"Go and tell Comrade Ye Jianying that I will not accept his advice. I will not be this emperor."
In early 1949, Chairman Mao said to Zhou En with a serious look on his face and very angry.
(Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai)
Zhou Enlai saw Chairman Mao’s face showing anger and said with a smile: “Chairman, Comrade Ye Jianying is also for your own good. You always have to listen to the comrade’s ideas.”
“No, no,” Chairman Mao shook his head, “This Ye Jianying is sometimes too stubborn. You go and do his job and let him dispel this idea.” What exactly is that Chairman Mao and Ye Jianying had such a difference for a while. It turned out that in January 1949, after Chairman Mao and other party leadership organs entered the work of Peiping , Ye Jianying decided to let Chairman Mao and others move to Zhongnanhai for the sake of personal safety.
(Old Photo of Zhongnanhai)
, Chairman Mao, who has always been thrifty and regards extravagant life as a great enemy, naturally would not agree to move into Zhongnanhai.
So, how did Zhou Enlai and Ye Jianying finally persuade Chairman Mao? What kind of story is behind this?
Today, this episode tells you: Why did Chairman Mao refuse to move into Zhongnanhai in 1949?
(Chairman Mao)
On January 31, 1949, the Kuomintang defender Fu Zuoyi surrendered to the urgency and , Peaceful liberation of Peking , which marked the last battle of the strategic decisive battle of the Liberation War - Pingjin Battle came to an end. The defeat of the Jiang family dynasty on the land of China has become a foregone conclusion.
In the joyful atmosphere of New Year's celebration and victory, On February 3, 1949, the Chinese People's Liberation Army officially entered Peking . The people of Peking, who had been looking forward to liberating for a long time, held a grand welcoming ceremony for the Chinese People's Liberation Army - Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan, Nie Rongzhen and others stood on the Beiping city tower and watched the team slowly enter the city. They have been fighting for this for too long for the victory of this day.
(Peaceful Liberation of Peiping)
While several generals were looking at the team and were in deep thought, suddenly, a person holding a telegram in his hand. The person who rushed over hurriedly broke the peace that several generals enjoyed. Among the three, Ye Jianying met this staff member who looked hurriedly - he was Qi Yanming from the Central United Front Work Department. Ye Jianying asked Qi Yanming what was going on during this trip, and Qi Yanming immediately handed the telegram in his hand to Ye Jianying.
This telegram comes from Zhou Enlai located in Xibaipo . It turned out that shortly after Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan, Nie Rongzhen and others led their troops into the city, Chairman Mao, Zhou Enlai and others would set off from Xibaipo to Beiping shortly after this. Zhou Enlai's telegram was to instruct Ye Jianying and others to prepare for the relocation of the Party Central Committee organs to Peiping, especially the location selection of the office location of the organs. However, Zhou Enlai did not explain in the telegram where should be selected.
(Ye Jianying)
When Ye Jianying saw the telegram, he had already had a planned work location in his mind. So he asked Qi Yanming to go to Cheng Zihua, who was then the commander of the Beiping City Security City, to talk about it, Haozhi who is currently taking over the work location of the party and government agencies in the future. After Qi Yanming talked to Cheng Zihua, immediately drove towards Zhongnanhai.
Zhongnanhai is located in Chang'an Street, Beiping City. Its history can be traced back to Ming Dynasty , and it was a place for emperors of all dynasties to escape the summer heat. During the Republic of China, Zhongnanhai was the office of Kuomintang officials, including Fu Zuoyi, a Kuomintang general who once commanded the Pingjin Battle.
(Old Photo of Zhongnanhai)
After arriving in Zhongnanhai, Qi Yanming found Zhang Minghe, who was responsible for Zhongnanhai defense at that time. Seeing Qi Yanming's expression in a hurry, Zhang Minghe asked him what he had to do when he was here to find him.
"Please take the troops and clean up this place. Someone will move in later."
" No! "Zhang Minghe's answer was very neat, "Now Zhongnanhai is in a closed state. Without the orders of Chief Cheng, we will not allow anyone to enter here. "
Qi Yanming saw Zhang Minghe's reaction fiercely, so he hurriedly walked to Zhang Minghe's side and whispered in his ear: "It's Comrade Li Desheng. "
(Old Photos of Zhongnanhai)
Zhang Minghe immediately understood the purpose of Qi Yanming's trip - Li Desheng , which was the code name of Chairman Mao. In 1947, the army of Hu Zongnan attacked the Yan'an Revolutionary Base. Chairman Mao led the cadres of the central organs and some People's Liberation Army to fight in northern Shaanxi, and played the " Mushroom Tactics " with Hu Zongnan to liberate the people of other regions. The army's war is time. In order to avoid being discovered by the enemy, Chairman Mao, Zhou Enlai and others used pseudonyms one after another. Among them, Chairman Mao's pseudonym was Li Desheng, which means "the people deserve to win."
"That's not OK," Zhang Minghe's attitude was very firm: "Comrade Li Desheng cannot live here at present. We have not cleaned up here yet. If leaves items such as bombs , gunpowder , etc., it may affect the safety of comrades, what should I do? "
Accompanied by Zhang Minghe, Qi Yanming checked the basic situation in Zhongnanhai - found that after the Qing royal family moved out from here, there was almost no completely clean place in Zhongnanhai. The silt in the lotus pond emitted a fishy smell, and garbage blown by the wind was seen everywhere. The guard troops under Zhang Minghe had only one company, which could only maintain order here. It was obviously not enough to clean up here from head to toe.
