Chapter 45 Section 5 A meeting of generosity and unity

A large part of the participants in the Central Work Conference were senior cadres before the "Cultural Revolution". They were persecuted to varying degrees during the "Cultural Revolution". After the "Gang of Four" was smashed, they did not get the full right to speak .At this meeting they can speak with confidence.They believe that the theoretical line guiding this unprecedented "revolution" that caused disasters to our country and our people should be criticized and lessons learned from it.There are some comrades inside and outside the meeting who were "in power" during the "Cultural Revolution". Later, he drew a clear line with the "Gang of Four" and stood against the "Gang of Four". Afterwards, they also said wrong things, did wrong things, and even set up obstacles to correcting mistakes during the "Cultural Revolution" and rehabilitating unjust, false and wrong cases.Everyone has great opinions on them. When exposing the problems in the "Cultural Revolution", we must involve them and have to expose and criticize them.Some of them are members of the 11th Central Committee, some are members of the Politburo, and some are vice-chairmen of the Party Central Committee.Expose and criticize at the meeting, present the facts and reason, do not consider the positions of these people, do not expose and criticize these people because of their high positions, only stick to one point, present the facts, and speak strictly according to the facts.Everyone thinks that there should be no ambiguity on this point, and there is no ambiguity.

However, from the standpoint of unity, the meeting adopted a lenient attitude towards these comrades who made mistakes. On the eve of the third meeting on November 25, various groups brought up many major cases and asked the Party Central Committee to handle them. Many unjust, false and wrong cases that had not yet been rehabilitated were also requested to be resolved. This involved several members of the 11th Politburo.When listening to the reports of the conveners of each group, Deng Xiaoping said: "The issues raised by everyone must be resolved. The 'Tiananmen incident' must be resolved, the issue of the 61 people must be resolved, and the issues of Yang Shangkun and Tao Zhu must be resolved, but all the issues raised cannot be resolved."

This is Deng Xiaoping's calm assessment. Let me clarify this point first, so as not to end the game if I can't solve it all.Deng Xiaoping did not list which problems could not be resolved at this meeting, and everyone knew it well.For example, Liu Shaoqi has no problem with the "counter-revolutionary revisionist line" at all. Hua Guofeng affirmed at the opening meeting of the Central Work Conference that the ninth line struggle was the struggle against Liu Shaoqi's "counter-revolutionary revisionist line." The statement was written into the political report of the Eleventh National Congress.It is estimated that this Central Work Conference and even the Third Plenary Session held after the meeting will not be able to solve this problem, so the discussions in various groups only mentioned that there is no such thing as another "bourgeois headquarters" headed by Liu Shaoqi.

Deng Xiaoping also said that Chen Xilian, Wu De, and Ji Dengkui raised opinions and criticized Chen Xilian, Wu De, and Ji Dengkui at the meeting, which was not excessive.But his proposition is that the three of them can find an opportunity to discuss it at the meeting, and it is not necessary to do self-criticism to satisfy everyone.He does not advocate mentioning the Third Plenary Session for discussion, because once the Third Plenary Session is mentioned, there will be a problem of punishment.At the briefing on the evening of November 27 after the third congress, Deng Xiaoping talked about foreign critics asking him how about Wu De?He said that Wu De made mistakes, but you have to look at the whole thing, not just one section.

Later, at a meeting of the Standing Committee to listen to the report, Deng Xiaoping mentioned the issue of criticism of some comrades. Deng Xiaoping said: This matter can be settled for a while.It is right for everyone to expose and criticize, and it is also correct.Back to back, the problem can still be revealed.Regarding Chen Xilian's problem, I said in Liaoning that on appropriate occasions, such as when the central government holds a working meeting, it is enough to check it.Comrades who have made mistakes have made self-criticism after speaking. It may be deeper or shallower, and it is enough to talk about it.

