Chapter 49 Chapter 91

One afternoon in the summer of 1975, after Deng Xiaoping presided over a meeting of the Military Commission, he drove from the western suburbs to Zhongnanhai to meet Mao Zedong.Looking at the serious and tense streets in the white-hot midsummer outside the car window, he felt that China was becoming more orderly. Naturally, the ocean of big-character posters and waves of Red Guards in the early days of the Cultural Revolution have long since disappeared, and the gongs and drums of the "criticize Lin BiaoConfucius" movement are not so loud, and now it is the voice of "comprehensive rectification."

He flipped through a few copies of "People's Daily" on the car seat. Although these newspapers were still under the control of Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan, they often had to appear with the headline "Three Directives as the Keynote".Mao Zedong made an instruction on studying theoretical issues, an instruction on stability and unity, and an instruction on improving the national economy. He combined these three instructions of Mao Zedong and called them "the three instructions as the key link." .Under this banner, since the beginning of this year, he has made great fanfare nationwide to rectify industry, agriculture, transportation, army, technology and education.The chaos of the railway order is a key issue affecting the entire national economy. He chose railway transportation as a breakthrough, held a national meeting, issued important documents, and took firm measures against several "long-standing" railway bureaus, and arrested the bad guys. Get up, transfer weak cadres away, convene a meeting of ten thousand or even one hundred thousand people, implement the strategy of "rectification", and the national railways will be completely new from the semi-paralyzed state.Since then, he has transferred the experience and prestige of railway rectification to various fields, and it really feels like he is invincible.He is happy with himself.

Whenever he led the leading members of the central government into one national meeting after another to meet leading cadres from various provinces and cities participating in the meeting, he would simply applaud amid warm applause as usual, expressing his acceptance of everyone's welcome, and then he did his part. Sitting on the rostrum, looking at the audience with piercing eyes, he waved his hands and made a stern speech.He never talked loudly, nor was he polite.His style is "steel company" in Mao Zedong's words.After many years in the army, his subordinates were afraid of his strictness, and now that the rectification of discipline is based on "strictness", he is even more merciless.He doesn't want flattering faces, he wants to carry out orders without saying a word.Every word of his is unambiguous, a decisive conclusion, an instruction that cannot be discussed.

When he looked at the shocked faces in the venue, he felt that their reactions were not strong enough.He knew that he was returning to the Chinese political arena with a force, and he had the feeling that thousands of troops were marching with him.To do things, you must have power, momentum, momentum, and momentum to reverse the situation.He is short, and whenever he walks into a venue surrounded by tall people, all the people will give him enough space.With his stern expression, firm voice, and uncompromising gestures, he enveloped the tall men under his authority, illuminating the vast space mercilessly like the white-hot summer sun.

Since ancient times, kindness does not control soldiers, and only when rewards and punishments are clearly defined can orders be prohibited, orders and orders have authority, and with authority, orders can be even more prohibited.Because of his short stature, he developed a strong character of disobedience since he was a child. He just wanted to use vigorous and vigorous means to straighten China into a new look, to show the whole party, the whole army, the whole country, and Mao Zedong.A country looks very big, and it is difficult to deal with a thousand things. In fact, as long as the power is in hand, grasp the key points, and deal with it with strong means, it will immediately affect everything and reverse the overall situation.He would often dismiss a weak and incompetent cadre without blinking an eye.He didn't hesitate for a minute to entrust a strong cadre with important tasks.No need for suspects, no doubts for employers, hand over the Shangfang sword to them, let them do it with all their strength, and then wait for the good news, and reward them according to their merits.

