In 1958, Chairman Mao and Zhang Zhi went to Jiangsu for inspection, and Jiang Wei, secretary of the provincial party committee, arrived at the station early in the morning to greet them.
After Chairman Mao got out of the car, he didn't wait for Jiang Weiqing to report the situation, and asked directly:
"19 years ago, did you repay the money you borrowed from Borrowing Wenbai (Zhang Zhizhong's character)?"
Nineteen years ago, General Zhang Zhizhong was still working for the Kuomintang, and Jiang Weiqing had always been a cadre of our party, so why would he borrow money from Zhang Zhizhong?
Why did Chairman Mao help Zhang Zhizhong collect debts? The end result?
Zhang Zhizhong
1. Failed peace talks and joined New China
In 1949, seeing that the People's Liberation Army was already stationed on the Yangtze River, Acting President Li Zongren immediately sent General Zhang Zhizhong to Beijing for peace talks, hoping to divide the river with the Communist Party while waiting for United States support to continue the war.
On the surface, Li Zongren is the acting president, but Chiang Kai-shek, who has already left the opposition, still holds real power.
In the decades that the Kuomintang was an official, Zhang Zhizhong had long seen through Chiang Kai-shek's character.
The peace talks were only a delaying tactic, and he never gave up the idea of ruling the country.
Things turned out to be as Zhang Zhi expected, and when he completed the second peace talks with great effort, the Nationalist Government was extremely dissatisfied with the content of the peace talks.
Zhang Zhizhong understood that this war was inevitable, and the probability of victory for the Nationalist Government was very small.
After some thought, Zhang Zhizhong decided to return as soon as possible.
But just as he was about to leave, Premier Zhou and Chairman Mao took turns to stay and invite Zhang Zhizhong to stay in Beiping to participate in the construction of New China and not to return to the Nanjing government.
Mao Zedong and Zhang Zhizhong
Even for his safety, Chairman Mao and others took Zhang Zhizhong's family to Beiping, which completely dispelled Zhang Zhizhong's worries.
In this way, Zhang Zhizhong broke away from the Kuomintang government and joined the nascent regime.
At the first meeting of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) not long after, Zhang Zhizhong, as a deputy, actively participated in the discussion of the country's name and national flag.
Originally, it was decided to name the country "People's Democratic Republic of China," but Zhang Zhizhong pointed out that the republic already contained the meaning of democracy, which was somewhat redundant, and the name of the mainland was therefore set as "People's Republic of China."
Among the many national flag submissions, there was a design with a horizontal bar in the middle and a large five-pointed star on the left, which was voted on by many delegates.
Zhang Zhizhong, however, pointed out that the horizontal bar in the middle has the meaning of dividing the country and is not suitable for the national flag.
At Zhang Zhizhong's suggestion, Chairman Mao and others chose the current national flag pattern.
In September 1949, when Zhang Zhizhong learned that the central government wanted to liberate Xinjiang, he immediately sent a telegram to Tao Zhiyue, the commander of the Xinjiang garrison, and Bao Erhan, the chairman of the Xinjiang garrison, to advise them to launch an uprising.
Zhang Zhizhong once served as chairman of Xinjiang and is an old acquaintance with these two people.
Under Zhang Zhizhong's advice, the two really rebelled, and Xinjiang was peacefully liberated.
As soon as he joined the Communist government, Zhang Zhizhong made such a huge contribution, which shows his loyalty and enthusiasm for the country, and Chairman Mao also paid more and more attention to him.
In 1958, Chairman Mao invited Zhang Zhizhong to visit Jiangsu.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Zhizhong told Chairman Mao that the secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee had borrowed 3,000 yuan from him 19 years ago, and he has not repaid it yet.
19 years ago, Zhang Zhizhong was serving in the Kuomintang, why did our army cadres borrow money from him? Where is this money spent?
This has to start with Zhang Zhizhong himself.
Second, the alternative generals in the Kuomintang
In 1921, Zhang Zhizhong became acquainted with Chen Duxiu and Qu Qiubai, so he had a preliminary understanding of socialism.
When the Kuomintang and the Communist Party cooperated for the first time, Zhang Zhizhong went to the Whampoa Military Academy to take up a post, met Zhou Enlai, director of the Political Department of the Whampoa Military Academy, and at the same time gained a deeper understanding of Marxism.
At that time, there were two parties at the Whampoa Military Academy, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and Zhang Zhizhong belonged to one of the few peaceful people in the Kuomintang and always maintained the relationship between the two parties.
It was at this time that Zhang Zhizhong and Zhou Enlai developed a deep friendship.
According to Zhou Enlai's wife Deng Yingchao, when she and Zhou Enlai got married, she did not notify anyone, only Zhang Zhizhong.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Zhizhong said that he would set up two tables of banquets, and specially found guests to accompany the wine.
As a result, Zhang Zhizhong didn't drink a glass of wine, but drunk Zhou Enlai, and the guards carried him back to the room.
It was also under the baptism of his good friend Zhou Enlai that Zhang Zhizhong's ideology and behavior gradually moved closer to the Communist Party and seemed incompatible with the Kuomintang.
