On January 8, 1976, Premier Zhou passed away. People across the country fell into great grief. A ten-mile long street was sent to see the Premier off. However, when Chairman Mao proposed that Hua Guofeng be the prime minister, many people questioned it because there were still ma

On January 8, 1976, Premier Zhou passed away, and the people across the country fell into great grief. A ten-mile long street was sent to bid farewell to the Premier.

Because of Premier Zhou's great prestige, who will succeed him after his death has become a very important topic.

At that time, Chairman Mao was also very sad. He was saddened by the death of Premier Zhou, and worried about how to govern such a large country. He urgently needed to find a new prime minister to shoulder this heavy burden.

At Chairman Mao's suggestion and after discussion and approval by the Political Bureau, Hua Guofeng served as Acting Prime Minister, presiding over the daily work of the Central Committee, and became the official Prime Minister three months later.

However, when Chairman Mao proposed that Hua Guofeng be the prime minister, it aroused many people's doubts, because there were still many old comrades still alive at the time, who were more qualified for the position of prime minister than Hua Guofeng in terms of qualifications and abilities. So, why did Chairman Mao choose the young Hua Guofeng as prime minister?

Chairman Mao had long expected these doubts, so he took the opportunity of a meeting to explain to everyone several reasons for reusing Hua Guofeng.

First, Hua Guofeng is a young cadre in the prime of life.

Taking into account the founding achievements of the country from the Revolutionary War era, most of the people at that time were over 60 years old, and the work of the prime minister was complicated and complicated, which was very physical and energy-consuming. It would be difficult for him to be competent if he was too old. of.

Hua Guofeng was just 55 years old at the time. He was in the prime of life and had some work experience, which was very suitable.

In addition, from the perspective of the future construction of New China, young cadres are also needed to step up. Therefore, Chairman Mao also had this consideration in choosing Hua Guofeng.

Second, Hua Guofeng has rich revolutionary experience.

Hua Guofeng was born in Jiaocheng, Shanxi Province in 1921. He came into contact with Marxism-Leninism during his studies. He was an organizer of various anti-Japanese activities very early on, and his ability was very outstanding.

Later, Hua Guofeng joined the anti-Japanese guerrillas . He also served as secretary of the Jiaocheng County Sacrifice League and joined the Communist Party. Under very difficult anti-Japanese conditions, he vigorously launched the anti-Japanese war behind enemy lines and consolidated the anti-Japanese base areas.

Chairman Mao also highlighted one of Hua Guofeng’s achievements. During this period, Hua Guofeng was commanding guerrilla operations while mobilizing the masses to join the army and serve the country. According to statistics, during the War of Resistance Against Japan, Hua Guofeng mobilized more than 10,000 young people to join the Eighth Route Army. He commanded more than 100 troops. There were countless battles, and they were all won at a very small cost.

Everyone knows "The Biography of the Heroes of Luliang". In fact, when the author went deep into the Luliang area to interview some militia heroes, everyone recommended him to write about Hua Guofeng, because he was the master of organizing militiamen.

However, Hua Guofeng is very low-key and is not allowed to promote himself, so many people are unaware of his contributions.

During the War of Liberation, Hua Guofeng continued to mobilize the masses to ensure the front-line troops fought, and exceeded the task every time.

Third, Hua Guofeng has rich experience in grassroots work.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Hua Guofeng mainly presided over local work and served as Party Secretary of Xiangyin County and Party Secretary of Xiangtan County in Hunan. While promoting land reform, he suppressed bandits and directed the masses to fight against natural disasters and poverty.

During this period, Hua Guofeng's greatest achievement was agricultural production. The task of building New China is very heavy, but if the people cannot eat, they will not have the energy to carry out construction. Therefore, Hua Guofeng requires cadres at all levels to often visit the grassroots and experience the real life of the people at the grassroots. The difficulties of the people are our difficulties. , we must make every effort to solve it.

Hua Guofeng also actively promoted agricultural co-operation. He founded the first rural cooperative in Hunan and introduced his experience at the 1955 National Conference.

Hua Guofeng has worked in Hunan for 22 years. From the county party committee secretary to the prefectural party committee secretary and the provincial party committee secretary, he has made great achievements and has rich experience in grassroots work.

It is also worth mentioning that it was when Hua Guofeng was in power in Hunan that he attached great importance to Yuan Longping’s hybrid rice project and was a firm supporter of this project. Without Hua Guofeng’s support back then, hybrid rice might not have been possible. It will develop so fast.

Fourth, Hua Guofeng is of good character, loyal and honest.

Although Hua Guofeng is young, he is not as impetuous and eager for success as other young cadres. Instead, he can put his head down and do practical things. He is conscientious and very pragmatic. He never takes credit for his achievements and is not allowed to promote himself.

Moreover, Hua Guofeng was extremely principled, dared to fight when encountering difficulties, and always had the interests of the people at heart. This point is highly consistent with Chairman Mao's thoughts.

It was these factors that made Chairman Mao admire Hua Guofeng very much. He transferred him to the central government in 1971 to assist Premier Zhou in his work, and in 1975 he was promoted to deputy prime minister.

After Premier Zhou's death, Hua Guofeng succeeded him as prime minister and made important contributions during that special historical period.

(Reference materials: "Yanhuang Chunqiu" and "1978: A Great Turning Point in China's Destiny")