On the morning of March 23, 1949, Premier Zhou met with Chairman Mao and asked him about his sleep. "After sleeping for four or five hours, I feel energetic." Hearing Chairman Mao say this, Premier Zhou was worried that Chairman Mao's body could not bear it.

"Chairman, have you rested?"

On the morning of March 23, 1949, Premier Zhou saw Chairman Mao and asked him about his sleep.

"After sleeping for four or five hours, I feel energetic." Hearing Chairman Mao say this, Premier Zhou was worried that Chairman Mao's body could not bear it.

Chairman Mao told him very excitedly, "Today is the day to go to Beijing to rush for the exam. You can be energetic even without sleeping."

The "rush for the exam" in Chairman Mao's mouth refers to the fact that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and its affiliated institutions left Xibaipo and moved to Peiping .

Premier Zhou said confidently: "We should all pass the exam and don't return it."

"If we return it, we will fail. We must get good grades and never become Li Zicheng ."

Chairman Mao and other leaders entered After Peking, this place was used as the future capital of New China and "gave good results in the exam."

However, establishing the capital was not an easy task, and there were some twists and turns along the way.

Before the capital was established in Peiping (now Beijing), which other cities were also considered as the capital? Later, with Wang Jiaxiang's guidance, Peiping was finally decided as the capital. What did he say?

For strategic needs, Harbin was considered as the capital.

Regarding the issue of establishing the capital, according to existing information, Chairman Mao led the central government to cross the Yellow River eastward and enter the Shanxi-Suiyuan Liberated Area in late March 1948. At this time, he Already started thinking about it.

At that time, Chairman Mao’s preferred capital was Harbin, known as the “Moscow of the East”.

During World War II , Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies, the European battlefield ended, and the 1.5 million Soviet Red Army began to declare war on Japan in accordance with the "Yalta Agreement."

On August 9 of the same year, 1.5 million Soviet Red Army troops entered Northeast China and launched an attack on the Japanese Kwantung Army.

The Soviet Red Army and the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces worked together to defeat the main force of the Kwantung Army in just one week.

html On August 17, Japan’s Kwantung Army announced its surrender, ending Japan’s 14-year invasion in the Northeast.

Harbin was the earliest and safest big city in the country to be liberated at that time. It was the political and economic center of the Northeast region. It has always been the seat of the Northeast Bureau of our Party and the Northeast Administrative Committee of our Party. This means that our Party already has certain capabilities in Harbin. political basis.

In addition, although Japan surrendered, the domestic Kuomintang still colluded with the US military and attacked the People's Liberation Army crazily. Harbin is very close to the Soviet Union. If there is any situation in the country that is unfavorable to our army in the future, it will be convenient for us to obtain support and assistance from the Soviet Union. Help,

Therefore, Chairman Mao and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China specifically approved it as a "special city" to prepare for the future establishment of the capital of New China.

In fact, in addition to Chairman Mao, there are many far-sighted people in the party who have gradually realized that the Northeast region occupies a very important strategic position in our country.

Huang Kecheng, who once served as the Organization Minister of the General Political Department of the Eighth Route Army, even took the initiative to apply to the central government to lead the New Fourth Army to the Northeast to attack the Kuomintang forces, and was willing to contribute to the liberation of Northeast .

His prediction was correct. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Du Yuming to quickly take over the Northeast, only to discover that the New Fourth Army led by the Communist Party of China had already led its troops to take root in the Northeast.

At this time, Chiang Kai-shek was not willing to give up the Northeast region just like this , so he decided to use force to drive the New Fourth Army out of the Northeast. He even brought out the latest American military aircraft, cannons and other military weapons to support the Kuomintang troops in attacking the CCP in the Northeast. force.

At that time, many large cities and rural areas in the Northeast were already under the control of our army, and the Kuomintang troops were quickly surrounded by our army.

The besieged Kuomintang army was not only unable to carry out large-scale military struggles, but also asked Chiang Kai-shek for help many times due to the cold winter, lack of cold-proof materials, food shortages and other issues.