When the contradictions between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party became more and more acute, Zhang Zhizhong found Zhou Enlai as soon as possible, hoping to join the Communist Party.
It's just that there are rules between the two parties that they can't admit each other's senior officials. Zhang Zhizhong has quite a position in the Kuomintang, and once he joins our party, it is very likely that unnecessary contradictions will arise.
It was precisely because he failed to join the Communist Party that after the breakdown of the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, Zhang Zhizhong had to part ways with his friend Zhou Enlai.
What is commendable is that Zhang Zhizhong did not cooperate with Chiang Kai-shek to "suppress the Communists" for the sake of power, but tried his best to avoid conflicts with the Communists.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhang Zhizhong devoted all his energy to the anti-Japanese struggle, made a lot of achievements, and gave certain support to the anti-Japanese contingent of the Communist Party.
Therefore, in the Kuomintang, Zhang Zhizhong is one of the few generals who can gain the friendship of our party.
It was precisely because of the friendship between General Zhang Zhizhong and our party that when faced with difficulties, Jiang Weiqing immediately sought help from Zhang Zhizhong.
3. Interesting facts about borrowing money
In 1939, Zhang Zhizhong became the chairman of Hunan Province, and Jiang Weiqing was organizing anti-Japanese resistance in the New Fourth Army.
Jiang Weiqing
However, due to Chiang Kai-shek's obstruction, the military salaries that should have been paid by the Nationalist Government were often withheld, and the soldiers had to fight hungry.
At an emergency meeting, the head of the regiment, Fu Qiutao, proposed that he could not rely on the Kuomintang and had to find his own way, so he asked each of the five members of the Standing Committee to go home and borrow 500 quintals of rice.
According to the price at that time, a load of rice was 5 dimes, and 500 loads of rice were worth 2,000 yuan.
Fu Qiutao
However, since Jiang Weiqing joined the revolution, he has been far away from his hometown and cannot return to his hometown to borrow money, and his good friends are all fighters of our party, and everyone is not rich, so how can he complete his task?
At this moment, Jiang Weiqing thought of Zhang Zhizhong, chairman of Hunan Province. This anti-Japanese general, who has never persecuted the Communist Party, must be willing to contribute to the New Fourth Army's war of resistance.
It's just that Zhang Zhizhong only receives visitors at a fixed time, and when Jiang Weiqing arrived, it was just in time for non-hospitality time, and the staff stopped Jiang Weiqing from entering.
Jiang Weiqing
Jiang Weiqing had an idea and shouted:
"Does it take time to resist Japan? Please tell Chairman Zhang that our soldiers can't eat anymore! ”
Hearing Jiang Weiqing's voice, Zhang Zhizhong came to the door to understand the situation and lent Jiang Weiqing 3,000 yuan.
Although Zhang Zhizhong is a well-known peace general, there has always been a rift between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party since the breakdown of a cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, not to mention that some Communist Party members have approached Zhang Zhizhong to borrow money.
Zhang Zhizhong also understood that if the New Fourth Army was really cornered, Jiang Weiqing would not have asked the Kuomintang generals for help.
It is precisely because of the particularity of this incident that Zhang Zhizhong has always remembered Jiang Weiqing. However, Zhang Zhi's center was anti-Japanese and never thought of getting the money back.
Until the founding of the People's Republic of China, Jiang Weiqing became the secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, and Zhang Zhizhong never mentioned this matter to anyone.
Jiang Weiqing and Chairman Mao
When Chairman Mao invited Zhang Zhizhong to visit Jiangsu, he said to Chairman Mao:
"The secretary of the provincial party committee of Jiangsu Province still owes me 3,000 yuan."
After learning of the cause and effect, as soon as Chairman Mao arrived in Jiangsu, he asked Jiang Weiqing:
"Did you pay back the money you owe Wenbai?"
Hearing the chairman's words, Jiang Weiqing looked ashamed:
"I haven't paid it back yet."
Zhang Zhizhong, who was on the side at this time, was also very embarrassed, this matter was originally just told to the chairman as a joke, but he didn't expect the chairman to really help him collect debts, Zhang Zhizhong hurriedly waved his hand and said:
"I don't have to pay it back, this is my heart against Japan."
Who knew that Chairman Mao was extremely firm and said: "It must be repaid, and the Communist Party must repay the money it borrows, no matter what it is used for." ”
In this way, with the help of Chairman Mao, Jiang Weiqing returned Zhang Zhizhong's loan in full.
After receiving the 3,000 yuan repayment, Zhang Zhizhong was even more glad that he chose to join Beiping after the peace talks.
Zhang Zhizhong and his wife
Jiang Weiqing borrowed money from Zhang Zhizhong, a high-ranking Kuomintang official at that time, in order to resist Japan, and Zhang Zhizhong paid out of his own pocket in order to support the anti-Japanese resistance without asking for anything in return.
Chairman Mao, in order not to chill the anti-Japanese heroes, and in order not to let Jiang Weiqing lose the code of conduct of the Communists, insisted on repaying the money.
Perhaps it is precisely because everyone has such excellent qualities that they will attract each other and come together, and finally dedicate themselves to the development of New China.
What do you think of General Zhang Zhizhong, the protagonist of the incident?