Chapter 6 6. The Old Nun and the Mystery of the Bomb

Although Li Kenong boasted about Haikou in front of Zhou Enlai, he knew in his heart that the situation in the Xiangshan area was complicated and not as easy as imagined. On the day after the news that the Party Central Committee moved into Peiping was announced to the whole world, when Li Kenong walked towards Xiangshan, some hidden spies were still active. Some Baoding middle school students living in Xiangshan were lured by the Kuomintang.As early as a few months ago, when the People's Liberation Army invaded Baoding, the Kuomintang made a lot of reactionary propaganda, saying that the Communist Party's army would kill anyone they saw, regardless of age, and wanted to commune with their wives.The ignorant students flocked to Peiping, and had nowhere to go, so they had to live in Xiangshan.After Peking was liberated peacefully, these students still dared not go back.

After listening to the report, Li Kenong went to do the persuasion work himself.Later these students moved out of Xiangshan and returned to Baoding.Under the care of Li Kenong, those exiled students in Northeast China were properly resettled in Beiping. Li Kenong spent a day in Xiangshan, and finally chose Mao Zedong's residence in Shuangqing Villa.The scenery here is quiet, the clear springs are tingling, and the green bamboos are picturesque. It is an ideal place for recuperation.But at that time, there was no one to take care of Xiangshan, the huts were dilapidated, and the courtyard was full of dead branches and leaves.

Of course, Mao Zedong could not live in such an environment, so what should we do?Li Kenong had no choice but to order the soldiers to repair this place as quickly as possible.Due to the war, the Kuomintang army lived here, and discarded ammunition can be seen everywhere.Soldiers found a lot of explosives and grenades when they cleared the yard. After cleaning up, the two nuns in the Xiangshan Salesian Home refused to move out. Li Kenong said to the soldiers: "We still advise them to leave here." A veteran said: "We went and talked about it several times, but they didn't want to leave."

Li Kenong had no choice but to go to the sales home to see the situation. These are two elderly nuns who stated many reasons for their reluctance to leave in front of Li Kenong.On the surface, these two nuns are very honest.Li Kenong agreed with them to stay, and said to them: "Don't move around in the future." The old nun nodded. Li Kenong said to the soldiers: "They are monks and they are all old. It doesn't matter if they don't leave." Gao Fu also did a lot of practical work on the security of Xiangshan.He has climbed to the top of Xiangshan Mountain many times to check the terrain, and made specific arrangements for the temporary air-raid shelters built by the soldiers.

Li Kenong's work is heavy, and it is impossible to have a split body.For Mao Zedong's safety, he assigned Liu Jinzhong, the secretary-general of the Beiping Public Security Bureau, to be temporarily responsible for Mao Zedong's personal safety. Liu Jinzhong first chose an American-made bulletproof car captured during the Jinan Battle for Mao Zedong, and the driver he chose was Yuan Ze.In the morning, Mao Zedong took this car when he went to the Xiyuan military parade. That afternoon, when Yuan Ze sent Mao Zedong to the Summer Palace, he suddenly had a stomachache.After night fell, Yuan Ze couldn't bear the pain, so he asked Liu Jinzhong for leave, saying he wanted to see a doctor.Liu Jinzhong thought that it was so late, Mao Zedong might not go to Xiangshan, so he said to Yuan Ze:

"Go, go and come back quickly." But as soon as Yuan Ze left, Zhou Enlai came out of the house and said to Liu Jinzhong, "Prepare the chairman's car, and now we will go to Xiangshan." Liu Jinzhong was in a dilemma. The only armored car let Yuan Ze drive away. What should Mao Zedong do?He had no choice but to truthfully explain the situation to Zhou Enlai.Zhou Enlai was very upset and said: "Why didn't you say it earlier? You really play the piano!" At this time Mao Zedong and others had come out of the house. Zhou Enlai had an idea and let Mao Zedong get into his car.

Fortunately, Mao Zedong didn't pay attention to the condition of the car, so he could get in whichever car he was given. He didn't know if he was riding in a bulletproof car, but he felt that the driver seemed to have changed.Of course, he wouldn't ask about it. Liu Jinzhong sat in the first car to clear the way, followed by the motorcade of the head of the Central Committee, a total of eight cars. The night grew deeper. The road was very quiet, and Liu Jinzhong was under a lot of pressure. He was afraid of accidents. Along the way, he held a pistol in his hand and watched the surrounding targets from time to time.