In order to eliminate the Kuomintang's power in the Northeast as soon as possible, our army launched the Northeast Liberation Army led by Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan and others to attack the Kuomintang army.

More than a month later, Chiang Kai-shek sent what he considered to be an elite unit, the Ninth Corps of the Kuomintang Army, to fight. After half a month of fighting, all the defensive troops were annihilated, and the leader of the unit, Liao Yaoxiang, and the Northeast Army were captured. Many senior KMT generals, including Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zheng Dongguo and others.

A total of more than 100,000 Kuomintang troops and soldiers at all levels were captured in this battle. This is the famous "Liaoshen Battle" . Since then, the Kuomintang no longer has any combat advantages in the Northeast.

Although the People's Liberation Army has achieved certain results in the Northeast, Chairman Mao considered that the Kuomintang, which occupies half of the south, is strongly supported by the US military, and the Communist Party has not yet fully occupied a powerful position in the country. Whether it can completely compete with it is a big problem. Next, Chairman Mao did not completely finalize the idea of ​​making Harbin the capital. At the same time, he was also thinking about the possibility of making the capital elsewhere, such as the Yellow River Basin.

Cities in the Yellow River Basin have no advantages, and Nanjing's geographical location is not good.

In addition to Harbin, in Chairman Mao's mind, several ancient capitals in the Yellow River Basin are also among the candidates for capital selection.

The Yellow River is our mother river, and the Yellow River basin is the birthplace of Chinese civilization. Many ancient Chinese capitals were located here, among which Luoyang, Kaifeng, and Xi'an are the most famous.

Xi'an is the "ancient capital of thirteen dynasties", Kaifeng is the "ancient capital of seven dynasties", and Luoyang is the "ancient capital of six dynasties". Therefore, Chairman Mao believes that these cities are eligible to be selected as the capital of New China.

While affirming these cities, Chairman Mao also discovered that they had great limitations.

Kaifeng and Luoyang, these two cities have inconvenient transportation and serious flooding, which cannot be changed in a short time. As for Xi'an, it is located in the hinterland of the west, and its geographical location is too remote.

The most critical thing is that their economic development situation is not ideal.

According to history, since the Song Dynasty , China's economic center of gravity began to shift eastward and southward, and these three cities began to decline and have not achieved great development. Therefore, Chairman Mao only stayed in the imagination stage. There is no certainty that one of these three cities will be chosen as the capital.

Speaking of the southward shift of the economic center of gravity, the cities in the Yellow River Basin lack development potential. Then, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai regions are developing rapidly. Among them, Nanjing is definitely worth mentioning, and it is also known as the "Ancient Capital of Six Dynasties".

In modern Chinese history, it was successively designated as the capital by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Kuomintang. Therefore, Nanjing is definitely a place where the tiger dominates the dragon.

Wang Jiaxiang, who had just returned from the Soviet Union to recover from illness, learned that Chairman Mao had the idea of ​​making Nanjing the capital, and hurried to talk to him about his views.

Wang Jiaxiang and Chairman Mao met in March 1931. Speaking of which, Chairman Mao was also the matchmaker between Wang Jiaxiang and his wife Zhu Zhongli. Wang Jiaxiang's father-in-law Zhu Jianfan was a close friend of Chairman Mao's mentor Yang Changji, so the two met.

In addition to their personal relationship, starting from the Zunyi Conference , the two also supported each other in the revolutionary cause and were therefore close comrades-in-arms.

Wang Jiaxiang believed that as the capital of New China, it must focus on the future. Where to locate the capital is a very important issue. Then, he took the initiative to express his thoughts to Chairman Mao.

Nanjing has indeed experienced many glories in historical periods, but most of the dynasties that settled here were "short-lived dynasties". For this reason, it is inevitable that people will think too much about it, and it is a bit "ominous".

The Communist Party and its members all believe in materialism, so naturally they will not believe these "unknowns". Returning to reality, Wang Jiaxiang very seriously analyzed to Chairman Mao why he did not recommend setting the capital in Nanjing.

The main reason is that Nanjing’s geographical location is not good.

Nanjing is too close to the sea, so setting the capital here is not conducive to preventing foreign invasion.

