Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Going to fight in social turmoil

Zhongnanhai is the seat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council of the People's Republic of China, and it is also a place that the Chinese people yearn for. This place that dominates China's destiny is full of mystery to many people. "Zhongnanhai" is actually not a "sea", but just two water surfaces.One is called Zhonghai, and the other is called Nanhai. The north of Zhonghai is connected to the water surface of Beihai Park, which is now open to the public.Standing on the west of the Beihai Bridge and looking south, you can appreciate most of the surface of Zhongnanhai.Zhonghai, Nanhai and Beihai are integrated into the Royal Park on the whole, but there are differences between them. The buildings around Zhonghai and Nanhai are connected into a large courtyard, so it is very suitable as the office address of high-level institutions, while Beihai is It is self-contained, and historical sites and scenic spots can be seen everywhere, so it is more suitable for tourism. In the Qing Dynasty, it was separated according to the current pattern, probably because of this reason.

Mao Zedong's residence, Juxiang Bookstore and the entire courtyard of Fengze Garden, are on the north shore of the South China Sea.The gate of Fengze Garden faces the South China Sea, while the north of Juxiang Bookstore faces Zhonghai. This is a day not long after we moved into Zhongnanhai.I walked with Mao Zedong in the South China Sea, and when we reached the gate of the Hall of Qinzheng, Mao Zedong waved his hand and said, "We are about to have a meeting in the Hall of Qinzheng, let's go in and have a look!" The Hall of Qinzheng was renovated because of the opening of a new Political Consultative Conference.The Palace of Qinzheng was originally the place where the emperor rested and dealt with government affairs.

Before accompanying Mao Zedong, I had already visited Qinzheng Hall, so I introduced it to him like a prophet: "This ancient building is very majestic and magnificent. I heard that it is the place where Yuan Shikai became emperor here." "No." Mao Zedong denied it as soon as he heard it, "Yuan Shikai was emperor in Jurentang in Zhongnanhai, not here." We walked into the Hall of Qinzheng together.This is a very magnificent palace hall.After entering the gate, go through a small courtyard to the hall.Behind the hall is a wooden floor about 50 meters long and 10 meters wide, with a red carpet in the middle and many precious flowers, ancient relics and arts and crafts hanging on both sides.The main hall of Qinzheng Hall is two or three stories high and was originally the tallest building in Zhongnanhai courtyard.Standing on some high places in Beihai Park and Jingshan Park, you can see the upper part of these halls.

Standing in front of the plaque in the lobby of the Hall of Qinzheng, Mao Zedong stopped, staring at the three big golden characters of "Hall of Qinzheng" for a long time, and then said with emotion: "In the past, the emperor built this Hall of Qinzheng as a facade. , but it also shows that those of them who ride on the heads of the people and domineeringly know the truth of being diligent in governing the country. Temple, driven out from Zhongnanhai." As the founder and pioneer of New China, Mao Zedong is also a model in terms of diligence.As people's admiration for him tends to be more and more deified and fanatical, the central government has stricter and stricter the discipline for him to go directly to the masses. Due to the "Yellow Crane Tower" and "Zhengyangchun" incidents, So that he no longer has any more "freedom".However, even the tall Zhongnanhai Red Wall could not separate Mao Zedong from the hearts of the people.

In order to accurately and directly understand the sufferings and demands of the people, Mao Zedong began to mobilize his guards and staff around him to do field investigations at the grassroots level. Mao Zedong's guards are relatively young, and generally they will not be disturbed by outsiders when they go down. If you have something to say, you can tell them without restraint. Because of this, the materials they obtained through investigation won Mao Zedong's appreciation.On the other hand, most of the guards are not well-educated, unlike intellectuals who always add some personal opinions when they write an article or make up materials. The surveys of the guards are one is one, the other is two.Once Mao Zedong took the materials written to him by the guards and said at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee: "For the situation below, we should write whatever is written by my guards, so that we can understand the truth and understand the truth. Only with true feelings can we formulate effective policies and policies.”

In the early 1950s, not long after the founding of New China, the old social reactionaries left a mess. How to solve the problem of food for the people was a matter of great concern to Mao Zedong and the Party Central Committee.At that time, nearly half of the hundreds of millions of people had problems eating. Mao Zedong and the Party Central Committee were very anxious.In order to quickly change this situation, the central government made a series of major decisions such as land reform and cooperatives. Mao Zedong always wanted to know how these major decisions were implemented and whether they were beneficial to the people.For this reason, in addition to reading the materials sent by various departments every day, Mao Zedong himself went to inspect the situation many times in person. In addition, he sent guards around him to various places to investigate and find out the situation.

