang Wentian (2) He has no historical problems. That is, he has never surrendered to the enemy. (3) He is capable and successful in assisting Comrade Liu Bocheng in the war. In addition, after entering the city, it is not that he did not do all good things, such as He led a delegation to Moscow for negotiations, and he did not succumb to Soviet revisionism. I have said these things many times in the past, and I will say them again now.”

Lao Mao gave Deng Xiaoping's letter and his own comments to Zhou Enlai on August 14. Zhou Enlai naturally understood that this was a signal for Lao Mao to use Deng Xiaoping.

Starting from this instruction, the fate of Deng Xiaoping's second criticism took a turn for the better. In the name of the central government, Zhou Enlai formally notified the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee, announcing that Deng Xiaoping would be immediately relieved of labor supervision and that Deng Xiaoping could do investigation and research work.

From November to December 1972, according to the arrangement of the central government, Deng Xiaoping and his wife Zhuo Lin were arranged to visit Jinggangshan and other places in Jiangxi Province.

In December, Mao Zedong said: We must "dig deep holes, accumulate food widely, and not seek hegemony."

From February 20 to 22, 1973, Deng Xiaoping brought his family back to Beijing from Jiangxi, where they were allotted. Keeping a low profile, Deng Xiaoping, who had been lying quietly in Jiangxi for many years, was let go by Lao Mao.

On March 9, 1973, Mao Zedong approved the resumption of Deng Xiaoping's party organization life and the position of vice premier of the State Council, and participated in the discussions of important policy issues of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China. At the 10th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in August, Deng Xiaoping became a member of the Central Committee again.

Deng Xiaoping officially came back on March 10, 1973. Approved by Mao Zedong, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the "Decision on Resuming Comrade Deng Xiaoping's Organizational Life and the Post of Vice Premier of the State Council" on the same day. Deng Xiaoping officially returned.

On March 28, Zhou Enlai, Jiang Qing, and Li Xiannian met with Deng Xiaoping. On the 29th, Mao Zedong met Deng Xiaoping at his residence.

On April 12, Zhou Enlai held a grand banquet for Sihanouk and his wife in the Great Hall of the People. Deng Xiaoping attended the banquet as Vice Premier of the State Council and made his public appearance in public for the first time.

On August 24, the Tenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China opened in Beijing, and Mao Zedong presided over the opening ceremony.

On August 30, Mao Zedong announced in advance that he would not attend the First Plenary Session of the Tenth Central Committee. Under the chairmanship of Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong was re-elected as the chairman of the Central Committee. The vice-chairmen were Zhou Enlai, Wang Hongwen, Kang Sheng, Ye Jianying, and Li Desheng. From then on, Jiang Qing, Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao, and Yao Wenyuan formed the "Gang of Four" sectarian group, and Kang Sheng became ill after the Tenth Congress.

On December 12, Mao Zedong held a meeting of the Politburo and proposed to implement the exchange of commanders of the eight major military regions.

Some people believe that Deng Xiaoping's comeback during the Cultural Revolution was the result of Zhou Enlai's great help. Dr. Guo Jian, a professor at the University of Wisconsin in the United States, once said: "Deng Xiaoping should be said to be Mao Zedong's man, not Zhou Enlai's man."

A reporter also had a dialogue with Song Yongyi, an expert on the Cultural Revolution.

 

Reporter: Deng Xiaoping's comeback was mainly Mao Zedong's intention, or was it the result of Zhou Enlai's hard work?

Song: It is definitely not the result of Zhou Enlai's efforts, but Mao Zedong's intention. Mao Zedong recommended him to come out. There is no such thing as Zhou Enlai recommending him.

Reporter: Why did Mao Zedong ask Deng Xiaoping to come out?

Song: It was to restrain Zhou Enlai, because after Mao Zedong's Lin Biao incident, he found that Zhou Enlai's people suddenly filled a lot of the vacuum caused by the purge of Lin Biao clique members. Mao Zedong was a veteran of power play, and he always wanted his factions to restrain each other. When Zhou Enlai came up, he was not in good health. Mao Zedong killed two birds with one stone. First, let Deng Xiaoping come out to do practical things. There are some things that those young people, such as Wang Hongwen and others, cannot do. The second one is to let Deng Xiaoping come out to restrain Zhou Enlai.

Reporter: Can Zhou and Deng have the same political and economic views during this period?

Song: Basically the same. This was unexpected by Mao Zedong.

 

Little Kong Ming and Li Si sighed: During the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping, the No. 2 capitalist roader of the "Liu Deng Bourgeois Headquarters", came back, which seemed unbelievable to the Chinese at that time. The answer lies in the historical relationship between Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, as well as the long-term conflict between Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai.