" Zhu Mao, Zhu Mao, there is Zhu before there is Mao!" In Yan'an, someone asked Chairman Mao what he thought of Zhu De, and the chairman replied like this. In the eyes of the chairman, Zhu De's contribution and talents are comparable to his own. Zhu De was once the commander-in-chief and is a well-known military strategist and politician in China, and he is deeply respected by people.
Figure 1 Zhu De at work
According to common sense, such a high-ranking Zhu De, no matter where he goes, he will be warmly welcomed by the people, and he should also be fascinating to visit his hometown. However, when Zhu De returned to his hometown in 1960, he was dressed so poorly that even the villagers did not recognize him. What is going on here?
Commoner Returning Home
Arriving at the entrance of Zhujia Dawan Village, Ma'an Town, Yilong County, Sichuan Province, Zhu De saw a 60 or 70-year-old man. The old man was sitting on a small stool with his walking stick aside, basking in the sun. Zhu De vaguely felt that he had met this old man, but he couldn't remember his name anyway.
Figure 2 Mao Zedong (left) and Zhu De in Yan'an during the War of Resistance Against Japan
was hesitating whether to walk over, the old man first saw Zhu De standing in place. The old man looked up and down at the person in front of him: A pair of old leather shoes , covered with folds. An old yellow woolen coat , the corners of the clothes are washed and faded. The coat was wrapped in a gray suit of , only the collar was exposed, and the fabric at the stitches became loose.
"You are, you are the..." The old man's eyes were full of excitement, and he stood up and took Zhu De's hand. " Yes, you are Dai Zhen brother! Don't say why you are back! "
Dai Zhen is Zhu De's previous name. At that time, Zhu De's parents had 14 children, but only 8 children survived. Zhu De's family used to work as a tenant farmer for the landlord. The landlord was very mean to their family, often deducting wages, and drove out Zhu De's family on New Year's Eve.
Figure 3 Zhu De's photo with his family
Due to the large population in the family, Zhu De's birth did not bring joy to his parents. His father randomly gave him a bad name, , but his grandmother thought Zhu De looked good and loved him so much that he named him Dai Zhen. Later, he left his home to make a revolution and changed his name to Zhu De.
When reminded by the old man's words, Zhu De immediately remembered that the old man was a cousin of his own. The family members were very happy to meet, and the old man took him tightly by the hand and took him to the village. Walking on on the road, he couldn’t help but look at Zhu De again, and asked: "You have done so many good things to the common people, and you have been an officer of the commander-in-chief. Why do you come back in this way? Why don’t you drive?
Hearing this, Zhu De laughed and replied: "What is the commander-in-chief! How can there be such a Jin Guiyou".
I heard that Zhu De was back, and the villagers and cadres all came out to greet him. My cousin said to Zhu De: "Daizhen, you see, our cadres wear better clothes than you, and the clothes our fellows wear are newer than yours."
Figure 4 The marshal's dress worn by Zhu De
Zhu De is very happy to see everyone dressed clean and warm. He said that the clothes are not new or old, as long as they can keep warm. doesn't matter if he wears well clothes, what he wants to see most is that the people are well dressed, that's enough.
With Zhu De's rank as a cadre, he is allowed to ride in a car when he returns to his hometown.But as soon as he arrived on the mountain road near the village, Zhu De asked to get off the car, not allowing the driver to drive forward and the guards from following. Since ancient times, people have often said that they want to "return to the hometown in splendor." If you go back home by car, doesn't it just show your identity?
Zhu De said that he does not need to "return to the hometown" and his identity is nothing special. When an American reporter interviewed Zhu De, he once said: " I walk a lot in my life. Although I sometimes ride horses, most of them are walking with the soldiers and marching together ."
When Zhu De was home, he always walked into the village. When I was away from home to make a revolution, I also left on foot. Now that he is back home, how can he sit in a car? He didn't want to disturb the people in the village or disturb others.
Picture 5 Luo Ruiqing (right) accompanied Zhu De to review the troops
Su Yan
Back to the village, Zhu De went to the saddle middle school non-stop and cared about the life and study of saddle middle school. He asked the children whether the food is good, how much tuition is, and whether they can afford to go to school.
