Chapter 33 Three Two Before and After I Became the Liaison Officer of the Prime Minister

I only met Premier Zhou Enlai after I went to work in Beijing in 1957. In the spring of 1963, I was ordered to organize a joint working group of the National Defense Science and Technology Commission and the National Defense Industry Office to inspect and help the Second Ministry of Machinery, and then stayed in the Second Ministry of Machinery. From then on, I had more and more direct contacts with Premier Zhou, until 1974, when Lin Piao and Confucius were criticized, Premier Zhou was admitted to the hospital, and I stayed on the sidelines, a total of 11 years. In these 11 years, my most outstanding feeling is that he is very concerned about the development of science and technology in our country and has devoted a lot of effort.

Now I will describe some things that are still fresh in my memory as follows, as a commemoration of Premier Zhou's birthday. "Must Master Atomic Energy" As early as the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Premier Zhou attached great importance to the development of world science and technology and the development of atomic energy. On January 31, 1955, Premier Zhou clearly stated at the plenary meeting of the State Council: We should let people all over the world know that if atomic energy serves peace and construction, it can benefit mankind, and if it serves war, it will destroy mankind.He said that in order to oppose nuclear war, defend peace, use atomic energy for national construction, and benefit the people, we must carry out serious work and must master atomic energy.

Premier Zhou made unremitting efforts to develop our country's science and technology and to enable our country to master atomic energy, and made immortal feats. In order to develop our country's atomic energy industry, we must ascertain the situation of our country's atomic energy resources.In order to climb the peak of atomic energy science and technology, basic research in atomic energy science must be carried out.Premier Zhou first focused on geological exploration and scientific research, and personally asked the Ministry of Geology many times about uranium exploration and the establishment of the Institute of Atomic Energy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.To build an atomic energy industry, we need to master many advanced technologies and develop many advanced materials, instruments and equipment, which are kept secret in the world and are completely developed by ourselves, which will take a long time.For this reason, the Chinese government sent a delegation in time, seized the good opportunity of Sino-Soviet relations, and won the assistance of the Soviet Union.All of these have laid a necessary foundation not only for gaining a foothold in the country and self-reliance, but also for absorbing the world's advanced scientific and technological achievements and accelerating the development of my country's atomic energy industry.The achievements of my country's atomic energy cause are undoubtedly a mighty and majestic song of self-reliance and self-improvement composed by the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of my country.However, we must not ignore the role played by the timely introduction of foreign advanced technology because of this.Premier Zhou set an example for us in correctly handling the relationship between learning, introducing foreign advanced scientific and technological achievements and self-reliance.

"Serious and reliable" To be "serious, serious, thoughtful, safe, reliable, and foolproof" is the eve of Premier Zhou's preparations for the first nuclear test in my country. After the directive, he issued another important directive to all comrades engaged in the cause of atomic energy, and he influenced this team with his own words and deeds.Every time a special committee is held, he always listens very carefully to the reports of relevant experts and comrades in charge, clarify every key issue, and make up his mind only after serious discussions and scientific demonstrations.Every time he conducts a nuclear test, he always has to wait for the on-site commander to report the research results of the combination of experts, operators and leading comrades before deciding whether to conduct the test.He not only demanded that the nuclear test itself be foolproof, and that all kinds of measurements and effect tests that should be carried out had the desired effect; he also demanded that the radioactive smoke cloud of the nuclear test be foolproof, that it would not cause harm not only to the people of our country, but also to the people of neighboring countries. damage.Therefore, he asked the on-site commanders to pay great attention to the weather conditions and master the test time.Once, according to weather forecasts, radioactive smoke might enter the sky over a neighboring country as soon as it began to flow. Premier Zhou ordered the test to be suspended, and the plane carrying the nuclear bomb waited at the airport for eight days and nights. The test was carried out only when the weather conditions permitted.

"Sister Deng's job has nothing to do with nuclear testing, so I didn't tell her" Premier Zhou set an example and disciplined himself and others, which enabled our country to keep the secrets of the nuclear test well.my country's first nuclear test has certain risks.If it is not successful, it will have adverse effects internationally.So on the one hand, we prepared two rounds of ammunition, and if the first one failed, we came back for the second time.At the same time, it is absolutely confidential, and foreign countries are not allowed to know until the trial is completed.Before we went to the nuclear test site, Premier Zhou called Comrade Zhang Aiping and me, and told me that this test must be kept absolutely secret, and that no one other than those directly related to the test should know about it, including your wives and children. .He went on to say that Sister Deng is my wife and a member of the Party Central Committee. Since her work has nothing to do with nuclear testing, I did not tell her.Comrade Aiping conveyed the words of Premier Zhou to all the test takers, so that everyone was deeply educated.Therefore, the secrecy work of that experiment was done very well, and there was no leakage of secrets.

