The Communist Party of China has gone through a long and difficult road from its founding to leading people to build New China. In decades of struggle, Chinese Communists have experienced countless life and death tests.
In 1927, the Kuomintang reactionaries betrayed the revolution and wielded a butcher knife at the Communists, which led to the failure of the vigorous Northern Expedition and countless Communists fell in a pool of blood.
In the tempering of blood and fire, the young Chinese Communist Party became more mature. The Communists took up arms and fought life and death struggles with the reactionaries one after another. During the struggle, some traitors who failed to withstand the test appeared, and more loyal people who were unwavering in their beliefs emerged.
Among them, Gu Shunzhang, who rebelled in the early 1930s, is known as the most dangerous traitor in history. However, because of the existence of red agent Qian Zhuangfei, the harm caused by his rebellion was minimized.
The most dangerous traitor Gu Shunzhang
Who is Gu Shunzhang? Why is he called the most dangerous traitor in the history of the Chinese Communist Party? How did red agent Qian Zhuangfei save our party in crisis?
In the 1920s, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party cooperated for the first time to launch a vigorous revolution. Urban workers were mobilized one after another during the revolution, and many people became the backbone of the Communist Party. Gu Shunzhang also entered the revolutionary ranks during this period.
In 1925, the Communist Party of China launched workers and students in Shanghai, Qingdao to carry out an anti-imperialist patriotic movement, also known as the May 30th Movement. Gu Shunzhang took this opportunity to stand out and rose to prominence within the party.
At that time, Gu Shunzhang was a worker in the cigarette factory of Shanghai Nanyang Tobacco Company. He was active in the May 30th Movement and played a certain role, so he was recognized by comrades within the party.
Gu Shunzhang is a good talker. He served as a small foreman when he worked in a cigarette factory and has good connections among the workers.
He led the workers on strike during the May 30th Movement and showed good organizational skills. In the early days, the members of the Communist Party of China were mainly intellectuals. When launching the revolution, such workers' representatives were needed. Gu Shunzhang seized this opportunity and entered the Shanghai trade union after the May 30th Movement, and thus became a key training target of our party.
In 1926, Gu Shunzhang was sent to the Soviet Union by our party to study political security work. Accompanying him was Chen Geng, a first-year student of Huangpu and the future founding general of the People's Republic of China. This is evident from the importance and training our party attached to Gu Shunzhang.
After returning to China, Gu Shunzhang participated in the 1927 Shanghai workers' armed uprising under the leadership of Zhou Enlai. During this period, he served as the commander-in-chief of the workers' picket team, which can be said to be a high-ranking position.
After that, his status within the party became higher and higher. At the Fifth National Congress of the Communist Party of China in April 1927, Gu Shunzhang was elected as a member of the Central Committee. At both the Third Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee in 1930 and the Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee in early 1931, Gu Shunzhang was elected as an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, becoming an early core member of our party.
From 1927 to 1931, the reason why Gu Shunzhang was highly valued within the party and was promoted all the way until he became a member of the Political Bureau is inseparable from the historical background at that time and Gu Shunzhang's special talents.
Gu Shunzhang came from a poor family, lost his father when he was young, and lacked discipline. He lived on the streets and learned martial arts in order to fight with others. After coming to Shanghai, he worked as a fitter in a cigarette factory while hanging out with gang members. He also served as a sub-leader in Shanghai Youth Gang and performed well in gang fights.
In Shanghai, a mixed bag of people, Gu Shunzhang has a certain appeal among the workers because of his skill and character. In the labor movement, he dared to fight and had martial arts expertise, and he did make a lot of contributions.
When he and Chen Geng went to study in the Soviet Union, he received top-notch spy training from the Soviet Union during the six months of training.
In half a year, he learned many skills, including makeup, magic performances, mechanical repairs, and criminal psychology. Combined with the original martial arts foundation, he was agile and could shoot with both hands, carry out blasting, and kill with bare hands. Among the early Communists who were mainly intellectuals, he was a rare martial arts and agent talent.
Because of this ability, Gu Shunzhang performed outstandingly when he was in charge of the workers' pickets during the Great Revolution. When the Kuomintang reactionaries raised their butcher's knives against the Communists, he was reused because of his special agent expertise.
After the April 12 counter-revolutionary coup, in order to protect the revolutionary forces and continue the struggle in the areas ruled by the Kuomintang, Zhou Enlai took the lead in establishing the Central Special Section . This special agency operates in the heart of the Kuomintang reactionaries and is responsible for dangerous work such as intelligence and armed struggle.
Under Zhou Enlai, Gu Shunzhang presided over the daily affairs of the Central Special Section and also served as the chief of the Operations Section. Gu Shunzhang gave full play to his expertise and led an armed force of the Action Section, which was very active. From attacking spies and suppressing traitors, to protecting central agencies and responsible comrades and rescuing arrested central responsible comrades, the shadow of this force can be seen everywhere.
The Kuomintang Central Unification agents who were fighting with Gu Shunzhang at that time also spoke highly of Gu Shunzhang's spy abilities and believed that he was an all-round spy who could be called a master.