Soon, Mao Zedong instructed the Central Security Bureau and the General Office to set up a security squadron for him. The members of this squadron were sent from all over the country and had a certain level of education. There were about 100 people in each province and city. Yes, Mao Zedong himself gave a speech when the squadron was established. "... I think that you should have three tasks: first, to do a good job in security work; second, to study cultural knowledge hard; third, to do mass work and to learn to conduct investigations and research. The first task is that the party and the people The task entrusted to you must be completed well. The second task is what you ask of yourself, and you must also complete it well. The third task is what I want you to complete.” Mao Zedong stretched out his left hand and used his right hand one by one. He just wrung his fingers and said to the guards and soldiers: "I am the president of a country. To govern such a large country, I can't rely on me alone. You are here, and you can help me understand some situations. In the future, you Go down there once or twice a year, and you can also take advantage of your family visits and business trips to conduct social surveys, write a written report, and show it to me. This will have at least two benefits: one is to improve your cultural knowledge and exercise your ability to work The second is to let me understand the real situation in the country and let me learn some knowledge from you."

From then on, as a task and a habit, these guards and guards around Mao Zedong took the initiative to undertake the task of conducting social investigations for him. Some soldiers had a low level of education, and there were many typos, and Mao Zedong always had to pick up a pen to correct them one by one.A soldier named Wang Wenli wrote an investigation report six times in a row. Mao Zedong corrected his typos while reading it. But you see, I corrected typos for you so that you can improve your cultural knowledge. As for me, I have mastered and understood some conditions of the masses from your materials. We call this cooperation of learning from each other. Let’s make an agreement. How will it last in the long run? Sample?"

Xiao Wang nodded embarrassedly and said, "I'm afraid the chairman will lose money." Mao Zedong opened his eyes wide: "Well——" "I... have so many typos, it will take up a lot of your time." "Hahaha..." Mao Zedong laughed happily after listening to Xiao Wang's words, "Correcting a few typos is dead, but the materials you provided are alive. If you want to say that I am the one who took advantage." Xiao Wang was amused by Mao Zedong's humor. The guard Gao Biling went to the countryside and wrote about a cooperative cadre who was seriously ill and led the masses to engage in production. The deeds are very touching.After Mao Zedong read it, he called the guards and guard soldiers, and said: "Comrade Xiao Gao's material is well written. I was very encouraged and educated after reading it. Everyone should learn from Xiao Gao and write such a good material. Xiao Gao, You write a letter to greet this cadre comrade on my behalf, and ask if he is recovering from his illness? You will visit him next time when you go home.” Afterwards, Mao Zedong specially wrote a comment on this soldier’s material: “This report Well written, with analysis and examples."

This material is still preserved in the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution. "Yinqiao, you guards are going down too. Don't be special after you go down. The people around me can't be special at any time." One day, Mao Zedong found Li Yinqiao and said to him. According to Mao Zedong's instructions, Li Yinqiao reported to the leaders of the Central Security Bureau in time, and made arrangements for the guards, and then went to their respective hometowns in batches to conduct social investigations for different periods of time. According to Li Yinqiao, after that, he and other guards made special trips or took family leave several times to conduct social investigations for Mao Zedong in various places.Every time before leaving, Mao Zedong always gave some instructions, but never asked questions. He asked the guards to look at the problem with his own eyes, analyze the problem, and record the real situation of society.