In 1840, the British launched the Opium War. This is a bloody fact. At that time, the British army marched along the coastline from south to north, and then sent soldiers to the Xiaguan River in Nanjing. This forced the Qing government to compromise and sign the first treaty in Chinese history. An unequal treaty " Treaty of Nanjing " ended with a loss of power and humiliation to the country.

Furthermore, "Chiang Kai-shek is from Zhejiang", Wang Jiaxiang's words reminded Chairman Mao.

Chiang Kai-shek relied on the strong support of the plutocrats in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai to be able to confront the Communist Party unscrupulously. After Chiang Kai-shek fell, how could those plutocrats who had supported him support the Communist Party?

They are likely to launch a crazy counterattack. If Nanjing is the capital, it will add many unstable factors to the capital.

Based on the above reasons, Chairman Mao no longer considered making Nanjing the capital.

Wang Jiaxiang made a proposal, the process of setting the capital in Beijing

As mentioned earlier, among the several alternative cities that Chairman Mao valued, his favorite was to make Harbin the capital. In fact, Chairman Mao loves Peiping as much as Harbin.

Chairman Mao came to Peiping twice and experienced the wisdom of the Chinese nation condensed in this ancient city and witnessed the awakening of the Chinese people.

The May 4th Movement in 1919 opened a new chapter in China's revolutionary history.

For a long time afterwards, Peiping played a leading role in China's revolutionary process and played a leading role nationwide. Therefore, Chairman Mao believed that it was okay to designate Peiping as the capital.

At first, he just stayed in the imagination stage without seriously thinking about what would happen if Peiping was really designated as the capital.

The reason why he was in such a "careless" state was mainly because the Communist Party did not achieve a decisive victory at that time.

The Communist Party has only won a few battles and is temporarily in a strategic advantageous position. Even the North China region where Peiping is located is still under the control of the Kuomintang. Therefore, the political situation is unstable and the future is not very clear. Mao The Chairman did not take a bold risk and decided to designate Peiping as the capital.

The reality is miserable, but our army has strong combat capabilities.

Chairman Mao did not expect that the People's Liberation Army could defeat the Kuomintang army so quickly. Even at the "September Meeting" in 1948, he estimated that our army would at least It would take another three years to overthrow Chiang Kai-shek's dictatorship and have a chance to build a new China.

The People's Liberation Army used its strength to tell Chairman Mao not to underestimate our army's combat capabilities and not to think that the Kuomintang was so powerful.

The real situation on the front battlefield is that the Kuomintang has reached the point of overwhelming defeat. Our army has achieved a very smooth and unstoppable victory, especially after the three major battles of Liaoshen Campaign, Huaihai Campaign, and Pingjin Battle. The army is already in an absolutely dominant position militarily.

The liberated areas in North China and the liberated areas in Northeast China will soon be connected. Then, it will no longer be a difficult task for our army to liberate the Beijing-Tianjin area occupied by the Kuomintang. .

Chairman Mao, who originally did not have much expectation for victory in Peking, saw that the Kuomintang was retreating steadily, and then he began to think about whether Peking, the seat of power in the Ming and Qing dynasties, was suitable to be designated as the capital of New China.

At that time, Harbin also had many advantages. Therefore, Chairman Mao once again fell into the dilemma of whether to make Peking the capital or Harbin.

At this moment, Chairman Mao thought of Wang Jiaxiang again.

Wang Jiaxiang studied in the Soviet Union for many years and was proficient in international affairs. In addition, he also had in-depth research on the Soviet Union. He also studied the special role of some big cities in the Soviet Union during the war. Therefore, when it came to choosing the capital, Wang Jiaxiang The opinions have certain reference significance.

Chairman Mao did not tell Wang Jiaxiang his difficulties, but asked him for advice, "Where should we set the capital?"

Wang Jiaxiang gave the suggestion: "Make Peiping the capital." Chairman Mao never expected that Wang Jiaxiang also had the idea of ​​making Peiping the capital.

Wang Jiaxiang said that Peiping is a very suitable city to be designated as the capital. Regarding other cities, there are more or less certain problems.

