The First Chinese Political Consultative Conference
From September 21 to September 30, 1949, the first plenary session of the Chinese Political Consultative Conference was held as scheduled at Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai, Beijing. In order to smoothly hold this congress, the CPC Central Committee has gone to great lengths to make all kinds of preparations.
For example, Sima Wensen, a representative of the Chinese Kuomintang Association for the Promotion of Democracy, wrote in his diary:
"The CCP does not hold unprepared meetings. When the Preparatory Office sends a telegram to a certain representative, it has already arranged the means of transportation and safety on the journey, and the people are together, and the port where you go ashore has already received the notice and arranged everything for you. No matter how much luggage you bring, just hand them over. Entering the guest house, the luggage has arrived at the room. After entering the guest house, report to the conference office, take photos, and make passes. With this pass, you can get in and out of the guest house. After staying in a room with a bathroom and sanitary equipment, the staff brought the "Representative's Manual" and half a month's meal ticket. ”
Of the personnel of the Central People's Government organs elected at the end of the meeting, 6 were elected vice-chairmen, of whom 3 were democrats, accounting for half of them. In addition, according to incomplete statistics, at least 350 of the 662 delegates attending the meeting risked their lives to come to Beiping to attend the meeting, which shows that the convening of the CPPCC session and the founding of New China are the aspirations of the people, the choice of the people, and the choice of history.
However, the meeting had a small surprise while working on the personnel agenda. When Mao Zedong nominated the candidate for vice chairman of the Central People's Government, there was an incident against the warlord Li Jishen's election as vice chairman. There are also many opposition voices within the Communist Party, "We Communists fight the world, and democrats sit in the world!" ”
Chairman Mao and members of the Standing Committee of the Preparatory Committee for the New Cppcc Committee took a group photo in Zhongnanhai
Some deputies even said: "Li Jishen was originally a warlord who killed many Communists. He didn't join the democracy movement very early, so why did he become vice-chairman? There were many such objections, and Zhou Enlai had long anticipated the controversy, explaining to the Communist Party representatives:
"Let us not always take into account the mistakes of the democrats, who have also contributed to the revolution. Li Jishen had first rebelled against Chiang Kai-shek in Fujian, and had also taken the initiative to contact the Central Soviet Region, and if it were not for the 'left leaning' of the central leadership at that time, it would have formed an enlarged pattern of Jiangxi and Fujian, and probably there would have been no Need for the Long March..."
In the face of this controversy, coupled with the Communists' hatred of bribery, whether Li Jishen was elected in the end depended on the votes of the deputies. In order to ensure the smooth election of all democratic personages, on September 30, Zhou Enlai and Lin Boqu issued an "Emergency Circular of the Party Group of the People's Political Consultative Conference of the Communist Party of China on the Election Issue," asking all representatives of communist party members to proceed from the overall situation and ensure the smooth election of democratic personages.
Mao Zedong also reminded the comrades in the Party to vote for the democrats, "We must be mentally prepared, even if there are dozens of votes not to vote for us, do not be sad at all, do not express dissatisfaction, but see it as a reflection of the real situation among all the deputies." In the afternoon of the same day, the election results were announced, and the vice chairmen of the Central People's Government were: Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi, Song Qingling, Li Jishen, Zhang Lan, and Gao Gang.
So, why are there voices opposing Li Jishen's election as vice chairman, and what is the untold story in it? After reading this article, you can find the answer. In March 1949, Mao Zedong and others led the central organs and the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army into Beiping. On the afternoon of March 25, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and others came to Xiyuan Airport for a military parade.
Chairman Mao took a group photo with Li Jishen, Guo Moruo, and others
During this period, Mao Zedong warmly shook hands with more than 160 democrats, including Li Jishen, Guo Moruo, and Huang Yanpei, which made Li Jishen extremely excited. In fact, Mao Zedong and Li Jishen had exchanged letters many times before. On April 30, 1948, when the people's liberation army's nationwide victory was a foregone conclusion, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the "Slogan to Commemorate Labor Day".
The "May Day Slogan" is of great historical significance, it carries the complete strategy of the Communist Party of China to establish a new political power, like spring rain, like thunder, to bring hope and vision to the Chinese people who are exploring in suffering, and to bring vigorous and upward strength.