In February 1955, Li Yinqiao, the head of the guard, returned to his hometown of Anping County, Hebei Province. At this time, there was an upsurge of agricultural cooperation all over the country. "Let's go, let's all go to the meeting!" This morning, the Murakami men, women, old and young in Li Yinqiao's hometown came to the threshing ground amidst the sound of gongs and drums. "Listen everyone, the cooperative mobilization in our village has been mobilized several times, but there are some people who have no affection for the new China and the Communist Party. They mobilize several times, but they just don't sign up to join the club." A village cadre stood in a On the mound, he was talking in a hoarse voice, and after a while he took out two slogans, one said "Follow the Communist Party" and the other said "Follow Lao Jiang". "Now, I put these two slogans on the wall. Anyone who wants to join the society will follow the Communist Party. They will be placed under the slogan "Follow the Communist Party." Just line up under the slogan 'Follow Lao Jiang', and start queuing now—!" Suddenly, the threshing floor was full of noise. A large group of people quickly stood under the slogan "Follow the Communist Party", but there was no one under the slogan "Follow Lao Jiang".Li Yinqiao was very happy, but when he turned his head, he saw that many people were not standing anywhere, and went home sullenly with their heads drooping. "Yinqiao, you see, we don't need to shout loudly to mobilize when we engage in the work of joining the society in the future. With the two slogans posted like this, whoever joins and who doesn't, whoever has a high level of ideological awareness and whoever has a low level of ideological awareness, doesn't need to I know everyone by name! How about it, is this a good way?" After the meeting, the village cadre said to Li Yinqiao proudly. Is joining a company that simple?Li Yinqiao frowned, and asked, "Is this what we do here?" "We learned from the former village. They were advanced villages after entering the society. Our back village also learned from the former village!" "How do farmers respond to this practice?" "Alas! Peasants, peasants, as soon as they have a field in their hands, their selfish hearts will swell. If you don't give him a quick knife, even if you go to his house and wear out your mouth, he will not agree to you to join the society." Yes. Once these two slogans are pasted, the route is clear where you want to stop. It saves trouble and is clear!" The village cadres proudly talked about their "experience" in mobilizing farmers to join the society. "Excuse me, how many households in the village do not stand in front of the two slogans?" Li Yinqiao asked. "Few, very few, can't occupy four or five houses." The village cadre said. "Then how motivated are the peasants who 'follow the Communist Party' to produce?" "I don't care about this matter. What I'm thinking about now is how many households have joined the cooperative. As for how they do after joining the cooperative, I have to let them say for themselves. We can't force them to work hard like a landlord with a whip. I have been liberated, and I don’t like this anymore.” "Then what do you rely on to mobilize the enthusiasm of farmers who join the cooperative? Also, what about those who don't stand in line?" "This... I can't say it." A conversation with the village cadres caused Li Yinqiao to think deeply.With a series of questions, Li Yinqiao returned to Beijing and reported to Mao Zedong. At the same time, he sent a letter to Mao Zedong for a group of people who reflected the simplification of joining the society. Mao Zedong listened to the chief guard's report, and after reading the letter, he walked back and forth in the office. He seemed very excited and said, "How can this work? Can't we do it like this! Can't it be so simple to join the club!" "Yinqiao, I will write a letter to Lin Tie immediately to let him pay attention to this situation and correct it quickly, otherwise it will affect the enthusiasm of farmers for production and labor. Chinese farmers are very miserable. In the past, under the exploitation and oppression of landlords, they did not The land was allocated to them by the New China. Now they are asked to hand over the land and take the road of cooperation. It is very likely that their thinking will not be able to turn around. Our comrades who do work cannot simply ask everyone to line up. Things! Things in the world are not so simple!" Mao Zedong said as he picked up the letterhead and swiped a large brush. Lin Tie was then Secretary of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee and Governor.As a result of an investigation report by the head of the guard, this kind of simplification of joining the club was quickly corrected in Hebei Province and other places in accordance with Mao Zedong's instructions. During the high tide of socialist construction, Mao Zedong was willing to see the enthusiasm of the vast number of peasants and workers who had turned over, and he was also willing to hear those inspiring news from an emotional point of view.However, the requirements for the guards are different. He asked them to report to him more "worrisome" things from the