It is precisely because of this that Gu Shunzhang's status within the party has risen. As a key member of the secret front, Gu Shunzhang served as the person in charge when the Special Task Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was established in November 1928.
But just as Gu Shunzhang achieved a high status within the party, many of his shortcomings were also exposed.
Gu Shunzhang was already involved in many bad habits when he was hanging out on the streets. After becoming a Communist Party member, he not only refused to repent and strictly restrained himself according to the requirements of the Communists, but instead intensified his efforts and even used his position and funds within the party to ensure his extravagant life.
According to the memories of comrades who worked with him at that time, Gu Shunzhang had several characteristics. First, he did not read documents on weekdays and did not speak much in meetings. Second, he lived a corrupt life, smoking opium, playing prostitutes, and beating his wife. Such a work style and life style were naturally incompatible with senior cadres of our party.
Gu Shunzhang knew that there were big problems with his life style, so he never told the comrades around him about his resume and social connections. But how could paper cover the fire? Many comrades were very suspicious of his life style and worried that he would rebel and bring heavy losses to our party.
Just when the comrades were aware of the huge risks in Gu Shunzhang and were preparing to transfer him from the Central Special Branch, Gu Shunzhang really fell into the hands of the Kuomintang opposition due to a private action.
After Gu Shunzhang was arrested, he did not last long at all and immediately became a traitor. Because of his special status and mastery of a lot of confidential information of our party, he immediately became the sword of Darkmoss hanging over the heads of the Chinese Communists. Even the lives of Zhou Enlai and others were in danger.
But fortunately, Gu Shunzhang was forced to rebel because of the existence of a red agent, which minimized the harm. Zhou Enlai and other central leaders also averted the danger because they got the information in time. This red agent was Qian Zhuangfei.
In one thought, he did not have time to betray Qian Zhuangfei.
Qian Zhuangfei's resume within the party is not as dazzling as Gu Shunzhang's. He once lost contact with the party organization and only reestablished contact with the party organization after many twists and turns, but his loyal belief in our party has never changed.
Qian Zhuangfei was born in a businessman family in Huzhou, Zhejiang in 1895. He was admitted to the National Beijing Medical College in 1915. After graduation, he stayed in Beijing to practice medicine. In 1925, he and his wife Zhang Zhenhua joined the Communist Party of China in Beijing after being introduced by his brother-in-law.
In 1927, after the failure of the Great Revolution, Qian Zhuangfei worked as a military doctor in the Northwest Army of Feng Yuxiang. However, due to serious salary arrears and no financial resources, he went to Shanghai and temporarily lost his connections with the organization. The next year, he saw an advertisement for radio training by the reactionary Kuomintang government in the newspaper, and was admitted with the first place in the examination.
The training class that Qian Zhuangfei joined belonged to the newly established spy organization of the Kuomintang. By chance, Qian Zhuangfei joined the Kuomintang's spy team.
Qian Zhuangfei is versatile. He has taught art and anatomy in Beijing, and acted in movies. In addition to mastering radio technology during training, he is also good at calligraphy and painting. Therefore, he quickly emerged in the training class of the Kuomintang and was favored by his immediate boss Xu Enzeng.
Xu En was once the cousin and confidant of the Kuomintang boss Chen Lifu . At that time, he served as the director of the Radio Management Division of the Kuomintang Construction Committee. This training class happened to be sponsored by him. Xu Enzeng and Qian Zhuangfei were fellow villagers, both from Huzhou, Zhejiang. Xu Enzeng was in the midst of employing people, and he was very optimistic about Qian Zhuangfei, a very capable fellow from the same hometown, so he let Qian Zhuangfei serve as his secretary.
Qian Zhuangfei was able to do things well around Xu Enzeng and was deeply trusted by Xu Enzeng. Soon Qian Zhuangfei ushered in a golden opportunity.
In 1929, Xu Enzeng was entrusted by Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Lifu to set up a spy agency in Nanjing specifically to deal with the Communist Party. This was later the top secret command agency of the Kuomintang spy system - the Investigation Section of the Central Organization Department of the Kuomintang. After receiving the important task, Xu Enzeng immediately discussed with his confidant Qian Zhuangfei and asked him to fully support him.
In the eyes of others, this is a good opportunity to get promoted and make a fortune, but in Qian Zhuangfei's view, this is just a good opportunity to obtain the core military and political intelligence of the Kuomintang in time and contribute to our party. It was also during this period that Qian Zhuangfei re-established contact with the party organization and became a nail inserted into the heart of the enemy's spy organization.
Under the secret leadership of the Central Committee, Qian Zhuangfei assisted Xu Enzeng in setting up the Investigation Section of the Central Organization Department of the Kuomintang. He also held an important position during this period and was especially trusted by Xu Enzeng.
It is precisely because of this privilege that Qian Zhuangfei has a good understanding of the internal intelligence of the Kuomintang secret service and has made great contributions to our party.
