On December 21, 1973, at the end of the year, Tian Weixin, then deputy director of the General Political Department of the Central Committee, did not expect to usher in another change in his position.
What was held at that time was a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee.
The announcement about the exchange of military region commanders at the meeting shocked everyone present.
Tian Weixin, who was also a participant, did not expect that what surprised him even more was what happened next -
This meeting was the first time that Tian Weixin saw Chairman Mao in person. What surprised him even more was that Chairman Mao actually met with several of their political department cadres after the meeting.
Chairman Mao shook hands and talked with several cadres one by one.
When Chairman Mao walked up to Tian Weixin, he was so excited and nervous that it was difficult to calm down.
After Chairman Mao shook hands with Tian Weixin, he began to chat with him cordially.
Chairman Mao: "Comrade Weixin, where are you from?"
Tian Weixin straightened his back, quickly calmed down his turbulent heart and replied: "Hello, Chairman, I am from Dong'e, Shandong."
Chairman Mao thought for a while and asked casually: "Then do you know where Cao Zhi, the son of Cao Cao, is buried?"
Tian Weixin did not expect that Chairman Mao would act so "unconventionally", so he had to take back his prepared homely reply silently.
This question may be difficult for outsiders to answer, but as a local, he knows the answer almost without thinking.
He gave the answer definitely - Yushan.
Cao Zhi is a famous person in history. There is such a writer in his hometown. Of course, the villagers are proud of it. Therefore, Tian Weixin almost dares to vouch for it. Everyone in his hometown must know where Cao Zhi's tomb is.
Just knowing is one thing, being asked is another.
But before he could think about the Chairman's intention, Chairman Mao nodded and asked: "Is there a lake to the left of Yushan? What kind of lake is it?"
So Tian Weixin could only follow Chairman Mao's thinking and recall the situation in the Yushan area. As a real Dong'e person, of course he knew that there was a lake near Yushan, but there seemed to be some discrepancies with what the Chairman said.
He thought for a moment and replied firmly: "There is indeed a lake near Yushan, called 'Dongping Lake', but it is still a certain distance from Yushan."
Indeed, as far as he knows, the 'Dongping Lake' near Yushan is not really as close as the 'left side of Yushan' mentioned by the chairman. Therefore, he still chose to tell the actual situation.
What he didn't expect was that Chairman Mao nodded approvingly to his answer and said, "That's right!"
Before Tian Weixin could answer, Chairman Mao immediately announced his decision to him: "From now on the General Political Department will be left to you!"
Why did Chairman Mao ask these questions? Is it related to the appointment of Tian Weixin?
1. Who is Tian Weixin?
Tian Weixin, who was born in Dong'e, Shandong Province in 1916, originally planned to take the path of normal school.
Unfortunately, the situation changed drastically. With the massive Japanese invasion in 1937, Tian Weixin found that he could no longer settle down to teach and educate.
So he resolutely embarked on the road to joining the army.
In the early days, he joined the army of Fan Zhuxian, a subordinate of Feng Yuxiang of the Kuomintang. Unfortunately, after many twists and turns, he found that he could not realize his revenge of resisting Japan and saving the country in the Kuomintang army.
Later, Fan Zhuxian died in battle, and by chance he joined the Eighth Route Army.
After Tian Weixin was purified by Marxist ideas in the Eighth Route Army, he performed outstandingly in the battle. He soon became a key training target of our party.
In 1939, the organization sent Tian Weixin to the first branch of Kangda University in Taihang Mountain for further study. In the same year, he submitted an application to join the party and became a glorious Communist Party member.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Tian Weixin successively participated in the Hundred Regiments Campaign, the Battle of Prayer for Taiping, the Paanlong Campaign, etc.
In many battles, he not only served as a commander and accumulated great military exploits, but also served as the political director and political commissar of several units. He was responsible for the ideological and political work of the soldiers and provided a steady stream of ideological power to the soldiers.
You must know that political and ideological education work is not an ordinary job. As the "lifeline" of the party and the army, it is an important magic weapon for our army to continuously improve its cohesion and combat effectiveness. It is also an important guarantee for our party to maintain its advanced nature and purity.
With the establishment of New China, Tian Weixin, who was promoted to the rank of colonel, was sent to the Shenyang Military Region and served as deputy director of the political department of the military region and deputy political commissar of the military region.
