Chapter 43 Chapter Four: Xie Juezai, the Minister of Internal Affairs

On October 10, 1934, Xie Juezai, who was 52 years old at the time, started the arduous Long March with the Central Red Army.He, Dong Biwu, Lin Boqu, and Xu Teli were called the "Four Elders of the Long March" and were organized into the cadre recuperation company of the Red Star Column. This is a special company, among them there are writers, artists, and experts in government management.In the words of Deng Fa, the chief of the Security Bureau, "These people are the baby bumps in the revolutionary ranks." In order to take care of the elderly and weak comrades, the Red Army headquarters specially selected some strong and well-armed young men from various units to serve as squad, platoon, and company commanders.

When the Long March began, Mr. Xie served as Secretary-General and Minister of Internal Affairs of the Central Workers' and Peasants' Democratic Government.Seeing the serious harm brought by leftist putschism to the Chinese revolution, Mr. Xie was full of worries about the fate of the party and the future of the revolution.In the tragic Xiangjiang battle, the main force of the Central Red Army lost from more than 80,000 people to more than 30,000 people. Mao Zedong once said to Mr. Xie very sadly and resentfully at that time: "In the Central Soviet Area, desperateism killed tens of thousands of people; when we came out, escapeism escaped tens of thousands more. How can this continue!" The victory of the anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign and the current failure, Xie Lao, like the generals of the Red Army, strongly demanded that Mao Zedong re-command and lead the Red Army.

When the Zunyi meeting was held, Mr. Xie was struggling downstairs because of malaria. He heard that the leftist mistakes were corrected at the meeting and Mao Zedong’s leadership in the Red Army was re-established. "Mao Zedong came out to lead the Red Army, and things are easy to handle." At the beginning of the Long March, a small number of people became pessimistic and disappointed about the future of the revolution, and very few even left the revolutionary ranks.Mr. Xie was worried about the future of the party and the Red Army, but he never lost confidence because of it. During the Long March, many important documents and precious materials were destroyed because he could not carry them on his back. Only the seal of the "Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Chinese Soviet Republic" was always with him. When climbing snow-capped mountains and crossing grasslands, he tied the seal with red silk It is good to hang it around the neck and hide it close to the chest until the Long March reaches northern Shaanxi successfully.He always has the belief that the seal is a symbol of the red regime and will be used in the future.

Due to the hardships of the years, Mr. Xie's hair and beard turned gray early, and his face looked very old, much older than his actual age. Even Mao Zedong affectionately called him "Xie Huzi". Xie Huzi is optimistic by nature and always smiles. When marching, he leans on a stick and walks rhythmically.When resting, he often fell asleep half-lying and half-sitting with the boys, while trimming his beard, and whispering stories to everyone, encouraging everyone to see hope and light in difficulties. One night when we arrived at the campsite, everyone sat around the campfire and listened to Mr. Xie tell stories.He talked about Li Zicheng.It talked about how the peasant armed forces led by Li Zicheng were almost wiped out several times, how they regrouped, and finally broke into Beijing.He told everyone that the revolution is not smooth sailing, the revolution is to be able to endure hardships and overcome difficulties...

At this time, a comrade suddenly asked: "Xie Huzi, I heard that you were the last scholar in the Qing Dynasty, can you tell us about it?" As the saying goes, "If you don't have your parents, you will never do this."At that time, Mr. Xie was only 21 years old. Although he hated the corrupt imperial examination system very much, he had no choice but to take the imperial examination because of his "fatherly dignity".Zhong Xiucai's "good news" caused a sensation in his hometown, because it was something that had never happened to Xie's ancestors since the Ming and Qing Dynasties.However, the young Xie Juezai didn't take it seriously, and later ruthlessly criticized his own experience.He wrote in a poem: "How can you redeem your birth by scalping tickets, and you actually worship your neighbors with your clothes topped. If you fail to break through the dust net, I am also a human being." Although Mr. Xie did not want to mention it, when comrades asked, he He also briefly talked about his experience when he was young, but he focused on the harm of the imperial examination system to intellectuals.

During the Long March, there were staunch enemies ahead, pursuers behind, and enemy planes bombed in the sky.One day, the team stopped to rest on a hill, and several old people sat around a small hillside and took the opportunity to hold a small meeting. Suddenly, there was the sound of "buzzing" planes in the sky. Xie Lao and the others looked up and saw an enemy plane hovering in the air majesticly.At first I wanted to hide, but when I looked around, I couldn't see a single tree except for the weeds all over the hillside, so I just sat still. With a whistling sound, a heavy bomb landed right in the middle of the circle they were sitting around with a "poof--", splashing mud all over their bodies.