investigation. At the end of 1957, Comrade Ma Wei, the guard, returned home. When he returned to Beijing, he brought a cornbread, which was black and hard, mixed with a lot of rough chaff.Ma Wei said: "This is what the folks eat. Chairman, I'm telling the truth." That day, several of our guards were present.I saw Mao Zedong took the cornbread, looked at it again and again, and his eyebrows were tightened all of a sudden.His hands were trembling, and it took a lot of effort to break off a piece, put it in his mouth, and after chewing a few mouthfuls, his eye circles turned red, and tears gushed out of his eye sockets, as if a bank had burst. The diarrhoea does not stop... "Eat, you all eat, you all have to eat." Mao Zedong wept while breaking off the corn buns, and distributed them to the guards piece by piece.The nest was covered with his tears. Mao Zedong cried aloud, his whole shoulders kept shrugging. "Eat, this is the ration of farmers, the food that growers eat..." His voice was loud, choked with sobs. The guards chewed after Mao Zedong bite by bite, and all of them burst into tears.The health care doctor was also there that day, and Mao Zedong, who was in tears, looked at him deliberately, and shook his wow head at him.The guards and health doctors both understood the meaning of Mao Zedong's action: I usually eat red rice and millet, and you persuade me not to eat it, saying that it is not good, but I said that if farmers all over the country can eat rice like mine, I will You are satisfied, you don’t believe it, now you should understand! Yes, on this day, the guards and other staff seemed to understand why Mao Zedong's heart was always concerned with his hundreds of millions of people! One day, Li Yinqiao, the head of the guard, accompanied Mao Zedong for a walk in the snow. Mao Zedong stared at the white snow on the branches for a moment, and suddenly asked, "Yinqiao, have you embezzled?" Li Yinqiao shivered, why did Mao Zedong ask this question: "No, never." He answered frankly. "Can you guarantee that you will not be corrupt now, and you will never be corrupt in the future?" "I promise, promise never to be corrupt." Mao Zedong nodded with satisfaction: "That's good." Pointing to the snow on the pine branches, he said: "It was like this snow when you came, and you should keep it in the future. Recently, I read some materials. Our people are now They can’t even afford to eat, yet some local cadres even want to embezzle food, money and goods allocated to the masses by the state. How can they be cadres of the Communist Party! How can they have even the slightest conscience! They are not even as good as this!” Mao Zedong’s feet After stepping on a puddle of silt where the snow melted, I looked up to the sky and sighed, my heart was ups and downs... After a long time, Mao Zedong slowly retracted his gaze, scanned the snow in front of him, and said meaningfully: "It seems that although the Kuomintang reactionaries have been overthrown and the three mountains have been overthrown, the task of revolution is still very arduous. We must fight against corruption. , Don’t be hit by sugar-coated bullets at any time! Chiang Kai-shek’s bullets killed us in the past, but now, if we don’t pay attention, the sugar-coated bullets of the bourgeoisie will still kill us. Yinqiao, young people of your generation People must remember, don’t be crushed by sugar-coated bullets. Not only you must remember, but all of you guards must remember.” "Yes, Chairman." Although Li Yinqiao was not quite able to weigh the weight of Mao Zedong's words at that time, he understood the importance of preventing sugar-coated bullets from Mao Zedong's deep expression. Mao Zedong loved snow, and every time it snowed, he was always very excited.But this time it was not the case, his feet were moving extremely slowly and heavily in the snow.On the pure white snow, a series of deep footprints left an unforgettable memory in Li Yinqiao's mind. "Yinqiao, remember to do a few things for me." Suddenly, Mao Zedong stopped, "First, from today on, meat will be removed from the dishes I eat; second, notify the general office to reduce my salary. Go to two hundred yuan; third, from today on, I am not allowed to buy new clothes..." "Chairman, why are you doing this?" Li Yinqiao was very puzzled.Because he knew that Mao Zedong's basic necessities of life were extremely simple, so why did he have to make life difficult for him? Mao Zedong let out a long sigh: "Many, many people across the country are still eating rice bran and vegetables. I feel uneasy!" Seeing the tears in Mao Zedong's eyes, the chief guard said nothing.The next day, he conveyed Mao Zedong's three opinions to relevant departments and staff. This was the most difficult year in 1960 after the founding of New China.Mao Zedong always kept his word.He hasn't eaten a bite of meat for months.Often a plate of purslane (a kind of wild vegetable) is enough for a meal; a plate of fried spinach with spicy pepper supports more than ten hours of work. "Chairman, you have to eat some meat to make up for it. You can't go on like this." One by one, the guards reported to the chief guard that Mao Zedong's body was swollen, and they all came back to persuade Mao