The fifth article in the "May Day Slogan" is particularly interesting: "All democratic parties, people's organizations and social elites quickly convened a political consultative conference to discuss and realize the convening of people's congresses and the establishment of a democratic coalition government." The next day, Mao Zedong sent a special letter to Li Jishen (then chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang) and Shen Junru (standing committee member of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League) who were far away in Hong Kong, saying:
Under the present circumstances, it has become necessary and ripe for convening people's congresses, establishing a democratic coalition government, strengthening mutual cooperation among democratic parties and people's organizations, and drawing up a democratic coalition government's administrative program. The vast number of democrats in the country have already made such demands, and I think the second brother must feel the same way. However, in order to achieve this step, it is necessary to first invite representatives of the democratic parties and people's organizations to a meeting.
...... Whether the above points are appropriate, please consider the second brother in detail and give them advice. Whether the content of the three-party joint statement is appropriate, or whether it is not limited to the three parties, joining other democratic parties and important people's organizations to jointly sign and issue it, and which is appropriate, is a joint prayer. Comrade Ztophannian entered the second brother.
Li Jishen
After receiving Mao Zedong's handwritten letter, Li Jishen was very moved, and immediately expressed his full support for Mao Zedong and the CPC's proposal to Pan Hannian, and immediately took action to actively carry out a series of actions in response to the "May Day Slogan". On May 3 of that year, Li Jishen summoned the responsible persons of various democratic parties in Hong Kong to discuss the "May Day slogan."
On 5 May, Li Jishen, He Xiangning, Shen Junru, and 12 other responsible persons of democratic parties and personages without party affiliation jointly sent a telegram to Mao Zedong and issued a joint telegram to compatriots throughout the country and at home and abroad, expressing full support for the CPC Central Committee's initiative. There is a passage in the power-up:
"The reactionary government in Nanjing, the theft of power and the traitor to the country, unprecedented in history ... Fan people are deeply anxious, trying to take countermeasures, balancing China and foreign countries, and are trying to advocate. It is to read the fifth item of the Cpc's "May Day" Labor Day call: "All democratic parties, people's organizations and social elites should promptly convene a political consultative conference to discuss and realize the convening of a people's congress and the establishment of a democratic coalition government", which suits the requirements of the people's situation and is particularly in line with the original purpose of the same people. In addition to reaching the CPC's consent, it is of the utmost importance to the future of the country and the nation. It is advisable for people throughout the country to quickly concentrate their will and study methods with a view to eradicating reaction and achieving democracy. With special devotion, to the highest speed to give advice, and to hope to teach. ”
At the end of December of that year, Li Jishen and more than 30 other democrats sailed north from Hong Kong to the Northeast Liberated Area. Standing on the deck of the ship, facing the vast sea, Li Jishen immediately wrote a poem:
Together, single-mindedly, for a big thing! A major event for participating in the joint establishment of an independent, democratic, peaceful, unified, and happy new China! In the same boat, congratulations, single-mindedly, to do a big thing. advance! advance! endeavor! endeavor!
Chairman Mao and Li Jishen talked
After the peaceful liberation of Peiping, Li Jishen came to Beiping, and when Li Jishen met Mao Zedong again at the Xiyuan Parade Ground, both of them were full of emotions. On April 2, 1949, Mao Zedong personally invited Li Jishen to the Shuangqing Villa in Xiangshan to exchange views with him alone on the preparations for the New CPPCC Conference, diplomatic issues, and equality with the Kuomintang Nanjing delegation.