The convoy is heading towards Xiangshan. Li Kenong was still worried, and ordered the soldiers responsible for the security work to check the chief's residence again.It was more than 2 o'clock in the morning, and the convoy had arrived at the foot of Xiangshan Mountain. However, something unusual happened. According to the report of the soldiers, a bomb was found in the courtyard of the Shuangqing Villa where Mao Zedong was going to stay. Li Kenong was deeply surprised.His heart was pounding, and he immediately ordered several engineers to move the bomb to the woods outside the courtyard for technical treatment.

Although the matter had been dealt with within a few minutes, he was still not at ease, why a bomb popped up here suddenly, this was indeed unexpected, he made a decisive decision and ordered the soldiers to do it again to the residences of all the heads of the central government examine. At this time, the car of Mao Zedong and others had arrived at the gate of Xiangshan. Liu Jinzhong's clearing car has already entered.The inspection work is not yet over. According to the past habits, whenever the head of the central government goes to a place, he has to go into the house to rest as soon as the car arrives.

Li Kenong was so anxious that he asked the head of the guard to drive a jeep to meet Mao Zedong and his party.After Mao Zedong and others entered the gate of Xiangshan, the car made another big bend and climbed up the mountain along a small path. This road is newly built, and the car that the head of the central government sits on is very difficult to get up, and the wheels are slipping on the ground.Mao Zedong turned around and said to the driver: "It's fine if we don't get up, let's get off and walk for a while!" The driver said: "Okay, Chairman, you can take a few steps forward, I will climb up with an empty car, and you can sit on the flat ground."