Zedong. "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, you see, my feet can't even fit into my shoes, what do I need to mend?!" Mao Zedong raised his feet and said humorously to his guards. "Chairman, this is edema. Look, if you press your finger, there will be a pit on your skin." The guards almost cried. Zhou Enlai knew about it, and hurried over to persuade him again and again: "Chairman, eat a piece of pork, let's eat a bite for the whole party and the people of the country!" Mao Zedong shook his head: "Don't you also eat it? Everyone doesn't eat it." Soong Ching Ling, who was far away in Shanghai, found out about this, and rushed to Beijing to bring a big bag full of crabs. "Chairman, you belong to the people of the whole country. Your body is more important than anything else. No matter what, you must take care of your body. This is my heart. Please make sure you take care of your meals." "Thank you, thank you, Comrade Soong Ching Ling." Mao Zedong has always maintained a special respect for the mother of the country, so he politely accepted the crab.However, as soon as Soong Ching Ling left, Mao Zedong rang the doorbell. "Chairman, what's the matter?" The guard Xiaotian came in. "You take these crabs to the canteen of the guard squadron." Mao Zedong said, lifting the net bag. Oda reluctantly said, "I won't go, this is given to you by Comrade Soong Ching Ling. Just now the head of the guard happily told us that now the chairman can have a meal of meat." Mao Zedong shook his head: "I still can't eat this kind of meat. The people have not thrown away bran vegetables and steamed buns, so I will never eat meat." Helpless, Oda had no choice but to take the crab away. "Natural disasters and man-made disasters!" A gust of cold wind blew prematurely from Siberia, passed through the city of Beijing, penetrated into the high red walls of Zhongnanhai, and blew into the Chrysanthemum Fragrance Bookstore in Fengze Garden.Mao Zedong had just put down the pile of documents on his desk and stepped out of the threshold, he couldn't help shivering.He raised his neck, looked at the sky, and let out a long sigh. The head guard standing aside felt that it was extremely cold today. He didn't know whether it was the psychological effect of hearing Mao Zedong's long sigh or some other reason. Anyway, he felt that this winter would be colder than ever. "Chairman, it's cold outside, come in." Mao Zedong didn't make a sound, just shook his head slightly. "Yinqiao, the light outside is not needed, and it will be removed tomorrow." Suddenly, Mao Zedong pointed to an electric light hanging in the corridor and said. The head guard looked at the lamp and was puzzled: "Chairman, there is only one lamp in the yard for lighting. I installed it because I was afraid that it would be inconvenient for you to walk at night!" "My eyesight doesn't matter now, let's take it off. Will one less lamp save electricity!" Mao Zedong said with a heavy heart.He stood silently in the open space in the center of the courtyard, and once again looked up at the stars in the sky.In the autumn night sky, the stars seemed much farther away than usual.The constellation without the moon seems to be colder than usual.Mao Zedong stood motionless for a long time. The head of the guard didn't want to disturb, but turned around and fetched a cotton coat for Mao Zedong to drape over his shoulders. Next year will be the first ten-year anniversary of the founding of New China.That night, Mao Zedong took sleeping pills twice, but still could not fall asleep.He got up, sat on the sofa, drank tea one cup after another, and smoked one cigarette after another... At this moment, the citizens of Beijing outside the red wall are busy putting up lanterns and festoons for tomorrow's 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, but they don't know that their president of the Republic is feeling extremely heavy and depressed at this moment.Top-secret telegrams about people who died of starvation from Anhui, Shandong, Henan, Gansu and other provinces piled up on his desk one after another.Only members of the Politburo Standing Committee can see these materials.In the other corner of the desk are the enemy's notifications sent by the Central Military Commission, the General Staff, and the Ministry of Public Security about the Sino-Indian border, the Sino-Soviet border, and the southeast coast.There is also a top-secret notice of the withdrawal of experts from China by the Soviet Union... On the one hand, there is the sound of the enemy sharpening their knives, and on the other hand, the cry of the people who are starving. Mao Zedong's heart is like a mountain pressing down on the top. During the day, two more guard soldiers came back from visiting relatives in their hometown, and brought Mao Zedong two nests made of bark and wild vegetables. "In our village, each person can only get two such corn bread per day." Mao Zedong stared at the cornbread in a daze, took it after a while, then broke it apart silently, and stuffed it into his mouth... The guards were all present, as well as doctors and security personnel, and they watched him chewing bite by bite. , Drop by drop, big teardrops fell from the eye sockets... It was a silent cry, and it was