Chapter 32 Chapter Nine "This is a very important leader in China in the future!" - Deng Xiaoping's "comeback" in 1973

Like the reappointment of other senior CCP leading cadres during the "Cultural Revolution", Mao Zedong was undoubtedly the ultimate decision maker in "liberating" Deng Xiaoping.Mao seemed to have no need to say anything about Deng's return at this time.He has already said enough about evaluating and protecting Deng. When the "Cultural Revolution" was launched in May 1966, Mao Zedong once praised Deng Xiaoping's talents to the guests from the fraternal parties who came to China, saying: He (Deng) is a man who understands military affairs, and he is the commander in chief who attacked Nanjing.Two field armies, almost one million troops.Hit Shanghai, Zhejiang, Hangzhou, Jiangxi, and Fujian, and then their Second Field Army went west to occupy Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou.These three provinces have almost 100 million people.Mao Zedong also regretted that Deng Xiaoping was not employed in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

In August of the same year, according to Mao Zedong’s opinion, the Eleventh Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China reorganized the central leadership. Among the newly elected members of the Politburo Standing Committee, Liu Shaoqi dropped from the second place to the eighth place, while Deng Xiaoping However, it was promoted from the original 7th place to the 6th place.At the subsequent Central Working Conference, Lin Biao, Jiang Qing and others tried to shift the criticism from Liu Shaoqi to Deng Xiaoping, but because Mao Zedong intervened to prevent it, the "criticism of Deng" had to stop.

In October of the same year, Chen Boda and others proposed to criticize the "bourgeois reactionary line" represented by Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping at the Central Work Conference of the Communist Party of China, and Liu and Deng made further reviews. On October 22, Mao Zedong wrote in Deng Xiaoping's review draft: "Comrade Xiaoping: You can talk about it like this. But after the first line of the eighth page, after the word "make up for the past", should you add a few positive and uplifting words, such as saying , With my active efforts and the active help of my comrades, I believe that my mistakes will be corrected in time. Please give me time, comrades, and I will stand up. I have worked in the revolution for half my life, and if I stumble, will I not recover? These kind and touching words not only encouraged and encouraged Deng himself, but also brought great warmth and hope to Deng's family.

In the spring and summer of 1967, it was at the peak of the national rebels' "comprehensive seizure" and clamor for "overthrowing Liu (Shaoqi), Deng (Xiaoping), and Tao (Zhu)". One day in May, Wang Dongxing, director of the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, was ordered to come to Deng Xiaoping's house and conveyed Mao Zedong's three opinions to Deng: first, be patient and don't worry; second, Liu and Deng can separate; third, if something happens, You can write to him (Mao Zedong).Deng Xiaoping expressed the hope that he would have the opportunity to have an interview with Mao Zedong.That night, Mao's secretary took Deng to Mao Zedong's place to talk, and it didn't end until almost dawn.During the conversation, Mao Zedong criticized the "mistakes" of the working group sent by Liu and Deng on the one hand, and at the same time said to Deng: I do not agree to overthrow you, but I still want to protect you.If you want to see me in the future, you can write to me directly.If you have any other matters, you can ask Wang Dongxing to handle them.

On July 16 of the same year, when Mao Zedong talked with Wang Li, a member of the Central Cultural Revolution Group in Wuhan, he proposed: "If Lin Biao's health fails, I still want Deng (Xiaoping) to come out. Deng is at least a member of the Standing Committee." After that, Mao said many times: "Does Deng Xiaoping want to protect? First, he has fought some battles; second, he is not a member of the Kuomintang; third, he has no black training." When referring to the convening of the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, he said that many old comrades will be representatives , as a member of the Central Committee, and listed Deng Xiaoping, Ulanhu, Peng Zhen, He Long and others.In the summer and autumn of the same year, Mao Zedong toured various places in the south.When talking about cadres, he emphasized: "Cadres must be allowed to make mistakes and correct their mistakes." After returning to Beijing, he convened a meeting to discuss the issue of the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and for the first time proposed that Liu and Deng should be different. In early November, when he talked with members of the Central Cultural Revolution Group, he said again: "My opinion is to distinguish him (Deng Xiaoping) from Liu Shaoqi, how to separate Liu and Deng."

On June 30, 1968, Mao Zedong said in a conversation with the members of the Central Cultural Revolution Meeting and other responsible persons: My view on Deng Xiaoping is still the same.Some people say that he is in collusion with the enemy, but I don't believe it.You are so afraid of Deng Xiaoping, which shows how powerful he is. On October 12 of the same year, Mao Zedong reiterated at the Central Cultural Revolution Meeting: Some cadres may work in the future. There are mistakes, but it is still possible to do small jobs.And said: Deng (Xiaoping) can do some work under the leadership of Wang (Dongxing).

