Chapter 36 2. Eighteen Articles of the Peace Agreement

On the afternoon of January 17, 1949, Su Jing, Chief of Staff of the Northeast Field Army Headquarters, formally entered Peiping as a peace negotiating representative of the Pingjin Front Headquarters invited by Fu Zuoyi, together with Deng Baoshan and others, and he received a very grand reception.When entering the city, Wang Kejun, one of Fu Zuoyi's most important assistants, then deputy secretary-general of the North China "Suppression General" and director of political affairs, and the representative of the last negotiation out of the city, Fu Zuoyi's other most important assistant, the then "Pingming Cui Zaizhi, the president of Daily News, went to Deshengmen to meet him in person.That night, Su Jing stayed at the Friendship Office in Dongjiaomin Lane, the most high-end reception place in Peking, and was accompanied by Cui Zaizhi in daily life.There was no other guest in the Friendship Office, there were plainclothes patrols inside, and a battalion of soldiers outside were responsible for guarding. The sabotage of Chiang Kai-shek's secret agents.

On the evening of the 18th, accompanied by Wang Kejun, Fu Zuoyi came to the friendship office to visit Su Jing in person.After the courtesy greetings, Fu Zuoyi told Su Jing, Wang Kejun, and Cui Zaizhi very clearly: "You can agree on a practical and specific solution together. As long as it is conducive to the peaceful settlement of Peiping, this ancient cultural city with a long history will be free from You can be regarded as the plenipotentiary representatives of both parties!" Su Jing quickly explained: "I can only act as a liaison officer. If there are any problems to be solved, I can contact them on my behalf. Please ask the leaders of the Pingjin Front Command, or you can contact them through the radio."

Although Su Jing arrived in Beijing, several leaders did not grant him the qualification of plenipotentiary representative, but he personally participated in several negotiations and knew the attitude of our party and our army very well, so he actually took on the task of plenipotentiary representative .On the 19th, Su Jing, together with Wang Kejun and Cui Zaizhi, based on the "Preliminary Opinions on the Peaceful Liberation of Peking", further specified the original clauses one by one, forming an 18-article agreement.Wang Kejun sent the agreement to Fu Zuoyi for review and approval, while Su Jing sent a telegram back to the Pingjin Front Command, and then transferred it to the Party Central Committee. After Mao Zedong personally revised it, it was transferred to Su Jing.After being approved by both parties, it becomes a formal agreement.

On January 21, Su Jing, Wang Kejun, and Cui Zaizhi, representatives of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, signed the agreement with the authorization of their respective superiors. This is the finalized version of the "Agreement on the Peaceful Settlement of the Peking Issue", with 18 articles in total.After signing, Cui Zaizhi, who is very familiar with the history of Beiping, said: "When Yuan Shikai was the emperor, his foreign minister Cao Rulin and the Japanese minister signed the "Twenty-One" that humiliated the country and humiliated the country. The No. 2 Friendship Office was the original Japanese embassy in China). Now we drafted 18 articles of the agreement for the peaceful settlement of the Peking issue, and it is also in this place. When the "21" was signed, public dissatisfaction was boiling, and there were protests from Peking to the whole country After the announcement of our agreement, we welcomed the cheers and joy of the people. Everyone felt sincerely happy and relieved, and it seems that there will be no major troubles." Cui Zaizhi's words represent the peace-loving majority of Peking voices of progressives.

Chiang Kai-shek’s secret agents in Peiping learned of the news that the KMT and the Communist Party were conducting final negotiations in Beiping City. On the night of the signing of the peace agreement, when Wang Kejun returned from Dongjiaomin Lane to Zhongnanhai via Nanchizi, he was shot by the spies. The speed of the car was so fast that it rushed over, and Wang Kejun was spared. On January 22, the newspapers and radio stations of both sides officially published the "Agreement on the Peaceful Settlement of the Peking Question", which aroused great national attention and produced strong repercussions.However, Fu Zuoyi's "Pingming Daily" was not published in full due to the consideration of the specific situation in Beiping at that time. For example, the part about the handling of spies was not published in the newspaper.

The full text of the "Agreement on the Peaceful Settlement of the Peking Question" is as follows: In order to shorten the war, achieve the peace of the people's general will, preserve the industrial and commercial foundation and cultural relics and historical sites, with a view to promoting the early realization of the complete peace of the whole country, so that the country's vitality will not be damaged, the following items are announced by agreement between the two parties: (1) A truce between the two sides will begin at 10:00 am on the 22nd of this month. (2) During the transition period, the two sides will send personnel to set up a joint office to handle relevant military and political matters.The composition and candidates are detailed in the appendix.

(3) The original organizational designation of the troops below the corps (including the corps) in the city will be moved outside the city from the 22nd, and will be reorganized about one month after arriving at the designated location.Please refer to the appendix for details. (4) Troops relocated outside the city can carry a week's worth of supplies, which will be resupplied by the joint agency in the future. (5) The North China Headquarters has established an end office, whose job is to manage and restrain the troops leaving the city, and jointly handle the replenishment of the troops leaving the city with the joint organization. until the completion of the takeover by its replenishment agency.

