The "Great Leap Forward" movement that began in 1958 seriously damaged the fragile economic structure at that time. In order to correct the mistakes of the "Great Leap Forward" movement, our party held a Lushan Conference in Lushan in 1959. At this meeting, the founding marshal Peng Dehuai wrote a "Ten Thousand Words Letter", pointing out the mistakes of the "Great Leap Forward" movement in a realistic manner, and he was criticized for this and dismissed from office.
Today we are talking about the person who served as Peng Dehuai's secretary. He followed Peng Dehuai for many years. After the Lushan Conference, he was also implicated. He was not only expelled from the party, but also sent to the farm to work. After the ten-year special period began, he was even cruelly persecuted. This person’s name is Zhang Yangwu. So, what’s the story about Zhang Yangwu?
Zhang Yangwu was born in 1905 and is from Sanhe Village, Shahe Town, Xixiang County, Shaanxi Province. In his early years, Zhang Yangwu mainly studied in his hometown. Influenced by progressive ideas, he joined the Communist Youth League in 1933 and began to participate in revolutionary activities. After that, Zhang Yangwu was admitted to a university in Peking and became a senior intellectual in that era. During his college years, Zhang Yangwu also participated in a series of student movements under the leadership of our party, and did his best to promote our party’s revolutionary thoughts.
1937, after the July 7 Incident, the Anti-Japanese War broke out in full swing. As a progressive young man, Zhang Yangwu also began to participate in anti-Japanese activities. In February 1938, Zhang Yangwu went to Xi'an and introduced him to Yan'an through the Eighth Route Army Office in Xi'an. After arriving in Yan'an, Zhang Yangwu entered the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University to study revolutionary theory. After graduation, he stayed in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, mainly engaged in revolutionary propaganda and other aspects. Under the leadership of our party, he witnessed the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.
During the War of Liberation, Zhang Yangwu was active in the northwest region for a long time. In 1949, shortly after the liberation of Xi'an, Zhang Yangwu became Peng Dehuai's secretary. After that, Zhang Yangwu followed Peng Dehuai to Lanzhou to participate in a series of battles to liberate the northwest. It is worth mentioning that Zhang Yangwu also specially escorted Peng Dehuai's wife Pu Anxiu to Lanzhou. Because Pu Anxiu was very sick, she arrived in Lanzhou smoothly thanks to Zhang Yangwu's care.
Under Peng Dehuai's leadership, Zhang Yangwu witnessed the liberation of the Northwest region. At the same time, he also participated in the negotiations with Tao Zhiyue as Peng Dehuai's secretary, and did a lot of basic work to liberation of the Northwest region. Shortly after the founding of New China, the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea broke out, Peng Dehuai was appointed commander-in-chief of the Volunteer Army, and Zhang Yangwu continued to serve as his secretary, following Peng Dehuai to the Korean battlefield and participated in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.
In 1951, Zhang Yangwu returned from North Korea. Since then, he has joined the Northwest Military and Political Committee and served as the office director and other positions. In 1959, at the Lushan Conference, Peng Dehuai was wrongly criticized. As Peng Dehuai's former secretary, Zhang Yangwu was also implicated. Not only was he revoked his post, but he was also expelled from the party, and his salary and benefits were also demoted from the original administrative level nine to the administrative level twelve.
Not only that, Zhang Yangwu was also sent to the central government farm in the Badaling area of Beijing for labor reform. In 1961, Zhang Yangwu's situation improved. He was transferred to the Central College of Nationalities to teach, and then went to Guangxi to participate in the "Four Cleanups" movement. After the beginning of the special period of ten years, Zhang Yangwu was also affected. In 1969, he was sent to the Qianjiang Cadre School in Hubei Province for labor reform. It was only after more than two years of transformation that Zhang Yangwu was approved to return to Beijing and continue to teach at the Central College of Nationalities.
In 1978, Peng Dehuai was rehabilitated and restored all his reputation. At the same time, the central government held a solemn memorial service for him. Zhang Yangwu was expelled from the party because of the Lushan Conference. As Peng Dehuai restored his reputation, Zhang Yangwu also restored his party membership and reputation, and relevant departments also restored his previous salary and benefits. After that, Zhang Yangwu successively served as vice president and consultant of the Central College of Nationalities. In his later years, he mainly lived in Beijing and died in 1995 at the age of 90.
