Chapter 41 Chapter 11 Do your best and fulfill your mission——The First Session of the Fourth National People's Congress

According to the provisions of the "Constitution of the People's Republic of China" on the term of office of the National People's Congress, the Fourth National People's Congress should have been held between 1968 and 1969.However, the "Cultural Revolution" that broke out in 1966 seriously disrupted the normal work of the party and the country.State President Liu Shaoqi was removed from all his posts without any legal procedures, and finally passed away unjustly.The State Council led by Zhou Enlai and its various functional departments also suffered unprecedented impact and destruction. Less than a year after the "Cultural Revolution" was launched, 8 of the 15 vice-premiers in office (excluding the one who passed away) were knocked down, and 3 were "stand aside".Most of the principal persons in charge of dozens of ministries, commissions, and offices under the State Council were "dismissed" or "stand aside," and some ministers were persecuted to death.The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the permanent body of the National People's Congress, is also unable to exercise its powers due to lax laws and regulations, paralyzed institutions, and the overthrow of many leaders.At the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the First Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee held in 1969, Lin Biao and Jiang Qing, who started their careers in the "Cultural Revolution", stole many important positions in the Party Central Committee and began to intrigue secretly.Under such circumstances, the issue of the National People's Congress, the highest organ of state power, has not been brought up on the agenda.

In March 1970, the domestic situation tended to calm down.In Wuhan, Mao Zedong put forward his opinions on convening the Fourth National People's Congress and amending the Constitution. At the same time, he also proposed to change the national system and not have a national chairman.Mao Zedong's opinion showed his desire to try to end the chaotic state of the "Cultural Revolution" and restore the normal operation of the state apparatus as soon as possible.However, the development of things does not depend on people's subjective wishes.On the issue of setting up the president of the country, Lin Biao, out of his ulterior motives, expressed his disagreement with Mao Zedong, which in turn cast a shadow over the preparations for the Fourth National People's Congress.In July of the same year, the Politburo meeting chaired by Zhou Enlai decided that the drafting of documents for the Fourth National People’s Congress and other preparatory work would be basically completed in mid-August, the Second Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee would be held in late August, and the first meeting of the Fourth National People’s Congress would be held before the National Day of the same year.

However, during the discussion of the constitutional revision draft, the debate on the "national president" and the so-called "genius issue" led to a "big fight" at the Second Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee (Lushan Conference).The increasingly ambitious Lin Biao and his gang saw the Fourth National People's Congress as an opportunity to redistribute power, and took advantage of the Lushan Conference to incite the participating Central Committee members to accept their intentions.Mao Zedong saw through Lin Biao's conspiracy and exposed and criticized Chen Boda who had defected to Lin Biao's clique during the meeting.Although a serious struggle broke out at the Central Plenum, the communiqué issued after the meeting notably announced the "information" about the convening of the Fourth National People's Congress.It's just that the problems exposed by the Lushan Conference are far from being resolved, and the preparations for the Fourth National People's Congress have actually been temporarily put on hold.

After the Lushan Conference, Lin Biao has been perfunctory to Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, and has never made self-criticism. Huang Yongsheng and others did not mention Lin Biao's mistakes and responsibilities at all. In March 1971, under the instruction of Lin Biao, Lin Liguo and his accomplices secretly worked out the coup plan "Summary of the "May 71 Project"" in Shanghai in an attempt to seize the supreme leadership of the party and the country by force.The release of the "Minutes" signified that Lin Biao and his group of factional forces within the party were determined to be enemies of the party and the people, and became an outright counter-revolutionary conspiracy.In mid-August of the same year, presided over by Zhou Enlai, preparations for the Fourth National People's Congress began. On September 8, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee approved the "Preparatory Work Document for the Fourth National People's Congress" in principle.On this day, Lin Biao, who was informed of the contents of Mao Zedong's southern inspection tour, issued a counter-revolutionary coup warrant to Lin Liguo and others. On the evening of September 12, Zhou Enlai learned of the abnormal behavior of Lin Biao and his gang, and devoted himself to the intense work of dealing with the Lin Biao incident.