Chapter 24 To Hongdu

Leaving Yan'an City, even if you have set foot on the land of the Soviet area, there are slogans written in white ash and black charcoal on the earthen walls or stone cliffs of the villages you pass: "Down with the landlords who eat our flesh" and "Down with the warlords who drink our blood." ", "Down with the traitors who betrayed China to Japan", "Welcome all anti-Japanese troops to form a united front", "Long live the Chinese Revolution", "Long live the Chinese Red Army", etc. The atmosphere is quite different from that of the Kuomintang-ruled areas.At noon, Snow and the others saw armed Red Army guerrillas.On the evening of the next day, July 8, 1936, they arrived at Baijiaping in Ansai County, where they saw more Red Army soldiers in uniform and were welcomed with applause.

As soon as Snow and Haydem sat down in the cave, two horses ran into the yard, and two young officers jumped off the horses.A man of medium build, with a thin face, a big beard, very thick black eyebrows, and piercing eyes.The other was wearing glasses and followed behind (Li Kenong, Director of Political Security of the Red Army).When the Red Army soldiers saw these two men, they stood upright and raised their hands in salute. The bearded officer greeted the Red Army soldiers as he walked, walked straight to Snow and Haydem, and said in standard English: "Hello! What are you looking for?" person?"

In this remote valley, a communist spoke in English, which surprised Snow very much.He immediately understood that the bearded officer in front of him was the famous Zhou Enlai.Snow knew something about Zhou Enlai in the past. He knew that he was born in a bureaucratic family. He had served as the director of the Political Department of the Whampoa Military Academy, led the Shanghai Workers' Armed Uprising and the August 1st Nanchang Uprising, and was an outstanding leader of the Chinese Communist Party and the Red Army.Snow originally thought that the person who offered Chiang Kai-shek a reward of 80,000 silver dollars for the head of this "vicious bandit leader" was a Robin Hood-like legend, but now he looks like a detached scholar.

Snow handed the letter of introduction in dark ink to Zhou Enlai. Zhou Enlai came to see it and said: "Chairman Mao is in Zhidan (security guard), you go there and give it to Chairman Mao."Another 92-day visit schedule was drawn up for Snow. Snow and Zhou Enlai talked in English, and felt that Zhou Enlai was gentle and refined, with profound thoughts and a broad mind, and he was completely gentlemanly.Snow wrote in his diary: He is a revolutionary leader of the Red Army with extraordinary charisma. He has an astonishing charm, and he has no trace of the "ignorant bandits" and "robbers" advertised in the Kuomintang newspapers. ... He is calm, good at analysis and reasoning, and pays attention to practical experience. ... When he accompanied me through the quiet rural ridges, through the sesame fields, mature wheat fields, and corn fields with heavy ears hanging down, and returned to Baijiaping, he seemed nothing like the general picture the red bandits.On the contrary, he seemed really relaxed and happy, full of love for life. ...

Two days later, under the arrangement of Zhou Enlai, Snow and Haidham followed the traffic team to Zhidan, the red capital of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. July 13, 1936.Snow and Haydem walked to the small rocky hill east of Zhidan City, and Hu Jinkui, who accompanied them, introduced to them: "Zhidan City is at the foot of the mountain."Snow held Haydem's hand and shouted excitedly, traveled thousands of miles, tossed and turned, and finally arrived at the Red Capital of the Communist Party of China! Going down the mountain, as soon as you enter the city gate, you can see the narrow streets lined with welcoming crowds.Some waved red flags marked with a sickle and an axe, while others held wooden signs written in Chinese and English: "Welcome American friends to visit Soviet China!", "Down with Japanese imperialism!", "Long live the Chinese Revolution!" Welcome Among the crowd were the Red Army in military uniforms, government officials, and local peasants. People waved triangular colored paper flags in their hands, filled with enthusiastic smiles, raised their arms and shouted slogans, accompanied by warm applause. .

From the south end of the street, Snow and Haydem walked north along the bumpy dirt road left by the welcoming crowd, and kept saying politely in Chinese: "Thank you!" and "Thank you!" Walking, a group of people standing in the middle of the road appeared in front of them. These people are most of the party, government and military leaders of the Communist Party of China in Zhidan City, and they are here to welcome foreign friends.There is Zhang Wentian, the general secretary with a cropped head and glasses; Bogu, the secretary of the secretariat, who is tall and thin and wears deep myopia glasses; Lin Boqu, the steady and modest finance minister who wears glasses; Xu Teli, Minister of Justice Xie Juezai with a white beard and a pleasant smile, Dong Biwu, the headmaster of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Lin Biao, the shrewd and capable headmaster of the Red Army University with thick black eyebrows, Kai Feng, Zhang Yunyi, Zhou Enlai's wife Deng Yingchao, Li Fuchun's wife Cai Chang, Mao Zedong's wife He Zizhen and so on.They went forward together, shook hands with Snow and Haydem warmly, expressed a warm welcome, and each introduced themselves.In particular, Wu Liangping, the head of the Central Propaganda Department who is short, beautiful and quiet, speaks extremely fluent English.

