Chapter 54 Five and three endless thoughts

The first time I met Comrade Zhou Enlai was in Yan'an in 1939.It was shortly after his right arm fracture healed, and he went to Guaimao Hospital for an Xray examination.We have everything ready and waiting for his arrival.He came and shook hands with us one by one.His sonorous voice and hearty laughter immediately filled the whole cave with life.At that time, our Aikesi optical machine was the only one in Yan'an, and there were often minor failures during operation.Therefore, the delay is relatively long.Comrade Zhou Enlai waited patiently while talking with us cordially.He started with this Aikes optical machine and asked about all aspects of our hospital.He asked so carefully that we couldn't answer several questions for a while.At that time, he said emphatically, "scientific work must not be ambiguous at all." Later, I often saw him be so strict and meticulous in his work, and I often thought of his words.

About a year later, because he had a cold, Comrade Fu Lianzhang and I went to see him.When he saw us, he only talked a few words about his own illness, but he talked a lot about the work of our hospital, especially about the shortage of medicines.After seeing the doctor, we are going to prescribe some medicine for him.He refused.He said, "I'm sick, and I'll get better if I don't take medicine. The medicine is so urgent, why prescribe it for me!" During the Anti-Japanese War, he often lived in Chongqing.Sometimes he returned to Yan'an to discuss major issues with Chairman Mao and other leading comrades of the Party Central Committee.But in that short period of time, he always had to ask about the work of various departments.He is often concerned about the health department, especially our Bethune International Peace Hospital.As soon as we heard that Vice Chairman Zhou had returned to Yan'an, we were busy preparing materials for the report overnight.Because on an uncertain day, he will call the responsible comrades from the Ministry of Health or the hospital, or take the opportunity of visiting patients in the hospital to learn about the situation in the hospital.

He checked our work very strictly and always pointed out the shortcomings of our work.Every time he comes to the hospital, he always gives us a big impetus to our work.What amazes us is that he can see problems that we haven't found all year round.The way he does this is by asking us progressively deeper questions until we are too tongue-tied to answer. He read the materials sent to him by the hospital very seriously and considered them very carefully. It was probably one day in the winter of 1944. Comrade Su Jingguan, Minister of Health, asked me to go with him to meet Comrade Enlai, saying that Comrade Enlai had something to ask about pediatrics.As soon as Comrade Enlai saw us, he said that he would get up and go back to Chongqing soon, and wanted to know what the most common and serious infectious diseases in children were in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region.I said that there are two diseases that pose the greatest threat to children. One is kala-azar and the other is pertussis. Pertussis causes a lot of pneumonia, and the mortality rate is very high.I also said that both of these illnesses also occurred in nurseries.He immediately took out a list of medicines and equipment and placed it in front of him.That was the list he recently asked Bethune International Peace Hospital to issue, and he was going to try to get outside assistance.He asked us whether the medicines for these two diseases had been prescribed.I said that the medicine for kala-azar has already been prescribed. As for whooping cough, there is no specific treatment medicine yet, and we have prescribed medicine for pneumonia.Then he asked about the causes and symptoms of these two diseases, especially about kala-azar, and asked in great detail.Then he asked us to point him to the kala-azar medicine in the list, and he immediately drew a triangle mark on it with a brush.

"You should do more health promotion," he said, "so that people know something about the prevention of these diseases. Nursery schools, you have to teach the childcare workers and check them." He asked again about other medicines.When we bid farewell to him, he said, "I invite you here mainly to remind you if there are any omissions in the medicine list. I heard that there are many diseases among children here." From the withdrawal of our army from Yan'an in March 1947 until our army turned to the counter-offensive in the northwest battlefield a year later, Comrade Mao Zedong and his comrades-in-arms Zhou Enlai, Comrades Ren Bishi, and Comrades Lu Dingyi stayed in northern Shaanxi, fighting with each other. The enemy attacking northern Shaanxi circled around while commanding the national liberation war.They marched together, worked together, ate and slept together.

