On November 7, 1988, a disabled person who looked extremely ordinary died suddenly after walking the bumpy road of 78 years. The news spread, and an incredible scene suddenly happened. The seven military regions across the country sent condolences one after another, and Hu Yaobang also took the time to write a message of condolences.
In the neighbor's impression, the old man who just died is actually a lame disabled person. Faced with such a high-scale funeral, people couldn't help but ask: He doesn't seem to be an ordinary person, so how magical is he that he can actually receive condolences from all directions?
The lame old man is named Kong Xianquan. He looks ordinary and he has been criticized and beaten a lot during the ten years of the Cultural Revolution and almost lost his life. Anyone who knows a little about the inside story knows that he is actually a person with a unique background. His life was tortuous and ups and downs. He had suffered from life hardships. Because of some fate that could not be controlled by individuals, he was forced to hide his identity in the deep mountains and forests of Guizhou for 15 years. During the crisis, in order to support the family, I had to drag my broken body and work everywhere to make money. However, as soon as the opportunity comes, he will immediately emit dazzling light like the gold that has seen the light of day again.
Kong Xianquan was born in 1911 in a poor family in Liuyang County, Hunan Province. When the revolutionary pioneer fought bloody battles and successfully opened up the revolutionary base of Jinggangshan, he was infected and inspired and joined Red Army without hesitation. Because of his cleverness and activity, he first served as a communicator under Peng Dehuai's men and then promoted to the platoon leader. Because of his bravery in combat and repeated military achievements, he has been favored and commended by commanders at all levels. In August 1932, Kong Xianquan had just turned 21 years old. According to the founding general Huang Kecheng, he was fortunate to join the Communist Party and participated in all the anti-"encirclement and suppression" battles in the Central Soviet Area, and gradually grew into a regiment-level cadre.
During the battle, he was injured in many places all over his body, and passed by death several times. He was called "Cheng Yaojin, who could not be beaten to death" by Huang Kecheng, who was then the political commissar of the Red Fourth Division of the Red Third Army. On December 30, 1930, Kong Xianquan participated in the Battle of Longgang in Yongfeng County, Jiangxi Province. He not only defeated the elite 18th Division of the Kuomintang, but also captured the division commander of the division Zhang Huizan alive, achieving the first major victory in the anti-"encirclement and suppression" .
Such a brave man who fights should have a bright future in the Red Army. How could he suddenly become a "lame mason" and wander in the deep mountains of Guizhou for a long time and an ordinary man who needs to make money by working to survive?
Due to the wrong command of Bogu , Li De and others, the fifth anti-suppression and suppression of the Central Red Army failed and was forced to start a strategic shift in October 1934 and embarked on a long and tragic Long March. At that time, Kong Xianquan served as the reconnaissance staff of the Fourth Division of the Red Third Army and was an important helper for the division commander, Hong Chao and political commissar, and Huang Kecheng, to march and fight. The battle on the first blockade of the Central Red Army suddenly started by them. The battle was called the "Hundred Stones Battle" and has been recorded in history. Unfortunately, it was in this battle that the division commander Hong Chao died and became the first Red Army division commander to die on the Long March route.
The Fourth Division of the Red Third Army, where Kong Xianquan is located, has always been the pioneers. They fought bloody battles and fought tenaciously, breaking through the four enemy blockade lines one after another, paying a significant price. With the repeated suggestions of the great man, after "transferring troops through the channel", the Central Red Army finally gave up the plan to join the Red Second and Sixth Corps in , Xiangxi , and began to turn to Guizhou, where the Kuomintang's rule was relatively weak.
At the Zunyi Conference held in Guizhou, Mao Zedong returned to the leadership and decision-making level of the Red Army and took control of military power. With Mao Zedong's use of troops as if he was a god, the Central Red Army began to change the situation of passive beatings and regain the strategic initiative. In order to break the enemy's encirclement and blockade and find favorable fighter opportunities again, Mao Zedong organized and implemented the " Four Crossings of Chishui " with extraordinary wisdom, saving the party, the Red Army, and the Chinese revolution at a critical moment.
In February 1935, in order to mobilize and get rid of the enemy, Mao Zedong resolutely made a decision and ordered the main force of the Red Army to rush to the east from the area of Thaxi, Yunnan to return to Guizhou and start the second time of Chishui. The famous Loushanguan Battle began.At this time, Kong Xianquan served as the combat staff of the 12th Regiment of the Red Army, responsible for raiding the command post behind the enemy. He is the division's reconnaissance staff officer and a regiment-level cadre. How come he suddenly becomes the regiment-level staff officer? It turned out that the Red Army suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of Xiangjiang in , and the troops were forced to shrink, and the original division-level system was temporarily cancelled.
