Chapter 31 Struggle (6)

If some of Mao's aphorisms and similes seemed presumptuous, it was only because they escaped the dryness and tediousness common to party writing. Mao always took his family by his side, and the failures and setbacks in his career made him need his relatives even more.Mao's return to Shaoshan after several frustrations illustrates this point.The same is true in Jinggangshan, but the protagonists of the drama here have undergone major changes. Mao's siblings all tried their best to help him.The younger brother, Zemin, resolutely left the Shanghai headquarters of the party center (where he worked well despite the party center's opposition to Mao's views) and faithfully joined Mao's practice in the remote countryside.Ze Tan also came from Hunan.When Zhu De rushed to Jinggangshan from the south for the first time, he was the one who first contacted Mao on behalf of Mao and completed the work brilliantly.Both of Mao's younger brothers remained steadfast in Mao's later years, and their wives were both arrested at least once for this.

Mao's stepsister, Zejian, helped Jinggangshan more than his two younger brothers.She has been an active member of the Hunan Party since she was an adult.Since the end of 1927, she has traveled between Jinggangshan and the plains in a dangerous environment. In 1929, a KMT minion captured and killed her. Kaihui lives in Shaoshan with her two sons. It is not impossible for her to go to Jinggangshan, but there will definitely be many difficulties.Perhaps under the circumstances at the time she had to choose to be with Mao or with the children.She chose the latter. In Changsha in 1930, the Kuomintang arrested her, tortured her and killed her. ⑩

In the last three years of her life, Kaihui did not meet Mao.It is unfounded to say that Mao abandoned Kaihui. In fact, he loved her all his life.However, there is no doubt that Mao fell in love with a female middle school student in mid-1928. She was only 18 years old when Mao met He Zizhen.He is smart and lively.One of Zhu De's subordinates once described his impression of Mao's "revolutionary lover": he was both charming and well-mannered, and his speech was clear and measured.Her eyes are like "two crystals", and seeing her "will give you a feeling as sweet as honey".

Zizhen is also politically minded.Her father was a small landowner with a small family fortune, with some progressive ideas, and opened a bookstore selling left-wing books and periodicals.He Zizhen joined the Communist Party in 1927 and also helped the Nanchang Uprising in August of the same year. ⑩ One night in June 1928, Mao was giving a report at a party meeting.By coincidence, the meeting was held in Yongxin County, and Zizhen, the branch secretary of the regiment, attended the meeting.After the meeting, Mao chatted with her. They had dinner together, ate two chickens, and drank two bottles of wine.

Two days later, Zizhen helped Mao work all day, and she stayed at night.At breakfast the next day, Mao made no secret of this matter, "Comrade He and I are in love."Mao said to his colleagues. A few days later, an officer came to see Mao. After talking about the business, he smiled and congratulated Mao.Mao asked with a smile; "Who told you?" "This is good news in the barracks, who doesn't know. But how about inviting me to celebrate?" Mao arranged a banquet. This happened out of the blue.It is the kindling of the fire of youthful love.It seemed to indicate that Mao had found a new source of strength on Jinggangshan.Although the odds were stacked against him on the bigger stage, Mao was now refreshed and courageous.

Soon, there was a new song circulating in the Jinggang Valley: Commander Zhu worked hard——Pick the grain and go to the field.Commander Mao worked hard—revolution and love. In the next few years, Mao and Zizhen lived together.Their union heralds a creative period for Mao (as with Kaihui eight years earlier).She soon gave birth to two children for Mao (as Kaihui and Mao did during the two years they lived in Changsha). A new wife and a new life come together twice. On the other hand, Mao's relationship with Zizhen was very different from his relationship with Kaihui.The 18-year-old has grown up entirely on struggle.When Mao met Kaihui, she was still under the protection of her father.Mao admired her father, but not for political reasons.Zizhen had no such influence (Mao never met her parents).She is just an enthusiastic Communist Party member, and Mao is really delighted to be able to get this piece of newly cut jade.

In Jinggangshan, few people know about Yang Kaihui.Apparently, Mao rarely talked about her and their three sons.Nevertheless, he did not formally marry Zizhen until 1930, after hearing of Kaihui's murder. * -------------------------- * During the Jinggangshan period, Zhu De also married a new wife (the fourth). Like Mao's, his new wife was a teenage girl selected from the team.