Tian Weixin's many years of experience in political education allowed Tian Weixin to be stationed in the Shenyang Military Region smoothly, where he handled the affairs of the military region well and steadily.
In 1969, Tian Weixin himself did not expect that this year would become a turning point in his career.
At that time, it coincided with the 20th anniversary of the founding of New China. During the National Day, Tian Weixin and his colleagues from the Shenyang Military Region viewing group went to Beijing to visit the ceremony.
After the celebration ceremony, the viewing groups from all major military regions stayed in Beijing to continue their visits, which naturally included Tian Weixin. The turning point in his career happened one day after the ceremony.
That day, Tian Weixin, who was still visiting Beijing, suddenly heard someone shouting "chief" several times from behind him. He didn't take it seriously. After all, he knew that it was definitely not him.
Unexpectedly, no one nearby responded for a while. Tian Weixin felt strange when he saw the person calling "chief" coming to him. It seemed that he was actually calling him.
Tian Weixin vaguely remembered that the other party was an officer of the Central Political Department, and immediately said blankly that he was not qualified to be called ‘chief’.
Originally, in terms of responsibilities, the General Political Department, as the political work organ of the Central Military Commission, is responsible for managing the work of the entire military party, and can be regarded as the upper-level leadership organ of the local military region.
And I am just a small leader of the local military region. How can I be called "chief" by the cadres of the leading organization for no reason? This is really baseless.
Unexpectedly, what surprised him even more was what happened next. The comrade explained very seriously that he had seen the appointment letter issued by the superiors. The notification from the superiors was to transfer Tian Weixin to the General Affairs Department as deputy director.
Tian Weixin immediately confirmed the situation with the Shenyang Military Region. Unexpectedly, what the other party said was true, and the appointment letter had actually been issued to Shenyang.
And he never expected that he would say goodbye to the Shenyang Military Region this time when he came to Beijing.
Since the General Affairs Department later had many tasks that needed to be advanced urgently, Tian Weixin was unable to return to the Shenyang Military Region to hand over his work, so he stayed in Beijing and took up his post.
Since then, Tian Weixin has started his career in the Central Committee.
2. The profound meaning of Chairman Mao’s questions
On December 21, 1973, the Politburo meeting that Tian Weixin participated in involved an extremely important decision - the exchange of commanders of the eight military regions.
There is actually a little-known story behind this decision.
At that time, the domestic situation was relatively unstable and Premier Zhou Enlai's physical condition was gradually declining. Chairman Mao intended to cultivate Deng Xiaoping as his successor.
It happened that once, when Chairman Mao was listening to a staff report on the situation in the military regions, a thought came to his mind: The commanders of the major military regions have stayed in their original positions for too long, and this is not good.
He believed that a proper personnel transfer was needed. However, this approach was always a major and complex decision, so he planned to discuss it with Deng Xiaoping and exchange views.
Therefore, during the conversation between the two, Chairman Mao brought up this idea at the right time.
Deng Xiaoping fell into a brief silence after hearing this. He also knows that this step involves many issues, and it can be said that one move can affect the whole body.
In the end, he expressed his attitude directly through actions -
He would switch the positions of the teacups placed in front of him and Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao immediately understood Deng Xiaoping's attitude and couldn't help but applaud and smile and exclaimed: "What a hero who sees the same thing!"
It was also driven by this story that the issue of personnel transfers between the military region commanders and the General Political Department was proposed at the meeting, and the first scene took place.
Of course, several of the questions Chairman Mao asked were also considered.
As for where Cao Zhi is buried, except for the locals in Dong'a, Shandong Province, perhaps only those who have an understanding of this period of history and culture know the answer to the question.
It just so happened that Chairman Mao was very interested in the history of the Three Kingdoms.
He usually loves to read the history books of the Three Kingdoms, and he also has very high literary attainments. He has also done some research on Cao Zhi, who is as famous as the "Jian'an Seven Sons".
Therefore, he knew the general topographic location of Yushan and Dongping Lake in Dong'a.
In fact, several of the questions Chairman Mao asked Tian Weixin were intertwined, one after the other just to explore Tian Weixin's personal qualities and way of doing things.
