Chapter 5 Chapter 4 The Call of Love

Here is an extremely rare shot in history: On April 4, 1976, the clouds were heavy and the spring was cold.Tiananmen Square, the center of China's politics, is filled with grief and nostalgia.There are people with heavy hearts everywhere, white flowers with mourning everywhere, and touching poems everywhere. Suddenly, there was a commotion in the crowd in the square.People flocked to the north side of the Monument to the People's Heroes.More and more people gathered, so that the monument was completely surrounded.A newly written big-character poster is pasted on the monument. In order to let more people know the content of the big-character poster, a young man with a crew cut read aloud to the people:

This is the first public proposal for the establishment of the "Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall".This is a sincere call for love from the heart of the people.Although this call was made by a few ordinary border guards, it uttered the common heartfelt voice of everyone, and immediately aroused widespread sympathy among the people present.People rushed with enthusiasm, forgetting the unique coldness of that spring. Since that young man, everyone has generously donated money.After a while, a hill of coins was piled up under the proposal. Naturally, under the political background at that time, it was difficult for such a wish to become a reality.However, the repressed desire has not disappeared, it has been lurking in people's hearts, and it is more eagerly looking forward to becoming a reality as soon as possible.

On March 5, 1979, Zhou Enlai's former residence in Prince Consort Lane, Huai'an City was officially opened.There are only a dozen or so rooms, and the courtyard of an ordinary resident with an area of ​​only a few hundred square meters has attracted millions of admirers from home and abroad.Among them, there are party and state leaders, foreign government officials, envoys stationed in China and other international friends, but more are ordinary people.Many people, traveling thousands of miles or thousands of miles, came here on purpose.A college student in Guizhou took advantage of the summer vacation to ride a semi-old bicycle, eat and sleep in the open air, regardless of the bumps, day and night, and came to the holy place in his heart that he had admired for a long time.

Everything in the former residence deepens people's respect and nostalgia for Zhou Enlai.At the same time, it also arouses people's desire to build a large Zhou Enlai memorial hall. In March 1985, General Du Yide, commander of the Lanzhou Military Region, came to Zhou Enlai's former residence in Huai'an.The general once followed Vice Chairman Zhou in the South and North Wars. During the War of Liberation, he was the well-known deputy commander of the Second Field and Third Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and he had a deep affection for Vice Chairman Zhou.In front of the statue of Zhou Enlai, the general straightened his clothes, gave a military salute, and said, "Vice Chairman Zhou, I'm coming to see you!"

After visiting the former residence, the general asked Wang Shurong, the person in charge of the former residence management office: "Is there a Prime Minister Memorial Hall in Huai'an?" Wang Shurong said: "Not yet." The general asked again: "Do you have plans to build a memorial hall?" Wang Shurong replied truthfully: "The parties concerned are considering it." The general was excited.He waved his big hand that once commanded thousands of troops into the air, and said: "What else are you thinking about? You should build it as soon as possible! How many great and perfect people like the Prime Minister are there in China and the world?! Foreigners have built monuments and bronze statues for him one after another, so it is not a matter of course for us to build a memorial hall!" Finally, the general said impassionedly: "If there is no money for the memorial hall, I will go and collect donations for you!"

In the same year, Guan Wenwei, the former governor of Jiangsu Province, also came to Huai'an. In the former residence of Zhou Enlai, the old man burst into tears, and could not help murmuring: "The heroes of ancient and modern times are comparable, how many people can be like Zhou Jun?!" The emotion was so extreme that the old man splashed ink and brushed a brush, leaving four dignified and powerful characters: "A perfect man through the ages!" Putting down his pen, he said to the comrades in Huai'an; "Huaian wants to build a Prime Minister Memorial Hall, and it must be built!" He said that he would report this matter to the province as soon as he returned to Nanjing.As the hometown of Zhou Enlai, Huai'an has long had the idea and plan to build a memorial hall.As early as 1978, they made suggestions to the provincial party committee, and they even invited some construction engineering experts from the south and the north to discuss the specific plan for establishing the Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall.