However, on the way to the Xiangshan Shuangqing Villa, Li Jishen fell into deep thought. Li Jishen had a knot in his heart, and as early as April 1927, he presided over the "Qing Dang" in Guangzhou, which made him unable to let go for a long time. In the movie "The Great Cause of The Founding of the People's Republic", there is this plot:
Mao Zedong said to Li Jishen and Zhang Lan: "We propose two vice chairmen of the government, and I want to hear their opinions in person." Zhang Lan immediately said that he would obey the arrangement. On the side, Li Jishen looked sad and hesitated for a while to ask Mao Zedong: "Is this proposal your opinion?" Mao Zedong replied: "The opinion of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China!" ”
Li Jishen added, "I have killed you Communists. Mao Zedong said: "This time and another time." Now we are all on the same page. No one is perfect, no matter how big the personal affairs are, they are small things, and no matter how small the affairs of the country, they are also big things. For the sake of new China, ren gong represented the Kuomintang revolutionary committee as vice chairman of the government, which is a matter for the state. The past is no longer mentioned. ”
Li Jishen and Mao Zedong first met during the Kuomintang "First Congress" held in Guangzhou in January 1924. Mao Zedong attended the meeting and was elected as an alternate member of the Kuomintang Central Committee, while Li Jishen was then the commander of the First Division of the Guangdong Army and the inspector of the Xijiang Rehabilitation. When Zhou Enlai became the director of the political department of the Whampoa Military Academy, he worked with Li Jishen, who was the director of the coaching department.
In Li Jishen's view, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai were younger than him, but he admired them very much. Now two people, one is about to become the president of the new China, the other is about to become the premier of the country, and what they did back then is a fact that cannot be changed.
Li Jishen itself is not simple, respected by many people, Li Zongren commented: "A dragon in the human bush." Bai Chongxi was even more highly praised: "As a Guangxi native, Li Jishen, because of his noble character and sincere style of treating people, was embraced as a leader by Guangdong generals in the Guangdong army. ”
In January 1918, Sun Yat-sen formed the "Aid Fujian cantonese army". In the spring of 1921, Li Jishen accepted the invitation of his old classmate, Deng Zhongyuan, chief of the general staff of the Guangdong Army and commander of the First Division of the Guangdong Army, to come to Guangzhou from the beginning of time to serve as the deputy commander and chief of staff of the First Division of the Guangdong Army. This is a position with unlimited prospects, and Li Jishen has lived up to expectations.
In February 1922, the Northern Expeditionary Army swore an oath in Guilin, but the Northern Expeditionary Army was forced to change its battle plan because the Hunan warlord Zhao Hengti refused to allow the Northern Expeditionary Army to borrow hunan. In May of that year, the Northern Expeditionary Army entered Jiangxi and occupied Ganzhou, Ji'an and other places. Just as Sun Yat-sen was preparing to go further, Chen Jiongming's troops shelled the presidential palace with Ye Ju, and the Northern Expedition was forced to return to Guangdong, ending the First Northern Expedition.
After Sun Yat-sen returned to Guangzhou, he re-established the Grand Marshal's Mansion, and Li Jishen was appointed commander and chief of staff of the First Division of the First Army of the Guangdong Army. In July of the same year, Li Jishen was appointed as the inspector of the Xijiang Rehabilitation And Aftermath and the commander of the First Division. Li Jishen did a very good job in this position, he was responsible for all the work in the Guangdong-Guangdong border area, never favoritism and fraud, and had a high prestige in the local area.
In January 1926, at the Second National Congress of the Kuomintang, Li Jishen was elected as a member of the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee. In December of that year, Li Jishen was appointed chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Government and chairman of the Guangdong Political Branch. At this point, Li Jishen became the most powerful figure in South China.
On April 2, 1927, Chiang Kai-shek summoned Li Jishen, Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, He Yingqin, Wu Zhihui, Chen Guofu, Chen Lifu and others in Shanghai to secretly convene a "Qing Party Congress" and decided to launch a counter-revolutionary coup and arrest and massacre Communists on a large scale. Li Jishen's task was to carry out the "Qing Dang Action" in Guangzhou.
On 14 April, Li Jishen returned to Guangzhou from Shanghai and immediately summoned Fang Dingying, Zhu Jiahua, Qian Dajun, and others to study the "Qing Party" issue. Li Jishen showed everyone Chiang Kai-shek's "Telegram Order for The Qing Party" and said with a serious expression: "The current 'Qing Dang' action has a great bearing, and the headquarters of the Communist Party in Guangzhou is at the Whampoa Military Academy. Fang Dingying, who was the acting principal of the Whampoa Military Academy at the time, proposed a method: to not clarify the method of self-purification, that is, not to send a single soldier or a boat, and to allow Communist Party students to leave the school freely within three days.