Seeing the bomb with a butt outside, they half opened their mouths in astonishment.After a while, it didn't explode. It turned out to be a mute!Now the old people were overjoyed. Elder Dong laughed and said, "The bombs didn't bloom when they hit the ground. It's because Marx is protecting us." Elder Xu also smiled and said, "It's because Marx told us to continue working, because our task has not been completed yet." Mr. Xie's words It was even more meaningful. He said humorously: "Look, look, look, Chiang Kai-shek is against us, and God will not agree!"

Along the way, Mr. Xie withstood all kinds of hardships and severe tests.One can imagine how difficult it is for an old man in his 50s to march seventy or eighty miles with the army every day, and sometimes even rush for more than a hundred miles.Although Mr. Xie had a horse, he always gave it to the wounded or to carry luggage, and he insisted on climbing mountains and wading with the soldiers.The troops often marched at night, and Mr. Xie's eyesight was not good. When marching, he often stepped up, fell down, and even fell down, but he never fell behind. When the Central Red Army marched on the snow-capped mountains and grasslands, Mr. Xie was ill. He had a high fever every day, and sometimes he was so feverish that he didn't know what to do. But when he gave an order, he got up and set off with the army. His feet were as soft as stepping on cotton, but with his strong revolutionary will , gritted his teeth and walked forward.

On the unimaginable Long March, Mr. Xie and several other old men were not afraid of hardships and hardships. They inspired thousands of young fighters with their indomitable revolutionary spirit and the revolutionary friendship between them. In June 1935, after the Red Army troops forcibly crossed the Dadu River, they began to prepare to cross Jiajin Mountain, the first snow mountain on the Long March. Jiajin Mountain, also known as Shenxian Mountain, is more than 4,900 meters above sea level.When they heard that the Red Army was going up the mountain, the local residents kindly advised the Red Army not to take risks, especially when they saw that the Red Army soldiers were all wearing single clothes, saying that they would not die of exhaustion, starvation, or freezing to death.If you must go up the mountain, it must be after 9:00 am and before 3:00 pm, and you must wear more clothes, bring spirits and peppers, so as to keep out the cold and strengthen your spirits. It is best to have a walking stick in your hand.

For Mr. Xie, there is no need to prepare a crutch, he already has it, and there is nothing he can do about other things.Because the residents here are few and poor, neither spirits nor chili can be bought, let alone cotton-padded clothes.Seeing Mr. Xie's tired and weak appearance, everyone was really worried for him. Just at this time, the brother army sent two sheep, which is really a timely help!Together, the comrades decided to slaughter the sheep, peel off the skin and dry it, and give it to Mr. Xu and Mr. Xie to keep out the cold. They found a straw rope and took a piece of sheepskin to tie it to Mr. Xu. Mr. Xu waved his hands quickly: "No, no, I can persevere. Take it to Mr. Xie. He is weaker than me." Everyone said: " There are two sheepskins in total, one for you and one for Mr. Xie." Mr. Xu said, "Take them all for Mr. Xie, one for the chest and the other for the back. He is weak and sick, without which he really cannot pass the snow-capped mountains. Give him both." Mr. Xie didn't want it no matter what, but his comrades swarmed up, and in a blink of an eye, two old sheepskins were firmly tied to Mr. Xie's body one after the other.At this time, Mr. Xie burst into tears with excitement, and Mr. Xu and his comrades all smiled with satisfaction.