On February 26, 1935, Kong Xianquan led the assault team to assault from the south side of Loushan Pass, and planned to drop the enemy command post located in Black Temple . However, when the commando rushed to a position only about a hundred meters away from the enemy's command post, the enemy's reinforcements suddenly arrived. An unprecedentedly tragic bloody battle is inevitable.
The enemy relied on their superior forces to launch round after round of attacks on the Red Army Commando. But Kong Xianquan was not afraid of life and death, and led the Red Army soldiers to kill and injure the enemy in large numbers. During the fierce battle, the enemy discovered that Kong Xianquan was the on-site commander and immediately mobilized the machine gun and strafing the machine gun. As a series of dense rain of bullets flew over, Kong Xianquan suddenly fell to the ground. He was shot six times in a row in his left hip, but he was unwilling to stop. He rolled into the ditch on the side of the road and continued to shoot with a pistol with obstacles. He endured the heart-wrenching pain and killed several enemy troops in a row, and finally waited for the firepower support from his comrades.
After the Red Army won the battle, the seriously injured Kong Xianquan was rushed to the Catholic Church in the city of Zunyi . There was a temporary hospital for the Red Army, filled with severely injured people sent from all over the country. Hu Yaobang, who was only 18 years old, was the general branch secretary of the 13th Regiment of the Red Third Army at that time. He was preparing to enter Zunyi City with a propaganda team to maintain order. He was suddenly injured by a bomb projected by an enemy plane and was also receiving treatment here. He witnessed Kong Xianquan's courage and strength.
Since the anesthetic was not found, Kong Xianquan had to undergo treatment with a knife, so the doctor had to use "opium water" instead and took out a few broken bones for him. He gritted his teeth and persevered. At night, due to his unconsciousness, his brain seemed to remain in the scene of war, and he kept shouting "Roar" and "Kill". Hu Yaobang later recalled: Kong Xianquan was Cheng Yaojin who could not be beaten to death. He called him all night, but no one was sleeping well. This story was later brought up as a joke among the veteran Red Army soldiers, and many people knew it.
The Red Army’s Long March is a mobile warfare, without the support from the rear, and it is difficult for serious injuries to deal with. It is sometimes a dilemma that you cannot abandon it at will or take it away with the army. For this reason, the Red Army Headquarters made regulations: cadres above the regiment are carried away on a stretcher, and personnel below the battalion are placed on the spot; those who are indeed unable to follow the team above the regiment are left with 4,300 yuan, one health officer and one correspondent, and one on the spot to cover the crowd.
Kong Xianquan was a division chief and a regiment staff member before; but now he is a regiment staff member, a battalion-level figure, and is seriously injured. But because he was famous for his courage and courage, the battle was not very fierce during the period after the battle in Dushanguan, so Red Third Army temporarily gave him special treatment and carried him away on a stretcher for a while, hoping that he could get better as soon as possible.
As the troops walked, they walked to Lantou Street, Qianxi County, which was west of Zunyi City. This place should now belong to Lantou Town, Jinsha County, Guizhou Province. There is a big house in the street, which is the home of the enlightened landlord Song Shaoqian, where the Red Third Army Command is located.
Although the Song family is a famous landlord in the local area, it is essentially different from those local tyrants and evil gentry who are rich and unkind. Xerox is kind and has a good reputation in the local area. His house is wide and the courtyard is deep, and he has a Chinese medicine shop. He is very friendly to the Red Army and takes out a lot of food and medicine to help the Red Army. At that time, many wounded Red Army soldiers were placed in his home. After a while, the Red Army prepared for an expedition, and Kong Xianquan's hip had long been broken, the wound was still difficult to heal, and the injury did not improve. When the troops set off, the army had to make a decision to leave 300 silver dollars and one medical staff and guards in accordance with the rest and rest benefits of regiment-level cadres, and leave him at Song Shaoqian's house to rest. If you were an ordinary wounded person at that time, you would usually get 10 to 15 silver dollars.
Later, according to Kong Xianquan's own recollection, when the leader said goodbye to him, he not only sent someone to take a few photos of Song Shaoqian's house, but also left a sentence for Song Shaoqian: "You must be responsible for the safety of this person and protect him well. We will thank you. If there is any error, you will ask. We have taken photos and will come back to check it out at that time."
