Chapter 6 Chapter V Parole Chen Boda

Wang Li wrote a letter requesting "Chen Boda's parole", which is actually very difficult to do.However, 10 days after Wang Li sent this letter, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sent someone to verbally convey the spirit of the Central Committee to Chen Boda, who was hospitalized: "Now find a place to live and treat the disease, and I won't go back after the disease is cured." ※ ※ ※ In those days when the whole of China and the whole world were paying attention to the trial of the "Lin Biao and Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary clique", a "big scholar" was imprisoned in Qincheng Prison in Beijing. It's detailed.

He paid close attention to this trial, and asked to read People's Daily many times, but was refused. This "big scholar" was Wang Li, a member of the "Central Cultural Revolution Group". Wang Li is 17 years younger than Chen Boda.Therefore, Wang Li always called Chen Boda "Old Master".Wang Li had no relationship with Chen Boda at first.In the early days of liberation, Wang Li served as director and secretary-general of the Propaganda Department of the East China Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai. In 1953, Wang Li was sent to Vietnam to serve as the head of the propaganda, culture and education consultant group of the Vietnam Labor Party under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh. After returning to China in October 1955, he served as Deputy Secretary-General of the International Activities Steering Committee of the CPC Central Committee.

Wang Li started working with Chen Boda in 1958.Mao Zedong proposed to start the theoretical publication of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China "Red Flag", Chen Boda was appointed as the editor-in-chief, and Wang Li was appointed as the editorial board member (later promoted to deputy editor-in-chief).From then on, Wang Li became a general under the "Old Master".Wang Li's pen is fast, and Chen Boda likes to ask him to cooperate when drafting documents. Chen Boda gives ideas and outlines, while Wang Li quickly completes the manuscript according to the intention of "Old Master".Since 1960, Wang Li has attended meetings of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Since 1963, Wang Li has served as Deputy Minister of the International Liaison Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.Since 1964, he has attended the meetings of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

When the "Central Cultural Revolution Group" was established, Chen Boda served as the group leader and Wang Li became a member. During the "Cultural Revolution", Wang Li had an extra "task". When Chen Boda gave speeches in public, he always said: "Please, Comrade Wang Li, 'translate' for me." Therefore, Wang Li became Chen Boda's special "" translate". Wang Li fell earlier than Chen Boda. In the 12th issue of "Red Flag" magazine in 1967, the editorial "The Proletariat Must Hold the Guns Firmly——Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army" proposed "to catch a small number of people in the army", that is, to find out " A small group of people in power in the army who are taking the capitalist road."

Mao Zedong was furious after reading it, and denounced the editorial as a "big poisonous weed"!Because "catch a small number of people in the army" will inevitably point the spearhead of the struggle at the army. Originally, Chen Boda, editor-in-chief of "Red Flag", should be responsible for this matter first.However, Chen Boda shifted the responsibility to Wang Li and Guan Feng. On August 30, 1967, Wang Li and Guan Feng stepped down at the same time—first they were quarantined for inspection, and then they were taken to Qincheng Prison... Wang Li lived an isolated life in Qincheng Prison for more than ten years.Nevertheless, with his sensitive political nerves, he paid close attention to the trial of the special court and the fate of Chen Boda.

On July 5, 1981, in Qincheng Prison, Wang Li wrote "Comrade Deng Liqun joins Comrades Yaobang, Xiaoping, Peng Zhen, Qiao Mu and Kecheng of the Party Central Committee" on the issue of Chen Boda in Qincheng Prison.Wang Li wrote: "The "Historical Resolution" did not mention Chen Boda's name. It is a scientific attitude and wise." The "historical resolution" mentioned by Wang Li refers to the "resolution on certain historical issues of the party since the founding of the People's Republic of China" passed by the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party.

After this resolution was published in the newspaper, ordinary readers did not pay attention to the extremely subtle change in it, that is, "Chen Boda's name was not mentioned".However, Wang Li, who was imprisoned in Qincheng Prison, immediately noticed this with his keen political sense. In his letter, Wang Li first criticized Chen Boda: "Chen Boda had dogmatism and left-leaning opportunism for a long time, which contributed to Comrade Mao Zedong's left-leaning erroneous thinking in his later years. In the first year of the 'Cultural Revolution', I spent time with him, and only then did I know that he was not good in character, extremely individualistic, and acted according to the wind. I have criticized him like this in person and at meetings. I have already exposed the bad things Chen Boda did in the first year of the 'Cultural Revolution' to the Party Central Committee."

Wang Li said: "I have no right to speak about Chen Boda's sentence, because (before and after the trial) I was not given newspapers for four months, and I still don't know how to sentence him, and after he locked me up, he worked for another three years. The 'revolution', bad things will not be less. I will not talk about this aspect, but only provide him with another aspect of the 'Cultural Revolution' for reference by the central government. " In his letter, Wang Li listed in detail eight points about Chen Boda's "other situation" that he was familiar with, and explained with facts that "the "Historical Resolution" did not mention Chen Boda's name, which is a scientific attitude and is wise." The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made important suggestions:

Although I have reported some of the above to the leaders one after another in the past, I haven't explained them systematically, let alone written them.If the investigation proves it, I suggest that the Party Central Committee consider these factors.Chen Boda's lifespan will not be too long.If he does not persist in his mistakes, it is better to give him a chance to redeem himself.I don't know what sentence he was sentenced to?We only know that he has not been sentenced to death, and he has been imprisoned for more than ten years. Then, according to the "Criminal Law", he is also eligible for parole. "When grace is added, one thinks that there is no wrong reward for joy; when punishment is met, one thinks that there is no excessive punishment for anger." This is a famous saying through the ages. Unfortunately, Comrade Mao Zedong did not do it in his later years.In the future, it is still worthy of vigilance.

Wang Li has been working at the top of the party for a long time, so it should be said that he has a certain political level.Although he wrote this letter on the premise that "the "Historical Resolution" did not mention Chen Boda's name", he still had some opinions after all.What's more, he himself was also in prison at the time, so it was not easy to be able to write this letter. As far as personal relationship is concerned, Wang Li and Chen Boda have cooperated in the past, but also had many conflicts.In particular, Wang Li's resignation has nothing to do with Chen Boda's passing the blame on him.

However, as far as the language of the law is concerned, as long as a person released on parole does not commit another crime, it is generally believed that the date of parole is also the date of release. As one of the 16 main criminals of the "Lin Biao and Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary clique", Chen Boda was sentenced by a special court of the Supreme People's Court. His "parole" must go through a series of legal procedures.Therefore, Wang Li's letter requesting "Chen Boda's parole" is actually very difficult to achieve. However, 10 days after Wang Li sent this letter, on the morning of July 15, 1981, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sent two people to the inmate ward of Beijing Fuxing Hospital affiliated to the Ministry of Public Security to verbally convey the spirit of the Central Committee to Chen Boda, who was hospitalized there.According to Chen Boda's recollection, the general idea is: "Some of the things that Chen himself wrote in the past few years are good, and some are for his own defense. Don't get entangled in the details in the future. He knows some things about the 'Cultural Revolution', but most of them he doesn't know. I know, the central government is aware of these situations. He has done some useful work in the past, which is different from those few people... Now find a place to live and treat the disease, and he will not go back after the disease is cured." Chen Boda mentioned in it is "different from those few people." These "those people" obviously refer to Jiang Qing, Kang Sheng, and Zhang Chunqiao.As for "now find a place to live and get medical treatment, and never go back after the disease is cured", it clearly revealed the intention of being released on parole for medical treatment