One day in 1975, Huang Zhen, then director of the liaison office in the United States, was writing a report carefully at his desk. After a closer look, it turned out to be a resignation report.

One day in 1975, Huang Zhen, then director of the liaison office in the United States, was writing a report carefully in front of his desk. After a closer look, it turned out to be resignation report . However, after a long time, he had not received any response. In desperation, Huang Zhen wrote the report again and submitted it to Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou.

Foreign Minister Qiao Guanhua was very shocked after receiving this telegram. Although he didn't know what was going on, he still hurriedly reported to Deng Xiaoping, who was in charge of the work of the State Council. Deng Xiaoping looked at Huang Zhen’s resignation report for a long time and murmured to himself: "What problem did he encounter? He actually made him determined to write a resignation report to the chairman..."

So what's going on? Why did Huang Zhen resign? How did Deng Xiaoping deal with it in the end?

Huang Zhen: It was Comrade Xiaoping who saved my life

Huang Zhen was born in 1909 in a peasant family in Tongcheng County, Anhui Province. Due to his excellent academic performance, he was admitted to the very famous Tongcheng Middle School at that time. The young man in Huangzhen is ambitious and has excellent grades, which attracts the attention and appreciation of the school teachers.

1925, Huang Zhen was admitted to Shanghai Fine Arts College , and the principal was the famous painter Liu Haisu . But it’s a pity that Huang Zhen’s parents thought that learning art was too much money, and the family didn’t have that much money, so they advised him to give up as soon as possible and get into a good school for employment.

Huang Zhen didn't say anything at that time, but suddenly one day, he shaved his head and said to his parents: "If you don't let me study in Shanghai, I will go to Jiuhua Mountain to be a monk!" Huang's father got a son in his old age and regarded Huang Zhen as the "pearl in his hand". He knew that his son had a stubborn temper, so he had no choice but to agree. In the end, the Huang clan raised 100 yuan, and Huang's father sold part of the land and collected all the tuition fees for Huangzhen.

After Huang Zhen came to the art school, he studied painting seriously. When he was hungry, he ate porridge. Occasionally, he ate Yangchun noodles is considered " Tooth-beating sacrifice ". He studied very hard. The school held art exhibitions in Shanghai, Hangzhou and other places. Huang Zhen’s works have received praise from many famous painters.

As time passes slowly, coupled with the May 30th Massacre, Huang Zhen gradually has the idea of ​​serving the motherland. 1926, Huang Zhen participated in and led a campaign against schools' embezzlement of school construction fees. Although Huang Zhen and other student union leaders were arrested, he became increasingly determined to fight the enemy.

1927 summer vacation, Huang's father died of illness, and the family's financial conditions were deteriorating day by day. In the spring of 1929, Huang Zhen came to Fushan Middle School to teach art. His progressive words and deeds were respected and loved by many students.

This summer, students were dissatisfied with Huang Fangshi and others deducting food expenses, and then a student wave started. After the incident, the school fired eight leading students, including Huang Zhen’s younger brother. Because Huang Zhen spoke out for his younger brother and others and publicly opposed the school's evil deeds, he was also fired soon after.

At this time, Huang Zhen's mother also died of illness. In addition to this blow, Huang Zhen decided to leave the education industry and find another way out. At that time, it was the battle between Chiang Kai-shek, Feng Yuxiang, and Yan Xishan. Huang Zhen believed that Feng Yuxiang's "Beijing Coup" and "eliminating the Qing Dynasty and abolishing emperors" were more inclined to revolution, so he went to Zhengzhou to serve as a lieutenant general of Feng Yuxiang's artillery division under the introduction of his fellow villagers.

In the spring of 1931, the 26th Kuomintang Army, adapted from a part of the Northwest Army, went to Jiangxi to prepare for "encirclement and suppression" of the Central Soviet Area. Most officers and soldiers of the 26th Route Army had long been extremely dissatisfied with Chiang Kai-shek's policy of "not resisting externally and 'suppressing the Communist Party' at home", so under the influence of our party, it was decided to revolt on December 14.