Chairman Mao naturally knew that Dongping Lake was not on the left side of Yushan—there was no lake on the left side of Yushan.
But when the chairman personally asked if there was a lake on the left side of Yushan, most people would inevitably follow the chairman's words to express their profound knowledge if they did not understand the truth or were deliberately trying to cater to him.
If Tian Weixin really nodded and said yes, then Chairman Mao might still have doubts about his personal qualities.
But Tian Weixin's response was very flexible. He obviously knew the exact answer to this question.
But he did not directly deny that "there is no lake on the left side of Yushan", nor did he follow the error. Instead, he ignored the question of location in a roundabout way and answered directly, "There is indeed a lake near Yushan, but it is at a certain distance."
This was not intentionally vague, nor was it an unclear position, but a sign of high emotional intelligence.
His on-the-spot reaction reflected his great personal wisdom in dealing with people - he neither allowed leaders to step down due to mistakes, nor deliberately flattered or made mistakes.
What's more important is that he can still take the problem seriously with a spirit of seeking truth from facts - even if it is just a casual question like the chairman's casual chat.
Therefore, Chairman Mao immediately judged that Tian Weixin was the kind of person who could take on big responsibilities. Such a spirit of seeking truth from facts is indispensable for dealing with political and ideological work.
In addition, Tian Weixin has been working hard since he served as deputy director of the General Political Department of the Central Committee. He has excellent work performance in terms of work principles and working methods.
Such, and his response ability this time is indeed worthy of recognition, this will allow Chairman Mao to safely entrust him with a higher-level position such as Director of General Affairs.
3. Later Tian Weixin
Of course, Chairman Mao’s decision was equivalent to a promotion for Tian Weixin.
Ordinary people would have been overjoyed if they had learned the news of their promotion, or under the instruction of the chairman.
However, driven by his full sense of responsibility, Tian Weixin did not feel joy at all. Instead, he replied more steadily: "Chairman... I am afraid that I am not qualified for the position of director. I also ask the chairman to appoint other people, I..."
In this regard, Chairman Mao still insisted on his opinion: "No, you will be in charge of the General Political Department!"
Having said this, it seemed a bit rude to refuse further, but Tian Weixin had no time to think about it at that time. He really believed that his ability was insufficient and he was embarrassed for the big task, so he continued to refuse.
But Chairman Mao recognized him.
All this seemed to be a done deal. Tian Weixin was worried and had to accept the reality. He just waited to go back to receive the formal appointment letter.
At that time, Zhou Enlai and Ye Jianying, who were in charge of relevant work next to the chairman, naturally supported Tian Weixin's decision to serve as director of the General Political Department.
Unfortunately, Tian Weixin failed to become director of the General Political Department due to other reasons.
Even so, Tian Weixin is still doing his political and ideological work in his position as deputy director of general affairs for hundreds of years, and insists on continuing to carry forward his spirit of seeking truth from facts and conducting himself in society, which was affirmed by Chairman Mao, and is worthy of the expectations of the party and the people.
Even after he retired in his later years, he still insisted on serving the country and the people.
During this period, we can often see old and new comrades Tian Wei visiting his old army and preaching the party's history and revolutionary traditions to the younger generation in the army, using his actual actions to gather fresh army blood and ignite the patriotic enthusiasm of young soldiers.
At the same time, Tian Weixin not only participated in the editing and review work of the "War History of the Sixteenth Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army", but also personally wrote a memoir of more than 220,000 words - "Tian Weixin's Political Work Life".
His works, as documentary records of his working life, are still a valuable resource for future generations to refer to military historical materials and understand political work, and inspire generations of young people to use this as an example to devote themselves to the current modernization construction.
Conclusion
Comrade Tian Weixin is not only the pride of the people of Dong'a, Shandong, but also the pride of the people of the whole country.
What we see is him who resolutely joined the army to fight against the Japanese pirates during the Anti-Japanese War; he participated in the battle during the Liberation War and fought tirelessly for the freedom of the people; he still traveled to the military region and the central government in peacetime, and devoted himself to political education work.
He has done his best and made significant contributions to our country's military construction, political construction and other aspects.
At the same time, we must also see that he can not only obey orders, but also persist in himself at critical moments. It is this kind of spirit that makes his spiritual quality shine.