During the march, Chairman Mao rode at the front, followed by Comrade Enlai.Whenever encountering difficult and dangerous places, Comrade Enlai always rode to the front and asked Chairman Mao to walk slowly. He personally understood the situation ahead with the comrades of the guards, and then watched Chairman Mao walk over.Once, during the march, there was a heavy rain, and everyone got their clothes wet. When they arrived at the place of residence, it was already dark, and everyone gathered around the stove to dry their clothes.Comrade Enlai watched Chairman Mao change his clothes and sit on the hot kang before he changed his clothes.

Comrade Enlai not only assisted Chairman Mao in commanding operations and leading the overall situation, but also personally took care of various specific tasks.He often cares about the treatment and transfer of the wounded. If he finds out who has mishandled the wounded, he will give severe criticism and check himself until it is properly handled.I followed the Party Central Committee as a health worker.Once I issued a list of medicines and equipment, and I planned to go to the health department of the field army to pick it up.After Comrade Enlai read the list, he asked me: "How many people here often see a doctor?" I didn't say much.Comrade Enlai said: "Then why do you need so many things? Medicines and equipment are mainly supplied to the combat troops and the wounded. When you work here, as long as you have a medicine bag, you can pick it up and go when you march." He also instructed me. In the future, taking medicine from the field army must be approved by him.

Some earthen cave dwellings in northern Shaanxi are connected in two. The outer kiln houses labor tools and pickle jars, and the inner kiln houses people.Chairman Mao and his comrades often worked in the inner kiln until late at night, and the smell of pickled vegetables filled the inner and outer kilns.After the liberation of the whole country, Comrade Enlai often missed this period of war life in northern Shaanxi and the common people in northern Shaanxi.Once, he said to us: "Do you still remember the smell of pickled vegetables in northern Shaanxi? During the War of Liberation, Chairman Mao and I were in the inner kiln of my hometown, and there was a pickle vat outside. At first, it smelled like pickled vegetables. I was not used to it, but later I not only got used to it, but also liked it very much. Now when I think of the taste of that pickled vegetable, I feel like I am in northern Shaanxi again.”

During the transition to northern Shaanxi, Comrade Enlai gave several reports to everyone. The Party Central Committee marched to Shenquanbao, Jia County on September 22, 1947, and lived there for two months.That was when our army began a full-scale counter-offensive. On the afternoon of September 28, Comrade Enlai made a report on the situation, analyzing in detail the progress of the War of Liberation over the past year.We listened to this vivid report with great excitement, and then spent almost a week studying the report.At that time, I recorded this report in a notebook with a pencil, and I have kept it until now.Whenever I look at this notebook, I can't help but recall the scene at that time.I remember that he gave this report on a threshing floor until nearly dusk.

On October 14, Chairman Mao, Comrades Enlai, Bishi, and Dingyi received new soldiers from the guard regiment at Yanjiamao near Shenquanbao. The four leading comrades all spoke.Comrade Enlai talked about land reform.He explained to everyone why the liberation war would not have won so quickly without land reform. Comrade Enlai often educates everyone to abide by the three major disciplines and eight points of attention.Once, a few comrades picked a few dates when they walked through the date trees.Comrade Enlai knew about it, and immediately called all the accompanying comrades together to give a speech.He said: "Chairman Mao asked us not to take the masses' needles and threads, but you picked the dates of the masses. Don't think this is a small problem. If I don't remind you today, tomorrow you will violate more interests of the masses."

In the spring of 1948, we celebrated a very meaningful "March 8th Festival" in northern Shaanxi.In our team, there are very few lesbians.Comrade Enlai convened a commemorative meeting for gays and lesbians.First, a few lesbians spoke.Finally, Comrade Enlai spoke. He said: "Today is a women's day, but I want to say a few words specifically to gay men." Then he said that gay men must break old ideas in terms of family values ​​and husband-wife relationships. To truly respect and care for lesbians. The patriotic health movement in our country was developed under the leadership of Chairman Mao and personally led by Premier Zhou.It was our Premier Zhou who served as the first chairman of the Central Patriotic Health Campaign Committee.This movement started in 1952, and its cause was to oppose the germ warfare carried out by the US imperialists in North Korea and Northeast my country.For nearly a year, Premier Zhou asked Comrade He Cheng, Director of the Office of the Patriotic Health Campaign Committee, to report the situation to him by phone every day, give him a written summary every month, and make a comprehensive written summary every two months. Send it to Chairman Mao.He personally read all the reports to Chairman Mao, and checked all the figures mentioned in it himself.