The car drove to Xinhua Gate in Zhongnanhai. He looked at his watch and saw that the time was still early, so he let the car drive forward to Tiananmen Square, circle around and come back.The car drove around Tiananmen Square, first passed the Great Hall of the People, then passed the Qianmen Archery Tower, turned around, passed the History Museum, and finally passed the Tiananmen Gate Tower.Seeing the vast and pristine Tiananmen Square, he also felt the atmosphere of unification created by the nationwide rectification launched this year, and Tiananmen Square is also in this atmosphere.Thinking of the foreign media's evaluation of China in 1975 as "Deng Xiaoping's year", he was expressionless and did not blink his eyes.Foreign media commented that he "made a comeback and created a political miracle", and he just turned his head.He has never been tempted by these lies, he is the so-called "hard and soft" kind of person.As a politician, he only knows how to judge the situation and act rationally.He returned to Beijing from Jiangxi on February 20, 1973 after three years and four months of exile. At the National Congress of the Communist Party of China, he was elected as a member of the Central Committee. In December of the same year, he served as a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and a member of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China.Beginning in January 1975, he served as the vice chairman and chief of the general staff of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China. At the Fourth National People's Congress held in January, he served as the first vice premier of the State Council.Zhou Enlai was seriously ill, and now he presided over the daily work of the party, government and army. Mao Zedong handed over the whole country to him.He doesn't know how to play tricks, he wants to make a good show and put it in front of Mao Zedong.

Mao Zedong's repeated praises to him during his comeback gave him a lot of encouragement, which is one of the motivations for him to work hard now.As a politician, I am already 71 years old, and I still need to be praised.Thinking of this, a urchin-like smile appeared in his eyes.Mao Zedong praised him for his "strong political thinking" and "a rare talent", and said in front of the commanders of the major military regions: "I will invite you a military adviser. This military adviser is your old boss in the past, Deng Xiaoping." very useful.Mao Zedong was wise as a leader. After Lin Biao collapsed on September 13, 1971, I wrote to Mao Zedong twice in that year and in 1972. Now it seems that it is very timely and necessary.These two letters finally received Mao Zedong's instructions, and his political situation has changed from the initial looseness to today, and Dalian himself did not expect it.But looking back, things are very clear: Mao Zedong needs talents, and he is a talent. When he sincerely expressed his desire to work again to Mao Zedong, the process of "comeback" began.A major political fact that affects the structure of China began with those two letters. He was satisfied with his decision-making a few years ago.

The car was about to enter Zhongnanhai. He picked up a document next to him and looked through it again. It was Jiang Qing's recent inspection to the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and Mao Zedong.There was a sneer on his face.Jiang Qing wrote in this inspection: "The issue of the 'Eleventh Line Struggle' is that I personally made a mistake. I am sorry for Comrades Enlai and Jianying; criticism of Lin Biao and Confucius went through the back door, confusing two types of contradictions of different nature. , expanding the scope of attack, resulting in instability and unity; regarding the issue of sending materials everywhere on one's own initiative, it is unorganized, undisciplined, and undermines the unified leadership of the party; regarding the issue that the main danger at present is empiricism, this formulation It is subjective and one-sided, which will cause ideological confusion, expand the scope of attack, and seriously cause instability and unity." It is not easy for Jiang Qing to make such an inspection.Deng Xiaoping continued to flip through this material, and saw such words: "The 'Gang of Four' is an objective existence", "It may develop into sectarianism that splits the Party Central Committee." Deng Xiaoping put the material back on the seat, which is Since April, May, and June of this year, I have presided over the Politburo meetings. After criticizing Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao and others many times, I forced Jiang Qing to write a written review. Of course, this is inseparable from Mao Zedong's support for him.As early as November 12 last year, Mao Zedong issued instructions on Jiang Qing’s cabinet formation activities on the eve of the Fourth National People’s Congress: “Don’t show up too much, don’t approve documents, and don’t let you form a cabinet (as the backstage boss). You have a lot of grievances, and you must unite the majority , to tell you.” “People are valuable if they know themselves, and then.” On the same day, I flew to Changsha to report to Mao Zedong, and Wang Hairong and Tang Wensheng were also sitting there.I remember that Mao Zedong said to himself humorously at the beginning: "You started a steel company." He naturally knew what Mao Zedong was referring to. Not long before that, he had rejected Jiang Qing's provocative attack at a Politburo meeting.He said: "The chairman also knows?" Mao Zedong said happily: "Okay, that's great." He said at the time: "I can't help it, more than once." Mao Zedong said: "I agree with you." He reported again: "Jiang Qing has been involved in the Politburo seven or eight times."

