Chapter 2 Primer

Zhou Enlai is not handsome A Japanese person read my "Mao Zedong Stepping Down from the Altar" and said to me: China has been "sacred" for more than half a century. This god is Mao Zedong, and this saint is Zhou Enlai. His gaze clearly asked: You invited Mao Zedong down from the altar, do you intend to invite Zhou Enlai down from the altar? The so-called invitation to the "altar" actually means that they return to the world, to the mortal world; they are not only respectable, but also amiable.Their greatness, nobility, and wisdom are by no means unattainable.They never left the people in need of disaster during their lifetime. After their death, their spirit merged with the people. They should never become idols worshiped by the people.

For example, in the 5,000-year history of our civilization, "abdication" is the most highly praised and selfless act of a saint; few people can do it, so few dare to call it a saint. As a result, many people think of Zhou Silai, and say explicitly or implicitly: Zhou Enlai should not be the top leader (handsome), not the second leader (successor), but willing to be the third leader. This is great humility. These people can cite many examples, such as the Zunyi meeting.Said that in the 1920s and early 1930s, Zhou Enlai’s reputation and position in the party were higher than that of Mao Zedong. He supported Mao Zedong with his pivotal status and prestige, established Mao Zedong’s leadership in the Red Army and the Party Central Committee, and he was willing to be his assistant. , This spirit of humility runs through his life.

My point of view is different.Zhou Enlai is undoubtedly modest, which is reflected in his shamelessness to ask questions and his ability to learn from others; his democratic style and his willingness to listen to the opinions of the masses; his willingness to criticize himself, etc. Improper second in command. Some people say great humility, but it is inevitable that others will say that it is "prudent to protect oneself, lack of courage".Even attributed to the influence of "Shaoxing culture".It is said that cultural people in Shaoxing should not take imperial examinations, do not serve as county magistrates, but only as masters, so that in China "no Shao can't be a government office"; when people say masters, they often don't say masters, but "Masters of Shaoxing".Zhou Enlai's grandfather and maternal grandfather were both masters, saying that their philosophy of life inevitably influenced Zhou Enlai.

My point of view is: Zhou Enlai should not be the top leader (handsome), not the second leader (successor), and has devoted himself to the position of "prime minister" for 27 years, which can be traced back to the Red Army War period. Since then, he has been in the main position. The assistant position is compared by many old people to a "military adviser" and in fact the "chief of the general staff". All of this cannot be called a great humility, but a great self-knowledge and understanding of others. Zhou Enlai said wisely: "I am not handsome." To be wise is by no means to be wise and protect one's life, and to be unwise is just the courage of a common man.

The courage of the common man is not courage; it is recklessness, recklessness, and stupidity. The greatest courage is to see the facts clearly and dare to seek truth from facts. Wang Ming and Zhang Guotao wanted to be handsome because they were not handsome. As a result, one went to the Soviet Union and lived under the umbrella of others; the other surrendered to the Kuomintang and depended on others.How can we talk about courage and being a hero? Zhou Enlai was not handsome. I used to find it hard to tolerate this point of view or this sentence, thinking that it was a great insult to Zhou Sicai, who is the most holy and great in my mind.Now, I am the first to publicly say this point of view, and I may be criticized and criticized, but I insist on saying:

This is a fact.I advise those well-meaning comrades who can't tolerate my point of view and this sentence to think about the questions I have thought about: What do you think if I say that Lei Feng is not suitable to be an army commander or division commander while he is still alive? It is wrong to let scientists farm the land and clean the sanitation, so is it right for a certain province to let an agricultural model worker become the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau?Could it be a wise move to truly love this model worker? The position of squad leader does not affect Lei Feng's brilliance.

Some old concepts that are difficult for us to change are often kind and unhelpful. We love deeply but don’t know how to love, and instead damage the people we love deeply. One of the important reasons why Mao Zedong was able to lead the whole party and the people of the whole country to achieve the great cause of opening up the world was that he knew people well. The leaders at the top of the new China's power were once simplified by the common people: Mao, Liu, Zhou, Zhu, Chen, Lin, and Deng.Mao Zedong treated his comrades in arms and colleagues.What is your opinion and evaluation? The country went through three years of difficult times, Mao Zedong thought of Chen Yun, and told the story of "the country is in chaos and thinks of a good general, and the family is poor and thinks of a good wife." He also told the story of Cao Cao's defeat in Chibi and missing Guo Jia.