Lantou Town Location Map
In fact, although Song Shaoqian is a rich man, he is good-minded and has always had a good impression of the Red Army. More importantly, he also understands medical skills. Under the care and care of the Song family, Kong Xianquan's health gradually improved, but when he was able to walk down the ground, he found that his left foot was nearly 10 cm shorter than his right foot. Although the body heals, it is already disabled. When walking, it is always high and low, and it is naturally called "lame".
"Lame" was a regiment-level cadre of the Red Army after all. After healed, he certainly wanted to chase his troops, but the Red Army had already gone far away. He had no source of information and was inconvenient in his health. Where could he find it? Besides, Song Shaoqian did not agree. On the one hand, he advised him not to march and fight again on the grounds of being disabled; on the other hand, he always emphasized the instructions of the leader when he left. After thinking about it, Kong Xianquan agreed to Song Shaoqian's request and decided to rest assured here. Maybe one day the Red Army will come back.
At the end of 1936, the Xi'an Incident broke out. Kong Xianquan saw news about his troops in the newspaper. He wanted to leave here and go to Yan'an, but Song Shaoqian still disagreed and begged him: "You can't leave. If the Red Army comes back a few years later and sees you are not here, what should I do? What should I use to prove that I have protected you? For the sake of my saving your life, just think about me too." Kong Xianquan wanted to return to his own troops, but he could not hurt the heart of his life-saving benefactor. He weighed the trade-offs and kept it. However, he can't sit and have lunch. Although I have disabled feet, I still have hands, and I can still walk if I have a crooked foot.
After some painful thoughts, Kong Xianquan finally decided to leave Song Shaoqian’s home, support himself in this area and support himself. For this reason, he sent away the medical staff and guards left to him by the organization. At this point, Song Shaoqian could not resist him and could only do whatever he wanted, but always gave necessary help.
So people began to see a lame peddler, often carrying the peddler's load and walking in rural market towns. Later, the lame peddler actually learned the skills of a bricklayer and began to work around to make money with his heels. Over time, he was called the "lame tiler". After a little more, he began to place his home in Fengxiang Town, Zunyi County. This place is not too far from Lantou Town, Jinsha County where his savior Song Shaoqian is located. Of course, there are often walking and coming and going between the two.
If no miracle happened, Kong Xianquan would be in the remote village of Zunyi and would be a "lame mason" for the rest of his life. However, sometimes miracles happen in the world.
One day in 1951, an American jeep suddenly appeared on the street in Fengxiang Town, Zunyi County. Cars were extremely rare at that time and were rare. There is only one car like this in the entire Zunyi area. People are looking at it and want to know where the car comes from and where it goes. The ignorant children were still chasing the car and running forward. As they ran, the car drove to the door of the "lame mason" house and stopped with a slight noise. The villagers watched several big men walk into the "lame man"'s home, then respectfully invite him out, and finally get in the car together and drive straight to the district government.
Fengxiang Town Location Map
Then there was news that was unbelievable to everyone. The "lame" was suddenly appointed as the deputy district mayor of the district government and will participate in administrative affairs management and socialist construction here. The news came so suddenly that everyone was confused and asked: "What's going on? What's the origin of this lame bricklayer? He actually became a major Communist cadre overnight from an ordinary person?"
Later, the local people slowly learned that this "lame man" was really not an ordinary person.He was actually the old Red Army living in seclusion here, and he fought bloody battles here to defend the convening of the Zunyi Conference.
So how did Kong Xianquan, who lives in Fengxiang Town, Zunyi and is fighting around to make a living, find out the identity of the Red Army by the local government and then ask him to come out?
things are also a coincidence. One day, Kong Xianquan was going out to work as a bricklayer as usual. After resting, I found a newspaper and took it over and glanced at it. It was this gentle glance that made him realize it. The newspaper clearly printed two names of people he was very familiar with and knew: Yang Yong and Su Zhenhua. His heart tightened: Aren’t these two people the comrades I dreamed of finding? From then on, his fate began to change inadvertently.
Yang Yong and Su Zhenhua
In November 1949, the People's Liberation Army sounded the clarion call to march into the southwest, and soon occupied Guiyang and Guizhou was liberated. In the spring of 1950, the Guizhou Military Region was announced to be established, and the commander was Yang Yong, commander of the Fifth Corps of the Second Field Army, who led his troops to liberate Guizhou, and the political commissar was Su Zhenhua, political commissar of the Fifth Corps. This gratifying news was soon published in the newspaper.
