Late one night in November 1950, Chairman Mao was in his office reviewing documents. Suddenly, a telegram from Luo Ronghuan, the second secretary of the Central South Bureau, caught his attention. The telegram was brief but shocking: Roxau's trail appeared to have been found in Hunan.
At first, Chairman Mao was unfamiliar with the name. However, when he recalled the "Yaoshui Massacre" in 1928, a wave of anger rose in his chest. That Roxau, who once committed a heinous crime, is still alive!
Chairman Mao immediately picked up a pen and wrote a special order on a piece of paper: if it is confirmed that it is Roxau, he will be executed on the spot. This is the first arrest warrant personally issued by Chairman Mao since the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Why did Chairman Mao, who has always been tolerant, hate Roxau so much? What is the "Yaoshui tragedy" all about? And how did Roxau end? Let's uncover this long-lost history together.
Luo Keshao was born in 1877 in Chaling County, Hunan Province, into a prominent landowning family. Since childhood, Roxau has developed an arrogant and domineering personality since he was a child. His father, Mr. Luo, was well-known in the local area, not only owning a large area of fertile land, but also befriending county officials. Such a family background made the young Roxau even more unscrupulous.
When he was a teenager, Roxau began to run rampant in Chaling County. He gathered a group of idle ruffians and hooligans who spent their days loitering around, bullying men and women. The local people dared not speak out against this, because if anyone came forward to oppose Roxau, he would be beaten all over his body and bruised, and his whole family would suffer.
In the early 1920s, Roxau intensified its efforts. He took a fancy to the fertile land of the Wang family in the neighboring village, so he sent someone to threaten Wang Laohan to sign a contract to sell the land. Wang Laohan refused to give in, so Luo Keshao gathered a group of thugs and broke into Wang's house in the middle of the night, not only snatching the title deed, but also beating Wang Laohan. The next day, Wang Laohan died with hatred. This incident caused an uproar in the local area, but under the influence of the Luo family, the government could not do anything.
However, the good times were short-lived. In 1926, with the rapid development of the Communist Party in Hunan, the peasant movement was in full swing. In many areas, local armed forces formed by peasants appeared, and landlord bullies like Roxau became the primary targets of the peasant armed forces.
Roxau's good days have come to an end. He was arrested by the local peasant association many times to criticize and parade in the streets. Roxau, who was once arrogant, is now tied to a wooden plank and paraded through the streets, scolding and ridiculed by the masses. This is undoubtedly a great shame for the arrogant Roxau. He held a grudge against the peasant associations and the Communist Party, but because of his weak strength, he could only endure it.
Just when Roxau was almost cornered, an opportunity presented itself. In April 1927, Chiang Kai-shek launched the "April 12" coup d'état in Shanghai, and then a wave of "purging the party" was set off across the country. In May, Xu Kexiang, deputy commander of the Kuomintang 27th Army stationed in Changsha, launched the "Ma-Ri Incident", in which he commanded tens of thousands of soldiers to raid Communist-led trade unions and peasant associations, massacring Communists and members of peasant associations.
When Roxau learned the news, he was like a treasure. He immediately gathered his former fox friends and formed an armed team. Under the banner of "purging the party," Roxau searched from house to house, confiscated the weapons of peasant union members, and detained them and tortured them. In just a few days, Roxau had more than 100 lives on his hands.
Roxau's "exploits" soon attracted Xu Kexiang's attention. Xu Kexiang appreciated this capable "local warrior" very much, and personally appointed Luo Keshao as the director of the Chaling County Youth League Defense Bureau. Overnight, Roxau went from a local bully to a court official.
After becoming the director of the regimental defense bureau, Roxau became even more unscrupulous. He posted notices all over the streets and alleys of Chaling County: Anyone who joins the regimental defense bureau will be rewarded with a silver dollar each. For a time, the ruffians and unemployed vagrants in Chaling County responded one after another. Roxau's regimental defense bureau soon became a formidable counter-revolutionary force in the region.
Just when Roxau was triumphant, he did not know that he had been targeted by a young revolutionary leader. That leader was Mao Zedong. In September 1927, the Autumn Harvest Uprising led by Mao Zedong broke out, and the rebel army marched to Jinggangshan after being reorganized in Sanwan. In the process, Mao Zedong and Roxau had their first short but fierce confrontation, which laid the groundwork for future grievances.