As soon as December 14th arrived, more than 17,000 soldiers of the 26th Kuomintang Army announced the uprising in Ningdu, Jiangxi, under the leadership of Chief of Staff Zhao Bosheng (a member of our party) and brigade commander Ji Zhentong, and then added to the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. Huang Zhen, who was the major officer of the Pistol and Tourism Training Department of the 26th Route Army at that time, also participated in the uprising and officially became a member of our army. From then on, Huang Zhen devoted himself to the revolutionary struggle.After the Ningdu Uprising

After the end of the Ningdu Uprising, the uprising force where Huang Zhen was located was adapted into Red Fifth Army . He was sent to engage in propaganda work because of his artistic foundation and teaching experience. In October 1934, with the failure of the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression", the Central Red Army began the Long March and Huang Zhen also followed.

During this period, Huang Zhen served as the head of the Cultural Section of the Political Department of the Red Fifth Army and the head of the Propaganda Section of the Political Department of the Central Military Commission directly under the Central Military Commission. The drama "Broken Straws" created by Huang Zhen is also loved by the soldiers of the Red Army , and the song "Song of Fighting Cavalry" he created is also widely circulated among the Red Army soldiers.

During the Long March, Huang Zhen, who served as the head of the Propaganda Section, and Deng Xiaoping, the Propaganda Ministers of the Political Department of the Red First Army, Lu Dingyi and others got along day and night, and their relationship became better and better. At that time, Huang Zhen and Deng Xiaoping were both passionate young people, and they were all engaged in propaganda, so they were particularly close.

Everyone knows that is very difficult during the grassland period. The Red Army soldiers not only have to resist the severe cold, but also pay attention to the swamps under their feet. That night, the weather suddenly changed and it started to rain heavily, which made the soldiers tremble.

Huang Zhen was not in a good situation at that time. Although he could hide some rain with a broken umbrella, he was wearing thin old clothes. He sat a little higher, trembling by the cold rain and wind. At this moment, Deng Xiaoping came to Huang Zhen, handed him his military blanket, and said: "In such a cold day, how can you just wear one single piece of clothing? Look, this is my blanket, you can keep it warm first."

Huang Zhen knew that Deng Xiaoping only had this blanket, so he said: "How can this work? I don't want it. Keep it yourself. Your body is much weaker than me!" Deng Xiaoping said: "Don't worry about me, I still have a coat."

Deng Xiaoping finished speaking, and regardless of Huang Zhen's answer, he put the blanket on him and took it away. Looking at the warm blanket on her body and looking at Deng Xiaoping's chic figure, a warm current surged in Huang Zhen's heart, which was very touched.

It didn't rain the next day, and the troops continued to set off. When Huang Zhen saw Deng Xiaoping from afar, he shouted, "Comrade Xiaoping, Comrade Xiaoping wait!" Deng Xiaoping heard someone calling him, and quickly stopped and looked back. Huang Zhen jogged to Deng Xiaoping and said breathlessly, "Comrade Xiaoping, I'll give you the blanket."

Deng Xiaoping smiled and said, "You keep it for you. I don't know how long it will take, so you can stay to keep the cold!" In his later years, whenever he talked about this, Huang Zhen would say, "If it weren't for Comrade Xiaoping, I might not have been able to end the Long March..."

Huang Zhen's feelings for Deng Xiaoping

1946, under the strong recommendation of Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, Huang Zhen served as the chief representative of the 10th Executive Group of the Peking Military Transfer Department in Xinxiang. Later, Huang Zhen and others were detained by the Kuomintang authorities for no reason. When the news came back, Deng Xiaoping and others were very concerned about Huang Zhen's safety and said: "No matter how much the price is spent, Huang Zhen and others must be brought back!"

In mid-October, that is, after Huang Zhen and others were placed under house arrest by the Kuomintang authorities for five months, they were able to safely return to liberated area after many negotiations between Deng Xiaoping and Liu Bocheng.

During his work in Taihang Mountain , Huang Zhen not only cooperated with Deng Xiaoping in his work, but also cared about him in his life. Everyone knows that the environment of Taihang Mountain is relatively harsh, especially in summer, which is not only hot and dry, but also snakes, insects, mosquitoes, and ants.

