In 1976, Chairman Mao passed away.
html At 3:00 pm on September 9th, radio stations across the country sadly announced the news amid mournful music.
Picture | Li Min
Chairman Mao’s eldest daughter Li Min, after carefully reading the wake list, suddenly she said to the staff: "My brother is missing, please add my brother!"
"Brother?" Staff There is some confusion. This list was drawn up through repeated confirmation by many people. It can be said that this list already contains all the people who should appear. But Li Min said that her brother was left out. Who is he? How come such an important person has never been heard of?
To solve this puzzle, we actually have to start with a hidden missile expert named "He Lucheng"...
Picture | He Lucheng (left)
1. Hidden missile expert
In 1956, China's first A missile research institute, which is now the predecessor of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the Fifth Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense, was established. The first dean at that time was the scientific giant Qian Xuesen who had just returned to China.
In order to develop China's own missiles as soon as possible, the central government urgently transferred a group of scientific and technological talents to Qian Xuesen who were both politically and technically qualified. Among them, a young scientist named He Lucheng has attracted the attention of many people.
This man is dressed in military uniform and has just graduated from Shanghai Jiaotong University. It is said that he was selected by the party organization to work under Qian Xuesen because of his outstanding work. Colleagues were very curious about him because this man named He Lucheng accomplished two great things as soon as he came in.
One is that he translated nearly a million words of obscure foreign missile technical information in a short period of time. His professionalism is really admirable. More importantly, he also drew tens of meters high drawings based on the above information.
As soon as this matter was completed, everyone's progress in missile research immediately took a big step forward.
Another thing is that he and another engineer jointly proposed a missile control solution. The success of this plan directly gave birth to my country's first independently designed and manufactured medium- and short-range missile. It was this experiment that completely made He Lucheng famous and became an expert in the missile field.
However, if he tells everyone that he is actually Chairman Mao's nephew, everyone's jaws may be shocked even more. He Lucheng is the child of Chairman Mao's brother Mao Zetan. He also has another name - Mao Ancheng.
But it is a pity that although He Lucheng is Chairman Mao's nephew, in fact, they have never met each other, whether during the revolutionary era or after liberation. Even when Chairman Mao left, He Lu Chengdu didn't have time to see him.
Why is this?
One of the reasons, as mentioned above, is that He Lucheng was selected by the party organization after liberation to go to the Fifth Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense to specialize in missile research. Since he was exposed to the country's top secrets, He Lucheng was unable to contact the outside world. Chairman Mao only knew that he was in Beijing, but did not know that his nephew was already a top missile expert. Due to various circumstances, the two never met each other.
What we are talking about here is after liberation. What about the revolutionary years?
It stands to reason that with such a close relationship, it is impossible not to have never met each other. What happened in the first half of He Lucheng's life?
2. Farewell
in 1935. In October 1935, the main force of the central government, the Red Army, arrived in northern Shaanxi.
Chairman Mao wrote the majestic "Seven Rules: Long March" with excitement. The sentence "The three armies are all happy after the battle" fully expressed the Chairman's joy after going through hardships. But this joy did not last long, and Chairman Mao received the "five thunders" news - his third brother Mao Zetan died.
After receiving the news, Chairman Mao was silent for a long time.Before his death, his mother specifically told him to take good care of his two younger brothers. But now that all the difficulties and dangers have passed, why is he gone? Chairman Mao fell into deep self-blame.
The second brother Mao Zemin received the news and quickly ran to his eldest brother to confirm the authenticity of the matter. Looking at his younger brother's eyes, Chairman Mao suddenly felt that he couldn't bear to tell him the truth.
My younger brother Mao Zetan has actually sacrificed for a while. Probably not long after the Long March, Mao Zetan was left in the Soviet Area, responsible for leading everyone in guerrilla warfare. The Long March was extremely difficult and dangerous, but how about fighting the enemy in the Soviet area? Mao Zetan led the independent division of the Red Army to fight in various places. It was very difficult and he almost lost his life several times. In 1935, Mao Zetan was besieged by the enemy and the troops were scattered. Mao Zetan took some soldiers and returned to a small village in Ruijin, .
But the next day, at dawn, the enemy caught up with them.
Upon hearing the gunfire, Mao Zetan first directed the soldiers to retreat from the back door, and then rushed to the high ground alone to attract enemy firepower. However, the enemy's firepower was too fierce, and bullets came like rain. During the melee, Mao Zetan was shot and fell to the ground, dying heroically.
