Chapter 69 Chapter 68: The Presidential Controversy

When the Constitution was amended, a fierce debate broke out about whether to include the President of the country. Originally, the People's Republic of China had a president, which was clearly stipulated in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China long ago. The first chairman of the People's Republic of China was Mao Zedong. In April 1959, when the first representative meeting of the Second National People's Congress was held, Mao Zedong declared that in order to concentrate on considering some major issues, he decided to resign as the chairman of the country (prior to this, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China had issued a notice to the whole country in the winter of 1958. The party issued a document explaining the reasons for Mao Zedong's resignation from the position of President of the country), and Liu Shaoqi was elected as the second president of the country. From late December 1964 to early 1965, at the first meeting of the Third National People's Congress, Liu Shaoqi was re-elected as the president of the country.During the "Cultural Revolution", Liu Shaoqi was brutally persecuted and died at 6:45 am on November 12, 1969, under house arrest in Kaifeng, Henan.After Liu Shaoqi's death, there was a vacancy in the country's presidency.

Who will succeed the president of the country? According to the political situation at that time, there were only two people who could take up this position: either Mao Zedong or Lin Biao. Mao Zedong proposed not to be the chairman of the country as early as 1958. Now that he is older, will he take up the position again? If Mao Zedong is not the chairman of the country, it must be Lin Biao! Rereading the provisions on the President of the Constitution in the Constitution, Lin Biao became very interested in the considerable powers that the President of the State possesses. Although at the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Lin Biao became the only vice-chairman of the party, and the position of his successor has been clearly written in the party constitution, but this position of vice-chairman cannot satisfy Lin Biao's desire for power.Because he discovered that the vice chairman of the party does not have much real power: Mao Zedong is the leader of the party with great prestige, and all major party affairs must be decided by Mao Zedong; as for the government, everything is in charge of Zhou Enlai.

Lin Biao was looking forward to becoming the chairman of the country, and it seemed that he was the only one who could be elected as the chairman of the country—because Mao Zedong resigned as the chairman of the country when he was 66 years old in 1959, how could he re-elect the chairmanship of the country in 1970 when he was 77 years old Chairman? Of course Mao Zedong knew Lin Biao's mentality clearly. The Yellow River has nine bends.Language on the political stage has ninety-nine turns. Lin Biao knew that it was impossible for Mao Zedong to serve as the chairman of the country again, but he repeatedly "suggested" that the chairman of the country ask Mao Zedong to "concurrently serve".

Lin Biao thought that Mao Zedong would definitely be modest and would say: "Comrade Lin Biao is invited to be the chairman of the country." Once there is such a "highest instruction" that "one sentence is worth ten thousand sentences", Lin Biao will naturally become the chairman of the country. What about Mao Zedong?There are also his brilliant moves.He understood that if he himself did not become the chairman of the country, he must nominate Lin Biao as the chairman of the country.However, he was unwilling to nominate Lin Biao as the chairman of the country, so he simply suggested that when the constitution was amended, the second chapter of the second chapter in the original constitution should be deleted, and there came a "no chairman of the country"!

It is clear that the two sides are at war, but they both "put on make-up": Lin Biao Dun asked Mao Zedong to be the chairman of the country, and Mao Zedong suggested that there should be no chairman of the country. On March 8, 1970, Mao Zedong formally proposed to convene the Fourth National People's Congress and amend the Constitution.At the same time, Mao Zedong proposed to change the national system and not have a chairman of the country.This is the first time that Mao Zedong clearly proposed that there should be no chairman of the country. On March 9, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China began preparations for amending the Constitution based on Mao Zedong's opinion.

As a result, Chen Boda and Zhang Chunqiao had a dispute in drafting the constitutional revision plan: Chen Boda advocated that the article about the president of the state should be included, while Zhang Chunqiao advocated deleting the original article about the president of the state. On March 16, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China wrote a "Request for Instructions on Amending the Constitution" on some major issues in amending the Constitution and sent it to Mao Zedong.Mao Zedong read and approved the report. From March 17th to 20th, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a working meeting in Beijing to discuss the issue of holding the Fourth National People's Congress.

Lin Biao was in Suzhou.On March 9, he asked Ye Qun to tell Huang Yongsheng and Wu Faxian in Beijing: "Vice Chairman Lin agrees to establish a national chairman." Mao Zedong ignored it. Lin Biao had no choice but to come forward by himself and asked the secretary to call Secretary Mao Zedong and said: "Vice Chairman Lin suggested that Chairman Mao should be the chairman of the country." Mao Zedong's answer was ingenious.He asked his secretary to call Suzhou back: "Greetings, Comrade Lin Biao!" At 11:30 on the night of April 11, Lin Biao asked his secretary Yu Yunshen to call the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in Suzhou.The full text of Lin Biao’s original words recorded by Yu Yunshen at that time is as follows:

1. With regard to the question of the chairman of the "National People's Congress" this time, Comrade Lin Biao still suggested that Chairman Mao should also serve as the chairman.Doing so suits the psychological state of the people inside the party, outside the party, at home, and abroad.Otherwise, it is not suitable for the psychological state of the people. 2. With regard to the issue of the vice-chairman, Comrade Lin Biao thinks that there may or may not be one, more or less, it doesn't matter much. 3. Comrade Lin Biao believes that he himself is not suitable for the post of vice-chairman.