"After full investigation and argumentation, make a decision" At the end of 1962, the party group of the Second Ministry of Machinery proposed to the central government a two-year plan to realize the detonation of the first atomic bomb.Someone inside the Second Ministry of Machinery reported to the central government that the two-year plan was difficult to achieve. At the beginning of 1963, Premier Zhou discussed with Nie Rongzhen and Vice Premier Luo Ruiqing, and organized a joint working group from the National Defense Science and Technology Commission and the National Defense Industry Office to inspect and help the Second Ministry of Machinery.During the inspection process, some comrades in the working group mechanically calculated the absolute construction period according to the Soviet experts, and reported to Premier Zhou that the two-year plan was difficult to achieve.Premier Zhou did not believe in the above-mentioned reports, but waited for the comrades in the working group to work with the experts on site, design and construction personnel and leading cadres, and made a conclusion after full investigation and demonstration by everyone.Practice has proved that the two-year plan has been realized on schedule after hard work.

In 1965, Chairman Mao asked Premier Zhou whether the main factories of the Second Ministry of Machinery could also be divided into two and relocated for war preparation.Premier Zhou asked the Second Ministry of Machinery to organize relevant experts to demonstrate and study.After careful research and demonstration, the experts believe that the main factory cannot be divided into two parts, otherwise the output will be severely reduced and the loss will be huge.The Second Ministry of Machinery made a report to the central government that the main factories could not be divided into two for strategic relocation.The central government approved the report.Premier Zhou instructed the Second Ministry of Machinery that since the existing main factories could not be divided into two and strategically relocated, they must seize the time to produce more and reserve more; at the same time, speed up the construction of the second set of factories.In the same year, when we reported to Premier Zhou on the issue of designating plants in the third line, we mentioned that some comrades asked for an early decision.Premier Zhou said that it is better to make a decision after full investigation and argumentation. A slow decision may waste time, but it is better than a wrong decision.

"We must speed up the development of hydrogen bombs" In late June 1964, Comrade Liu Jie, Minister of the Second Ministry of Machinery, reported from the scene that the atomic bomb simulation test had been successful. my country had mastered the design principles and manufacturing technology of the atomic bomb, and planned to start live bomb trial production.Premier Zhou immediately reported to Chairman Mao to approve the plan of the Second Ministry of Machinery, and at the same time sent his secretary to the Second Ministry of Machinery in mid-July to convey his opinion, asking the Second Ministry of Machinery to immediately start the work of miniaturizing the atomic bomb so that it can be equipped with missile heads.After the successful test of my country's first atomic bomb on October 16, 1964, Premier Zhou immediately instructed the Second Ministry of Machinery to accelerate the development of hydrogen bombs.Premier Zhou's instruction made the comrades engaged in atomic energy work change their focus from understanding the atomic bomb to breaking through the hydrogen bomb in a timely manner, and made the scientific and technical personnel engaged in the development of the hydrogen bomb feel the importance and urgency of the task and become more active.Inspired by Premier Zhou's instructions on the miniaturization of atomic bombs, they seized the time, and after repeated and serious research and demonstrations, they were determined to aim at hydrogen bombs that could be equipped with missile heads, and worked hard to tackle key problems.Finally, at the end of 1965, he mastered the principle of the hydrogen bomb, and immediately arranged the "trilogy" of hydrogen bomb tests (that is, three tests of thermonuclear materials, hydrogen bomb principles, and full-equivalent hydrogen bombs in sequence), enabling my country to develop at the fastest speed in the world. On June 14, 1967, a full-yield test of a hydrogen bomb capable of mounting a missile head was successfully carried out.In retrospect, if Premier Zhou’s high standards, strict requirements, and personal command and supervision had not been followed to gain time, the “Trilogy” would have been completed as soon as the “Cultural Revolution” arrived in the first half of the year. If the layout can't go on, it's hard to say when it will be able to test a hydrogen bomb.