In April 1928, the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers Government of Yaoshui District, Chaling County, Hunan Province had just been established, and the revolutionary situation was very good. However, the nascent revolutionary regime soon faced a bloody test.
On April 15, on a rainy morning, Roxau led his regimental defense bureau to quietly surround the seat of the Workers' Peasants' and Soldiers' Government in Yaoshui District. At that time, there were only a dozen staff members and a small number of guards in the government compound. Roxau's men suddenly launched a fierce attack, which caught the government by surprise.
Despite being outnumbered, government workers and guards rose up to resist. They engaged in a fierce exchange of fire with the few rifles and pistols they had. The fighting lasted nearly two hours, and the government compound was riddled with bullets and smoke. Eventually, government personnel were forced to surrender due to the depletion of weapons and ammunition.
Roxau ordered all the captured people to be escorted to the county seat. Along the way, his subordinates punched, kicked, insulted and insulted these revolutionary aspirants. Some of the wounded were shot directly on the side of the road because of their limited mobility.
Upon arriving at the county seat, Roxau imprisoned the captives in a modest earthen house. For the next three days, he personally presided over the interrogation and tortured these revolutionary aspirants in a brutal and inhumane manner. He pierced the palms of the captives with red-hot iron nails, poured boiling water on them, and even tortured them with tiger chairs, bamboo sticks, and other torture instruments.
However, in the face of these tortures, the revolutionary aspirants remained steadfast and unyielding. They would rather die than give in, refusing to divulge any information about the revolutionary organization. This infuriated Roxau, who decided to resort to even more brutal means.
On the evening of 18 April, Roxau ordered all the captives to be escorted to a hillside outside the county seat. There, he ordered his men to tie the captives hand and foot, then cut their bellies with knives and push them down the hill alive. Screams and wails resounded through the valley, and blood stained the hillsides red. This tragic scene made many people present unbearable to look at it.
In this way, more than 20 revolutionaries, including the chairman of the Yaoshui District Workers' and Peasants' and Soldiers' Government, were brutally killed. This is the "Yaoshui tragedy" that shocked the whole country.
After the news spread, the entire Chaling County and even the surrounding areas fell into a panic. Many of the peasants and workers who had taken part in the revolution fled their homes to escape Roxau's clutches. For a time, the revolutionary situation suffered a heavy blow.
However, Roxau's atrocities did not stop there. In the months that followed, he continued to search for Communists and revolutionaries throughout Chaling County. According to incomplete statistics, from April to August, Roxau killed nearly 300 revolutionaries and innocent people.
The news of the "Yaoshui tragedy" soon spread to Jinggangshan. Mao Zedong, who was waging a revolutionary struggle in Jinggangshan at the time, was furious when he learned of this tragedy. He immediately convened an emergency meeting to discuss how to deal with the dire situation.
The meeting decided to immediately send a capable team to infiltrate Chaling County, on the one hand, to appease the emotions of the masses and rebuild the underground organization; On the other hand, collect detailed evidence of Roxau's crimes in preparation for future reckoning.
At the same time, Mao Zedong also instructed that an article be published in the newspaper "Red China" exposing Roxau's heinous crimes, and calling on the people of the whole country to unite against such counter-revolutionaries.
Although the revolutionary forces at that time were still too weak to punish Roxau immediately, Mao Zedong had already made up his mind that one day he would make Roxau pay for his crimes.
The "Yaoshui tragedy" became a lingering pain in Mao Zedong's heart. In the revolutionary years that followed, whenever he encountered setbacks and difficulties, he would always think of those comrades who died in the Yaoshui tragedy, thus inspiring a stronger fighting spirit and determination.
This tragedy also became an important turning point in the history of the Hunan revolution. It not only exposed the cruel nature of the enemy, but also made more peasants and workers realize the necessity of revolution. In the years that followed, Hunan's revolutionary forces continued to grow and lay the foundation for eventual victory.
And Roxau, the mastermind of the "Yaoshui tragedy", disappeared in the years that followed. It wasn't until 1950 that his traces resurfaced, triggering Mao's thunderous fury.