Then Deng Xiaoping talked about Wu De again. Deng Xiaoping said: Comrade Wu De was transferred from Beijing, and the members of the Politburo did not move, so it would not have any major impact. At the meeting, Deng Xiaoping asked Lin Hujia, the convener of the North China Group who attended the report meeting: When Wu De was inspecting, did you applaud?Lin Hujia said applauded. Deng Xiaoping said: Criticism is fine, but stability and unity are still required.I also persuaded Ji Dengkui to talk about it, and it will be over after talking.There are also Yang Chengwu and Wu Zhong.Wu Zhong can't get through without criticism, and Yang Chengwu doesn't talk about it, can it work?Self-criticism should be handled appropriately, and the Politburo should also pay attention to stability.The Standing Committee unanimously agreed that at this meeting these comrades have made self-criticism after speaking, and should not speak any more.This point should be made clear to the comrades present at the meeting.

Deng Xiaoping also said, what should these comrades do when they return to their own regions and units to express their opinions?It is said that he has made self-criticism, and there is a problem. He said that the principle of handling should be more lenient, and comrades who have made mistakes must criticize themselves, but it is impossible to completely satisfy everyone.In short, these issues are considered over at the central working conference, not at the plenary session.As soon as the plenary meeting is held, there will be discussions, so it is not clear. Another point is very important, that is, criticizing the "two whatevers" is the main content of this Central Work Conference.However, when Deng Xiaoping talked to Hu Yaobang and me in preparation for his speech at the closing meeting, he specifically mentioned that he did not want to raise the issue of "two whatevers" in this speech, so he did not include this content in the speech.This can also be seen as a manifestation of generosity and solidarity.

I think there may still be such conversations in work meetings, but I only know of this one time.This happened on the night of December 1, 1978.From 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. that night, Deng Xiaoping and Li Xiannian approached Xu Shiyou, Li Desheng, Yang Yichen, Wang Enmao, Ren Zhongyi, Wan Li, Chen Pixian, Duan Junyi, Hu Lijiao and others.He knew that these people had relatively big opinions on Chen Xilian, Ji Dengkui, etc., and worried that they would hold on to the mistakes of Chen, Ji, and others.Therefore, he said that the "Tiananmen incident", the "July 20th" incident, the industrial army, etc. must be dealt with, but only rough, not detailed.If you do it carefully, you must chase it, and chasing it will have adverse effects.

He said that he talked to them that day to open a negotiation with them.Deng Xiaoping said it very earnestly, saying that this can also be "counted as my request, and the overall situation must be the most important."He said that the truth lies with you and the masses, because what you say is correct.Exposing and criticizing is 100% correct.But right now, there is an overall problem.International and domestic.Mainly an international reflection.Foreigners are not interested in other things, mainly to see China's stability. Deng Xiaoping said that he was consciously, self-consciously and muddled.The slime must be harmonious, consciously, otherwise it will be unfavorable.Only with mud, is correct.

He said that after talking with foreigners, he settled down and got better.But we still have to wait until the end of the meeting. They (referring to foreigners) want to read the communiqué of our meeting. He said that the country needs a stable and united situation.At present, the domestic and international situation is very good, and this has not come easily.The French Ministry of Foreign Trade posted a big-character poster on Li Qiang, saying that his business was down.Stability and unity are indeed important at present.It is necessary to give the people and the world a stable and united image.Anything detrimental to this will give people an illusion, which is extremely unfavorable.This is the big picture.

He mentioned to those few people that, according to the opinions of the Standing Committee, no one can step down, only step up, and no one can step down.He said that there will be changes in personnel at this meeting, and the "several comrades who made mistakes" must be criticized, but they cannot be moved. One of the existing Central Committee members will not go, and some may not participate in the meeting activities, but they will not be removed. For those who have an opinion, let him pass the test.He also advocated finding ways to let them pass the test. Deng Xiaoping said to these comrades: "This time it will be very good. In fact, since 1957, there has been no such situation. It's a pity, it's a pity. This is exactly the style of Yan'an, Chairman Mao's style, and this is the real party's style." Good style." He said the same thing to Hu Yaobang and me the next day.