According to Chairman Mao's opinion, in December 1952, 1,200 people participated in the Patriotic Sanitation Movement Summary Appraisal Conference.Premier Zhou spoke at the meeting.He proposed that in addition to the three major principles of health work—orienting workers, peasants and soldiers, focusing on prevention, and uniting traditional Chinese and Western medicine—an additional policy should be added: the combination of health work and mass movement.At that meeting, he also educated everyone with the spirit of thrift and founding the country.Originally, in March of that year, we made a budget for the whole year to carry out health campaigns. After sending it in, the Prime Minister did not approve it, and asked us to make a new budget and use money carefully.By May, we resubmitted a budget, but the Prime Minister had not yet approved it, and he told us again not to be extravagant and spend casually.It was not until August that the Prime Minister approved the budget after he learned about our actual expenditure.At the general meeting in December, the Prime Minister said: "I will approve your budget in the spring, and you may complain about my slowness in doing things. But now you will understand that if I approve it according to your budget in the spring , You spend a lot of money, you will waste the country's money. I am like this, I want you to do a good job first, and then approve your budget." Premier Zhou is always working against time for the revolutionary cause.He cared about other comrades and never thought about himself. In 1954, the Premier led a delegation to participate in the first Geneva Conference, with Comrades Zhang Wentian, Wang Jiaxiang and Li Kenong serving as deputy heads of the delegation.The Prime Minister heard that Comrade Li Kenong was not in good health, so he asked me to accompany Comrade Li Kenong to Moscow first to rest.And he himself worked overnight until he left Beijing.After meeting in Moscow, he asked Comrade Li Kenong to stay for two more days, but Comrade Li Kenong disagreed, so they set off together. The Prime Minister has been sleeping very little.We advised him to rest, and he said he could take advantage of the flight time to rest.In fact, after he got on the plane, he only slept for a while, and then started working again. The Geneva meeting lasted for three months, and the Prime Minister visited India once, and the activities were very tense.The residence of the Chinese delegation in Geneva is a temporarily rented house in the suburbs, which is very crowded.The room where the prime minister works and sleeps is the place where people must pass after going upstairs.The prime minister has been busy all night, so he can only sleep for a while early in the morning.In order to prevent the people who went upstairs to walk into the prime minister's room by mistake and disturb his rest, the guards often put two pots of flowers in front of his door to block it.Some comrades suggested several times to find another place where he could live more spaciously so that his sleep would not be disturbed, but he never agreed. In 1955, the Prime Minister went to Bandung to attend the first Asian-African Conference.Ten days before departure, he suddenly developed acute appendicitis.After the operation, shortly after the stitches were removed, he left for the country.We were very concerned about his health at the time.But his spirit is very good, and he still sleeps very little every day.One night, the Prime Minister and Vice Premier Chen Yi sat in the courtyard of their residence and had a conversation.It was late at night, and Comrade Chen Yi advised the Prime Minister to rest.The Prime Minister said that he was in good health, and then he turned his head and pointed to Comrade Chen Yi and asked me, "Is his blood pressure high?" He also asked about the health of the comrades in the whole regiment.I told him that the comrades in the whole regiment are very good.He said happily: "I hope you have nothing to do." The Premier and Comrade Chen Yi went abroad together many times.Comrade Chen Yi is very concerned about and respects the Prime Minister, and always arranges the affairs of the delegation well so that the Prime Minister can devote all his energy to the outside world.The Prime Minister also cared and respected Comrade Chen Yi very much. In Myanmar in 1961, at a light banquet held by the host, the Prime Minister invited Comrade Chen Yi to speak and toast.After Comrade Chen Yi's speech, the Prime Minister asked him to recite his poem "For Myanmar Friends".Comrade Chen Yi was very modest, quickly waved his hands and said with a smile: "I forgot, I forgot." The Prime Minister said, "I will recite it for you!" Then he read the poem: "I live at the head of the river, and you live at the end of the river. Love each other infinitely, and drink from the same river." This poem was written by Comrade Chen Yi as early as 1957.Later, Burmese musicians composed this poem into a song. In 1956, accompanied by Comrade He