After the "Yaoshui Massacre", Luo Keshao continued to run rampant and domineering in Chaling County for a period of time. However, as the revolutionary forces grew, his situation began to become precarious. At the beginning of 1930, the Red Army launched a series of anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaigns on the Hunan and Jiangxi borders, and Chaling County, where Roxau was located, also became one of the battlefields.
In a fierce battle, the regimental defense of Roxau was heavily defeated by the Red Army. Seeing that the situation was not good, Roxau decided to abandon the city and flee. With a small number of cronies and accumulated wealth, he fled from Chaling County overnight.
Roxau's escape was not an easy one. In order to evade the pursuit of the Red Army, he had to change his hiding place frequently. At first, he fled to neighboring Zhuzhou County, where he took refuge with a local landlord who was friendly to him. But soon, the pursuit party of the Red Army pursued Zhuzhou. Roxau had to flee again.
In the following years, Roxau traveled to Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong and other places. He was sometimes incognito, disguised as an ordinary peasant; Sometimes he pretends to be a businessman and mingles in the market. Everywhere he went, he was cautious, for fear of revealing his true identity.
In 1933, Luo Keshao came to Shaoguan, Guangdong. Here he meets an unexpected person - his distant cousin Li Deming. Li Deming is a well-known local Chinese medicine practitioner who opened a small clinic in Shaoguan. Roxau confided his true identity to Li Deming and asked for asylum.
Although Li Deming was shocked by what Roxau did, he still agreed to Roxau's request out of blood kinship. He placed Roxau in a side room in the clinic's backyard and gave him a new identity – the clinic's apprentice, Wang Dabao.
From then on, Roxau began his life of seclusion. During the day, he worked in the clinic to learn some basic knowledge of Chinese medicine; At night, he hid in a side room and did not dare to go out easily. In order to hide people's eyes, he also deliberately grew a long beard and put on reading glasses to make himself look like an ordinary old man.
In this way, Roxau spent more than ten years in Shaoguan. During this time, the outside world has undergone earth-shaking changes. The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out, and the Kuomintang and the Communist Party cooperated again; After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party fell into a full-scale civil war. However, for Roxau, these are like distant legends. His only concern is how to continue to hide his identity.
On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was founded. In the evening of the same day, firecrackers rang out in Shaoguan City, and people celebrated the birth of New China with joy. However, Roxau, who was hiding in a side room, was on pins and needles. He knew that the establishment of a new regime meant that his situation was even more precarious.
In order to further hide his identity, Roxau persuaded Li Deming to help him forge a new household registration information. In this information, his name is Wang Dabao, 68 years old this year, his ancestral home is Meizhou, Guangdong, and he was exiled to Shaoguan ten years ago due to war.
However, Roxau's wishful thinking came to naught. In October 1950, the Shaoguan Public Security Bureau received an anonymous report that an important historical criminal was hiding in Li Deming's clinic. The Public Security Bureau immediately launched an investigation and soon locked down Roxau's true identity.
In the early hours of November 5, police officers suddenly surrounded Li Deming's clinic. Roxau, who was asleep at the time, was awakened and handcuffed before he could react. After a preliminary interrogation, Roxau confessed his true identity and confessed some details of the "Yaoshui tragedy".
The news quickly spread to the Central South Bureau. After receiving the report, Luo Ronghuan, who was in Wuhan at the time, immediately sent a telegram to Chairman Mao. It was this telegram that triggered Chairman Mao's thunderous anger and gave the order to "execute on the spot".
Roxau's fugitive career came to an end in Shaoguan. More than 20 years of hiding in Tibet not only failed to let him escape the punishment of the law, but made him live trembling in his last days, like a walking corpse. This may be another punishment that history has given him.
For those revolutionary aspirants who died in the "Yaoshui Massacre", the ideals they exchanged for their lives were finally realized on the land of New China. Although they did not see this day with their own eyes, their spirit lives on in the hearts of the people.
Wuhan, November 6, 1950. In the office of the Central South Bureau, Luo Ronghuan is handling daily official business. Suddenly, an urgent telegram from Shaoguan, Guangdong, caught his attention. The content of the telegram was short but shocking: Luo Keshao, the mastermind of the "Yaoshui Massacre" 22 years ago, had been arrested in Shaoguan.