Mao Zedong and several other central leaders walked forward for a while, and the jeep that came to pick them up arrived.The guards asked Mao Zedong and others to change cars. Mao Zedong pointed to the car and asked Zhou Enlai: "Isn't it already here? Why do you need to change cars?" Zhou Enlai explained: "There is still a long way to go, and only this off-road vehicle can climb it." Mao Zedong didn't ask any more questions, just got into the car and continued to climb up the mountain. After a while, the car arrived at the gate of Shuangqing Villa.Mao Zedong said: "This is a good place..." I haven't met Li Kenong yet.The head of the security team hurriedly ran to Yan Changlin, whispered the dissatisfaction that had just happened, and said that the cleaning work was not over yet, and asked the head of the central government not to enter his house for the time being. Yan Changlin was a little scared, Zhou Enlai was a very careful person.He had already seen the situation, so he came over to inquire.Yan Changlin made a report truthfully. Zhou Enlai looked very calm. He said: "I agree with your suggestion. I will give you an hour to check carefully and make sure there are no more problems." The head of the guard turned and ran away. Of course, the truth of this kind of thing cannot be revealed directly, so what should I do?Zhou Enlai frowned, walked up to Mao Zedong, and said, "Chairman, we haven't seen the moon in Beiping for decades. The moonlight is so beautiful tonight. Why don't you take a walk on the moon and relax first?" Take a look at your body!" Maybe Mao Zedong didn't understand the true meaning of Zhou Enlai's words. He just felt that Li Kenong hadn't shown up yet, so he waved his hands and said: "Comrades, Enlai is reluctant to part with the moonlight tonight. He suggested that I enjoy the moon. What do you think? I agree... " Mao Zedong laughed while talking, and other people followed Mao Zedong to the grove for a walk to enjoy the moon. Mao Zedong was a great man and at the same time a famous poet in the party.Looking at the bright moon, he became very excited about poetry, and talked about poetry with Zhou Enlai.He said that Zhang Ruoxu's "Moonlight Night on the Spring River" was very literary, but it was a bit too lingering and not very atmospheric. Zhu De also has a lot of research on poetry. He smiled and said, "Chairman, that is Yangchun Baixue." Mao Zedong smiled.He said: "We communists want to be sunny and snowy, and we also want people from Liba. I often think that our literature and art must adhere to the development policy of letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend. Only in this way can we prosper. Don't you think so?" Although Zhou Enlai also walked behind them, his mind was not on this, but on the security inspection situation that Li Kenong and others were conducting.Hearing the conversation between Mao Zedong and Mr. Zhu, he went on to say: "The chairman spoke very well." Zhu De said: "The ancients wrote many poems about the moon. Which ones do you like?" Mao Zedong said: "Boss Zhu is testing me again!" Zhu De said: "You are a famous poet in our party, I can only ask you for advice." "Then let me tell you, don't laugh at me." Mao Zedong said, "In contrast, Wang Wei's "Birdsong Stream" and Li Taibai's "Quiet Night Thoughts" have some characteristics and can resonate." Liu Shaoqi, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said: "Yes, the moon is the hometown light!" This sentence seemed to speak to Mao Zedong's heart.He smoked a cigarette, looked at the bright moon in the sky, and said affectionately: "The moon is the light of my hometown, and Comrade Shaoqi said it well. It is a pity that the area south of the Yangtze River is still in the hands of the Kuomintang, and the people there live a happy life." Still living in darkness, the moon above their heads is not bright, it cannot be compared with the moon in Beiping..." Zhou Enlai said: "Our troops are preparing to cross the river, and the people there will soon see the light." Zhu De said: "Our determination of the People's Liberation Army to cross the river will not change. We should let all Chinese people have a common bright moon." Mao Zedong was very happy and said: "It is very good. From now on, our new China can only have one moon." Although it was a bit cold in the woods, Mao Zedong and the others became more and more interested in talking.Zhou Enlai raised his hand and looked at his watch. More than 40 minutes had passed. He estimated that Li Kenong's side was about to be finished. After a while, the head of the security team named Swelling ran to Zhou Enlai and whispered, "The inspection work is over. Please let the head of the central government go to the house to rest." Zhou Enlai asked in a low voice, "Did you find anything?" Swerling replied: "No, everything is normal." Zhou Enlai said, "Wow!" Under Zhou Enlai's arrangement, the comrades of the guard regiment led the heads of the Central Committee into their respective rooms to rest. Mao Zedong was arranged in Shuangqing Villa. Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, and Ren Bishi live in Laiqingxuan on the north side of Shuangqing Villa. Li Kenong and Liu Jinzhong rushed to Zhou Enlai's residence to report on work. Zhou Enlai was quite satisfied with Li Kenong's work, but he also pointed out shortcomings.Li Kenong was a little uneasy, and said: "My work is not done well, and I am not meticulous. I ask the head of the central government to criticize." Zhou Enlai waved his hands and said gently: "It doesn't matter, we are entering the city for the first time, so we don't have enough experience! The chairman and several other central leaders have safely moved into Xiangshan. You have succeeded." Obviously, Zhou Enlai was very dissatisfied with Liu Jinzhong's work.He asked: "Why did you send the chairman's armored car away?" Liu Jinzhong explained: "When Yuan Ze asked me for leave, I thought it was so late and the road was not very safe. The chairman and several other central leaders would not go to Xiangshan, and they might stay in the Summer Palace overnight." "You, Liu Jinzhong, are so bold. You decide on such a big matter without asking for instructions. If something goes wrong, who will be responsible?" "It's my fault, please punish me." Zhou Enlai looked at Liu Jinzhong, who was depressed, and said, "This kind of thing can't happen again in the future." The atmosphere of the conversation eased a little, at this time Wang Fan came in again, and Zhou Enlai saw that he was angry again. Wang Fan was an honest man, but he always acted without consideration. Zhou Enlai didn't see him at the train station in the morning, so he was criticized once, but Zhou Enlai's dissatisfaction was aroused again on the way to take the head of the central government into Xiangshan. It turned out that Wang Fan, who was leading the way in the first car, asked the driver to drive the car very fast and the dust was flying all