In September 1972, Wang Hongwen, who served as the deputy director of the Shanghai Revolutionary Committee, was transferred to Beijing. Wang Hongwen, who had just arrived in Beijing, was very low-key and extremely cautious. However, with the convening of the "Top Ten", Wang Hongwen was not only elected as vice chairman, but also served as a member of the Standing Committee and was also trained as a "successor".
Since serving as vice chairman, Wang Hongwen has become more courageous. He has gradually formed a "Gang of Four" with Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan and Jiang Qing, doing a lot of bad things and persecuting a large number of cadres. On October 6, 1976, Hua Guofeng, Ye Jianying and others attacked, arresting Wang Hongwen and others, and completely smashing the "Gang of Four".
In fact, before completely smashing the "Gang of Four", many knowledgeable people were already dissatisfied with the "Gang of Four". For example, at the meeting of the commanders of the Eight Military Regions at the end of 1973, Wang Hongwen pointed Xu Shiyou's name, and Xu Shiyou even pretended not to hear it. When Wang Hongwen named Xu Shiyou for the second time, Xu Shiyou was so angry that he threw the teacup on the table.
Xu Shiyou almost represented the army's attitude towards the "Gang of Four" at that time. However, among the army, Wang Zhen was the one who disliked the "Gang of Four" the most. In his early years, Wang Zhen was mainly active in the Hunan-Jiangxi base area. During the Long March, he was an important general of the Second Red Army. During the War of Liberation, Wang Zhen fought in the Northwest Field Army for a long time and made great contributions to the liberation of Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang.
After the founding of New China , Wang Zhen was awarded the rank of general when he was awarded the title. After the special period of ten years began, he was also affected by the "Gang of Four". However, under the protection of Chairman Mao, Wang Zhen successfully returned to work and was appointed as Vice Premier at the first session of the Fourth National People's Congress in 1975, becoming a vice-state-level cadre of New China.
In fact, the personnel arrangements for the Fourth People's Congress are under the responsibility of Premier Zhou and Wang Hongwen. The "Gang of Four" has always regarded the Fourth People's Congress as a good opportunity to seize power and wants to arrange their own people to important positions. However, with the efforts of Premier Zhou, the conspiracy of the "Gang of Four" went bankrupt, but the "Gang of Four" was not willing to fail. They kept creating troubles, specifically targeting cadres such as Wang Zhen who had just become state leaders.
Wang Zhen hated the "Gang of Four". After July 1976, Wang Zhen took the initiative to contact Xiao Jinguang , Geng Biao, Yu Qiuli, Chen Yun, Ulanfu, Tan Zhenlin, Su Yu and others, telling them that the "Gang of Four" has done many evil deeds, and even publicly said that the "Gang of Four" would arrest it. In addition to the people we mentioned above, Wang Zhen also specifically found Marshal Ye Jianying in August 1976.
Ye Jianying naturally knew that Wang Zhen wanted to arrest the "Gang of Four", but Ye Jianying made a gesture at that time, which was: "Stretch out his left hand and clenched his fist, gave him a thumbs up, shook it up twice, then turned his thumbs upside down, and pressed it down." Ye Jianying implied that it was not the time to take action, so he told Wang Zhen not to worry and wait a moment.
Wang Zhen also knew that crushing the "Gang of Four" was a matter of not being anxious, and he knew that he could not alarm the enemy, so he could only wait slowly. On the other hand, Ye Jianying was also always paying attention to the situation of the "Gang of Four". On September 11, Hua Guofeng specifically asked Li Xiannian to Ye Jianying's residence. The two old comrades quickly reached an agreement, laying the foundation for the subsequent smashing of the "Gang of Four".
1976 On October 6, 1976, when it was time to really arrest the "Gang of Four", Hua Guofeng and Ye Jianying were in charge of Huairen Hall , and called Wang Hongwen and others to Huairen Hall in the name of a meeting. Wang Dongxing also arranged for members of the special operation team to be on standby at any time, and finally arrested Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan. At the same time, Zhang Yaoci also arrested Jiang Qing in Chunouzhai, completely smashing the "Gang of Four".
