Chapter 5 〇Four weeks Enlai and the workers of the Commercial Press

Shanghai is the stronghold of the Chinese working class and the birthplace of the Communist Party of China. Comrade Zhou Enlai once worked here for a long time and led the work in the white area and the labor movement. As early as the 1920s, the old workers of our Commercial Press formed an indissoluble bond with him and had deep feelings for him. On the occasion of commemorating the 90th birthday of Comrade Zhou Enlai, recalling the scene of him fighting side by side with our workers has aroused our endless memory and respect for him. On May 1, 1926, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions held the third National Labor Congress in Guangzhou.Both Jiang Zhonglin and Xie Qingzhai went to Guangzhou as members of the Shanghai workers' delegation.Comrade Zhou Enlai was in Guangzhou at that time.During the meeting, he specially arranged a schedule to invite representatives from all over the country to visit the military academy.When the delegates arrived at the military academy, Comrade Zhou Enlai greeted them at the school gate. He greeted us with a smile on his face, shook hands and said hello to us one by one.At the welcome meeting held in the auditorium, he specifically pointed out in his speech: the representatives should return to their original places to prevent counter-revolutionary plots and unite the broad masses to overthrow the warlords.Respond to the Northern Expedition and welcome the victory of the Northern Expedition.After the meeting, he personally accompanied us to visit the military academy and gave a detailed introduction, which made us feel that he is approachable and amiable.At that time, Comrade Zhou Enlai was only 28 years old. This contact left a deep impression on us.

After the two failed armed uprisings of Shanghai workers in October 1926 and February 1927, Comrade Zhou Enlai came to Shanghai secretly to organize the third armed uprising of Shanghai workers.Before he came to the trade union of the Commercial Press for the first time, Comrade Zhang Duan notified Xie Qingzhai of the trade union of the Commercial Publishing Office, asking him to go to the Commercial Press and notify the trade union to welcome him.When Comrade Zhou Enlai arrived at the trade union accompanied by Comrades Zhao Shiyan and Zhang Yuan, he saw Xie Qingzhai and Jiang Zhonglin, and said without introduction: We are acquaintances, we met in Guangzhou.The strength of his memory astonished us all.Once he, Chen Yun and Comrades Xu Meikun came to the commercial trade union to hold a meeting of party members and key members of the trade union. He inquired in detail about the struggle of the commercial trade union in the first two workers' uprisings.In his speech, he pointed out: We workers must first establish the confidence that the warlords will fall and the working class will win, mobilize the masses, organize and train workers' pickets with both military knowledge and political and ideological awareness.With a strong worker picket team, you can be ready to go into battle at any time and arm yourself with weapons from the enemy; you must unite with the citizens of Shanghai to overthrow the reactionary warlords and establish a democratic civil government.In the struggle, we, the working class, are to show great strength in defense of ourselves.Comrade Zhou Enlai's words greatly encouraged the fighting spirit of commercial workers and enhanced their confidence in victory.The organization and training activities of our commercial workers' pickets have been intensified.In the third armed uprising of Shanghai workers, the picket team of commercial workers became a strong team capable of fighting and fighting.

Due to the turbulent situation at that time, the capitalists of the Commercial Press purchased dozens of long and short guns and a batch of ammunition in order to protect the property of the company and their own safety.The trade union discussed the issue of whether workers should participate several times, but it was difficult to agree on it.Comrade Zhou Enlai once came to a meeting, and this issue was mentioned during the meeting, and everyone still had a lot of opinions.Some think that this is an organization run by capitalists, and they are unwilling to work for them; some think that even if they participate, they are unwilling to train.Comrade Zhou Enlai listened carefully to everyone's speech with a smile, and asked everyone very humorously: "Calm down and think about it, do you want to participate?" When he asked, everyone didn't know what to say, and they all looked at him.He said patiently: In my opinion, not only those who can participate must participate, but also training; and those who have not participated must strive to participate.The security regiment is a legal identity. With legal identity, we can openly conduct military training, learn military technology, and deal with the enemy. When necessary, we can bring the guns of the security regiment over to fight against the enemy.This is a good thing, not a bad thing. I think it is good to participate. What do you think?He solicited everyone's opinions in a deliberative tone.After listening to what he said, everyone was clear-eyed and agreed with him unanimously.The opinions of the party members and the backbone of the trade union were unified, and the trade union followed his instructions to mobilize the workers to join the defense group.Comrade Zhou Enlai also specially assigned Comrade Hu Gongmian, who graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy, to be the military counselor of the commercial workers' picket team, making the commercial workers' picket team a strong force in the third armed uprising of Shanghai workers.