Figure 6 Wangjiaping, Yan'an Zhu De is with the children
The children see Zhu De so kind and want to tell him the truth. But knowing that Zhu De is the commander-in-chief, he dare not tell the truth to him. Seeing the children hesitate, Zhu De probably knew that the children's living conditions were not good.
At that time, China was experiencing three years of natural disasters, and many rural areas lacked food. The school children are thin and many boys are short. Zhu De was heartbroken when he saw it, and said to the school leader: ", you must find a way to apply for relief to the children .These children don't have to go to work to support agriculture. They spend their brains on studying. It is when they are growing up, where can they not get enough to eat!
Picture 7 Zhu De and his daughter
Feeling that there is a shortage of food in his hometown, Zhu De went to the collective cafeteria. Originally, he heard that the food in the collective cafeteria was very good, but after he came, he found out, The canteen boiled porridge with clear soup and little water. There were not a few grains of rice in a bowl.
When it was time for lunch, the local officials prepared Zhu De with fish and meat. Zhu De was very angry when he saw it, and demanded that these good dishes be removed to the people. We ate them separately. He asked them to dig up some wild vegetables and stir-fry them, saying that they would eat the same food as the people.
Nevertheless, the local officials were still embarrassed. After inquiring, Zhu De found out that the wild vegetables on the hillside turned out to be All have been dug out. Knowing this situation, Zhu De silently shed tears. He immediately assured people that the Party Central Committee will help everyone through the storm.
Picture 8 1955 On October 1, 2010, Zhu De (second from left) was on the Tiananmen Tower at
. In the next few days, someone told Zhu De that his relatives in his hometown had a very difficult life. Their family members give relief food. Zhu De said: “If you want to send it, everyone will send it, not just my family, not special.”
He asked the recipients not to prepare fish for themselves, not to mention tobacco and alcohol. The leaders are very embarrassed, because it is their duty to entertain the commander-in-chief. If they do nothing, they will be said to be negligent.
Finally, Zhu De agrees that he chooses the food for each meal. He never orders fish or meat. He only eats spinach, , zheergen, and sweet potatoes, the most common vegetarian dishes. People around him persuaded him to order some fish, but Zhu De said: "The people can’t eat.You let me eat fish and meat, how can I eat it?
Picture 9 Zhu De and his two grandsons
During the dinner, he often told people the story of his childhood. At that time Zhu De's family was very poor and often had no food. He said that he I don’t know what is hungry now. I am very resistant to hunger. When I was young, he often went hungry. Now I eat these hometown dishes, and the vegetarian dishes are also very fragrant, which is the taste of the year.
庠 Xu 之教
Zhu De, born in a tenant farmer family, lived with his parents in a dilapidated house in the landlord’s house since he was a child. Landlords are mean and mean, often forcing them to spend more money to rent a house, and even use this as an excuse to detain Zhu De’s parents Their salary.
The whole family is crowded into a room, the room is ventilated on all sides, often leaks, except for the bed, which is a stove. That year, Zhu De was only a few years old, and the family gathered around the stove to keep warm. That night was New Year’s Eve, and it was supposed to be a happy time for the family, but their family was worried about their livelihood for the next year.
Picture 10 Zhu De's Former Residence
At this moment, a cold breeze The snow flakes were blown into the house, and the door was kicked open by the landlord. The landlord took a few accomplices and threw out the Zhu De’s luggage and belongings, saying to them: "This house has been rented out. New guests are here, you are leaving now".
Before asking why, the Zhu De family was swept out of the house. On New Year's Eve in the freezing cold, his parents could only wander the street with his family. Later, a family named Shen recruited helpers. Seeing that they were pitiful, they took them in and gave them a house.This memory became the pain of Zhu De's life.
Zhu De went back to his hometown this time and went to the house where he had lived. The broken house where their family lived was gone, and only left a brand new big house . There is a sign on the wall at the door of the house that says "Zhu De's Former Residence".
Figure 11 Zhu De's office
Zhu De was angry and helpless, and said to the people present: ", where is my home! If there was such a good house to live in, how could he be driven out!" "Zhu De requested that this newly built house is not allowed to display the "Zhu De's Former Residence" sign, and no more new houses should be built as the "Zhu De's Former Residence".