After Maogong joined forces, the Central Red Army crossed four more snow-capped mountains, and reached the Maoergai area in Songpan in late July.This road is all ethnic minority areas, sparsely populated, and it is difficult to raise food. The serious food shortage has reached the level that threatens the survival of the Red Army.From leaders at all levels to Red Army soldiers, everyone is worried about the lack of food, and everyone is worried about food.Although Maoergai is a farming and pastoral area with relatively rich products, but because the 100,000 troops of the Red Army needed a lot of food, it could not meet the needs of the troops. While resting in the Tibetan Zhongdagu area, Mr. Xie and the others ate up all their food.They picked up a piece of rotten horse hide, ready to pack it up and cook it. Mr. Xie scraped off the fur from the horse hide with a knife and cut it into small pieces. The other comrades picked up some dry firewood, found a clay pot, and set up three stones to make a stove.Everyone's eyes were fixed on the horse hide in the crockpot, hoping that it would be ripe soon. But the earthenware pot was not up to the mark. While it was cooking, there was only a sound of "split-pa", the earthenware pot exploded violently, and the horsehide and water fell into the ashes.Mr. Xie smiled humorously and said: "Look, it's been a long time! It's all stared at by everyone!" The stomach is revolutionized, and the horse skin has to be eaten.There was no other way, they picked out the horse hide from the ashes together, washed it clean, and looked for cooking utensils everywhere.After searching and searching, there was no decent container. Later, Mr. Xie found a half broken iron pot in the place where the vanguard lived, which allowed the horse hide to continue cooking. The horse hide was cooked, but it was difficult to swallow, and the burrs in the hide made the throat sore and itchy.Don't eat it, my stomach is really complaining.Mr. Lin said: "The revolution is important, bite your teeth and swallow it! If you save your life, the national revolution will blossom." Everyone laughed knowingly.Later, Mao Zedong heard the story of the old people eating horse hide, and praised the old people's spirit of revolutionary optimism. Once he met Mr. Xie, he asked humorously: "Xie Huzi, how does the horse hide taste?" Songpan The water and grass land in the northwest is a prehistoric world that no explorer has ever set foot in. It is a very strange, strange and extremely dangerous place.When crossing the grass, Mr. Xie was sick and his feet were swollen. He staggered behind the team with a stick.He thought to himself, it would be great if he could sit down and rest now, and scald his feet with hot water.Then he shook his head with a wry smile, denying this unrealistic idea. But not long after arriving at the campsite, Mr. Lin came to Mr. Xie with a pot of hot water. Mr. Xie was pleasantly surprised, and then asked in great confusion: "It's rare to see even dead branches in this vast water and grassland. How can you do it?" How about getting a pot of hot water like a magic trick?" Elder Lin smiled mysteriously: "Yak dung! This can be regarded as the contribution of wild yaks to our Red Army!" But Mr. Xie refused to use it, saying: "Let's leave it to Comrades, let's drink first, everyone is very thirsty, how can I burn my feet?" Mr. Lin understood Mr. Xie's intentions, and boiled another pot of hot water for Mr. Xie with cow dung.Mr. Xie felt warm in his heart, and felt the warmth of the big revolutionary family from the bottom of his heart. At night on the meadow, shrouded in gloomy thick fog, the chill was chilling, Mr. Xie and Mr. Xu were covered with a blanket and slept together back to back.But the blanket was too thin to keep out the cold, and the two only cared about each other, so neither of them slept warmly.Relatively laughed the next day. Speaking of this blanket, there is another story.One day during a quick march, Mr. Xie fell ill again.In order to catch up with the team, he had to pack lightly, and the blanket was also thrown away.Just as Mr. Dong was marching behind, he immediately recognized a blanket by the roadside as Mr. Xie had used it.He thought, Mr. Xie must have been sick and tired, so he was forced to throw it away as a last resort, and he might still need it in the future.So, regardless of his old age and frailty, Mr. Dong put a blanket on his backpack and continued on his way.After arriving at the campsite, Mr. Dong returned the blanket to Mr. Xie.Touching the lost and recovered blanket, Mr. Xie was filled with gratitude. After arriving in Yan'an, Mr. Xie gave the blanket to Mr. Dong as a souvenir.After the liberation of the whole country, Mr. Dong brought this blanket with an extraordinary experience to Beijing and presented it to the Museum of Chinese Revolutionary History, where it became a living teaching material for revolutionary tradition education. The matter dates back to the eve of the Central Red Army's crossing of the third snow mountain - Changban Mountain with an altitude of more than 4,800 meters. On this day, the "Four Elders of the Long March" sat in a room of Zhuo Keji's, talking and laughing, looking so optimistic, peaceful and harmonious.While talking and laughing, a very quiet and delicate looking short female warrior with short ear-length hair came in, and she handed a sewn dress to Mr. Xie who was sitting on the kang. Xie Zhe took the clothes and looked at them carefully. "Okay?" The female soldier seemed a little uneasy and asked. "Good sewing, thank you." Mr. Xie raised his head and replied with a smile. It turned out that this female soldier was named Wang Dingguo, and she was a propagandist for the third regiment of the Red Fourth Front Art Troupe.Mr. Xie only met her yesterday. Because we are about to climb the snow mountain, yesterday the army sent a ball of wool to every comrade and asked him to sew his own clothes to keep out the cold.But Mr. Xie was not good at sewing, and was anxious to find someone to help. He happened to meet this female soldier on a hillside. Mr. Xie said sincerely: "Comrade, please help me. Help me combine these two single clothes, put wool on them, and sew them into a woolen sweater. It will be easy to wear when crossing the snow-capped mountains and grasslands. Is it okay?" "Okay! It's not easy." The female warrior Answer readily. The old people looked at this sweater, which is not beautiful but quite practical, and then looked at Wang Dingguo, and smiled with satisfaction. Wang Dingguo bid farewell to the old people, and Mr. Xie specially asked: "Comrade Xiao Wang, how is your preparation for crossing the snow-capped mountains and grasslands? Go back and tell comrades to prepare more chili peppers, and eat some when crossing the snow-capped mountains to keep out the cold. As the saying goes, Three red peppers, and a big padded jacket!" Wang Dingguo left happily, full of joy.Probably because of fate, this chance meeting made them become revolutionary partners later.