On the eve of the third armed uprising of Shanghai workers, Comrade Zhou Enlai was accompanied by Zhao Shiyan, Chen Yun, Zhang Yuan, Xu Meikun and other comrades to the commercial union several times to arrange preparations for the uprising.In an extremely dire situation, he once personally took a car to deliver two boxes of guns and ammunition to the trade union of the Commercial Press. point.When he came to the Commerce and Industry Union, the Commerce and Industry Committee was in a meeting. Seeing him personally deliver the guns, everyone felt uneasy, because Baoshan Road had become a dangerous area in recent days, but they were too embarrassed to tell him directly.Comrade Wang Jingyun, chairman of the commercial union who received him, said cleverly: We are holding an important meeting, and some issues are difficult to make decisions. You came at the right time, so please join us in the meeting.Comrade Zhou Enlai also noticed that his comrades were worried about his safety, so he smiled and said: Isn't it said in the art of war that one should be surprised?Who would believe that the rich boss who sits in a car in broad daylight is willing to take the risk to send arms.Didn't the Broadsword Team watch the car I was driving straight towards and didn't ask?I'm glad you asked me to attend your meeting.So everyone kept him, and another box of guns was sent to Ren Qixiang to take the original car for him to another concentration point of the headquarters, and handed it over to Comrade Wu Yu.Comrade Zhou Enlai's brave spirit of being responsible for the revolutionary cause and completely disregarding personal safety made us admire.He often said to us: To make a revolution, you have to take some risks, but you have to be bold and careful, otherwise you will not be able to do great revolutionary things.His words and deeds are an example for us business workers to learn from.During the third armed uprising of Shanghai workers, our commercial workers' picket team not only fought bravely and captured the five district police stations in one fell swoop, but also surrounded and captured the enemy's stronghold in the Oriental Library, and successfully completed the battle originally planned by Comrade Zhou Enlai. plan.After the picket team broke through these two strongholds, he ordered the business picket team to send a squadron to the North Railway Station to participate in the siege of the Zhilu garrison.In the evening of the same day, Baoshan Road Wenxue Lane and Yipin Lane were suddenly bombarded with sulfur bombs from the enemy, and there was a sea of ​​flames all around. He hurriedly ordered the fire brigade of the Commercial Press to go to the scene and put out the fire.He also instructed the ambulance team of the Commercial Trade Union not only to rescue the injured members of the picket team, but also to rescue citizens injured by stray bullets in a timely manner.After 28 hours of fighting, the Shanghai workers' pickets finally defeated the Zhilu coalition forces controlled by the Beiyang warlords.

"April. 12" After Chiang Kai-shek betrayed the revolution, Shanghai was filled with white terror.In order to preserve the revolutionary strength, Comrade Zhou Enlai made arrangements for some comrades working in the Commercial Press to retreat.He asked Ren Qixiang to quickly transfer Comrade Wang Jingyun, chairman of the Commerce and Industry Union.Wang Jingyun arranged to live temporarily in Nanxiang, Baoshan County.Eight or nine of our commercial workers went to Hunan, Wuhan and other places.Among them, after arriving in Wuhan, Xue Zhaosheng and Jiang Zhonglin attended the Fourth National Labor Congress. Chen Gongqing and Jiang Zhonglin attended the First Congress of the Printing Industry Federation held in Wuhan and were elected as executive members.Ren Qixiang, who was in Wuhan, worked in the Ministry of Labor of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions; Wang Chunsheng served as the director of the hostel for gay refugees in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui provinces; Yang Xianjiang served as the editor-in-chief of the "Revolutionary Army Daily".

After the "Ma Ri Incident", the situation in Wuhan has also deteriorated day by day.Comrade Zhou Enlai promptly mobilized comrades who came to Han from all over the country to return to their original places quickly, waiting for the opportunity.He said that Wuhan has been threatened by Xu Kexiang and Xia Douyin, and the counter-revolutionary forces are just around the corner. If the comrades continue to stay in Wuhan, they will become "turtles in the urn".So Jiang Zhonglin and Xue Zhaosheng, mobilized by him, took a detour from Wuhu, Gaochun, and Liyang to Changzhou and other places back to Shanghai with Sichuan funds.

We recall these past events 60 years ago and deeply miss Comrade Zhou Enlai.The scene of him fighting side by side with us during the days and nights of the battle 60 years ago seems to come to mind again.His teachings are ones we will never forget.