"Tonight is free, drink wine!" During the "Cultural Revolution", Premier Zhou cared about the development of atomic energy as always. In December 1966, the hydrogen bomb principle test was successful.However, the Second Ministry of Machinery at that time was in an emergency just like the whole country.Premier Zhou called Comrade Liu Jie and several of us to the Xihua Hall to listen to the report and celebrate the success of the experiment.He also specially prepared dinner for us and prepared wine.At this time, the rebel faction of the Second Ministry of Machinery came to the northwest gate of Zhongnanhai, threatened to overthrow us, and pointed the finger at Premier Zhou.After Premier Zhou heard about it, he said humorously that they opposed me, and I took it as an honor.Later, Mr. Zhou thought of two lines from Chairman Mao's "Shui Tune Getou. Swimming", "No matter the wind and waves, it is better than strolling in the garden", reminding and encouraging us to withstand the test of wind and waves.Then, he raised his glass again, and said jokingly, "I have some spare time tonight, let's have a drink!" During the "Cultural Revolution", Premier Zhou tried his best to protect the atomic energy enterprises and institutions and the teams engaged in the atomic energy industry; he stopped Lin Biao's order to relocate the main atomic energy factories; The Ministry of Machinery can't just be the Ministry of Explosions, it must be a nuclear power plant.Thanks to Premier Zhou's painstaking care and protection, the atomic energy industry has not been interrupted by the ten-year catastrophe, and has continued to advance.After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, my country's atomic energy industry continued to make great strides under the correct leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council.

"You go to the Academy of Sciences immediately and be my liaison officer" During the "Cultural Revolution", in order to defend the party and the cause of the party and the people, Premier Zhou did his best in the adverse wind and waves, and exhausted his efforts. On the afternoon of August 13, 1966, Premier Zhou called me to his office and asked me to go to the Chinese Academy of Sciences immediately and be his liaison there.Since then, I have had more direct contact with Premier Zhou. After the "Cultural Revolution" began, Lin Biao, Kang Sheng, and Jiang Qing fanned the flames everywhere, and the situation was tense.Premier Zhou has a lot of affairs in his day, fighting fires everywhere, sometimes holding several meetings at the same time, running around to deal with difficult problems; he often solves various problems all night long, often until five or six o'clock in the morning, and then goes to review various documents and telegrams.He can sleep 5 hours a day, which is considered enough sleep.