Mao Zedong said: "I'm not happy about imposing it on others." Mao Zedong pointed to Wang and Tang and said, "They are not happy." At that time, he said: "I mainly feel that the life of the Politburo is not normal. I went to her place for a while, steel company to steel company." Mao Zedong was very happy and said, "This is good." This year, Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan and others used "criticism of empiricism" to point the finger at Zhou Enlai and himself. On April 18, I accompanied Chairman Mao to meet the visiting Kim Il Sung. Mao Zedong said to Kim Il Sung: "I don't talk about politics. He will talk to you. This person is Deng Xiaoping. Deng Xiaoping can fight wars and oppose revisionism. , He was knocked down by the Red Guards for several years, now he is all right, and he got up again, we need him." Mao Zedong's words gave him a lot of warmth and encouragement as usual.After the meeting, he took the opportunity to report to Mao Zedong the situation of Jiang Qing and others' empiricism in a way of asking for advice, and expressed his views frankly.Mao Zedong immediately attracted attention and agreed with him.Shortly thereafter, Mao Zedong personally convened a meeting of members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee in Beijing to criticize Jiang Qing and others.This criticism is very severe: Mao Zedong criticized Jiang Qing and others for only hating empiricism, not dogmatism. Empiricists also criticized Jiang Qing for distributing materials indiscriminately in his own name and in the name of Mao Zedong.It was because of Mao Zedong's speech that there were a series of Politburo meetings to criticize Jiang Qing and others, and also the inspections of Jiang Qing, Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao, and Yao Wenyuan.He knows that the victory of this round of struggle is of great importance, and it is far more important than rectifying a railway or steel.The railway is easy to rectify, steel is easy to rectify, the army is easy to rectify, and education is easy to rectify; the Politburo is the most difficult to rectify.He was very pleased with the support Mao Zedong gave him during his struggle with Jiang Qing. He knew the significance of this matter. As long as Mao Zedong maintained his trust in himself, he had 100% confidence in "cleaning up the old situation from scratch."

The car entered Zhongnanhai and stopped in Mao Zedong's residence next to the swimming pool. When Deng Xiaoping got out of the car and walked towards the gate, there was already someone waiting there. It was Mao Zedong's personal nurse Li Xiuzhi.As soon as she saw Deng Xiaoping, she said: "The chairman is waiting for you." Deng Xiaoping quickened his pace and walked into Mao Zedong's reception room with the heat of summer.Mao Zedong was sitting on the sofa, with his nephew Mao Yuanxin sitting next to him.Seeing him coming in, Mao Zedong wanted to sit up. However, his body looked tired and heavy. Mao Yuanxin sat up while supporting Mao Zedong's back.Mao Zedong stretched out his hand, and Deng Xiaoping quickly walked over to hold Mao Zedong's hand with both hands, and said, "Chairman, don't get up." Mao Zedong nodded, pointed to the sofa next to him, and signaled him to sit down.Li Xiuzhi moved a chair and sat down next to Mao Zedong's sofa.Deng Xiaoping said, "Is the chairman in good health?"