the way, making it difficult for the car of the head of the central government to catch up. If you can't catch up, you have to chase. The road conditions are bad, and the car bumps violently.Zhou Enlai, who was sitting in the third car, asked, "Who is leading the way?" The guard replied: "It's Wang Fan." Now when Zhou Enlai saw Wang Fan, he immediately asked, "You Wang Fan, what are you doing?" Wang Fan felt puzzled and asked, "What's wrong?" "What did you say? Why did you run so fast all the way?" Wang Fan said: "I was worried that there was a bomb in front of me. I told the driver to hurry up and kill me. The people behind you will be safe!" "You man, you run so fast, and we don't know the way, so we have to chase after you. What if the car overturns?" "I really didn't think that I was wrong, please criticize the chief." The three people who came to report their work were criticized to varying degrees.Zhou Enlai didn't tell them to go, they all sat there silently.Li Kenong lowered his head to smoke, but Wang Fan no longer dared to look up. Zhou Enlai stood up and said: "You all go back to rest, this time is very hard." Li Kenong stood up and looked at Zhou Enlai: "Our work is not done well, which makes you worry." Zhou Enlai said, "It doesn't matter, I have a bad temper today, please forgive me." Wang Fan said, "You are right." Zhou Enlai came over and patted his round shoulder, and said with a smile, "Be careful next time, and do your job well." The three replied at the same time: "Please rest assured, we must do well." Zhou Enlai sent them out. Li Kenong found that Wang Fan and Liu Jinzhong were still not in a good mood.So he comforted me and said: "These are trivial things, just pay attention to it in the future. Zhou Enlai is approachable and has the demeanor of an elder. He said a few words about us, it is entirely for our own good, and it is also for work." Liu Jinzhong said: "Compared with the bomb incident you mentioned, this is indeed a trivial matter. I was really worried at that time!" Li Kenong said: "Yes, I am also very anxious. Tell me, our people have checked several times, but a bomb just happened when the chairman arrived at the gate of Xiangshan. Who did this?" Wang Fan said: "It's too suspenseful, we must organize personnel to solve the case tomorrow." Li Kenong said: "We must investigate and find out." The case has been investigated for several days and still has not been solved.Li Kenong was quite surprised, because the head of the Central Committee's residence in Xiangshan was a secret, and the outside world did not know it. People read from the newspaper that Mao Zedong and his party had arrived in Beiping, but they did not know where they lived. A few years later, the whole country was liberated, and the answer to this mystery was revealed. According to a secret agent who was captured, the person who dropped the bomb in Xiangshan was the old nun in the sales house.She was originally a lurking secret agent of the Kuomintang military command, with the task of assassinating Mao Zedong.It's just that Xiangshan was heavily guarded at that time, and she never succeeded. Since Mao Zedong lived in Xiangshan, Li Kenong specially dispatched a regiment of troops to protect the place, and outsiders can't get close to this place.At that time, Mao Zedong had a lot of things to deal with, and sometimes he would go out of the room to take a walk in the woods outside the courtyard.He once said to the staff around him: "This yard is good, much more beautiful than ours in Xibaipo." The guards knew that the yard in Xibaipo was just a clean farmyard with no scenery, and it was a far cry from here.Take the Shuangqing villa where the chairman stayed, for example, there is a long row of bungalows facing south, with plenty of sunlight and fresh air.There are toilets, bedrooms, offices, and a special reception room. Mao Zedong lived in a cave dwelling in Yan'an and a farmhouse in Xibaipo. The conditions were very limited. It can be said that everything was very difficult.At that time, Mao Zedong was very satisfied with the place of Shuangqing Villa, even though the conditions at that time were still very poor. September 1949. With the improvement of the situation, the central government began to work in Zhongnanhai, and many heads of the central government moved out of Xiangshan to live in Zhongnanhai.However, Mao Zedong had a special liking for Xiangshan, and he has not moved.After finishing the affairs in the city during the day, I went to Xiangshan to rest at night.Later, he lived in Zhongnanhai. What the Shuangqing Villa in Xiangshan looked like at that time is no longer visible. Since the outbreak of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, Xiangshan has been a military restricted zone, where troops lived.Not open to the outside world.In the late 1960s, it was gradually opened to receive tourists. No one knows whether Mao Zedong went to Xiangshan again.According to Comrade Wang Dongxing’s recollection, during the Cultural Revolution, the Shuangqing Villa was left unattended, and the house gradually collapsed. He thought that this was the place where Chairman Mao lived, and it should be protected for future generations to visit. Therefore, Wang Dongxing called the shots and asked the soldiers to demolish a row of dilapidated houses here, and planned to rebuild them as they were.When he went to report to Mao Zedong, Mao Zedong was not interested in it. He preached: "What's the use of repairing it now, use the money for other constructions!" Wang Dongxing said, "Someone has been sent to demolish it." Mao Zedong was surprised, looked at Wang Dongxing and said, "Why do you dismantle it?" Wang Dongxing said, "It's about to collapse." "Is that so? Let's take it apart." "It's ready to rebuild." Mao Zedong waved his hand and said, "Don't build it again. It's not good. I rebuild the place where Mao Zedong lived, and I don't want to live there. It's not good for the influence in the party." Shuangqing Villa disappeared from Xiangshan. In recent years, with the tide of reform and opening up, Xiangshan has become a scenic spot for Chinese and foreign tourists.The Beijing Municipal Government considers that the Shuangqing Villa is gone, and people cannot see the precious footprints left by Mao Zedong there. After all, it is a pity, because Mao Zedong and his comrades in arms once issued an order to "march to the whole country" here. , once commanded the Battle of Duanjiang for the establishment of New China, several battles for the liberation of Northwest China, etc., so the Shuangqing Villa was rebuilt. The Shuangqing villa that people see now was rebuilt later, and it is said that all the layouts were modeled on the way it was in 1949.When you come here and look at the pictures hanging on the wall, it seems to be back in the past.People can fully feel the great demeanor of Mao Zedong and other proletarian revolutionaries of the older generation who turned things around here.