the cry of a giant who overwhelmed mankind.The hearts of the guards, doctors, and security personnel trembled. It was late at night, and the head guard helped Mao Zedong back to his room.He still can't sleep.The head guard brought a comb and said, "Chairman, I'll comb your hair again." "Okay." Mao Zedong said absently while sitting half in the chair. The head of the guard picked up the comb as usual, when he raised his hand to comb, suddenly his arm stopped in the air: "Oh, chairman, there is a situation!" Mao Zedong was surprised: "What's the matter?" The head guard gently separated the two strands of hair on Mao Zedong's head with two fingers, then carefully grabbed a particularly striking hair, and said, "You have gray hair again!" Mao Zedong's body immediately relaxed.After a long time, he said, "I'm old, I'm old." The head guard's hands were trembling, and he couldn't hold the white hair, which was what he didn't want to see.During his more than ten years of following Mao Zedong, he did not know how many times he combed Mao Zedong's hair.It was a great head, a head full of life and black hair, as it had been for so many years, and now... the Chief Guard's eyes were blurred. "Chairman, let me pull it out." He really didn't want to see this white hair on this great head. "Pull it out." Time is so ruthless.This giant who once gave an order to wipe out Chiang Kai-shek's 8 million troops in less than half a year, decided the fate of the Chinese nation with almost no effort at that time, and today, ten years later, he settled for his common people. The problem of eating has gray hair. New China has entered one of the coldest winters.On this day, Mao Zedong still couldn't sleep, so he sat up and leaned on the cushion to approve the documents.However, after reading a few pages, he thoughtfully put the document on the table again, and told the guard Feng Yaosong: "Xiao Feng, let me get up." Xiao Feng, who was tidying up the house, hurriedly handed over the clothes and helped Mao Zedong get dressed and get out of bed.Due to malnutrition, his physical fitness declined significantly. Mao Zedong no longer walked around the room when thinking about problems as in the past, but liked to sit and think. "Chairman, is there anything I can do?" After making the bed, Xiao Feng glanced back at Mao Zedong, and found that he was looking at him with a heavy heart, thinking that Mao Zedong wanted something from him. "Shall I make you some porridge?" Mao Zedong shook his head, did not speak, but pointed to the cigarette case on the desk with his finger.Xiao Feng went over to help him take out one, and lit it for him.This time the guard lit a whole cigarette for him, and in order to reduce Mao Zedong's smoking, the head of the guard Li Yinqiao came up with a way: fold the cigarettes for Mao Zedong in half and smoke them. "Xiao Feng, go and call Zilong, Yinqiao, Gao Zhi, Jingxian, Linke, and Comrades Wang Dongxing. Come to my place for dinner with them today." Mao Zedong exhaled a long puff of green smoke, and then said to The guard said so. So, at about three or four o'clock in the afternoon, seven comrades responsible for Mao Zedong's security and daily work, Ye Zilong, Li Yinqiao, Gao Zhi, Wang Jingxian, Link, Wang Dongxing, and Feng Yaosong, came to Mao Zedong's bedroom and gathered around a small table. on the table.They don't know why Mao Zedong invited them to dinner today. A few dishes that Mao Zedong usually ate were brought up. There was no meat, let alone wine, but the amount was several times larger.Mao Zedong didn't say anything, and his face was melancholy, which made the staff look at each other and became more nervous. "Let's eat." Seeing everyone sitting at the table respectfully, Mao Zedong had no choice but to take the lead and picked up the chopsticks to pick up the dishes.The chopsticks just touched the plate, and then slowly put it down. He could no longer hold back the words in his heart. "I invite you here today because I have something important to tell you." Mao Zedong simply put down the bowls and chopsticks in his hands, and looked around at everyone at the table. "Now that the common people are suffering from disasters, I don't feel at ease about how their lives are going. I wanted to go down and have a look, but I'm getting older. Besides, they won't let me see the real situation when I go down. Alas, I think Please help me finish this matter. You all go down and do some research. What are the problems below? Report the situation, I want to know.” Mao Zedong’s tone was heavy and slow, making the seven comrades seem to hear The giant's heart was beating and trembling for the suffering people. "People's communes, big canteens, is it good? What are the opinions of the masses? You have to report these situations to me. Ah!" Everyone nodded. "Zilong, Yinqiao, you go down to Shandong, and you need to conduct extensive investigation and research." Mao Zedong began to point out. "Yes, Chairman." Ye Zilong and Li Yinqiao replied quietly but firmly. "Xiao Feng, are you going?" Feng Yaosong hurriedly stood up: "Chairman, I'll go!" "That's good, that's good." Finally, Mao Zedong looked around the seven people at the table again, his eyes suddenly became serious and sharp: "You must