Mao Zedong understood what he said, pointed at himself and said something, but Deng Xiaoping couldn't hear clearly. Li Xiuzhi translated Mao Zedong's words to Deng Xiaoping: "My body is going downhill. It's not getting better every day, it's getting worse day by day. , However, I can see things with my eyes recently, which is much better.” Deng Xiaoping nodded again and again, he knew that Mao Zedong suffered from cataracts a few months ago and was unable to read documents and books, which was a great distress to Mao Zedong. I had a cataract removal operation on one eye, and the operation was very successful, so I was interested in interviewing myself.Mao Zedong pointed his eyes again and said: "If you can't read documents, you will easily commit bureaucracy. This year, Yao Wenyuan's article only criticized empiricism and not dogmatism. I also blamed me. At that time, my eyes could not read the article. The problem has been missed, and it has been my fault for embarrassing you for a while." Mao Zedong was suffering from various diseases, and his speech was slurred. After listening to Li Xiuzhi's translation, he nodded in satisfaction and looked at Deng Xiaoping. .Deng Xiaoping nodded with a smile, and said: "The chairman's instructions were very timely. The Politburo held several meetings in succession to implement the instructions of the chairman." Scores, clear up the problem." Deng Xiaoping listened to Li Xiuzhi's translation, nodding his head frequently, and recorded it in his notebook while listening.Sitting beside Mao Zedong was Mao Yuanxin, a young man in his thirties, a graduate of the Harbin Military Institute, who was also taking notes. Deng Xiaoping heard Mao Zedong's ambiguous speech again, and Li Xiuzhi translated it truthfully.Mao Zedong also talked about Jiang Qing and others: "They have made great achievements in the past, but they are no longer able to do so now. They oppose the Premier, Deng Xiaoping, and Ye Shuai. The wind in the Politburo is about to change." After listening to Li Xiuzhi's translation of this passage, Mao Zedong waved his hands happily smiled.Deng Xiaoping said: "The comrades in the Politburo were very angry with them. I said not to finish talking, and let them go." After listening to Mao Zedong, he nodded again and again, and said: "This method is good, and there is room for everyone to understand. I’m going to talk to Wang Hongwen and tell him to come to you and listen to you. He doesn’t have much prestige.” Deng Xiaoping listened attentively to Mao Zedong’s ambiguous speech, and when Li Xiuzhi translated, he immediately nodded and recorded.Because Mao Zedong was getting weaker and weaker, it was difficult for him to walk and speak. Generally, he did not meet people. Now his communication with the Politburo was more through Mao Yuanxin. Mao Yuanxin was now the link between Mao Zedong and the Politburo. liaison.Mao Yuanxin attended the meetings of the Politburo as nonvoting delegates, and the meetings of the Politburo were reported to Mao Zedong through Mao Yuanxin, and Mao Zedong's instructions were also conveyed to the Politburo through Mao Yuanxin.Mao Yuanxin has been sitting on the sidelines taking notes with a serious expression. When he stopped recording, he watched the conversation between Deng Xiaoping and Mao Zedong very rigorously.Deng Xiaoping knew that there were fewer and fewer opportunities to meet Mao Zedong directly, and today is also a rare opportunity. He wanted to report as many things as possible to Mao Zedong.He talked about the situation of the Politburo during this period, and also talked about the situation of consolidation in various fields across the country, and he was as concise as possible.Mao Zedong repeatedly nodded and encouraged: "You have to do the work." Deng Xiaoping immediately made it clear: "I still have determination in this regard." Mao Zedong said happily: "That's good." This sentence was not translated by Li Xiuzhi , Deng Xiaoping also understood.Deng Xiaoping said again: "There will definitely be people who oppose it." Mao Zedong shook his head and smiled, and said: "A tree is beautiful in the forest, but the wind will destroy it." When Li Xiuzhi translated this sentence, Deng Xiaoping smiled knowingly.He knew that Mao Zedong was quoting a famous sentence from Wei Li Kang of the Three Kingdoms: "If a husband is loyal and upright, he should go to the Lord, and if he is independent, he should be defeated by the vulgar. It is natural. The old trees are beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy them; when they are piled