In the face of numerous appeals and support, in 1985, in the name of the county party committee and the county government, Huai'an formally issued a report to the Propaganda Department of the Provincial Party Committee, requesting the establishment of a Zhou Enlai memorial hall in Huai'an. Not long after the report was submitted, a jeep drove out of the Huai'an County Party Committee courtyard and headed straight for Nanjing. Sitting in the car were Gu Junjie, member of the Standing Committee of the Huai'an County Party Committee and Minister of Propaganda, and Wang Shurong, director of the former residence management office of Premier Zhou Enlai.They went to Nanjing with only one mission, that is to turn the hope of building the Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall into reality as soon as possible.

The two first came to Guan Wenwei's home.They were humble and earnest, stating the hopes and demands of the people of Huai'an.Guan Wenwei was already enthusiastic about this matter, but now Gu and Wang took the initiative to raise the temperature of their relationship. Before they could finish talking, they immediately picked up the phone at home.The phone went through. "Hello, are you Xiao Gu?" Guan Lao's voice was loud and friendly. Gu and Wang looked at each other and smiled.They knew that the little Gu whom Guan Lao called was Gu Xiulian, then Governor of Jiangsu Province.

"I called you Xiao Gu on the phone, but I still call you Governor Gu in public." Guan Lao laughed heartily. "Hey," he stopped his smile, and his expression became serious, "Huai'an wants to build a memorial hall for Premier Zhou. One thing. Please arrange a time to receive him tomorrow anyway." The construction of the Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall in Huai'an is also the hope and request of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the provincial government. The next day, Gu Xiulian really met Gu Junjie and Wang Shurong in the office.After listening to the report, Gu Xiulian said: "Old Guan has told me many times what you are talking about. The Prime Minister is a great man, and it is very necessary to build a memorial hall."

Afterwards, at a meeting of the leaders of the Provincial Party Committee, Huai'an's request for the establishment of the Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall was brought up as an important content.The consensus was that the Propaganda Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China formally submitted a report requesting the establishment of the Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall to the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Hu Yaobang, then general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, always respected Zhou Enlai.The only portrait in his bedroom is Zhou Enlai painted on a porcelain plate.Before there was this porcelain plate, there was always a photo of Zhou Enlai placed under the glass plate of his writing desk.He regards Zhou Enlai as his mentor.Just like the late Zhou Enlai's energetic and selfless work, Hu Yaobang once set himself the ambition to travel to more than 2,000 counties across the country during his term of office.In October 1984, Hu Yaobang came to Huai'an while on a field trip.Setting foot on the land of Zhou Enlai's hometown, the general secretary was particularly excited.He specially spared time to visit Zhou Enlai's former residence.When the person in charge of Huai'an County asked him to write an inscription for Premier Zhou, he held his breath, concentrated his ink, and wrote the four characters "model of the whole party".He quickly agreed to the request to build a memorial hall for Zhou Enlai in Huai'an.

According to Hu Yaobang's instructions, the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sent a letter to the Propaganda Department of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee shortly after. After receiving the official approval from the Central Propaganda Department, the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China immediately established a leading group for the construction of the Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall. The city established the Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall Project Preparation Office.Various tasks such as site selection, design, and collection of historical materials have been carried out one after another. After the establishment of the Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall Preparatory Office, Wang Shurong, director of the Zhou Enlai Former Residence Management Office, devoted all his energy to the memorial hall.In the days when the memorial hall was facing a suspension of construction, he was restless, restless, and sleepless.He believes that the resistance is temporary, and the Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall will definitely be built, and it will definitely be built.The Koreans can cast bronze statues for him, the Japanese can erect poem monuments for him, and the French can build bronze medals for him, but can't the Chinese build a memorial hall for him?He took all kinds of materials he had prepared, stepped into large and small institutions, and tirelessly stated sufficient reasons. In 1987, the Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress was held in Nanjing.At the meeting, Yin Ming, a representative of the Provincial People's Congress and deputy secretary of the Huai'an Municipal Party Committee, proposed, and more than a hundred deputies of the National People's Congress seconded the proposal, and jointly submitted a proposal to establish a Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall as soon as possible.Yin Ming also paid a special visit to Chen Huanyou, the executive vice governor of Jiangsu Province at the time, and stated the representatives' request again.The people's representatives once again issued a strong call on behalf of the people.The Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China has never relaxed the preparation work for the memorial hall. At this time, it held a meeting as soon as possible to study it. Amid the powerful call for love, the once-interrupted preparations for the construction of the Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall were finally resumed.