understand the real situation when you go down, and you must tell the truth when you come back. You are not allowed to tell lies, and you are not allowed to conceal and deceive. Do you understand?" "Understood!" Seven people replied in unison. "Well, I don't have anything to entertain you today. You may be hungry if you go down, and I will help you." Mao Zedong raised his eyelids and said to Li Yinqiao, "Yinqiao, I asked you to go down this time. , the travel expenses cannot be paid by the state, you inform the secretary to let him pay the expenses from my manuscript fee." "Yes, Chairman." Li Yinqiao replied. "Eat, you eat!" After the order, Mao Zedong said to everyone, but he put down the bowls and chopsticks without taking two bites.It was obvious that he couldn't eat it. This was the most difficult meal. Some of these people followed Comrade Mao Zedong during the Long March. At this moment, he felt the same as Mao Zedong. They had mixed feelings, and they also had a layer of worry, worrying about the Mao Zedong they guarded day and night. Signs of aging. This day was Mao Zedong's sixty-seventh birthday. For some reason, even Li Yinqiao, the head of the guard who could feel Mao Zedong's emotions the most, couldn't remember this day.Perhaps it was the fact that the common people ate corn-bread, dug wild vegetables and gnawed tree bark too much troubled Mao Zedong's heart, and Mao Zedong's heart also affected the nerves of these guards who were restless day and night, so that none of them remembered it. In the evening, Feng Yaosong continued to be on duty.Because Mao Zedong didn't eat anything at the dinner table, Xiao Feng cooked a pot of oatmeal porridge for him on the electric stove. "Chairman, you have to eat a little anyway. You can't sleep or eat well these days, and you won't be able to stand it." Seeing Mao Zedong's days and months without sleep and sleep, the guard felt more uncomfortable than anyone else.Xiao Feng held the oatmeal in his hand, his whole heart was anxious for Mao Zedong. "I can't eat it, Xiao Feng." Mao Zedong waved his hand again, and then motioned for the guard to sit down beside his bed. Xiao Feng cleverly stepped forward to massage Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong stretched his legs gratefully, and raised a hand to caress the guard's back. "Xiao Feng, I don't worry. They hide many things from me. No matter where I go, they can prepare. So I have to send you down. You can see the real situation when you go down. You must tell me when you come back." The truth, tell the truth..." "Chairman, don't worry, I will definitely do as you say." Xiao Feng wiped away his tears and nodded. Mao Zedong slowly closed his eyes, as if he was going to sleep for a while, but as if he suddenly remembered something, he got out of bed and walked to the desk, picked up a pencil, and started writing on a piece of rice paper. "Xiao Feng, circulate this letter to the seven of you tomorrow." Xiao Feng took the letter paper from Mao Zedong, and saw that it was a letter addressed to him and six other comrades.The words on the letter were very large and the handwriting looked sloppy, and it took three sheets of paper in total.Xiao Feng looked at it, and couldn't help but wet his chest with tears... December 26th, my birthday.I will be sixty-seven years old next year. When I am old, you have a lot to do. "Look, the chairman is so thoughtful because he is afraid that we will go down and starve." The next day, Li Yinqiao, the head of the guard, and several other guards and secretaries read the letter, and none of them did not shed tears.They were moved by Mao Zedong's paternal care, but at the same time, they felt extremely guilty for not being able to remember Mao Zedong's birthday, for even saying a few words or singing a song. Before departure, Mao Zedong specially called photographer Hou Bo to see Li Yinqiao and the others off. In this way, Ye Zilong, Li Yinqiao and other six people packed up their backpacks and arrived in Xinyang, Henan Province. There, as ordinary state officials, they ate, lived and worked with local farmers, and learned about farmers' production, life and their work. All you want to say.Six months later, the six returned to Beijing and reported truthfully to Mao Zedong. "According to you, it's not very good to run a large canteen!" Mao Zedong said with a heavy heart after listening to the guards' report. "How about this, you go to Jiangxi for another half a year to find out the situation there. Remember, I ask you this because I hope that each of us Communists will never forget the masses of the people, especially the people. The sufferings of the masses. We built a new China and built socialism to let the people live a better life. If they can’t live a better life, we won’t be able to stay in Zhongnanhai!” In accordance with Mao Zedong's instructions, the guards came to Jiangxi again. When they arrived in Jiangxi, Mao Zedong and the Party Central Committee had issued a document to the whole party: the big dining hall was completely disbanded. The guards were very unhappy when they learned about it.On the one hand, they were proud of Mao Zedong and the Party Central Committee for discovering problems and correcting mistakes in time;