Kong Xianquan is too familiar with Yang Yong and Su Zhenhua. These are old comrades in the Red Army back then. When attacking Loushan Pass, Kong Xianquan was the reconnaissance staff of the 12th Regiment of the Red Third Army, and the regiment commander and political commissar were Yang Yong and Su Zhenhua.
Seeing this amazing news, Kong Xianquan couldn't stop his passion and immediately quit his job and went home, found paper and pen to start writing letters to Yang Yong and Su Zhenhua. The letter stated that he did not sacrifice and was still alive, but he was physically disabled, but he still hoped to have the opportunity to work for the party and see if he could arrange things for himself to do within his ability.
suddenly received a letter from Kong Xianquan. Yang Yong and Su Zhenhua were also shocked. After being surprised, they immediately replied: "I didn't expect that Kong Xianquan is still alive." At the same time, they quickly passed the good news that Kong Xianquan was still alive to Huang Kecheng, then secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee.
Huang Kecheng was the political commissar of the Fourth Division of the Red Third Army back then. He was the old leader of Yang Tong and Su Zhenhua, and of course, he was also the old leader of Kong Xianquan. Huang Kecheng was Kong Xianquan's introduction to the party and has always been his old leader. Kong Xianquan was placed in the home of Song Shaoqian in Guizhou to recuperate, which was arranged by Huang Kecheng.
General Huang Kecheng
Huang Kecheng knew that Kong Xianquan was still alive and was very happy and immediately forwarded Kong Xianquan's situation to the relevant departments. The news reached the Zunyi Prefectural Committee of the Communist Party of China. His identity was confirmed after investigation and he soon resumed his party membership. After research and decision, Kong Xianquan was appointed as the deputy mayor of the Seventh District. So the relevant leaders personally visited Kong Xianquan's seclusion home and asked him to come out to serve.
Kong Xianquan has only been the deputy district mayor for about a year, but because of something that happened suddenly, the nature of his work began to undergo major changes.
In 1952, Guizhou Province decided to organize the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall . To promote this work, personnel must be drawn to form a special team. Kong Xianquan was an old Red Army regiment-level cadre and participated in the battle to defend Zunyi Conference. He had a certain first-mover advantage, so he was noticed by relevant leaders and was ordered to serve as the secretary of the preparatory committee. From then on, he began to participate in the preparations for the construction of the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall.
Kong Xianquan appointed director of Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall
Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall is one of the 21 earliest revolutionary memorial halls established after the founding of the People's Republic of China. At that time, there was neither ready-made experience to learn from nor model to imitate. Everything had to rely on yourself. Kong Xianquan fully utilized his subjective initiative and started his work creatively, trying his best to collect cultural relics, organize historical materials, and promptly started the protective repair of the former site of the conference site.
In February 1955, the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall was officially opened, and the Provincial Cultural Bureau officially appointed Kong Xianquan as the deputy director of the Provincial Library and served as the first director of the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall. During his tenure, Kong Xianquan did a lot of groundbreaking work in collecting revolutionary relics and collecting historical documents in the memorial hall. Research shows that most of the historical photos collected by the memorial hall were taken during Kong Xianquan's time as director.
In November 1958, Deng Xiaoping visited the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall for the second time. Seeing that the former site of the conference was protected better and better, and the documents and historical materials were becoming more and more abundant, he happily said to Kong Xianquan: "You are the most suitable candidate for the director of the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall." After Kong Xianquan's suggestions and efforts, Mao Zedong wrote the six big words " Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall " in November 1964. This was the only inscription written by Mao Zedong for the Revolutionary Memorial Hall after liberation. Kong Xianquan made an indelible contribution to this matter.
was once the vice chairman of the American Writers Association. He has interviewed many places in China on the topic of the Red Army's Long March. After hearing about Kong Xianquan's unique experience from the head of the central government, he visited him specifically, and then included the results of his visits in the famous book "Long March - An Unprecedented Story" he wrote, allowing more readers to understand Kong Xianquan's legendary experience.
On November 7, 1988, Kong Xianquan died of illness at the age of 78. The seven major military regions in the country have sent condolence messages one after another, but so far, there are not many people who can enjoy such honors. At the same time, Hu Yaobang also sent a condolence message: "I deeply condolences for the death of Comrade Kong Xianquan, an old comrade in the Long March."
