Chapter 66 Chapter 65 Keeping the fourth spot

Jiang Qing once said that if Huang Yongsheng became a member of the Standing Committee, she would too. The "First Lady" made such a fuss, but made Chen Boda retain her position as a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and "No. 4 person", but she herself could not be included in the Standing Committee——she made a complete miscalculation! ※ ※ ※ On April 1, 1969, the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China was finally held in Beijing. 24 years ago, Chen Boda was only an alternate member of the Central Committee at the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China; 13 years ago, at the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Chen Boda became an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China; now he is following Mao Zedong, Lin Biao, and Zhou Enlai to the rostrum.

Sitting on the rostrum, Chen Boda is still the "fourth" seat.But he was terrified, because what Lin Biao read was the political report drafted by Kang Sheng, Zhang Chunqiao, and Yao Wenyuan, and the political report drafted by him was discarded.Although he did not name them, he could hear that a paragraph in the political report drafted by Kang, Zhang, and Yao was aimed at him, calling him an "opportunist." According to Chen Boda's recollection, when Lin Biao was reading his political report, he was "very uncomfortable and unhappy".He knew that every time there was a party congress, when the party rearranged the order of its top leadership, he could not guess where he would be placed.He even thought that he might be thrown out of the Politburo!

On April 14, the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China held a plenary meeting to speak at the meeting.Chen Boda was disheartened and had no intention of speaking at the meeting.However, Mao Zedong said that every member of the Politburo Standing Committee must make a speech at the congress.Chen Boda once evaded, saying that he had nothing to say.However, Mao Zedong's "supreme instructions" must not be violated, and four of the five members of the Politburo Standing Committee——Mao, Lin, Zhou, and Kang are all going to speak at the meeting, so he has to say a few words.

What can I say?Chen Boda had no choice but to write the chapter in a hurry, and he dictated it. The secretary "two kings"—Wang Wenyao and Wang Baochun recorded it and hurriedly wrote a speech.Alas, if it wasn't for the fact that the political report he wrote was rejected, according to his habit, he would have written the conference speech long before the Ninth National Congress. What should I say?Let's use Mao Zedong's "latest instructions" as the core of his speech: "When you notice one main tendency, you should also pay attention to another tendency that may be covered up." For the sake of "safety", in his speech, he A series of Mao Zedong's "supreme instructions" are quoted paragraph after paragraph, so as not to be caught by others.Such a personal speech draft did not need to be sent to Mao Zedong for review.Again for "insurance", he asked his secretary Wang Wenyao to copy a copy and send it directly to Mao Zedong.

This time, Mao Zedong did not return it intact, but read it carefully, and wrote a paragraph of instructions: "You don't use my words, and say them in your own words." Seeing Mao Zedong's instructions, Chen Boda breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that Mao Zedong blamed him for citing too many "supreme instructions"! He quickly made revisions and sent the revised draft to Mao Zedong for review. This time, Mao Zedong only drew a circle on his revised manuscript, indicating that he had "circled and read". In this way, the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China on April 14 reported: "At the plenary meeting on April 14, the great leader Chairman Mao made an extremely important and inspiring speech. Comrade Lin Biao made an important speech. Zhou Enlai, Chen Boda , Kang Sheng, Huang Yongsheng, Wang Hongwen, Sun Yuguo, Wei Fengying, Ji Dengkui and other comrades made speeches."

Chen Boda originally thought that this time he might not even be a member of the Politburo, but unexpectedly, at the First Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held on the afternoon of April 28, he was still elected as a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo, and he was still the "number four person". .Chen Boda's recollection reveals the mystery inside: "Comrade Zhou Enlai told me about the election of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National Congress. He said to me: I didn't expect you to be included in this list. Jiang Qing once said that if Huang Yongsheng was a member of the Standing Committee, she would also be a member of the Standing Committee. A comrade proposed that , the Standing Committee list can remain unchanged. Chairman Mao agreed to this proposal.”

The "First Lady" made such a fuss, but made Chen Boda retain her position as a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and "No. 4 person", but she herself could not be included in the Standing Committee——she made a complete miscalculation! The press release issued by the First Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China announced the election results in a peculiar ranking method.This list is a symbol of the heyday of the Lin Biao Group—Huang Yongsheng, Wu Faxian, Ye Qun, Li Zuopeng, and Qiu Huizuo all entered the Politburo. These five new members of the Politburo, together with Lin Biao and the newly "joined" Chen Boda, made Lin Biao's group occupy seven seats in the Politburo—equivalent to one-third of the total number of members of the Politburo!

This list also shows that the last five members of the "Central Cultural Revolution" all entered the Politburo --- Chen Boda, Kang Sheng, Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan. Although the press communiqué of the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China declared that this congress was a "unified and victorious" congress, Mao Zedong's "supreme instructions" also stated, "We hope that this congress will be a united and victorious congress." In fact, the newly elected Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee already has serious cracks.On the contrary, Mao Zedong said earlier at the closing ceremony of the Eleventh Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which is in line with objective reality: "There is no party outside the party, and the emperor's thinking. There is no faction in the party, and there are all kinds of strange things. Our Communist Party is also like this."

After the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Chen Boda and Lin Biao had increasingly frequent contacts, forming a faction within the party...