Luo Ronghuan immediately realized the importance of this news. He remembered that when the "Yaoshui Massacre" occurred, Chairman Mao repeatedly mentioned that the murderer should be severely punished. Now that the murderer has been caught, he must report to Chairman Mao as soon as possible.
Luo Ronghuan immediately drafted a detailed report describing Roxau's arrest and preliminary interrogation. He personally handed over the report to the correspondent, asking for it to be delivered to Zhongnanhai in Beijing as soon as possible.
On the morning of November 7, Mao Zedong was in his office in Zhongnanhai studying the latest report on the international situation. The secretary cautiously knocked on the door and came in, handing over an urgent report from Luo Ronghuan.
Mao Zedong took the report and read it carefully. As he read deeper, his expression became more and more serious. When he saw the words "Roxau has been arrested", Mao Zedong suddenly slammed the case.
"Twenty-two years! This executioner has finally been caught! Mao's voice was filled with anger.
The secretary had never seen Chairman Mao so excited. I saw Mao Zedong pacing back and forth in the office, stopping from time to time to recall the scene of the year.
"Do you know that when the 'Yaoshui tragedy' happened, I was in Jinggang Mountain." Mao Zedong said to the secretary, "Many of those comrades who sacrificed their lives are party members that I personally developed!" "
Mao Zedong recalled the scene when he received the news of the "Yaoshui Massacre". At that time, the Jinggangshan Base Area had just been established and was facing many difficulties. The occurrence of the "Yaoshui Massacre" undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to the revolutionary forces.
"At that time, I was thinking, one day, I will make this executioner pay for his blood debt!" There was firmness in Mao's voice.
After a moment of silence, Mao Zedong suddenly said to his secretary: "Give me the phone number of Comrade Luo Ronghuan." "
Soon, the call was connected. Mao Zedong said directly: "Roxau must be executed on the spot and executed immediately!" "
Luo Ronghuan on the other end of the phone obviously did not expect Chairman Mao to personally give such an order. He cautiously asked, "Chairman, is there a need for a further trial first, or a trial?" "
"No, you don't!" Mao Zedong's tone was unusually resolute, "The crime of this executioner has long been confirmed. Twenty-two years ago, he was already sentenced to death by the people. Now, it's just a matter of enforcing the sentence. "
Luo Ronghuan understood Chairman Mao's determination. He immediately said he would personally supervise the matter and ensure that the order was carried out accurately.
After hanging up the phone, Mao Zedong called the secretary again. He dictated a telegram that read:
"Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, Shaoguan Municipal Party Committee: Luo Keshao's crime is extremely heinous, and the people's anger is great, and he should be executed on the spot and executed immediately. After the execution, the crime was announced locally and in Chaling County, Hunan. Let's do it as soon as possible. "
The secretary quickly sorted out the contents of the telegram and presented it to Mao Zedong for review. Mao Zedong double-checked it and solemnly signed his name on the telegram.
"Sent out immediately, expedited processing." Mao Zedong said to the secretary.
The secretary took the order, and the telegram was soon sent to Canton through the central cipher radio.
In the days that followed, Mao Zedong repeatedly inquired about the progress of Roxau's case. On November 10, he was relieved when he received confirmation that Roxau had been executed.
The mastermind of the "Yaoshui Massacre" finally brought to justice, but the revolutionary martyrs who died in the tragedy will never be resurrected. Mao Zedong stood in front of the window, looking at the night of the city of Beijing, and fell into deep thought.
This order of "summary execution" is not only a punishment for a historical criminal, but also a consolation to the revolutionary martyrs. It demonstrated New China's adherence to historical justice and also sent a clear signal to the people of the whole country: Any counterrevolutionary crime, no matter how long time has passed, will be punished as it should be.
Since then, Mao Zedong has repeatedly mentioned the "Yaoshui Massacre" and the fate of Roxau on different occasions to warn those reactionaries who vainly seek to become enemies of the people. This case also became an important event in the early political life of New China, and was widely discussed and studied for a long time.