Deng Xiaoping has a bamboo fan, which is very exquisite and practical, which makes Huang Zhen particularly envious. After Deng Xiaoping found out, he asked his Sichuan guards to make up two bamboo fans with big and small, and gave the big one to Huang Zhen and the small one to Huang Zhen’s wife Zhu Lin.

After receiving the fan, Huang Zhen and his wife were particularly happy and always cherished each other. Later, in order to extend the life of the fan, Zhu Lin also found a cloth strip to sew it on the eaves of the fan and used iron wire to wrap it around the handle to fix it.The ordinary bamboo fan not only represents the hard and simple life style of the older generation of revolutionaries, but also shows the friendship between Deng Xiaoping and Huang Zhen.

In December 1949, Huang Zhen was transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while Deng Xiaoping was in charge of the Southwest. Due to the different work locations, the two rarely meet, and despite this, this has no impact on their relationship. In 19569, Huang Zhen, ambassador to Indonesian , returned to China to attend the meeting, and then listened to Deng Xiaoping's report again.

On June 2, 1964, Huang Zhen came to Paris to serve as the ambassador to France. After working in France, Huang Zhen always remembered one thing, that is, to go to Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yi and others to study in France. There is a factory called Renault Automobile Factory near Paris. This was also a place where Chinese students worked part-time and studied at that time. Deng Xiaoping worked here.

That happened in 1923. Deng Xiaoping came to work at Renault Automobile Factory and worked as an apprentice of fitters. On August 20, 1925, Deng Xiaoping moved to live near the Renault Automobile Factory. It is worth mentioning that this is also Deng Xiaoping's last stop in living and working in France.

That morning, Huang Zhen visited the Renault Automobile Factory where Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping and others worked. Comrades from the embassy introduced to Huang Zhen: "Comrade Nie Rongzhen and Comrade Deng Xiaoping have worked in this factory."

Huang Zhen nodded after hearing this and said, "Yes, I know this. On the Long March, Comrade Xiaoping talked to me about their work-study and studying in France. Unexpectedly, so many years have passed and the factory is still there. Let's take the time to find the previous archives and see if there are any photos of them. I want to see."

Finally, with the help of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the comrades in the embassy found the work card where Deng Xiaoping worked in the Renault Automobile Factory, which also had a photo of Deng Xiaoping when he was 19 years old. In addition, the comrades of the embassy also found the Hutchinson Rubber Factory where Deng Xiaoping worked when he first arrived in Paris, and found his work number here was 5370.

Under Huang Zhen's instructions, the early information and photos of Comrade Deng Xiaoping and others collected by the Chinese Embassy in France played a very critical role in studying and understanding the lives of a great man of a generation. It can also be seen from here how deep Huang Zhen’s feelings for Deng Xiaoping are.

Huangzhen promotes the further development of Sino-US relations

1973, Huangzhen went to the United States as the first director of the Liaison Office in the United States to carry out work, thereby promoting the further development of Sino-US relations, and also brought Huangzhen's diplomatic career to its peak.

After the founding of New China, the relationship between my country and the United States dropped to freezing point. From 1971 to 1972, Kissinger and Nixon visited China one after another, and these news also shocked the whole world. From 1973 to 1977, Huang Zhen made outstanding contributions to the normalization of Sino-US relations and is also known as "an outstanding diplomat who opened the door to China and the United States."

So how did Sino-US relations break the ice? All of this is related to the Paris channel and Huangzhen.

Our representative who contacted through Paris channels is Huang Zhen, while the representative of the US is General Walster. China and the United States have had a total of two years of exchanges, including 45 secret contacts and 53 public channels. After a long-term contact, General Walster secretly came to the residence of the Chinese ambassador in Paris to meet with our representative Huang Zhen, thus bringing the distance between the two sides closer.

In the residence of the Chinese ambassador in Paris, Huang Zhen and General Walster had a seven-month contact, among which Kissinger also secretly met Huang Zhen four times through this channel. During the meeting, Huang Zhen opened the door to diplomacy with the United States with his strong political sensitivity, unique wisdom and rich diplomatic experience, successfully completed the task, and also welcomed the visit of Kissinger and Nixon to China.