At this time, Mao Ancheng (He Lucheng), who had just been born, completely lost his father. Mao Zetan did not know that he had a three-month-old child until he died.
After his wife He Yi learned the news of her husband's sacrifice, she was even more heartbroken, but the reality had to cheer her up. The situation in the Soviet area was difficult, and the enemy's interrogations and arrests were even more frequent. She had to send her child away and could not stay with her. So He Yi chose to foster Mao Ancheng in a civilian home, and when the war was over, she would take the child back.
Picture | He Yi
She found He Tiaoyuan, a relative from her hometown in Yongxin, Jiangxi. After sending the child there, in order to protect the child, she changed the child's name from "Mao Ancheng" to "He Lucheng". He is her surname, and "Lu" refers to Yuelu Mountain in Hunan, in memory of the child's father.
This is the second reason why He Lucheng has never met Chairman Mao. When he was sent to He Tiaoyuan's home, he was so young that when he grew up, he knew nothing about his life experience.
In August 1949, on the eve of the founding of New China, He Yi served as the Organization Minister of the Ji'an Prefectural Committee of the Communist Party of China. After taking office, she immediately went to the home of He Tiaoyuan, who lived in Huating Village. There, she met He Lucheng, who was in junior high school. As soon as she met, she cried and shouted: "Lucheng!" He Lucheng looked blank, and he felt strange looking at this middle-aged woman.
In the end, it was his grandfather He Tiaoyuan who told him the truth: "Lucheng, she is the biological mother you think about day and night!"
"Mother?"
He Lucheng was even more confused. Grandpa He Tiaoyuan once said when he grew up that he left his mother not long after he was born and he raised her on her behalf. At that time, He Lucheng, who knew his life experience, didn't think anything was wrong. But now that he met He Yi, He Lucheng realized that the longings he had been having trouble sleeping every night burst out at this moment...
The two held their heads and cried, and the fourteen-year bond was all turned into a thick bond at this moment. tears.
He Luben thought that this was the happiest time in his life, but unexpectedly, fate played a huge joke on him.
3. Car accident
Jiangxi.
A car was upside down on the road, surrounded by a mess and blood stains. He Lucheng opened his eyes with difficulty and looked somewhere, crying: "Mom..."
What on earth is going on?
During the failed fifth counter-encirclement and suppression campaign by the Red Army, Chairman Mao and his wife He Zizhen were about to participate in the Long March. They gave their child "Little Maomao" (Mao Anhong) to the care of He Yi and Mao Zetan.Unexpectedly, the guerrilla struggle in the Soviet area became increasingly difficult. Mao Zetan was afraid that the child would have an accident, so he asked the guards to foster him locally. He would take the child out after the war calmed down. But as mentioned earlier, Mao Zetan died heroically during the breakout, and the guards were also gone.
Now the child’s clues are completely cut off. He Yi had always felt guilty, so she had been searching very early on. The war was not over yet, and there were many restrictions when searching. Therefore, as soon as she was liberated, He Yi ran around, hoping to find some clues. Perhaps too eagerly, He Yi had a car accident while searching.
On November 21, 1949, seven or eight miles away from the outskirts of Taihe, Jiangxi, a jeep fell into a large puddle on the roadside.
After hearing the cry for help, local people immediately launched a rescue operation. Finally, they discovered that the person inside was He Yi. She was tightly stuck in the deformed passenger compartment and had long since lost her breath. He Lucheng, who was also in the car at the time, escaped with a broken leg. He Lucheng looked at his mother lying on the roadside and couldn't help but feel pain in his heart. He had never met his father, and now even his mother, whom he had known for less than three months, had left him. For the first time, He Lucheng felt that his fate was so unfair.
After hearing the news, He Zizhen, who worked in Shanghai, was extremely sad and rushed to Jiangxi immediately. After she made arrangements for her sister's funeral, she took He Lucheng back to Shanghai for treatment. Although He Lucheng has never met his aunt, he has a natural sense of closeness and does not have any feeling of "depending on others".
Picture | Chairman Mao and He Zizhen take a photo
After He Lucheng healed his leg injury, he carried his schoolbag and began to go to school to study. He knew that only by studying could he live up to the expectations of his mother and aunt. He Zizhen also often said to He Lucheng: First, don't carry the "brand" of your father's generation; second, you must study hard and become a person with real talents and hard work.
