Chapter 69 Backbone - the problem of eating for the masses is important

In 1960, Mao Zedong received a special item from Deng Baoshan (the then governor of Gansu Province) in Beijing: a food made of oil residue and elm bark powder, which was what Gansu people depended on at that time.This move of his was met with complaints, worries and attacks from the leaders of the Provincial Party Committee at the time, but he took it calmly. He said: "My personal honor or disgrace is not a big deal, but the feeding of the masses is what matters." In January 1967, the "Red Flag" magazine published Yao Wenyuan's long essay "Comment on the Two-Faced Counter-Revolutionary Zhou Yang".Hu Feng was serving his sentence in Sichuan. Someone asked him to expose Zhou Yang, but Hu refused.Hu Feng was very emotional when his opponent Zhou Yang was defeated in this way. He said to Mei Zhi: "It's true that one generation is not as good as the next generation. This is not talking about literary and artistic thoughts, it's just nonsense! Unexpectedly, Yao Pengzi's son would criticize Zhou Yang!"

In the early 1950s, in order to protect the city wall of Beijing, Lin Huiyin fought hard at the National People's Congress, and even broke into the office of Beijing Mayor Peng Zhen to argue.It is said that Peng Zhen couldn't hold her back, and finally came up with Mao Zedong's instructions to suppress her: "The city wall is a symbol of feudalism, and it is the emperor who blocks the peasants." After the "Cultural Revolution" that began in 1966 reached its climax, large slogans "Down with Chen (Yi), Ji (Pengfei), Qiao (Guanhua)" were plastered all over the compound of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.During the "internal campaign" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Qiao Guanhua was criticized many times by the rebels.For a period of time, he was forced to sell tabloids on the streets of Wangfujing next to the Beijing Hotel.After Qiao Guanhua was taken away, one day he secretly called Gong Peng and asked, "What if the rebels force me to write?" Gong Peng said firmly, "Don't write anything. If you do, don't enter the house."

In October 1973, the campaign of "Criticizing Lin and Confucianism" was launched. At the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, people forced Liang Shuming to express his stance on criticizing Lin and Confucianism.So the 81-year-old Liang Shuming talked like he was teaching at the Peking University forum.He started by elaborating Chinese culture, affirming Confucius' historical status and academic achievements in the history of Chinese culture, and said: "Is Lin Biao going to follow the path of Confucius and the way of Confucius and Mencius? I can't believe it. I don't think Lin Biao is the victim Confucius." Therefore, "My attitude is: not to criticize Confucius, but to criticize Lin." What he said was completely against the "Cultural Revolution" of the central government.The news spread, causing a sensation in Beijing.As a result, the CPPCC National Committee's "criticizing Lin and Confucius" developed into "criticizing Liang".From March to September 1974, more than 100 large and small criticism meetings were held.He must come to every meeting and listen carefully.What's even more commendable is that he was calm, and he even practiced Tai Chi during the meeting.At the end of September, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference held a concluding meeting to criticize Liang.The host repeatedly asked him to talk about his feelings about the criticism meeting, but he only said one sentence: "The three armies can win the commander, but the common man can't lose his ambition!" The host was stunned.

Ma Yinchu is famous for his stubbornness.Ma Yinchu often said to people: "It's easy to say what others say; it's not easy to say what others want to say; it's even more difficult to say what others don't dare to say. I just say what others want to say, What people dare not say."