Although the "Yaoshui Massacre" occurred in 1928, its impact went far beyond that era. This tragedy is not only an important event in the history of the Communist Party of China, but also a key case in the study of the course of the Chinese revolution.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the "Yaoshui Massacre" was officially included in the important content of Party history education. In 1951, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to establish a memorial hall of the "Yaoshui Massacre" in Chaling County, Hunan. The site of the memorial hall is located on the site of the tragedy, as a warning to future generations and remember history.
The construction of the memorial hall was carried out with the participation of the local government and the older generation of revolutionaries. Among them, Liu Xing, a veteran revolutionary who had participated in the struggle in Jinggangshan, personally participated in the preparation for the construction of the memorial hall. He provided a lot of valuable historical information, including some detailed descriptions of the tragedy and oral histories of survivors.
On April 15, 1952, the "Yaoshui Massacre" Memorial Hall was officially opened to the public. On the opening day, thousands of people spontaneously came to visit. Many veteran party members and the families of martyrs stopped in front of the monument for a long time to reminisce about those arduous revolutionary years.
The memorial was established not only to commemorate the deceased, but also to educate future generations. Since 1952, every year on April 15, Chaling County will hold a commemorative activity of the "Yaoshui Massacre". Local schools will organize students to visit the memorial hall and listen to the stories of the revolution told by veteran party members. This tradition has continued to this day and has become an important part of local patriotic education.
In addition to its impact in the field of education, the Yaoshui Massacre has also had a profound impact on China's legal system. In 1951, when the Supreme People's Court tried a counter-revolutionary case, it specifically mentioned the "Yaoshui Massacre". The court pointed out that counter-revolutionaries like Roxau, even if they escaped for many years, could not escape the punishment of the law in the end. This precedent provides an important reference for the subsequent handling of similar cases left over from history.
In the field of literary and artistic creation, the "Yaoshui Massacre" has also become the source of creation. In 1954, the famous writer Ouyang Shan wrote the novel "Sanjia Lane", which contains allusions to the "Yaoshui tragedy". The novel depicts a landlord bully named "Luo Dayan", whose image is based on Roxau. This novel attracted widespread attention at the time, further expanding the social impact of the "Yaoshui Massacre".
In 1958, the Hunan Provincial Opera House created the opera "Blood-stained Mountain Flowers" based on the historical facts of the "Yaoshui Massacre". This opera vividly recreates the scene of the heroic sacrifice of the revolutionary aspirants, and it has aroused strong repercussions when it is performed throughout the country. After watching the performance, many audience members said that they had received a profound patriotic education.
After entering the period of reform and opening up, the study of the "Yaoshui tragedy" entered a new stage. In 1983, the Hunan Academy of Social Sciences organized a special research group to conduct a comprehensive and systematic study of the "Yaoshui Massacre". The research team not only sorted out the whole process of the tragedy, but also deeply analyzed the social causes and historical impact behind it.
In 1988, the research results of this research group were officially published under the title "Research on the Yaoshui Tragedy". This book has become an important reference material for the study of the history of the Chinese revolution and has been adopted as a teaching book by many universities.
After entering the 21st century, the "Yaoshui Massacre" is still one of the focuses of academic attention. In 2008, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Yaoshui Massacre, Hunan Normal University held a large-scale academic seminar. Historians from all over the country gathered together to have in-depth discussions on the historical positioning and social impact of the "Yaoshui Massacre".
In 2018, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the "Yaoshui Massacre", the Party History Research Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a special document reaffirming the important position of this incident in the history of the Chinese revolution. The article points out that the "Yaoshui Massacre" was an important node in the early revolutionary struggle of the Communist Party of China, which not only reflected the hardships of the revolutionary road, but also demonstrated the lofty revolutionary spirit of the communists.
Today, the "Yaoshui Massacre" has become an important part of the history of the Chinese revolution. It is not only a historical event, but also a mirror, reflecting the perseverance and perseverance of the Communist Party of China in the difficult years. Every year, many tourists and scholars go to Chaling County to visit the "Yaoshui Massacre" Memorial Hall and trace the historical footprints of those eventful years.
The historical impact and practical significance of the "Yaoshui Massacre" go far beyond the scope of a specific event. It has become a spiritual symbol of the Chinese people's indomitable struggle for their ideals. This spirit will continue to inspire generation after generation of Chinese to make unremitting efforts to realize the great dream of national rejuvenation.