He Lucheng took her education to heart. Not long after, he was admitted to Shanghai Middle School , but at first, He Lucheng was a little frustrated. It turned out that he had been studying in the countryside before, so he could never speak Mandarin well, and his learning progress could not keep up with the teaching in Shanghai. At first, his teachers and classmates thought he was "rustic".
Although He Lucheng is young, fortunately he is very ambitious. If he is not good at studying, he will work harder; if he is not good at speaking Mandarin, he will practice more. He also kept in mind He Zizhen's teachings. He did not stand under the halo of his father's generation. He Lucheng always dressed simply and did not go out to play on weekends. Instead, he studied quietly at home.
In the early days of liberation, there were many people in the family (He Lucheng’s uncle He Minxue was the air defense commander of the East China Military Region) and there were many social activities. He Lucheng would lock himself in a small storage room to study and not go out to disturb the adults.
These efforts of He Lucheng were not in vain. At the end of the first semester, he adapted to the school's teaching and achieved excellent results, ranking among the best. Soon, he made greater progress. Two years later, he was admitted to the Electric Power Department of Shanghai Jiao Tong University with excellent results. Later, he went to Beijing and joined the Fifth Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense, focusing on missile research and development. .
html In the early 160s, He Lucheng came to the missile launch base located in the Gobi Desert in the northwest. It was freezing in the winter and the heat wave rolled in the summer, but He Lucheng was happy with it.
One day in early autumn, He Lucheng and another engineer named Wang Taichu came up with a missile control scheme. Based on China's situation at the time, their scheme was both economical and cheap. After discussion with
experts, they feel that it is completely possible. "Ten months of pregnancy, one day of delivery." After countless efforts, as the launch command was issued, the missile took off and penetrated the sky... This plan created by He Lucheng was later also used in missiles nuclear weapons and On the artificial earth satellite , He Lucheng won the National Science and Technology Conference Award for this achievement.
It is worth mentioning that Chairman Mao was very happy when he learned that the missile test was successful, but what he didn't know was that the major contributor was his nephew He Lucheng.
Throughout this entire process, He Lucheng kept He Zizhen's teachings in mind and never revealed his identity to others, let alone mentioned to his colleagues or superiors that he was Chairman Mao's nephew.
Although he and his uncle were both in Beijing, He Lucheng was afraid of disturbing his uncle who was busy with everything, so he did not make a request to see Chairman Mao, or write a letter to Chairman Mao. This is why He Lucheng has never changed his name, because he doesn't want people to associate it with it.
In this way, He Lucheng lived in obscurity in Beijing for a long time, until one day, Chairman Mao took the initiative to mention him. "Jiaojiao, you have to call Lu Cheng when you get married!" This was what Chairman Mao said to his daughter Li Min.
In August 1959, Li Min and Kong Linghua got married. Chairman Mao did not make any grand arrangements. He just prepared a few wedding banquets and invited only friends and elders.
Picture | Li Min and Kong Linghua
However, when Chairman Mao was looking at the list, he suddenly said: "You have to call Lu Cheng!" It turned out that Chairman Mao had not forgotten his nephew. Although he did not know where He Lucheng worked now , but he knew that his nephew was in Beijing.
In these years, he did not take the initiative to find him because it was for the benefit of his nephew. Not only him, Chairman Mao would generally not meet people in his hometown if there was nothing very important, not because he was ruthless, but because he was in this position now and he was afraid that many people would be interested in him. Therefore, for various reasons, Chairman Mao always chose not to meet his nephew.
But this does not mean that Chairman Mao does not care about his nephew. After all, they are connected by blood and cannot be separated. Therefore, when Li Min got married, he specifically mentioned He Lucheng. Li Min was dazed for a moment when she heard this strange yet familiar name. She came to her senses and said to her father, "Okay, I'll go find Brother Lu Cheng right away!"
But what the two of them didn't know was that at this moment, He Lucheng He has entered the Fifth Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense and has become a "hidden" missile expert. The party organization protects these scientists very closely, and it is basically difficult for the outside world to access them.
So after Li Min called the reserved phone number, there was no news. Asking someone to help inquire, but nothing happened, and there was no news about He Lucheng. In this way, He Lucheng once again missed the opportunity to meet Chairman Mao.
When he and Chairman Mao actually met, Chairman Mao was gone forever.
4. Funeral
At 4 o'clock in the morning on September 9, 1976, an emergency funeral meeting was being held. Central leaders mainly discussed three issues: first, how to deal with the chairman's funeral; second, how to deal with the chairman's body; finally It is to confirm the list of condolences and wake.