In the following exchange, Chairman Mao asked him the reason for choosing Peking as the capital. According to the conversation between Wang Jiaxiang and Chairman Mao, the reasons why Wang Jiaxiang chose Peiping as the capital were roughly considered from four aspects: :

First: Peiping has a good location.

"Beiping guards the throat area connecting the northeast and the pass." The Pass and the Northeast were valued during the period of Emperor Qin Shihuang, so the Great Wall of China was built.

Peiping connects Northeast China and Guannei. This sentence directly points out the importance of Peiping.

The Northeast region was a very important region for New China at that time. Many of China's industrial bases were located there. Therefore, the Northeast region must be taken into consideration when setting the capital.

Second: Good strategic position.

"Close to the Soviet Union and Mongolia, no worries about war."

At that time, the relationship between China and the Soviet Union was very friendly, and there would be no war in the short term.

In addition, if New China wants to develop rapidly, it can seek help from the Soviet Union’s big brother, which will help quickly change the state of being overwhelmed.

Third: The threat at sea is small.

Peiping is close to the Bohai Sea . Although it is close to the sea, there is no need to worry, because the Bohai Sea is under the guard of Liaodong Peninsula and Shandong Peninsula . It will not be like Nanjing, once it encounters an enemy invasion, it will have no defense at all. opportunity and therefore strategically very safe.

Fourth: It is easy for ordinary people to accept it.

"Beiping was the imperial capital of the Ming and Qing dynasties."

Peking has been at the top of the country's cities for more than 500 years. Even in modern times, this city can still gather many high-quality resources and still has a high reputation in the minds of the people.

If the capital of New China is Peking, it will be easy for everyone to agree and accept it.

The heroes saw the same thing. Wang Jiaxiang’s reason for recommending Peking as the capital was in line with Chairman Mao’s wishes. Therefore, he was even more sure of Peking as the capital.

Since the idea of ​​establishing Peking as the capital, Chairman Mao, Wang Jiaxiang and other party leaders began to prepare for moving to Peking.

At the September meeting, Chairman Mao pointed out: The Communist Party will establish a country under the people's democratic dictatorship. Governments at all levels and various political powers must add the word "people" to clearly distinguish them from the Kuomintang regime established by Chiang Kai-shek.

For this reason, Chairman Mao also mentioned that Chiang Kai-shek established an authoritarian state power in Nanjing, and our Communist Party can no longer set the capital of New China in Nanjing.

At the meeting, Chairman Mao asked Xu Xiangqian, who had been fighting on the front line, to learn about the combat situation. He learned that Shanxi's Yan Xishan insisted on fighting and did not agree to peaceful negotiations with the Communist Party. Chairman Mao was particularly worried that Fu Zuoyi, the commander of the Kuomintang's "North China Suppression Chief", would also do the same. Like Yan Xishan, he refused peace talks.

Chairman Mao hoped that "Beiping should not be attacked". The purpose was to preserve the integrity of Peiping so that it could be the capital of the People's Republic in the future.

Nie Rongzhen, who participated in the command of the Peking-Tianjin Campaign, heard at the meeting Chairman Mao's desire to protect Peiping. He was also thinking about adopting the approach of "encirclement without fighting" to peacefully liberate Peiping.

Nie Rongzhen had this idea for two reasons:

1. As an ancient cultural capital with a long history, if Peiping can avoid being destroyed by war, it will retain huge cultural wealth for New China;

2. When he was in Xibaipo, he During the exchange with Chairman Mao, I learned that our party may set its capital in Peking, so we should do our best to minimize losses.

After learning that Fu Zuoyi, the commander of North China's "Suppression General", had the intention to negotiate, this further strengthened Nie Rongzhan's decision to peacefully liberate Peiping.

Fu Zuoyi's eldest daughter Fu Dongju had joined the Communist Party a few years ago. Since then, she has been responsible for delivering intelligence information to the organization.

Therefore, Nie Rongzhen sent her home to be responsible for providing intelligence and keeping abreast of Fu Zuoyi's latest developments in order to make future plans. Make the right decision.