Long, the Prime Minister visited six countries in Southeast Asia.During his visit to India, Comrade He Long caught a cold.When the Prime Minister visited outside, he specifically asked me to stay and take care of Comrade He Long.After returning from his visit, he immediately went to Comrade He Long's room to learn about his condition, and told Comrade He Long about the interesting things he saw during the visit.In the afternoon, I took Comrade He Long's temperature. "What's your body temperature?" Comrade He Long asked me. "It's still a little high." Comrade He Long grabbed my arm and said to me: "When the Prime Minister asks, you just say that I have lost my fever and I am completely cured. So that he does not keep thinking about it." Before each visit abroad, the Prime Minister always repeatedly reminded all the comrades in the delegation not to violate the doctrine of great powers.He said to everyone: "Chairman Mao often warns us not to commit great-nation chauvinism. You must be modest and prudent. I have talked about this issue several times, and I will talk about it now, and I will talk about it in the future." Among them, they respect a country's customs, habits, and religious beliefs, and pay attention to every word and sentence used in communication. When I went to Nepal in 1957, I went to a place. At the reception, the host presented the prime minister with a wooden statue of Sakyamuni.The Prime Minister gave a warm and friendly speech to express his gratitude.When translating in English, the translator used a pronoun of object (which) on the statue of Sakyamuni. The Prime Minister quickly corrected it by using a pronoun of person (whom).Afterwards, the Prime Minister said to the comrades: "Nepal is a Buddhist country, you should pay special attention to this aspect." When the prime minister visits factories, schools or public places abroad, he often talks cordially with the masses.He once said to the accompanying reporters many times: "You should take more photos of the masses and the activities of the masses, and not the activities of us." On January 8, 1961, the Prime Minister visited Mandalay, the ancient capital of Myanmar.During the dinner, the Prime Minister raised a glass of orange water to pay tribute to the people of Myanmar.He said: "This glass of orange water is made from oranges from Shan State and water from the Ayeyarwady River through the labor of the Burmese people. I suggest everyone drink a glass together!" Every time the Prime Minister went abroad, he had cordial contact with every staff member of the delegation.Even if it is a delegation of more than 100 people, it is the same. He always has to go to everyone's living room.The Prime Minister works, lives and enjoys with everyone.I especially remember that in 1961, the Prime Minister led everyone back from abroad and spent a Spring Festival in Kunming.That afternoon, in the courtyard of the residence, the Prime Minister laughed and sang with everyone.After several people performed the show, the Prime Minister clapped their hands to the beat and led everyone to sing "Honghu Lake Water, Waves Beat the Waves". In September 1973, Premier Zhou Enlai called for the continuation of the patriotic health campaign, and proposed to strengthen food hygiene as the focus of the health campaign, and conduct a major inspection before the National Day. In the early morning of late September, Premier Zhou's office received a briefing, which reported that food poisoning had occurred among the staff of a restaurant, and after treatment, it has recovered.The secretary on duty did not show Premier Zhou the briefing immediately because he was not in good health at the time and he had only fallen asleep shortly after a busy day.A few hours later, when Premier Zhou woke up and saw the briefing, he said very seriously: "I will read a briefing like this even if I don't sleep." So he immediately wrote on it. A long paragraph was approved, emphasizing that: the requirements for food hygiene must be "implemented piece by piece and checked every day." "Implement everything and check every day", this is a manifestation of Premier Zhou's work style throughout his life, and it is also a meaningful legacy he gave us.These eight words are not only for food hygiene work. How often hundreds of millions of people would like to hear the voice of the Prime Minister speak. But in the middle of 1974, our prime minister rarely spoke at large rallies because of his serious illness. On the eve of the National Day that year, what a night that people will never forget!The Premier walked into the banquet hall of the Great Hall of the People, and he made a toast in his still sonorous voice. All the comrades who participated in the banquet felt excited and expressed their concern for the prime minister's health with long applause! Comrades all thought that the Prime Minister had begun to recover, and they were all running around telling everyone. How do you know that the Prime Minister is still seriously ill.