I didn't understand at first why Premier Zhou wanted to personally intervene in the movement of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.It was later learned that the so-called suppression of the "rebels" at the Institute of Applied Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is well-known throughout the country, was originally ordered by Chen Boda.However, on July 30, 1966, at the meeting of thousands of people in the scientific and technological circles in the Great Hall of the People, Chen Boda transformed himself into the great savior of the "rebels" and pushed all the so-called "crimes" on Zhang Jinfu and other comrades.Moreover, the "rebels" also pointed their finger at Li Fuchun and Nie Rongzhen, two vice premiers.This forced Premier Zhou to personally ask the Chinese Academy of Sciences.In fact, everyone knows that Zhang Jinfu and other comrades have done a good job in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, but in the era when right and wrong were reversed and black and white were confused, what could be done? The "rebels" were not reconciled to defeating Comrade Zhang Jinfu. They robbed the safe and wanted to "follow the vine."Comrade Li Fuchun, regarding the actions of the "rebels" in the Institute of Applied Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, correctly pointed out that Chairman Mao's "Investigation Report on the Peasant Movement in Hunan" cannot be transferred to the "Cultural Revolution"; criticism. The "rebels" want to describe the 17-year scientific and technological front as a black-line dictatorship, criticize the "14 Science Points", criticize Comrade Nie Rongzhen, and make 17 years worthless, without mentioning the party's leadership at all.Premier Zhou patiently persuaded them and fought tit-for-tat to stop their wrongdoing, and added 14 words "Long live the great, glorious and correct Communist Party of China" to their speeches at the conference. At that time, Premier Zhou's situation was also very difficult. On the day when "People's Daily" published an editorial criticizing the bourgeois reactionary line, he once said to me that Chen Boda published an editorial in "People's Daily" without discussion by the Central Committee. up.However, due to the support of Kang Sheng and others, the gongs and drums of approving funds against the line became louder and louder, and Premier Zhou was helpless.After the tragic death of Comrade Zhang Linzhi, Premier Zhou was very sad and said to me: "I will never let him out again." Under the circumstances at the time, he did his best to do so. "Earthquakes have precursors and can be predicted" In 1966 and 1967, two consecutive strong earthquakes occurred in Hebei Province.Both times, when the aftershocks were still there and the earth's crust was still trembling, Premier Zhou rushed to the scene, condolences to the people in the disaster area, and arranged work to resume production and rebuild their homes.He learned many anomalies before the earthquake from many sources, consulted a lot of historical data, and put forward the important scientific conclusion that "earthquakes have precursors and can be predicted".Since then, my country's earthquake prediction and prediction work has been gradually carried out.At the National Earthquake Work Conference held in 1970, he received all the attendees, gave an important speech, and called on the comrades engaged in earthquake work to abandon sectarian opinions, learn from each other's strengths, adopt a democratic and scientific attitude, treat different opinions, and contribute to Scientifically observe and study the laws of earthquakes, and make due contributions to earthquake prediction, prevention, and forecasting. "Comrade Li Siguang is an outstanding scientist" In the early morning of April 29, 1971, Comrade Li Siguang's aneurysm ruptured and he was sent to Beijing Hospital for emergency treatment.When I heard the news and rushed to the Beijing Hospital, Premier Zhou’s health care doctors also arrived. They kept guarding the operating room and reported Comrade Li Siguang’s condition and rescue measures to Premier Zhou for instructions at any time until Comrade Li Siguang stopped breathing.Because the military representatives who were in charge of the Organization Department of the Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council said that the Central Committee decided not to give eulogies at the memorial service, I mistakenly agreed without asking Premier Zhou for instructions.When Premier Zhou rushed to attend the memorial service despite his busy schedule, he was very angry when he found out about it, and severely criticized us.He was very excited and read the letter written by Comrade Li Lin, the daughter of Comrade Li Siguang, and personally delivered a eulogy. a brilliant scientist.This action of Premier Zhou is a respect from the heart for outstanding scientists in our country, and it is also a criticism of the ultra-left trend of thought at that time. "We have suffered from the 'left' for a long time" During the National Education Work Conference held in 1971, Comrade Zhou Enlai gave a report on the history of our party before the national liberation to the responsible comrades in charge of education in various provinces, cities and departments who participated in the conference.In his report, he described in detail that since the establishment of our party, he has made many "left" mistakes and suffered a lot from "leftism" for a long time. He educated and inspired cadres to understand the dangers of "leftism".He especially emphasized that when we do educational work, we are educating people, and we must learn a little bit of Marxism and know how to apply it, otherwise we will have to take a detour.Don't forget the past, not only our generation, but also educate future generations.He also said that there is a trend of extreme leftism in the world now.Obviously, these words of his have a very clear and realistic pertinence. After the "September 13th" incident, as we all know, Premier Zhou once clearly pointed out that Lin Biao was an ultra-leftist, and proposed to criticize the harm caused by the ultra-left ideological trend. Unfortunately, not only was it not adopted at that time, but he was also treated extremely unfairly. "I don't believe that if the revolution is well grasped, production will naturally increase" The so-called grasping the revolution during the "Cultural Revolution" was actually sabotaging the revolution and sabotaging production.Lin Biao, Kang Sheng, and the "Gang of Four" always talked about their so-called grasping the revolution, not promoting production; they said that if the revolution is well grasped, production will naturally improve.At that time, the burden of promoting production fell entirely on Premier Zhou.I have heard Premier Zhou say several times: "I don't believe that if the revolution is well grasped, production will naturally increase." metaphysical critique. In 1973, after listening to the report of a scientific work conference, Premier Zhou very much appreciated the view in the meeting minutes that modern scientific methods can help us deeply understand the nature of nature.This is also his criticism of the prevailing superstition and dogmatic idealism at that time.However, when the minutes mentioned the review of the executive meeting of the State Council, the viewpoint agreed by Premier Zhou was deleted by the comrade who presided over the executive at that time and later proposed the "two whatevers".He separated human thinking from human practice, saying that only philosophy can help people understand the essence of things. Looking back on history, Premier Zhou Enlai's contribution to my country's socialist construction and the modernization of science and technology, as well as his hard work during the "Cultural Revolution", in order to make the party and the people, and also to minimize some losses in my country's science and technology, The spirit and deeds of devotion to death and never ending death cannot be written in a thousand words. The above is just to write down the bits and pieces of my personal experience, in order to entrust my eternal memory.