The situation is favorable to our side. Nie Rongzhen expressed his views to Luo Ronghuan, " try our best to strive for the peaceful liberation of Peiping ."

Once the capital is set in Peiping in the future, the central government will have a beaten to pieces. There will not even be a place to house the central government agencies. How can it be designated as the capital?

Luo Ronghuan supported Nie Ronghuan's idea. He proposed that we must not pick up the gun unless it is absolutely necessary. We must "force Fu Zuoyi to lay down his arms" and insist on liberating Peiping through peaceful negotiations.

This matter was of great importance. Nie Rongzhen reported everyone's thoughts to the Central Military Commission and gave clear suggestions: capture Tianjin, force Fu Zuoyi to submit, and strive for the peaceful liberation of Peiping without a fight.

Chairman Mao supported Nie Rongzhen’s idea and emphasized that in the future, when our army seizes big cities, we will try our best to resolve them peacefully. The Chinese people have shed too much blood for the cause of liberation. Furthermore, we must also fight for the new future in the future. China Construction reduces some losses.

January 14th, After the Battle of Tianjin started, after 29 hours of fierce fighting, our army captured Tianjin. At this time, Fu Zuoyi, who was guarding Peiping, was shocked by the combat capabilities of the People's Liberation Army and quickly sent representatives to negotiate with Nie Rongzhen, Li Jishen and others. .

Seeing that the Kuomintang had lost power, Fu Zuoyi announced on January 20, 1949 that he would accept the peaceful adaptation of . The ancient Peking City did not suffer any damage and was completely preserved.

The peaceful liberation of Peiping provided favorable conditions for New China to establish its capital here.

html At 12:30 noon on January 31, Fu Zuoyi led 8 armies and 25 divisions to evacuate Peiping City and conducted a handover with the 41st Army of the People's Liberation Army outside the city.

The People's Liberation Army's Fourth Field Army, Mo Wenhua, entered the city from Xizhimen and began to take over the defense. At this point, Peking was declared peacefully liberated.

The big problem that Chairman Mao worried about has finally been solved. Next, we need to officially announce this matter.

In the past, whether it was Chairman Mao or Li Jiaxiang and others, the decision to make Peiping the capital was always in the private discussion stage. It was not until March 1949, at the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, that the party officially decided to make Peiping the capital.

This decision is not only the voice of comrades within the party, but also the common thought of many democrats.

Ye Jianying told Chairman Mao that many democrats expressed their firm support for making Peiping the capital and hoped that the Communist Party would establish a national government in Peiping.

Before the meeting, considering the special relationship between China and the Soviet Union, Chairman Mao also expressed our party's thoughts to the Soviet Union.

Stalin sent Mikoyan to listen to the opinions of the Communist Party of China and give guiding suggestions. Chairman Mao, Zhou Enlai and others explained to Mikoyan our party's approach on strategic principles, capital issues, economic policies, Sino-Soviet relations, relations between the two parties and other issues.

Regarding the establishment of Peking as the capital, the Soviet Union agreed.

Shortly after the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China moved from Xibaipo, Pingshan, Hebei via Baoding , Zhuozhou to Peiping.

On September 27 of the same year, the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference with the participation of 623 people in Zhongnanhai Huairen Hall officially adopted : 1. The capital of the People's Republic of China was established in Beiping City ; Second, from that day on, Peking City was renamed Beijing City.

3 days later, the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China was held in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Chairman Mao stood on the tower and solemnly declared: The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China was established today!

ending

Throughout the ages, the capital has played a vital role in the country's politics, economy, culture, etc. Therefore, where to locate the capital is a very important thing for New China.

We can see how seriously Chairman Mao attached importance to this matter from the fact that he selected several cities and considered the location many times.

Compared with Chiang Kai-shek who set the capital in Nanjing and relied on the plutocrats of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai to realize his dictatorship, Chairman Mao and Wang Jiaxiang discussed many times to set the capital in Beijing based on the overall situation and their responsibility to the party, the people and the country. responsibility.

For more than 70 years, Beijing, as the great capital of our motherland, has played an irreplaceable role in the country's development and economic construction.