In fact, Huang Zhen was the director of the liaison office in the United States or Zhou Enlai personally ordered the general, and Chairman Mao agreed.

On the evening of April 12, 1973, before Huang Zhen went to the United States to take office, Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai met him in Zhongnanhai .When Chairman Mao saw that Huang Zhen was not polite, he asked him directly: "You were transferred from France to the United States as the director of the liaison office. Do you think you have been promoted or demoted?"

Huang Zhen smiled and did not answer. Chairman Mao joked: "It's obvious that this is a promotion. The liaison office can be even more an embassy than an embassy!" The promotion mentioned here refers to the director of the liaison office who is appointed as the ministerial level, which is higher than the ambassador.

On May 29, 1973, Huang Zhen and his group came to the United States. Due to the complex situation at that time, he decided to establish relations with the US government as the top priority, and at the same time make friends from all walks of life to quickly open up the work situation.

Huang Zhen met Kissinger on the afternoon of the day when he came to Washington and gave him a list of the people he met. Kissinger was shocked by Huang Zhen's cheerful personality. He also admired Huang Zhen's personality very much and said on the spot: "You can meet anyone you want to meet. If you have something to discuss, you can find me or President Nixon."

July 6, Nixon invited Huang Zhen and his wife to visit White House and specially arranged for a special presidential plane to pick up and drop off. When the Huangzhen couple arrived on the lawn in front of the Western White House on a presidential plane, Nixon drove a car to approach the Huangzhen couple in the yard. The most surprising thing is that Nixon also signed the following words on the photo with Huang Zhen and his wife: "Send it to Huang Zhen Ambassador to extend warm greetings and high respect."

In October, Huang Zhen invited Kissinger to visit the Chinese Liaison Office in the United States, and also went with the President of the House of Representatives Albert, Deputy Secretary of State Rush and others. If anyone who knows this will know that Kissinger had a rule before, that is, he would not go to any embassy dinner. He believed that as long as this precedent was set, he would have to travel to 150 embassies in Washington.

After Huang Zhen learned of Kissinger's regulations, he said humorously: "We are not an embassy here, but a liaison office. The liaison office can go." Kissinger also smiled and said, "Yes, yes, I can go for the invitation from the liaison office in Washington."

Since then, Kissinger has become a regular visitor to the liaison office. The US has also specially installed a telephone direct to the White House in the liaison office, and the courtesy is unprecedented.

Huang Zhen is about to resign, Deng Xiaoping: What problems did he encounter

In 1975, the director of Huang Zhen’s liaison office in the United States has been more than two years. During this period, people frequently interfered in the work of the liaison office, which also made Huang Zhen very worried. Senior translator Ji Chaozhu sympathized with Huang Zhen's situation. When he returned to China, he asked Huang Zhen: "You have such a good relationship with the chairman, why don't you report it to the chairman?"

Huang Zhen sighed and said, "Oh, the chairman is getting older and older, and his health is not too good. I don't want to bother him by these things." Ji Chaozhu said, "Isn't Premier Zhou still there?" Huang Zhen shook his head and said, "Prime Minister Zhou's health is not too good. How can I disturb him again?"

Huang Zhen paused and said, "What's more, I don't like to appeal beyond the level!" Huang Zhen is a very systemic person. He has to do things according to the system, so he will not report the situation beyond the level.

Not long after, Huangzhen held an enlarged meeting of the Party Committee and raised all the problems he encountered at the meeting. Who would have thought that someone would say: "Old cadres will retire at most at the age of 60. Don't block the way when they are old. They need to train successors!"

At that time, only Huang Zhen was over 60 years old in the liaison office, and the other party's intention was too obvious. Huang Zhen couldn't bear it anymore, slammed the table and angrily scolded:

"I will send a telegram to the central government immediately and ask the central government to send someone! If this problem is mine, I will accept punishment; if the problem is not me, the central government will be satisfied after understanding it! You don't have to say here that you are 60 years old, I can resign!"

As soon as Huang Zhen finished speaking, the venue was silent, and the comrades who had just spoken did not dare to speak. After the meeting, Huang Zhen began to write his resignation report. He felt that the current life and work atmosphere was very depressing, and heavy pressure was oppressing him.