※ ※ ※ Mao Zedong did not directly say that he disagreed with Lin Biao as the chairman of the country, but suggested that there should not be a chairman of the country;Both sides use high-sounding reasons to achieve their goals. ※ ※ ※ Of Lin Biao's three opinions, the first is a lie, the third is the truth, and the second is indifferent. He really does not want to "serve as vice-chairman"! On the day after receiving Lin Biao's call, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee wrote a request for instructions to Mao Zedong.Mao Zedong commented on this: "I won't do this anymore, this discussion is inappropriate."

This is the second time that Mao Zedong unequivocally rejected the idea of ​​establishing a chairman of the country. In late April, at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Mao Zedong borrowed allusions from the Chinese Communist Party and warned Lin Biao: "Sun Quan persuaded Cao Cao to become emperor. Cao Cao said that Sun Quan wanted to put him on the fire. I advise you not to treat me as Cao Cao, and you should not be Sun Quan." Mao Zedong talked and laughed, and his laughter was full of sharp irony. This is the third time that Mao Zedong expressed his opinion that there should be no chairman of the country.

Lin Biao still insisted on going his own way.According to Wu Faxian’s personal account on October 21, 1971: (1) In mid-April and late April 1970, after the Chairman twice warned Lin Biao not to mention the President of the State, when I met Lin Biao in mid-May, I asked him what he thought about the revision of the Constitution. country president.There is no president of the country, and the country does not have a head, and the name is not justified.Lin Biao asked Li Zuopeng and I to propose writing a chapter on the President of the State at the meeting of the Constitution Working Group. (2) In July 1970, Ye Qun once said to me face to face: If there is no chairman of the country, what will Lin Biao do and where will he be placed? (3) At the beginning of August 1970, Ye Qun called me and said: Lin Biao still insists on having a chairman of the country, and you should propose writing this chapter in the Constitutional Working Group. ... Chen Boda stood firmly on Lin Biao's side and became Lin Biao's "close comrade-in-arms". On May 14, 1970, Ye Qun toured the Great Wall with Huang Yongsheng, Wu Faxian and Li Zuopeng.After returning, Ye Qun wrote a poem, in which there is a sentence "the general will rise up to defend the red flag".According to Ye Qun Ziyun: "Minister, Chen Boda; generals, Huang Yongsheng, Wu Faxian, Li Zuopeng, Qiu Huizuo; Hongqi, Vice Chairman Lin." In this way, Chen Boda became the "phase" of Lin Biao. In mid-July, during the meeting of the Central Drafting Committee for Amending the Constitution, Mao Zedong proposed for the fourth time that there would be no chairman of the country.Mao Zedong pointed out: The establishment of a chairman of the country is a formality, and don't set things up for people. As a matter of fact, everyone with a discerning eye knows why there is no chairmanship in the constitution.Mr. Liang Shuming, a well-known democrat, made a speech at the group discussion meeting of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He pointed out the essence of the problem: "For example, there must be a president of the country. The chairman is one thing. The chairman of the country must be appointed, and whoever is the chairman of the country can be elected through legal procedures..." Even Mr. Liang Shuming who "stands aside" can see clearly, but the country The debate between setting up and not setting up a chairman is still going on fiercely at the top of the CCP—— ——Mao Zedong did not directly say that he disagreed with Lin Biao as the chairman of the country, but suggested that there should be no chairman of the country;Both sides use high-sounding reasons to achieve their goals. However, among members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attitudes are not unanimous: Mao Zedong declared four times that there would be no chairman of the country, and that he should not be the chairman of the country. His attitude was very clear; Lin Biao advocated the establishment of a chairman of the country for the purpose of fighting for power and profit; From this point of view, it is advocated to set up a national chairman. In 1998, the Chronicle of Zhou Enlai compiled by the Documentation Research Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China revealed for the first time the real situation of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China at that time: "(1970) On August 22, I went to Mao Zedong to participate in the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China... Regarding the issue of setting up a state chairman, during the discussion, except for Mao Zedong, the other four members of the Standing Committee all proposed that according to the wishes and demands of the masses, the party should realize the The president and the president of the state are unified, that is, there is a head of state and a president in form. Zhou Enlai proposed that if there is a president of the state, diplomatic etiquette activities such as receiving foreign envoys in the future can be authorized by the president of the state. Kang Sheng said that having a president of the state is a The hope of the whole party and the people of the country, we also hoped so when we drafted the constitutional revision draft, but we did not dare to violate the chairman's opinion that there should be no chairman of the country. In this contradiction, we feel a lot of pressure. Chen Boda said that if this It will be a great inspiration and encouragement to the people of the whole country that Chairman Mao will serve as the chairman of the country again. After Chen Boda spoke, Lin Biao also echoed. Mao Zedong still insisted on the opinion that there is no chairman of the country and he should not be the chairman of the country. , That’s a formality, I propose to amend the constitution to consider that there is no need for the chairman of the country. If you want the chairman of the country, you are welcome, anyway, I will not be the chairman.” That is to say, among the five members of the Standing Committee, four are in favor of setting up a state president, and only Mao Zedong is against it! However, due to Mao Zedong's lofty prestige, the Fourth Standing Committee finally agreed with Mao Zedong's opinion.