When Gu Shunzhang rebelled, he was still a core member of our party's secret front. Naturally, he also knew that comrade Qian Zhuangfei was lurking within the enemy. So why did he not betray Qian Zhuangfei, but instead let Qian Zhuangfei get the news in time, so that the leading comrades of our party could save the day?
This starts again with the story of Gu Shunzhang’s arrest and rebellion.
Gu Shunzhang's arrest was entirely his own fault. In March 1931, the central government decided to send comrades to work in the Hubei, Henan and Anhui base areas, and Gu Shunzhang was responsible for escorting him.
Gu Shunzhang and his party set out from Shanghai to Wuhan. After handing the comrades to the connecting traffic officer, Gu Shunzhang did not return to Shanghai in time, but stayed in Wuhan.
Gu Shunzhang met his former mistress in Shanghai by chance in Wuhan, and the two had a passionate fight. Gu Shunzhang was so happy in Wuhan that he even went to the public park in Wuhan to perform magic on the stage to earn money for spending time in the entertainment industry.
But when he was performing on stage, he was discovered by the Kuomintang agents and fell into the hands of the Kuomintang reactionaries.
Gu Shunzhang has always been dissatisfied with the strict discipline of the Communist Party. He believes that abiding by these rules and precepts is a living punishment, and he has already had the seeds of rebellion in his heart. After this arrest, he was familiar with secret front work and the Kuomintang's spy style. He knew that if he strictly kept the party's secrets, he would definitely be awaiting a cruel punishment that ordinary people could not imagine.
How could Gu Shunzhang be willing to suffer this crime? Therefore, he had already made a calculation in his mind. He knew that the secrets of the Communist Party he mastered were coveted by the top leaders of the Kuomintang, so he wanted to sell the rare goods at a good price.After
was escorted to the base camp of the Kuomintang agents in Wuhan, he immediately revealed two secret locations: the Wuhan office of the Red Second Front Army and the CCP's traffic point in Wuhan, but he kept silent about the secrets of the CCP's top brass.
Based on the information provided by Gu Shunzhang, the spies in Wuhan destroyed two underground organs of our party and arrested more than 10 communists. The reactionaries were even more anxious and wanted Gu Shunzhang to confess a few more things.
But Gu Shunzhang insisted that they send a plane to Nanjing to meet Chiang Kai-shek as soon as possible. His secret would only be revealed in front of Chiang Kai-shek.
There were two reasons why Gu Shunzhang did this. One was because he wanted to use the secrets in his hands to buy himself a path to prosperity and prosperity. Only by going to Nanjing to meet Chiang Kai-shek could he maximize his interests, especially since he also knew the whereabouts of Zhou Enlai. This was his biggest bargaining chip in negotiating terms with Chiang Kai-shek. If he told the truth in Wuhan, he was worried that he would lose his value.
Another reason is that Gu Shunzhang is very familiar with the situation of the secret fronts of the two parties. He is especially afraid of Qian Zhuangfei, who is deeply trusted by Xu Enzeng. He is worried that if the news of his arrest leaks out, Qian Zhuangfei will take action. The secret service agency here in Wuhan may have been infiltrated by our party's comrades, and he does not dare to reveal too much information here.
Therefore, while Gu Shunzhang urged to send an airplane or warship to take him to Nanjing as soon as possible, he repeatedly warned the spies in Wuhan not to send telegrams to Nanjing and to block the news.
But how could the Wuhan spies who were eager to take credit listen to the captive Gu Shunzhang? They did not understand Gu Shunzhang's warning at all. Instead, they sent an urgent telegram early in the morning and asked Xu Enzeng to forward the news of Gu Shunzhang's rebellion to Chen Lifu.
In this way, Qian Zhuangfei got the life-or-death news for the Shanghai Communist Party organs at the first time. The moment he saw the telegram, the hairs on Qian Zhuangfei's whole body stood up. He knew that if he had not learned the news in advance, the Shanghai Communist Party organs would probably be completely wiped out, and the lives of Zhou Enlai and other leading comrades would also be in danger.
But fortunately, because of Gu Shunzhang's clever mentality and the corrupt Kuomintang agents' eagerness to take credit, Qian Zhuangfei finally got hold of the news immediately.
Qian Zhuangfei promptly notified Zhou Enlai and others, and the Shanghai Communist Party organs also completed the evacuation in time. When Gu Shunzhang learned that the Wuhan secret agents had sent a telegram to Xu Enzeng, he regretted it and quickly asked them to send another telegram to Xu Enzeng, telling him that there were Communists lurking around him.
But at this time, Qian Zhuangfei had already been safely transferred. The spies who went to arrest him after hearing the news rushed to nothing. In this way, because of Qian Zhuangfei's wit and bravery, the harm caused by Gu Shunzhang, the most dangerous traitor in the history of the Chinese Communist Party, was minimized.
Reference materials:
"The Hero in the Tiger's Nest Qian Zhuang Fei", "Overview of Party History", May 2003
"The First Person to Discover Gu Shunzhang's Rebellion", "Party History Literature Garden", June 1997