However, when Li Min saw the confirmed condolence and vigil list, she immediately discovered that He Lucheng's name was not on it, so she proposed to add He Lucheng's name, and then she immediately gave The funeral committee called and asked them to help find He Lucheng.
At that time, He Lucheng did not actually know that his uncle had passed away. He was still working hard on the missile problem. In order to bring all Chairman Mao's family members together, the funeral committee found connections with the military. After some inquiries, they found out. He Lucheng.
When He Lucheng heard the news of Chairman Mao's death, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He blamed himself very much. As a descendant, he didn't even see his uncle for the last time.
Picture | Chairman Mao
...
Chairman Mao lay quietly in the crystal coffin, surrounded by silence.
The people in the mourning hall wept silently. The tears had dried up, but the sad atmosphere still lingered for a long time. At this time, He Lucheng staggered in. He knelt down in front of Chairman Mao's portrait and burst into tears, unable to control himself.
Li Min felt even more sad when she looked at her brother He Lucheng. Although He Lucheng was his brother, they had not seen each other for decades. She did not know where he was in Beijing now. , and I don’t know what kind of work he is doing.
He Lucheng cried so hard that he almost fainted. The people next to him quickly helped him aside. Li Min walked over and shouted: "Brother..." He Lucheng's eyes were dim with tears, and he seemed to be unable to hold back his tears. The two hugged each other tightly.
A few days later, He Lucheng returned to the institute again. The colleague keenly noticed that something was wrong with him and asked with concern: "Lucheng, why do you feel like you have lost your soul when you go out?" He Lucheng shook his head and did not explain, but immersed himself in work again. Maybe only long hours of work can alleviate the grief in his heart.
After that, He Lucheng still did not tell anyone about his relationship with Chairman Mao, and continued to live in silence as an ordinary researcher. Even though he encountered many difficulties later, he did not throw away the "trump card" of his uncle, Chairman Mao.
In 1981, the Fifth Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense began to evaluate senior professional titles. Due to his outstanding contributions in the missile field, He Lucheng became the first person in the People's Liberation Army General Staff System to be evaluated for senior professional titles. Therefore, He Lucheng's certificate has so far It still has the bright "001" number printed on it.
Although He Lucheng did not take the initiative to mention Chairman Mao, in the end this matter was discovered by everyone.
One morning in August 1983, the reception room of the Fifth Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense suddenly received a phone call, which said that please notify the institute immediately. An engineer named He Lucheng went to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to collect a martyr certificate.
He Lucheng? Martyr's certificate?
The staff member thought to himself that he knew He Lucheng. He was a well-known missile expert in the institute, but he had never heard that there were martyrs in He Gong's family? When the staff asked who had the martyrdom certificate, a name that surprised him came out on the other end of the phone - Martyr Mao Zetan!
Isn’t that Chairman Mao’s younger brother? Is He Gong the nephew of Chairman Mao? The staff suppressed their shock and quickly ran to notify He Lucheng.
Because this matter was so big, all colleagues in the institute soon knew about it, and the entire Fifth Institute was in a sensation. Many people exclaimed: "Gong He is so low-key. After working for so many years, I don't even know that he is still..." There is such an identity! "
Although He Lucheng's identity has been exposed, his own mentality has not changed much. He and his wife still live in the assigned small house, and he continues to work hard in the missile field. . When someone accidentally mentioned He Lucheng's identity or Chairman Mao, He Lucheng would say every time: "Our fathers are our fathers. Our generation should work hard on our own, not to take the glory of our parents, and strive not to embarrass our parents!"
Later, He Lucheng retired and started a technology company. He did not mention that his uncle was Chairman Mao, but he always remembered that he was the child of revolutionary ancestors. He always donated money and materials to support the construction of the old area.
In the 1990s, He Lu came to commemorate his father Mao Zetan and uncle Chairman Mao. He called his children in front of him and asked them to change their surname back to Mao.
Picture | Chairman Mao
...
He Lucheng is a key figure in the field of Chinese missile research. He has a special status and a very rough life, but no matter what the circumstances, He Lucheng can maintain his nature, not follow the crowd, and maintain a hard and simple fighting spirit. This is undoubtedly worth learning.
pays tribute to Comrade He Lucheng!
. END .
Text: 一 Zero
Editing and typesetting: Xiaoyuan