(old photo of Zhongnanhai)
So, after the execution of Zhongnanhai this time, Qi Yanming found the person in charge of North China Bureau Peng Zhen asked him for approval to transfer some Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers to assist in the security investigation and cleaning of Zhongnanhai. Finally, after the struggle of hundreds of Red Army soldiers, to June 1949, the silt in the Zhongnanhai lotus pond had been cleaned up, and garbage was no longer visible everywhere, and the appearance in the yard was completely refreshed.
At this time, as the time for the founding of New China was getting closer, Zhou Enlai, who was working in Peking, came to inspect the work situation in Zhongnanhai, and was very satisfied. But before leaving, he specially reminded the People's Liberation Army soldiers who ensure the security of Zhongnanhai: "Chairman Mao loves reading books and must leave a study in his office. It must be in line with Chairman Mao’s living habits, but it cannot destroy the building here as it is. "
(Exterior view of Chairman Mao’s Zhongnanhai Study)
But what surprised the staff was that after learning that he was going to be invited to live in Zhongnanhai, Chairman Mao was very angry and said he was unwilling to move in.
The reasons why Chairman Mao was unwilling to move into Zhongnanhai in 1949 are many aspects. One of the first is the security issue in Peking at that time . In early 1949, after Chairman Mao and others moved to Peking from Xibaipo, Ye Jianying and others arranged for Zhou Enlai, Chairman Mao and other staff to stay in Xiangshan temporarily, and they found another work address of the party and government organs for future use.
(Chairman Mao)
The reason why Ye Jianying chose to be in Xiangshan at the beginning, but not in Zhongnanhai. One of the important reasons for is that Zhongnanhai was once the office location of many senior Kuomintang officials such as Fu Zuoyi. Without clearing and investigating the risks within Zhongnanhai, no one can guarantee that it is absolutely safe for Chairman Mao and others. If there are bombs and gunpowder left by the Kuomintang, the consequences will be unimaginable.
Secondly, the Xiangshan area where Chairman Mao and others lived at that time was close to the outer ring of the old city of Peiping at that time, which means that Chairman Mao and others' residence and office locations were closer to the anti-aircraft artillery force of the People's Liberation Army. If the Kuomintang sends airplanes to air strike, then the surrounding anti-aircraft artillery forces can be dispatched in time to ensure the personal safety of Chairman Mao and others.
(Black and white photo of Xiangshan, Peiping)
Facts prove that Ye Jianying and others' concerns are correct : In May 1949, the Kuomintang dispatched 6 aircraft to attack Beiping Nanyuan Airport, causing more than 20 casualties. But fortunately, the ground air defense forces of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in Xiangshan area were dispatched in time to intercept and transferred Chairman Mao and other leadership teams into the air raid shelter, which ultimately failed to succeed in the enemy's conspiracy.
Another important reason why Chairman Mao was unwilling to move into Zhongnanhai to live is that Chairman Mao was thrifty and frugal, refused to be arrogant and extravagant, and was close to the personal character of the people.
Shortly after Chairman Mao and others entered Peiping, Chairman Mao and others inspected the work in Peiping everywhere. Once, Chairman Mao wanted to go to Summer Palace to check the defense situation in Peking. Li Kenong, who is in charge of Chairman Mao’s safety, asked Chairman Mao to withdraw all the staff here before arriving in the Summer Palace and let the security personnel accompany Chairman Mao into the Summer Palace.
(Chairman Mao)
After Chairman Mao arrived at the Summer Palace and saw that there was no one, he asked the staff around him where the staff around him had gone. When Chairman Mao learned that in order to ensure his own safety, he removed all the staff in the Summer Palace, Chairman Mao said angrily:
"You took my fish here, but drained the water. Can the fish survive if they left the water? Immediately transfer these staff back."
In Chairman Mao's view, the relationship between him and the people is like a relationship between "fish" and "water". Once the fish leaves the water, the fish cannot survive. Chairman Mao considers being close to the people more important than his own life safety. Therefore, it is natural that Chairman Mao refused to move into Zhongnanhai in 1949.
(Chairman Mao is with the people)
After learning that Chairman Mao was always unwilling to move into Zhongnanhai, Ye Jianying had to find Zhou Enlai and asked him to persuade Chairman Mao to move into Zhongnanhai as a friend, so the scene at the beginning of our story came into being.
Zhou Enlai said to Chairman Mao: "Xiangshan has not even a wall at present. How can you ensure your safety at that time? Comrade Ye Jianying has also thought about moving into Zhongnanhai. We put safety first, and everything else can be simple."
(Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai)
But who knew that Chairman Mao's stubborn temper at this time came. He said to Zhou En: "I don't listen to what you said. If you want to move into Zhongnanhai, then you can move in. I don't want to live in it."
helplessly, Zhou Enlai had to hand over the work location of the party and government organs to the Political Bureau of the Central Committee to make a decision. At the meeting, Zhou Enlai proposed: ", moving into Zhongnanhai, Beijing is a better choice for the party organs. Because if you do not choose to move into the old site, you may have to build another house on the foundation of Peking. At this time, the country is in a mess and it is not appropriate to build a large-scale construction."
(Zhou Enlai)
Finally, at Zhou Enlai's suggestion, the party voted on the choice of office organs, although Chairman Mao had a disagreement about moving into Zhongnanhai. However, during this vote, there were more party members supporting the move to Zhongnanhai. According to the party's discipline, the minority of obeyed the majority. Chairman Mao agreed to the voting result and finally moved into Zhongnanhai with everyone.
As Zhou Enlai said, moving into old houses such as Zhongnanhai at that time was precisely the choice that could save most human and other economic costs at that time. plus the characteristics of Zhongnanhai’s own ancient building complex can better conceal and protect the party and government leading cadres at that time.
(Old Photo of Zhongnanhai)
Shortly after Chairman Mao and others moved into Zhongnanhai, New China was announced, and China's history opened a new glorious chapter.