(6) To maintain order in the city, apart from the original police and warehouse guard troops, troops may be temporarily retained to maintain law and order as needed, and will be replaced one by one after the PLA guards enter the city, but Mr. Fu Zuoyi may still retain necessary guards. (7) Beiping administrative agencies and all central and local public and public enterprises, banks, warehouses, cultural institutions, schools, etc. in Ping'an shall temporarily maintain the status quo, shall not destroy or lose, and wait for the aforementioned joint agency to handle. (8) The Hebei Provincial Government and its affiliated offices shall temporarily maintain the status quo, shall not damage or lose it, and wait for the aforementioned joint office to handle it.

(9) Gold Yuan Coupons can be used as usual, pending another exchange method. (10) The intelligence personnel of the military command and the central command will stop their activities and wait to be dealt with. Except for those who violate this order with ulterior motives and have conclusive evidence of sabotage, they will be dealt with according to law, and they will not be blamed for the past. (11) All military projects shall be stopped. (12) To protect the safety of life and property of diplomatic officials in embassies and consulates in Ping'an and foreigners without violating national laws and regulations.

(13) After the establishment of the Joint Office, the political prisoners will be released immediately, and the senior military officers who were previously captured in North China will be released after they are handed over in Beiping (middle and lower-level military officers can be released at any time). (14) With the assistance of both parties, the medical treatment of wounded officers and soldiers in the former North China region, and the resettlement of those killed in battle can still be properly handled by the End Office of the North China Headquarters. (15) Posts and telecommunications will not stop, and external contacts will continue to be maintained (checked by military representatives of the Pingjin Front Command).

(16) All kinds of news papers will continue to be published, and the registration will be re-examined later. (17) Protect cultural relics and historical sites and the freedom and safety of various religions. (18) The people are safe and sound, and don't disturb each other. After this agreement, there is an important annex, which defines several specific definitions on how to implement the agreement.There are 4 attachments in total, the full text of which is as follows: (1) The joint office is composed of 7 people, 4 from the People's Liberation Army and 3 from the North China Headquarters.The People's Liberation Army is the director, and the North China Headquarters is the deputy director.Participants from the People's Liberation Army are: Ye Jianying, Tao Zhu, Rong Zihe, Xu Bing; Ye Jianying is the director.The personnel in the North China Headquarters are appointed by Mr. Fu. (2) The joint office is temporary in nature, and after the acceptance is completed, everything will be managed by the Military Control Committee.During the handover period, the joint office and the Military Control Committee are directly under the command of the Pingjin Front Command, and then the joint office will be handed over to the Pingjin Front Command to be taken over and transferred to the Military Control Committee for management. (3) After the troops moved outside the city, they began to reorganize into the People's Liberation Army.The system of the People's Liberation Army includes the following points: 1. Establish political organization and work; 2. Implement equality between officers and soldiers, abolish beating and scolding education; 3. Implement command policies; 4. Obey the discipline of the masses. In terms of personnel, the People's Liberation Army agrees to appoint them. The principles are as follows: 1. Those who are capable and willing to continue to serve, stay in their jobs and continue to serve. 2. Those with excellent ability and can improve. 3. Those who are not suitable shall be adjusted. 4. Volunteers for advanced studies will be given learning opportunities. 5. For those who are unwilling to continue serving, the safety of their lives, property and family members will be guaranteed; for those who wish to return home, convenience will be provided. (4) The aforementioned texts and appendices, except for Articles 11, 12, 17, and 18 of the text, where the representatives of the two parties have established an agreement based on general needs and policies, the rest of the items must be signed by both parties. The representatives asked for instructions from Commander Lin, Political Commissar Luo, and Commander Nie of the Pingjin Front Headquarters, and Commander Fu of the North China Headquarters, and Commander-in-Chief Fu of the North China Headquarters agreed to amend and negotiated. One of the most important and urgent issues in the implementation of this agreement is where the Kuomintang troops in the city will leave the city immediately. After leaving the city, where will they be stationed?How to hand over the city defense?This is a problem that must be resolved as soon as possible.For this reason, on the day when the agreement was signed, Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan, and Nie Rongzhen jointly sent a telegram to Su Jing, asking Su Jing to tell Fu Zuoyi that the city gate where his troops were originally stationed and controlled was temporarily controlled by Fu Zuoyi after the troops left the city. The troops send troops to control, and don't let the Central Army take the opportunity to control it.After leaving the city, the troops should be stationed along the lines of Pinghan, Liangxiang, and Xushui, and the areas east of Gu'an, Wen'an, Baxian, Xiongxian, Sanhe, and Xianghe. In this way, the peace negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party on the Peking issue were basically completed.From now on, it will be a question of how to implement it, how to completely hand over the ancient cultural capital of Beiping to the hands of the people.