Chapter 13 5. Preliminary redress

The "September 13" Lin Biao self-explosion incident in 1971 objectively announced the failure of the theory and practice of the "Cultural Revolution".Soon, Mao Zedong personally came forward to rehabilitate the so-called "February Countercurrent".At this time, Jiang Qing and his group, who were "tit-for-tat" and "incompatible" with the old comrades during the February protest, were still on stage.Despite the limited conditions, Zhou Enlai, who presided over the daily work of the Party Central Committee, still used all occasions to provide opportunities for veteran comrades to restore their reputations and come out to work, and remove obstacles.

At the beginning of October of the same year, Ye Jianying presided over the Central Military Commission's office meeting, and Li Xiannian, Yu Qiuli and others assumed important responsibilities at the same time, as suggested by the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee chaired by Zhou Enlai and approved by Mao Zedong.Later, Zhou Enlai entrusted veteran comrades such as Li Fuchun to participate in and lead study sessions and symposiums on criticizing Lin Biao. In January 1972, Chen Yi unfortunately died of illness.Prior to this, Mao Zedong had refuted the statement of "February Adverse Current" in several conversations, and believed that the old comrades who "made a big disturbance in Huairen Hall" were targeting Lin Biao, Chen Boda and "Wang (Li), Guan (Feng) ), Qi (Ben Yu)".He also specially entrusted Ye Jianying to convey his views on "February Adverse Current" to Chen Yi before he died.Under Zhou Enlai's careful organization and arrangement, Chen Yi's memorial service was solemn and grand, with far-reaching influence; especially Mao Zedong's act of personally participating in the memorial service brought great comfort to all the old comrades, including those who participated in the February protest.

In mid-December of the same year, Zhou Enlai personally wrote to Ji Dengkui and Wang Dongxing, pointing out that "the riot at Huairentang at that time was caused by Lin Biao deliberately causing the downfall of a group of old comrades", and that Tan Zhenlin "is still a good comrade, and he should be allowed to come back." .After approval by Mao Zedong, Tan Zhenlin was taken from Guilin to Beijing for medical treatment. Before and after the Tenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1973, Zhou Enlai repeatedly instructed the foreign affairs department: more veteran comrades should be invited to participate in relevant foreign affairs activities, and the names of Ye Jianying, Li Fuchun, Xu Xiangqian, Nie Rongzhen, Tan Zhenlin, etc. Comrade's "comeback" widely created public opinion.Thanks to Zhou Enlai's unremitting efforts, except for the early death of Chen Yi, all veteran comrades who participated in the February 1967 protest were elected to the Tenth Central Committee of the Party.So far, the so-called "February countercurrent" has been rehabilitated in fact, and it will never be mentioned again.

As a party to the February protests, Zhou Enlai, then member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and Premier of the State Council, was closely related and inseparable from the beginning to the end of the February protests, a major event in the "Cultural Revolution".Judging from his series of speeches before and after the February protest, his main ideas are connected with each other and come down in one continuous line.To a certain extent, he gave continuous and effective support to this just struggle with his unique fighting style.After the defeat in the struggle, he continued to play the role of "neutralizer" in a very difficult situation, and tried his best to protect all the old comrades who participated in the struggle, making them the counter-revolutionaries of Lin Biao and Jiang Qing in the middle and late stages of the "Cultural Revolution". The backbone of the group to fight and finally win.