Figure 12 The pistol used by Zhu De during the Nanchang Uprising
Zhu De's relatives told him that this was repaired by the villagers after he became the brigade commander. Later, I heard that he had become commander-in-chief, and planned to expand on the existing basis and change it to the "Zhu De Memorial Hall." However, the current house is still too small to be used as a memorial hall. The villagers must move next to the house and occupy their land to build . The Zhu family did not want to do this, but the local leaders must build a memorial for him.
Zhu De did not expect that the villagers were affected by natural disasters and their lives were already very difficult. Now they are to demolish the houses of the people for this memorial that should not be repaired. He immediately called the relevant leaders and said to them seriously:
"These people are my neighbors back then. They have always lived here. How can they be driven away? What is the use of building a memorial for me? These people don’t. Not only did I not take up my light, but I also caused such a big trouble to others. According to , the house was closed, and the memorial hall should not be repaired."
Figure 13 Zhu De's handwriting to encourage young people to join the revolutionary cause
Zhu De told these local officials,We must do more for the people and strive to improve the people's living standards. Things like this that damage the interests of the people will never happen again. But this house is not used as the "Zhu De's Former Residence", and it is impossible for Zhu De to come back to live. Is it going to be empty forever?
Some people suggested that since the repair is completed, the Zhu family should be allowed to live in, because this house was built for Zhu De. After thinking about it, Zhu De made a decision: changed this house into a school, let the children study in the village. He also helped the village recruit teachers, organize the school, and help his hometown develop education.
Figure 14 Zhu De is studying Communist Manifesto
Zhu De knows that knowledge changes destiny. He didn't want the children in his hometown to suffer the same way he was when he was a child, and wanted them to have a bright future.
Soft heart and affection
Nowadays, when people talk about Zhu De, they always think of the image of a general who is straddling a war horse and wearing a military uniform. Indeed, Zhu De made great military exploits for New China and was the "founding general" of New China. But Zhu De, who was half-life of Jin Ge and iron horse, also had a tender side.
Over the years, Zhu De has never returned to his hometown and has been fighting for the cause of revolution. The person he misses most is his mother in his hometown. Zhu De's father left early. He failed to do his filial piety in front of his mother due to work reasons.
Zhu De's mother not only knew about Zhu De's involvement in the revolutionary cause, but also supported it very much. She knows that her son is on the right path and that this path is full of dangers and sacrifices. Zhu De will send letters to his mother every three times, and he will also attach some money to the letter to allow the elderly to subsidize the family.
Once, Zhu De knew that his mother missed herself,I sent a recent photo of myself with the letter. His mother received this photo as if she had a baby. No matter what she did every day, she always had to take a look first, and sometimes muttered to the photo. The villagers knew that she missed her son, and persuaded her to go to Beijing to find Zhu De and go to Zhu De's side.
But the old man said: " is busy with his work. I am old. Not only can I not help him, but also cause trouble for him. I will not find him."
Later, Zhu De received news from his relatives that his mother was seriously ill. He wanted to rush home and accompany her again. But the battle ahead was urgent, and the army could not have no commander for a day. He reluctantly wrote a reply, and borrowed 200 yuan from his friend to send it to his home, asking his relatives to use the money to treat his mother well.
At that time, Zhu De's salary was 5 yuan a month, so he couldn't get so much money at once. When his friends heard about his difficulties, they generously donated the money and collected the money for him.
After completing the task ahead, Zhu De wants to rush home immediately. Unexpectedly, he received the news of his mother's death before he even left. Upon hearing this news, Zhu De was deeply saddened. Since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety are difficult to balance . This time Zhu De returned to his hometown and saw that his grandmother, mother, and some elders who loved him had all left.
Figure 15 Poems by Zhu De
If he returned to his hometown earlier, would it be different? Prior to this, Zhu De came to Sichuan six times due to work reasons, but he was unwilling to spend his working time dealing with personal matters, "passing the house and not entering."
This return to his hometown in 1960 was the first and last time Zhu De returned to his hometown in his life. After that, he never had the opportunity to set foot on the land of his hometown again. He missed his hometown and his relatives, but he loved this land even more. He knows that only by devoting his whole life to this land can his hometown become better, and Chinese people will be happier.
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