Chapter 54 Letter to Chen Yi[1]

(December 1, 1944) Comrade Chen Yi: Come to show [2] to read it, it has a lot of inspiration, thank you very much! Today, I have called Yu to refuse to submit the reply [3], and both Zhou and Dong [4] returned it. After a period of delay, we will discuss it again.As for the basic policy, as you said, there is no other way. The merits of the white area must admit that you are very right.There is also the "North-South" issue and the Southern Party issue. I have been wanting to talk about it for a long time, but I forgot that day. I am afraid there are other things. [5] It seems necessary to speak once at the Seventh National Congress.All injustice must be made fair so as to unite against the enemy.Let me know anytime you see something.

Since you and Nie [6] made it public, Bo Cheng [7] has no need to keep it secret.He was not invited to the party school meeting yesterday because he was not formally informed that he could be made public.Please tell him first, and I should tell him too. Please consult with Peng Zhen[8] about the allocation of downstream cadres.I think your opinion is good. Your thoughts are all-inclusive, without hindrance, and from now on everywhere is smooth.Being ready to stand for the truth and being ready to correct the wrong will never fail.As long as there are dozens of leading backbones in each base area and elsewhere, all problems can be solved easily.The entire party is now becoming more and more mature politically, as you can see from the telegrams from various places.

salute! Mao Zedong On December 1, it was published according to the "Selected Letters of Mao Zedong" published by People's Publishing House in 1983. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] Chen Yi, who was the acting commander of the New Fourth Army at the time, was in Yan'an preparing to attend the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China. [2] On November 21, 1944, after Chiang Kai-shek rejected the "Agreement (Draft) between the Chinese Nationalist Government, the Chinese Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party" signed in Yan'an by Hurley and Mao Zedong on November 10, Another draft agreement was proposed, the main content of which was to ask the CCP to hand over the army, and then allow the CCP to send several people to the Kuomintang government as officials.Zhou Enlai drafted a report for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Mao Zedong approved the report and sent it to the person in charge of the Central Committee and Chen Yi for review and comments.After reading the case and studying relevant materials, Chen Yi wrote to Mao Zedong on December 1. In the letter, he analyzed the two possible development trends of the KMT-CCP ​​negotiations, and believed that Chiang Kai-shek would not follow the path of genuine cooperation with the Communist Party. Therefore, it is suggested that the central government should not submit the case for a while, and wait for the weakening of the strength of the Chiang Kai-shek clique, and at the same time develop its own strength during this period, so as to "obtain the central position of the overall situation."

[3] Reply refers to Zhou Enlai's reply to the draft agreement between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party proposed by Chiang Kai-shek on November 21, 1944 for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. [4] Zhou refers to Zhou Enlai.Dong refers to Dong Biwu, who was then Deputy Secretary of the Southern Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, head of the Propaganda Department, and head of the United Front Work Department.Zhou Enlai and Dong Biwu returned to Yan'an on December 7 after receiving Mao Zedong's telegram on December 1, 1944 about not submitting the case for the time being and "asking Zhou and Dong to postpone it at the same time".

[5] On February 15, 1945, in Mao Zedong's speech at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, he deliberately added to the problems of the South and the North, the problems of the Party in the rear areas, and the problems of work in the white areas.See pages 264-267 of this volume. [6] Nie, referring to Nie Rongzhen, who was the commander and political commissar of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region of the Eighth Route Army at that time, and was in Yan'an preparing to attend the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China. [7] Bocheng, that is, Liu Bocheng, who was then the commander of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army and the commander of the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region, was in Yan'an preparing to attend the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

[8] Peng Zhen, then acting head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.