Chapter 47 4. Zhou Enlai strenuously supported Deng Xiaoping's comprehensive rectification

Several years after the comprehensive rectification in 1975, Deng Xiaoping still remembered it vividly, and he talked about it many times to people at home and abroad.Among them, it also included his struggle with the "Gang of Four" at that time. In July 1983, Deng Xiaoping recalled: "When dealing with the railway issue in 1975, I told the gang members not to arrest them now but to transfer them away. The 'Gang of Four' said no. , make another one and adjust it again, adjust one a day, and adjust 365 a year. After this word is passed on, the order on the railway will be improved immediately." Deng Xiaoping also said: At that time, the rectification was carried out, and a few talents were used. If the work in several areas has been rectified effectively, the situation will be quite different.

In October 1987, when talking about the issue of reform, Deng Xiaoping also proposed: "When it comes to reform, we have actually experimented for a period of time from 1974 to 1975. In 1973, Premier Zhou Enlai was seriously ill and took me from the "cowshed" in Jiangxi. When I came back, I replaced Premier Zhou in managing part of the work of the State Council. In 1975, I presided over the executive work of the Central Committee. The reform at that time was called rectification, which emphasized improving the economy; the first thing was to restore production order. Wherever this is done All worked. Soon, I was defeated by the "Gang of Four". I was "three ups and three downs". The reform is very popular and reflects the aspirations of the people."

In 1981, the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China passed the "Resolution on Some Historical Issues Concerning the Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China", which pointed out that the situation has improved significantly because Deng Xiaoping "started to rectify the work in many aspects"; however, "Comrade Mao Zedong Cannot tolerate Comrade Deng Xiaoping's systematic correction of the mistakes of the "Cultural Revolution", and launched the so-called "criticize Deng, fight back against the Rightist overturning the verdict" movement, and the whole country fell into chaos again." This is what Deng Xiaoping said at that time. "The fundamental reason lies.However, before that, the "Gang of Four" who had been waiting for an opportunity to counterattack had already begun to attack Deng Xiaoping and his supporter Zhou Enlai.

In mid-August of this year, Mao Zedong commented on the classic Chinese novel "Water Margin", pointing out that "Water Margin" "only opposes corrupt officials, not the emperor", and Song Jiang, the leader of the peasant uprising army, "surrenders and engages in revisionism", "making people Recruiting peace", and then came to the conclusion: "The book "Water Margin" is good because of surrender. It is a negative teaching material, so that the people will know the capitulators." In this regard, the "Gang of Four" felt like they had found a treasure, and couldn't wait to use Mao Zedong's comments to make a big fuss.Yao Wenyuan sent a letter to Mao Zedong on the same day, thinking that Mao Zedong's comments were "very important" and had "significant and profound significance" for China now and in the future, and proposed that Mao Zedong's comments and his letter should be published in the Central Political Bureau Bureau members and various publicity and publishing units.

Under the control of the "Gang of Four", from the end of August, various newspapers and periodicals across the country published articles one after another, advocating and commenting on "Water Margin" as a "component" of learning "the theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat". "The "surrender faction". Jiang Qing, who had been "depressed" for several months, also personally stepped out at this time, talking and commenting on the "practical significance" of "Water Margin" in some public places, and repeatedly emphasized "connecting with reality."She even declared bluntly: "Now some people in the Politburo want to sack the chairman", "They oppose the study of theory, and oppose the restriction of bourgeois legal power."In order to vent her dissatisfaction with the recent criticism by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the "Gang of Four" headed by her.During this period, Mao Zedong denounced some of Jiang Qing's remarks and forbade the publication of her speech.

Deng Xiaoping had long been alert to the criticism of the so-called "modern Song Jiang" and "modern capitulators" spread by Jiang Qing and others.He explained to cadres and the masses inside and outside the party on many occasions: Chairman Mao's comment on "Water Margin" has nothing to say, don't make it too far-fetched, "When you hear the wind, it is rain." At the same time, Zhou Enlai, who was in the hospital, was also closely watching this sudden and sharp struggle within the party. In mid-to-late August, when he was ill, he continued to have long-distance private talks with Deng Xiaoping and Li Xiannian to learn about the movements of the "Gang of Four".

In September, when Jiang Qing and others took the lead in "connecting with reality" and criticizing "Song Jiang" and the "surrender faction" were raging, Zhou Enlai, who was seriously ill, finally couldn't bear it anymore, and angrily fought against the "Gang of Four"! One day, in a conversation with relevant personnel in the hospital, he mentioned angrily: Some of those people (referring to the "Gang of Four") have gone too far!The recent criticism of "Water Margin" and criticism of the "surrender faction" is very clear.If there are capitulators, of course they should be approved, but this is not the case.Although I have made mistakes in history, I have worked hard for the interests of the party and the people for decades!