Accompanied by Wu Liangping, Snow and Haydem came to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Guest House at the north end of the street. This is a small courtyard next to the red stone cliff. There are four sunny brick and wood houses that have just been painted. Although the furnishings in the room are simple, it is clean and tidy, with a table, a few chairs, and two wooden beds.These were all arranged according to the telegram sent by Zhou Enlai in advance.In Zhidan City, dry and bright brick and wood tile houses are the most luxurious places.Wu Liangping said to Snow and Haidham: "The conditions are not good, please bear with me. If there are any difficulties in life, let Hu Jinkui, the director of the guest house, solve them."

As dinner was approaching, Snow saw a Red Army cadre walking into the yard, with steady steps, a tall figure, long thick hair, and a smile as he walked straight into the room.Wu Liangping hastily introduced to Snow and Haydem: "This is our Chairman of the Chinese Soviet Republic, Comrade Mao Zedong." Mao Zedong specially visited the two foreign friends who had just arrived. He reached out to shake hands with Snow and Haydem, who were in astonishment, and greeted each other: "Welcome, friends! You have worked hard all the way." Snow and Haydem were very surprised: This person standing in front of him is Mao Zedong, who Nanjing offered a reward of 250,000 yuan for his head? !Is it really Mao Zedong, an important leader of the Red Army?

Snow wrote in "A Journey to the West": Not long after I arrived, I met Mao Zedong, a thin, Lincoln-like figure, taller than the average Chinese, with a stooped back, thick black hair grown very long, and piercing eyes. High nose bridge, prominent cheekbones.The impression I got in an instant was the face of a very shrewd intellectual... ...Nanjing had repeatedly announced his death, but not a few days later, news of him appeared in the news column of the newspaper, and he was as active as ever.Seriously, when I visited Red China, the newspapers were buzzing about another death of Mao Zedong, but I saw him alive and well...

Mao Zedong smiled and greeted the two guests to sit down, and said jokingly: "You are so brave. Like the Monkey King and the pangolin, you have broken the Kuomintang's iron walls." He pointed to Wu Liangping again, "He is our propagandist. Minister, he will be our interpreter from now on. If you want to know about the situation of our Communist Party, the Red Army, and the Soviet Area, just ask him." Mao Zedong asked Snow and Haydham to take a rest, went to the city after dinner, and then left . Snow was extremely impressed when he first arrived at Zhidan, and it was hard to imagine that he would receive such a warm welcome.It was the first time in his life that he was welcomed by all the cabinet members of a government, and it was also the first time that he was welcomed by all the residents of a city.

After dinner, Snow and Haydem walked on the streets of Zhidan City at dusk. There were ruins of the ancient city walls everywhere. There were large crops growing on the beach, weeds were lush in the gravel fields, and the dense forests on the four hills gave people a sense of coolness.People come and go on the streets and in the alleys, and there are anti-Japanese songs in the distance from time to time, which makes the originally desolate city more lively and lively. People have happy expressions on their faces and greet them politely. The two greeted each other, and there was no depression and sadness typical of the residents of Peking and Shanghai. Wu Liangping found Snow and Haydham on the street, and told him: Tonight we specially arranged a performance for you, and Chairman Mao invited you two guests to watch it. Snow said he didn't see the theater, huh?Wu Liangping said with a smile: The theater here is the largest theater in the world, the theater with the best air, and also the most free and bright theater.The earth is the seat, and the stars are the dome. They came to Longwangmiao Beach in the south of the city, where a banner reading "Welcome American Friends to the Arts Gala" was hung on the theater tower, and red flags were planted on both sides of the stage.The grassy beach under the stage had long been crowded with people.Zhang Wentian, Mao Zedong, Bogu, and other members of the Central Committee were already sitting among the crowd, chatting cordially with the people next to them, without any airs of officialdom.The arrival of Snow and Haydem aroused warm applause. Mao Zedong stood up and waved, inviting Snow and Haydem to sit in front. Before the performance started, the audience sitting on the grass began to pull songs to each other.First, the staff of the Ministry of Finance pulled the soldiers of the Military Commission to sing, and then the teachers and students of the Red Army University applauded together, and the students of the Central Party School sang.You pull me, I pull him, singing, applause, laughter one after another, the atmosphere is very warm.Snow and Haydem had never seen such a free Chinese, so happy, so full of vigor.The leaders and the crowd sit together without hierarchy, like one big family. In the middle of singing, the students of the Red Army University burst into extremely loud applause, asking Mao Zedong to sing. Mao Zedong stood up and said with a smile: "Why do you ask me to sing? I suggest that the American reporter Mr. Snow sing one, please? We welcome !" Snow did not expect that Mao Zedong would let him sing. Amid the applause of the audience, he had to stand up and sing a folk song "When the Brother of the Red Army Comes Back", which he learned only after entering the Soviet area. He used a foreign accent, Weirdly sang the song, making people laugh out loud.Then, Haydham sang again at the venue, and Haydham sang "La Marseillaise" in English.After another burst of applause, Deng Yingchao, He Zizhen, Liu Ying (Mrs. Zhang Wentian), Wei Gongzhi (President of the Red Army Drama Club) were invited to sing "Fish Light Song". After the party started, the first program was singing and dancing. Although the costumes of the actors were outdated, they acted very seriously, which moved Snow and Hydem very much.Subsequent programs have their own characteristics, some reflect the anti-Japanese war, the Red Army's Long March, and the poor actively participated in the revolution.The show was over for more than two hours. On July 14, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a "Welcome Meeting for Snow and Haydem" attended by all leaders. Zhang Wentian and Mao Zedong spoke enthusiastically at the meeting respectively.