When Mao Zedong made Lin Biao his successor, he said, "To fight ghosts, use Zhong Kui." For the other four comrades-in-arms, Mao Zedong had a talk in Moscow and made evaluations respectively. It was November 1957, and Mao Zedong was in Moscow to attend the Congress of the World Communist Party, the Congress of the Communist Party of Socialist Countries and the Workers' Party.The main activities of these two conferences were the bilateral and multilateral contacts before the conference, mainly the negotiations between the CCP and the Soviet Communist Party. Only when there was an agreement could the conference be held.

That was the fourth time that Khrushchev came to dine with Mao Zedong, and the conversation at the table was still not pleasant.Leaving the dining room and coming to the reception room, Mao Zedong changed the subject, put aside the international communist movement, and reported on the situation of the Chinese Communist Party. "I am going to resign as the chairman of the country." Mao Zedong looked at Khrushchev with a solemn tone. Khrushchev was not surprised, because Mao Zedong said in 1954 that he did not want to be the president of the country. He hated state activities such as welcoming and seeing off the head of state and accepting the submission of credentials by ambassadors from various countries.Six months ago, when Voroshilov visited China, Mao Zedong once again expressed his determination not to be the chairman of the country, and Voroshilov brought back this information.

"Is there someone to take over?" Khrushchev asked with a blink of an eye. "Yes. There are several comrades in our party. They are no worse than me. They are fully qualified." After Mao Zedong made a comprehensive comment, he moved his fingers like a treasure: "The first one is Liu Shaoqi. This person participated in the ' After the May 4th Movement, he came to study with you and transferred to the Communist Party in 1921. He is fully qualified in terms of ability, experience, and reputation. His strengths are political firmness and strong principles, and his weakness is that he is not flexible enough.”