In late September, due to the deterioration of his condition, with the approval of the Party Central Committee, Zhou Enlai planned to undergo the fourth major operation.When life and death were uncertain, after repeated consideration, he decided to fight back against the "Gang of Four"'s attacks and framing in a special way, and gave his old comrade-in-arms Deng Xiaoping strong support with practical actions. At 2:00 pm on September 20, before entering the operating room, Zhou Enlai suddenly asked to read the transcript of his speech on the "Wu Hao Announcement" made a few years ago.After the staff took the transcript of his speech, Zhou Enlai, who was lying on a stretcher, supported his sick body, and solemnly signed the three words "Zhou Enlai" with his trembling right hand, and marked "On entering the operating room (before) "The words.

"Wu Hao" is a pseudonym Zhou Enlai used in his early years. The "Wu Hao Announcement" happened in the early 1930s. It was an "incident" fabricated by the Kuomintang reactionaries to slander Zhou Enlai.To this.It has long been clarified in the history of the party.However, during the "Cultural Revolution", the "Wu Hao Announcement" became the "handle" that Jiang Qing and others tried to use to bring down Zhou Enlai again and again. In June 1972, according to Mao Zedong's opinion, Zhou Enlai explained the "Wu Hao Announcement" at the Central Committee's Criticism and Rectification Conference, refuting the enemy's rumors and slander with facts.But just after this meeting, Wang Hongwen secretly confessed to his confidants in Shanghai to find out the enemy and puppet newspapers related to the "Wu Hao Announcement" and store them in another place for future use.

Today, several years later, when Zhou Enlai was about to undergo an operation that determined his life, he resolutely made an abnormal move to protect his political life in front of Zhang Chunqiao, an important member of the "Gang of Four", the meaning of which is self-evident. When the stretcher entered the operating room, Zhou Enlai, who was lying on the stretcher, suddenly opened his eyes again and shouted with all his strength: "I am loyal to the party and the people! I am not a capitulator!" Zhou Enlai's voice resounded inside and outside the silent operating room.The medical staff present were stunned.They exchanged glances quickly, as if a stone was pressing on their hearts...

At this time, Deng Xiaoping and Li Xiannian, who were waiting outside the operating room, glanced at Zhang Chunqiao with contempt, and nodded knowingly. The Grim Reaper quietly slipped away from Zhou Enlai again.But during this operation, it was discovered that the cancer in Zhou Enlai's body had spread to the whole body, and it was incurable.In this regard, Deng Xiaoping decisively instructed the medical team: "Reduce suffering and prolong life!" Deng Xiaoping, who is leading the comprehensive rectification struggle on all fronts, at this time, how much he hopes that Zhou Enlai can walk out of the ward again and fight side by side with him! A month later, Zhou Enlai, who was in critical condition, had to undergo the fifth major operation.On this day, the people waiting outside the operating room were still the same people from last time: Deng Xiaoping, Li Xiannian, Zhang Chunqiao... Before entering the operating room, Zhou Enlai signaled for the stretcher to stop.He asked in a weak voice: "Has Comrade Xiaoping come?" Deng Xiaoping immediately stepped forward, approached the stretcher, and bent over to greet Zhou Enlai. Zhou Enlai watched for a long time the old comrades who had been in the same boat through thick and thin for decades, pulled out his hands with difficulty, tightly held the hands that Deng Xiaoping had already extended, and said with serious words: "You have done a good job this year, you are better than me! many!" Zhou Enlai's words were heard by everyone present.This is Zhou Enlai's high evaluation of the comprehensive rectification led by Deng Xiaoping. Just in the early winter of this year, the campaign of "Combating the Right Deviation and Overturning the Verdict" was in full swing, and the comprehensive rectification led by Deng Xiaoping had to be interrupted because of this. On January 8, 1976, Premier Zhou Enlai died of illness in Beijing at the age of 78.The whole country fell into mourning. Around the Ching Ming Festival in the same year, a powerful wave of protests in memory of Zhou Enlai, support of Deng Xiaoping, and opposition to the "Gang of Four" broke out rapidly in Beijing and in major and medium-sized cities across the country.This movement laid a great mass foundation for smashing the Jiangqing counter-revolutionary clique and finally ending the ten-year civil strife of the "Cultural Revolution".