1966, after the beginning of the special period of ten years, Zhang Chunqiao colluded with Yao Wenyuan and Wang Hongwen. In 1967, after the "January Storm", the Shanghai Municipal Revolutionary Committee was officially established, and Zhang Chunqiao served as the director of the Revolutionary Committee. After that, he was transferred to Beijing and served as Vice Premier, and was promoted to the national level. After
After standing in a high position, Zhang Chunqiao and Jiang Qing and others formed the "Gang of Four" and persecuted a large number of founding fathers. On October 6, 1976, Zhang Chunqiao was arrested. He was first detained within an underground project managed by the 8341 unit , and was transferred to Qincheng Prison in 1977. In 1980, after the central government's research and decision, the Gang of Four was made public. Before the public trial, the Ministry of Public Security first arranged relevant personnel to conduct a pre-examination of Zhang Chunqiao.
The person responsible for the pre-examination of Zhang Chunqiao was Wang Fang, who once served as the director of the Zhejiang Provincial Public Security Department, who later became the Minister of Public Security. According to Wang Fang's recollection, after receiving the notice, he called on his former secretary Huang Rongbo to join the working group and pre-examine Zhang Chunqiao with him.
Wang Fang and Huang Rongbo went to Beijing on April 19, 1980. After arriving in Beijing, they participated in the "two cases" exchange meetings many times and prepared for the pre-trial of Zhang Chunqiao. On May 26, Wang Fang led the working group to officially enter Qincheng Prison. On June 2, Wang Fang and the working group interrogated Zhang Chunqiao for the first time.
What the working group did not expect was that Zhang Chunqiao saw his dark side when he interrogated Zhang Chunqiao for the first time: Zhang Chunqiao did not speak for a word throughout the whole process, and sat there with a gloomy face. When they first saw this situation, Wang Fang and Huang Rongbo kept trying to make Zhang Chunqiao speak, but Zhang Chunqiao not only did not speak, but even turned his head aside.
Wang Fang and Huang Rongbo interrogated Zhang Chunqiao 11 times, and Zhang Chunqiao never spoke. It is worth mentioning that in order to be able to interrogate Zhang Chunqiao normally, the staff even found his "civil and military generals". In his early years, Zhang Chunqiao served as the director of the Shanghai Revolutionary Committee in Shanghai. His "Literary General" was a man named Xu Jingxian, who served as the deputy director of the Shanghai Revolutionary Committee and other positions.
The evidence provided by Xu Jingxian mainly revolves around Zhang Chunqiao's persecution of Chen Yi . Around the Nine National Congress, Zhang Chunqiao ordered Xu Jingxian to write a letter to Chen Yi, selecting Chen Yi as the "representative of the right" in Shanghai. Chen Yi served as mayor in Shanghai in the past. Many grassroots cadres in Shanghai had fought in the New Fourth Army in the past and respected Chen Yi very much. This was something that Zhang Chunqiao didn't want to see, so he personally organized a meeting to ask for a wide collection of remarks that were unfavorable to Chen Yi, and to make these remarks into pamphlets to persecute Chen Yi during the "Nine National Congress".
During the "Nine National Congress", Xu Jingxian carried out Zhang Chunqiao's instructions and presided over a meeting to persecute Chen Yi, so it is most appropriate for him to correct Zhang Chunqiao in person. However, after hearing Xu Jingxian's correction, Zhang Chunqiao continued to remain silent, just like before, without saying a word throughout the whole process. The "military general" found by the working group
is Wang Hongwen. Wang Hongwen and Zhang Chunqiao are both main members of the "Gang of Four", and they were also arrested on the same day. In 1966, shortly after the ten-year special period began, Wang Hongwen created the Anting incident. Zhang Chunqiao was responsible for negotiating with Wang Hongwen to resolve the Anting incident. However, the two got together in the process of resolving the Anting incident.
After the "January Storm", two large-scale "Blasting Zhang Chunqiao" movements occurred in Shanghai. In these two movements, the "General of Industry" commanded by Wang Hongwen became Zhang Chunqiao's personal team, helping Zhang Chunqiao suppress many people, and Wang Hongwen became Zhang Chunqiao's trusted "General".
However, in the face of the confrontation between the "civil and military generals", Zhang Chunqiao still said nothing and confronted the working group with a pale face. However, this did not affect the verdict on Zhang Chunqiao. In the face of a large amount of facts and iron evidence, Zhang Chunqiao was eventually sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve. After serving a period of in prison, Zhang Chunqiao was given a commutation of sentence and was eventually released on for medical parole .