The "Cultural Revolution" defeated Liu Shaoqi. Chinese comrades who have heard this comment can't understand it.Foreign communists also understand; inconsistencies in evaluations are clearly motivated by political rather than factual reasons. "The second is Deng Xiaoping." Mao Zedong lowered his second finger.The comrades present were very impressed, because according to the prestige and position, everyone thought that Zhou Enlai should be mentioned, but Mao Zedong first mentioned Deng Xiaoping. "This person is very political, thoughtful and well-rounded; he is both principled and highly flexible; he is soft but firm, and there is a needle hidden in the cotton. He has a bright future." Khrushchev suddenly smiled bitterly: "Yeah, I also feel that this person is very powerful and difficult to deal with. He is very keen in observing problems..." Khrushchev stopped talking and made a gesture to show that he was firm and decisive in handling things. . Mao Zedong also laughed, knowing that Deng Xiaoping made life difficult for the Soviets during the negotiations between the two parties.He raised a finger in front of him to express his emphasis: "From now on, when he comes here, he will be the same as when I come here; treat him as you treat me." The comrades present at the time remembered this passage deeply, because Mao Zedong had a high opinion of Deng Xiaoping and the only one who did not mention his shortcomings. Mao Zedong continued to move the third finger: "The third is Zhou Enlai. This comrade is better than me in major international activities, and is good at handling various complicated conflicts. But Zhou Enlai is politically weak...but he is a good man." Khrushchev nodded and said, "We are all in our 60s. Kosygin will take over the chairmanship of the Council of Ministers here. Mikoyan is also not politically principled enough. He would be sad to remove anyone...but He is a good man." Khrushchev licked his lips and couldn't help adding: "But everyone still wants me to take care of the overall situation." Mao Zedong has moved down the fourth finger: "Comrade Zhu De is old. He has high morals." Mao Zedong paused for a moment and emphasized his tone. , No matter who these people come here, I hope you will treat them like me and treat them as your friends." "Well, we will definitely do this." Khrushchev shook his right index finger: "In fact, they are also our friends." 'Mao Zedong's commentary language should be said to be profound and realistic.After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhou Enlai said frankly many times: "I am not handsome." At a meeting involving the division of labor, Mao Zedong looked at Zhou Enlai: "Comrade Silai, how do you come?" Zhou Silai waved his hand: "No, no, Chairman, you know me well. I'm not handsome. I can take care of my family, but I can't be handsome..." Deng Xiaoping also said frankly at a meeting: "Comrade Zhou Enlai cannot be the successor of the chairman, he is not handsome." Dong Biwu nodded, and said slowly: "The Prime Minister is a very good steward of our country." How do we understand such unanimity among leaders?Perhaps Bo Yibo's memories can inspire us. On June 6, 2010, the Third Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing.Because the main content of the meeting was Mao Zedong's report "Struggle for the Basic Improvement of the National Financial and Economic Situation", so during the plenary meeting, Zhou Silai chatted with Bo Yibo of the Central Finance Committee to discuss issues such as stabilizing prices. As soon as the conversation started, the content gradually expanded.Zhou Enlai thought of something, and asked with a thoughtful look: "Comrade Yibo, you have worked with Bocheng and Xiaoping for many years in Shanxi, Hebei, Luyu, and Henan. What do you think of their work?" Bo Yibo said: "They cooperate very well in their work, they are indeed of one heart and one mind, and they are in harmony." Zhou Enlai shook his head with a smile: "I'm not talking about their cooperation, but what do you think of their working methods?" Bo Yibo was jovial and humorous, and asked cleverly: "Prime Minister, you are an old leader, and you have known them for a long time. What do you think?" "Okay," Zhou Enlai said with a cheerful smile, "you returned the question as it was." Bo Yibo also laughed: "Didn't you say you need someone to tie the bell to untie the bell? I call it someone who needs to ask questions to solve the problem." Zhou Enlai suppressed his smile and said in thought: "According to my years of observation, the two of them have their own characteristics in their working methods. Comrade Xiaoping is 'lifting the weight as lightly as possible', while Comrade Bo Cheng is 'lifting the weight as lightly as possible'. Do you think so? " Bo Yibo nodded again and again: "I completely agree with the Prime Minister's evaluation. These eight words sum it up very accurately. I'm afraid this is an important factor why they cooperate so well in their work." Zhou Enlai still had a dignified look on his face: "Then, which of these two working methods do you prefer?" Before Bo Yibo could answer his choice, Zhou Silai had already continued to speak in contemplation: "From the point of view of desire, I appreciate Comrade Xiaoping's 'lifting weight as lightly', but to be honest, I am unable to do this. I Like Comrade Bo Cheng, he often "takes light as important" at work. Maybe this is related to my long-term responsibility for specific implementation work..." There is no doubt that the Prime Minister knows himself deeply and is ready to admit it.He really can't do it lightly.Chen Hao, his secretary for foreign affairs, saw him sleep late at night and wake up at night, busy with daily affairs and overworked, and he couldn't help persuading him: "Prime Minister, don't take too much care of some things; How can a person take care of so much energy?" Zhou Enlai suddenly stood up from behind his desk, really