In October of the same year, when life within the party was extremely abnormal, the 12th Plenary Session of the 8th CPC Central Committee was held in Beijing.At the meeting, the report "The Major Crimes of Deng Xiaoping, Another Biggest Party Establishment Taking the Capitalist Road" drafted by the "Deng Xiaoping Task Force" was issued.Lin Biao, Jiang Qing, Kang Sheng, Xie Fuzhi and others criticized Deng Xiaoping at the group meeting of the plenary session and clamored for expulsion of Deng from the party.In this regard, Mao Zedong said: Deng Xiaoping fought the enemy during the war, and no problems have been found in history. He should be treated differently from Liu Shaoqi. In fact, there are some differences.Everyone wants to be expelled (party membership), I have some reservations.I think it's better to be cautious.Mao Zedong's statement made Lin Biao, Jiang Qing and others' attempt to expel Deng Xiaoping from the party fail.

In December of the same year, when revising the draft of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Cultural Revolution Group of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Mao Zedong added the following passage in a targeted manner: "People who have made mistakes of capitalist roaders Among them, those who never repent are the minority, and those who can receive education and correct their mistakes are the majority, so don’t just mention the ‘capitalist roaders’ and think that they are all bad people.” On March 12, 1969, Mao Zedong made it clear when discussing the drafting of the political report of the Ninth National Congress: I meant not to mention Deng Xiaoping in the report (that is, to name and criticize Deng as the "No. 2 capitalist roader in the party").At the Central Cultural Revolution meeting on the 15th, he also pointed out that policy implementation is a big problem.We must also distinguish between capitalist roaders and give them a way out.Some capitalist roaders began to implement the bourgeois reactionary line and suppressed the masses very severely.But the so-called "do not repent after death", is it true that you will not change for ten thousand years?How can I change if I don’t work?Afterwards, he reiterated: We still follow the old rules of the past, and those who can unite must unite, allow others to make mistakes, and allow others to correct their mistakes.Most of them are treated as conflicts among the people, not as conflicts between the enemy and ourselves.

During the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the First Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee in April of the same year, Mao Zedong mentioned many times: There must be a difference between Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi.It was not found that he (Deng) was a traitor.Mr. Deng fought some battles."Deng, Mao, Xie, and Gu" in the Soviet area, he was against Wang Ming.After Deng arrived in Beijing, he got together with Liu Shaoqi and Peng Zhen, but he also did some good things, such as the "Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union", which he disagreed with.

From the above opinions expressed by Mao Zedong in the past three years, it can be seen that although Deng Xiaoping was "overthrown" at the beginning of the "Cultural Revolution", Mao treated Deng differently from Liu Shaoqi who was overthrown at the same time. Have good feelings and hope.As for when and how Deng's "card" will be played, he still has to wait and see. On September 13, 1971, the Lin Biao incident that shocked the whole country broke out.While gazing at the trauma and reflecting on the past, the "card" of Deng Xiaoping that Mao Zedong had held in his hand for a long time can and needs to be played at last.

On August 3, 1972, Deng Xiaoping, who had been "decentralized" for three years in Xinjian County, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, listened to the transmission of the central document on the Lin Biao incident together with all the staff of the tractor repair factory where he worked.That night, Deng wrote a letter to Mao Zedong again. On the one hand, he continued to expose and criticize Lin Biao's crimes, and at the same time, he also asked for a little work for the party and the people. After reading Deng Xiaoping's letter, Mao Zedong wrote the following comment (full text) on August 14: After the Prime Minister reads it, please hand it over to Director Wang for printing and distribution to all comrades in the Central Committee.Comrade Deng Xiaoping made serious mistakes.But it should be distinguished from Liu Shaoqi. (1) He was punished in the Central Soviet Area, that is, one of the four sinners Deng, Mao, Xie, and Gu, and he was the leader of the so-called Mao faction.For his materials, please refer to the two books "Two Lines" and "Since the Sixth National Congress".The person who came forward to punish him was Zhang Wentian. (2) He has no historical problems.That is, the enemy has not surrendered. (3) He was capable and accomplished in assisting Comrade Liu Bocheng in the war.In addition, after entering the city, it is not that he did not do a good thing. For example, he led a delegation to Moscow for negotiations, and he did not succumb to Soviet revisionism. I have said these things many times in the past, and I will say them again now. The above content, as Mao Zedong said at the end, is what he "has said many times in the past".But the biggest difference between "now" and "past" is that Mao turned these "said many times" words into black and white documents, and demanded "printing and distribution of comrades in the Central Committee".In this way, Zhou Enlai, who saw the approval document first, could directly submit Mao Zedong's comments to the Political Bureau of the Central Committee for discussion and decision.