on the shore, the current will be turbulent." If one's behavior is higher than that of others, everyone must be wrong." He noticed that Mao Yuanxin was not unfamiliar when he recorded this sentence. He said: "The chairman put me on the tip of the knife." Mao Zedong said: "This is proposed by Ye Shuai, and I agree." Deng Xiaoping nodded. And Ye Jianying played a key role. While talking with Mao Zedong, he was thinking about the most important reality facing Chinese politics, that is, Mao Zedong's declining health.Mao Zedong was sitting on his back on the sofa at the moment, his tall body was sunk in it weakly, his hands trembled uncontrollably when he lifted them up, his mouth and tongue showed difficulty in speaking, when he turned his head to look at the When moving left and right, the movements are slow and strenuous, and the somewhat swollen face looks haggard and gloomy, most of the time expressionless.He has lost the leadership demeanor of talking and laughing in the past, even if he is happy, the smile on his face is dull and difficult.When Mao Zedong met him alone in his old age, he felt the heavy responsibility on his shoulders.Mao Zedong was 11 years older than him. Today, when he saw that Mao Zedong's body was so weak, he felt like a young man accepting a task in front of his elders.When he had the opportunity to meet Mao Zedong, the most important thing was to consolidate the results of his struggle with Jiang Qing and others, so that Mao Zedong could better understand, understand, trust, and support what he did.As long as Mao Zedong does not change suddenly, he has no fear of governing China.In the two years since he returned to politics, the most difficult thing for him was the struggle with Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen and others. If Mao Zedong had always been able to understand the details and make correct decisions, he would definitely be able to "sweep thousands of troops like a scroll." seat". Mao Zedong's room was originally rather dark, but the coming of dusk made the darkness even thicker.Turn on the light, it is not dark outside, and it is not bright inside, as if facing the scene of Mao Zedong in his later years.Mao Zedong put his hands on the armrests of the sofa and leaned his head on the back of the sofa, as if he was still insisting on talking to him. However, he saw from Li Xiuzhi's eyes looking at himself and Mao Zedong that it was time to leave.He said the last few words, and then said: "Chairman, I will continue to work like this. I am leaving. You can rest." Mao Zedong nodded slightly. exhausted.When Deng Xiaoping stood up, Mao Zedong was about to sit up from the sofa again. Li Xiuzhi and Mao Yuanxin supported Mao Zedong from left to right and made him sit up. Mao Zedong stretched out a trembling hand, Deng Xiaoping stepped forward and held it tightly with both hands, saying: "Chairman, don't worry, take care." Mao Zedong's hands were loose and weak.When Deng Xiaoping walked to the door, he turned his head and waved to Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong had already leaned back on the sofa and raised his hand slightly.Mao Yuanxin came over and escorted Deng Xiaoping out of the room.Before parting, Mao Yuanxin asked wittily and modestly: "Should I give you the entire record of your conversation with the chairman today?" Deng Xiaoping nodded and said: "Yes. I will do the same. If there are records, there will be no omissions.” He went straight to the red flag car waiting outside the door, the guard opened the door, he got in the car, the guard closed the door, and took the front co-pilot's seat.At this time, Deng Xiaoping saw that Mao Yuanxin was still standing at the door very rigorously, watching his car drive away.He thought for a moment that Mao Yuanxin would be Mao Zedong's eyes and ears, Mao Zedong's attitude, and the political situation in China would be largely influenced by this young man who seemed to be unnoticed.Thinking of the cause and effect, a heavy shadow appeared before his eyes.The driver asked: "Where are you going now?" He waved his hand: "Go to the hospital to visit the Prime Minister." Zhou Enlai suffered from cancer and fell ill in the hospital. When he visited him a few days ago, he was already skinny, and Mao Zedong was dying. He really felt that the burden on his shoulders was heavy.In the past, he always liked to say a humorous sentence: "The sky is falling, and there is a tall man to hold it up." Now, one of the two tall men is lying down and the other is sitting down. Can he resist the sky from falling?