Huang Zhen wrote in his resignation report:

"If I remember correctly, this should be the first time I asked the organization to transfer my job. I have been in this position for more than two years. In all aspects, I am not the best one. My health is not very good, which will have a certain impact on the work. After repeated consideration, for future work and in order to better implement the Chairman's policy, the organization also asks the organization to choose the right person to take over my position..."

After Huang Zhen finished writing the telegram, he carefully looked it carefully twice, and found that there were no typos and sent it out. But surprisingly, the telegram has been sent for several days, but has not received any reply. Huang Zhen was a little anxious, so he had to write a resignation telegram again, but this time the submitted letter was Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai:

"Hello, Prime Minister, for some reasons, it is difficult for me to continue working. Therefore, after repeated and careful thinking, in order not to affect the implementation of the policies and policies of the Liaison Office, I also asked the Chairman and Premier to request to mobilize my work."

This telegram was not directly handed over to Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai, but was first received by Foreign Minister Qiao Guanhua. Qiao Guanhua was also very shocked when he received Huang Zhen's resignation report. He didn't know why Huang Zhen did this: "I actually dared to submit my resignation directly to the Chairman. What did Huang Zhen think..."

Qiao Guanhua dared not hesitate anymore. He immediately came to Deng Xiaoping's office who was in charge of the State Council work and reported to him about this matter. At this time, Deng Xiaoping was looking at the documents. When he saw Qiao Guanhua coming to find him, he was also a little surprised: "Comrade Guanhua, why did you come to me? Is there anything wrong?"

Qiao Guanhua looked embarrassed, and he said: "Comrade Huang Zhen just submitted a resignation report to me, and I don't know what to do, so I came to you..." After , he handed the resignation report of Huang Zhen in his hand to Deng Xiaoping.

Deng Xiaoping took Huang Zhen’s resignation report for a long time. Huang Zhen is his old friend and they have also worked for a while. Therefore, Deng Xiaoping knew Huang Zhen's temper and personality quite well, and he knew that Huang Zhen would not do this for no reason.

After putting down the telegram, Deng Xiaoping said to Qiao Guanhua: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs cannot tolerate veteran cadres like Huang Zhen? If so, I can let him go back to the army to be the deputy chief of staff." Hearing Deng Xiaoping's words, Qiao Guanhua waved his hand and said, "What are you saying? If even Comrade Huang Zhen can't tolerate me, how can I tolerate me?"

Deng Xiaoping continued to ask: "Then what problems did he encounter?" Qiao Guanhua handed some information compiled by others to Deng Xiaoping. Deng Xiaoping flipped through it and said, "Forget it, wait for Comrade Huang Zhen to come back first, and listen to what he said."

Immediately afterwards, Deng Xiaoping took the telegram that Qiao Guanhua was preparing to reply and carefully modified it:

Comrade Huang Zhen, I have received your resignation report. You are about to go to the United States to meet Nixon. Kissinger and others have also initially confirmed that they will come back to visit our country by the end of this year. There are many things to do, so I won’t consider what you said about transferring positions. As for other things, I will talk about it in detail when you come back...

After receiving this telegram, Huang Zhen let go of his heart and then continued to work with peace of mind.

On August 12, 1977, Huang Zhen attended the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and was elected as a member of the Central Committee. But this was not the happiest thing about Huang Zhen. What made him happiest was that Deng Xiaoping resumed his posts inside and outside the party not long ago and was elected as Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Committee at this conference.

On December 13 of the same year, Huang Zhen was appointed as the first deputy minister of the Propaganda Department of , and this appointment shocked Huang Zhen because he had not engaged in cultural-related work.At this moment, Deng Xiaoping said to him: "You can learn and understand the situation!"

Huang Zhen happily accepted the new appointment and said: "I firmly obey the organization's arrangements!"

In September 1980, Huang Zhen, who had been working in the Ministry of Culture for three years, said to Deng Xiaoping: "I am old now, and cadres are gradually becoming younger. I am willing to retreat to the second line." Deng Xiaoping nodded in agreement.

On December 11, 1989, Huang Zhen died at the age of 80.