angry.He picked up a document from the table and fanned it and asked loudly: "Look, can I not care about this?" The Prime Minister threw down this document and grabbed another stack of documents: "You said, I don't care about these things?" Then, he patted the third stack of documents: "I can't leave these few alone!" He sighed tiredly and aggrieved: "Others don't know, but you don't know? You always say that about me!" No matter how big or small, the Prime Minister would not let it go, and would not let it go. Some people like to use "everything is done every day" to sing praises, and when they meet leaders, they say "busy", and they say "many things every day". Overused and not accurate at all. The only one who manages every day can only be the "Prime Minister".Those who are "handsome" can only act lightly, and make strategic decisions and make decisions on major events with this kind of courage;Isn't this basic common sense? The Prime Minister likes to say a word to the leaders of various ministries and commissions in various provinces and cities: "If you have anything to do, you can directly contact me and call my office directly." The Prime Minister also likes to say a word to his secretaries: "You must report if you have something to do. Don't be afraid that I will be busy. I am not afraid of being busy. I can be busy." A secretary told me that seeing Zhou Enlai so busy that he couldn’t sleep for two days, he couldn’t help but say, “Prime Minister, you are the only one among the chiefs who are busy. Can these materials be sent to Comrade Xiaoping to read…” Zhou Enlai smeared cool oil on his temples, continued to review, and said softly, "I am the prime minister. I will do more of these specific things, so he can take care of bigger things and think more about decision-making." The time when the Prime Minister said this was the year when the country entered a difficult period, which shows that he affirmed Comrade Xiaoping's handsome talent at that time. Zhou Enlai was not only willing to take care of some trivial and trivial matters that the ministers and department heads would not even care about, but also took care of them carefully.After Mao Zedong heard several such incidents, he once said with emotion to many people: "It is still our prime minister who cares about everything from state affairs to waiters' work!" Indonesian President Sukarno once said to Mao Zedong: "I really envy you for having a Premier Zhou, but we lack a Premier Zhou." Nixon did not have much contact with Zhou Enlai, but after one meeting, he expressed emotion at Zhou Enlai's "lightness and weight": Zhou Enlai also possessed another rare ability: he paid great attention to trivial matters, but did not indulge in them.On our third night in Beijing, we were invited to watch a sports and table tennis show.It was already snowing and we were scheduled to visit the Great Wall the next day.Zhou Silai left for a while, I thought he was going to the lounge.Later I found out that he personally went to take care of people to clear the snow on the road leading to the Great Wall.The next day, the road was as clean as if it had never snowed.This example is very typical. I also found out that the guard of honor that greeted us at the airport was handpicked by Zhou Enlai.These soldiers are healthy, well-built, and neatly dressed.Zhou himself also handpicked the pieces for the band to play for us at the dinner.I'm sure he must have researched my background beforehand (and he did), because many of the pieces he chose were my favourites, including "America the Beautiful," which I played at my inauguration.After this trip, Secretary of State William Rogers told me: Once, before he had a meeting with Zhou Enlai, a young woman came in and handed Zhou Enlai a copy of the newspaper for him to look at.This is Zhou's front page for the next day's newspaper. For Zhou Silai, there is some truth in the adage that any big event starts with paying attention to the small things.Although he personally tends each tree, he can also see the forest. Undoubtedly, when we praise Zhou Enlai for "doing everything by himself", "meticulous and meticulous, solid and safe". Every Chinese person will think of Zhuge Liang when he says "devote himself to the end, and die after death", but I believe no one will think of Emperor Qin, Han Wu, Tang Zong and Song Zu.For a person, it is impossible to have the two excellent qualities of "lifting weight with ease" and "lifting weight with ease".But for a career, there must be both these two outstanding talents. A veteran cadre once said to me in confusion: "Oh, Comrade Xiaoping can really let go of some things, so he really dares to let go and leave it to others." The story of "Lifting weight as if it were light" and "While talking and laughing, the strong captives are wiped out in ashes". In fact, this is the excellent character necessary for a handsome talent.If there is no such great momentum, how could he become another great giant who changed Chinese history and changed China's destiny after Mao Zedong? What I want to say is: Zhou Enlai's greatness does not lie in whether he is handsome or not, but in what he does in his own position?What kind of contributions and achievements have you made? When Mao Zedong flew from Yan'an to Chongqing, he recalled Qin Huang, Han Wu, Tang Zong, Song Zu and that generation of arrogant Genghis Khan with great writing, but Zhou Enlai left Qin Huang, Han Wu on this road, and only saw Zhang Liangmiao and Zhang Liangmiao. Marquis Wu Ci. When Mao Zedong went to Moscow to negotiate with Stalin, and slandered Peter the Great and Napoleon with relish, Stalin said anxiously: "You can't, you can't talk about these specific things clearly, you can ask Zhou Enlai to talk about it"... The book I am writing is just now. I want to start from this.However, the voice of the conversation will no longer be me, but Comrade He Shuying who has followed the Prime Minister for decades.