Li Jishen was directly silent about Fang Dingying's proposal, and he had the heart of "cleaning up the party" but opposed to the massacre. Unfortunately, Li Jishen eventually became an accomplice of Chiang Kai-shek, created the "April 15 Massacre," disarmed the Central Military and Political School and the workers' pickets, and killed more than 200 Communists and revolutionaries such as Xiao Chunu, Xiong Xiong, Deng Pei, and Li Qihan, and arrested more than 2,000 people.
However, Li Jishen's daughter Li Xiaotong thought that her father had unspeakable secrets, she said: "The Qing Party was decided by the Kuomintang Central Party Department at that time, my father was only the third to last among the supplementary members at that time, and there were 29 chairmen, committee members, and alternate members in front of him, and their status was far higher than his. ”
Li Jishen's family is in Beijing
Li Jishen's son, Li Peijin, also held a similar view, believing that his father was forced to "clean up the party" out of necessity. Li Peijin also mentioned that Chiang Kai-shek mentioned at the "Qing Dang" meeting that he would act on April 12, but Li Jishen quietly wrote a note "Chiang Kai-shek Qing Dang" to the Communists secretly, and also delayed the action for three days, which allowed many Communists to be safely transferred.
However, the massacre was not completely avoided. Li Jishen was very guilty about this incident, and later blamed himself: "Every time I think about this matter, I feel deeply guilty, sorry for the people. At that time, I had the heart to clean up the party, but I had no intention of killing people! Within the Kuomintang, Li Jishen, because of his special status and status, was permanently expelled from the Kuomintang by Chiang Kai-shek three times.
The relationship between Li Jishen and Chiang Kai-shek can be summed up in one sentence, "Chiang Kai-shek respects and hates Li Jishen. Chiang Kai-shek respected Li Jishen because of his appeal within the Kuomintang, which made him jealous; he hated Li Jishen because he "opposed himself everywhere." ”
In March 1929, the "Chiang-Gui War" broke out between Chiang Kai-shek and the Gui warlords Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi. In order to mediate the contradiction between the two, Li Jishen disregarded his personal safety and went to Nanjing to mediate the contradiction between Jiang Gui. At that time, many people dissuaded Li Jishen, and Li Zongren said: "If you go to Nanjing, you will be detained, and as soon as you lose your freedom, the disaster of war will be inevitable." ”
On March 21, Chiang Kai-shek hosted a banquet for Li Jishen in Nanjing, where he was charged with "colluding with Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi of the Gui clan to divide his hair and conspire against the party-state," put him under house arrest at the Tangshan Officials' Guest House in Nanjing, and deprived him of his military and political powers, "forever expelling him from the party." After the outbreak of the "September 18 Incident" in 1931, Chiang Kai-shek was forced by public opinion to release Li Jishen.
Chiang Kai-shek
After Li Jishen was freed, he already had a deep understanding of Chiang Kai-shek's authoritarian nature, and what he was most dissatisfied with was Chiang Kai-shek's passive anti-Japanese attitude and began to actively organize anti-Chiang Kai-shek anti-Japanese actions. In May 1932, Chiang Kai-shek appointed Li Jishen as the deputy commander-in-chief of the "suppression of bandits" in Eyuwan.
Li Jishen's base camp was in Bengbu at that time, and he sent three students of the Huangpu Military Academy, Liu Guang, Qin Xiangpu, and Zeng Zhizu, to inspect the work. Chiang Kai-shek was very angry, and when the three came to Wuhan, they were secretly arrested and killed by agents of the Kuomintang secret service organization "Blue Jacket Society". Li Ji was furious and immediately resigned and went to Hong Kong.
On November 20, 1933, Li Jishen, Chen Mingshu, Jiang Guangnai, Cai Tingkai and others, with the 19th Route Army as the main force, established the "People's Revolutionary Government of the Republic of China" in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, and openly declared a break with Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang government, known in history as the "Fujian Incident".
After the outbreak of the incident, Li Jishen was elected chairman of the government and chairman of the military commission, and he spoke at the inaugural meeting of the people's revolutionary government, saying: "The existence of chiang's government cannot be tolerated for a day; the demand for the establishment of a new regime cannot be delayed for a day." ”
After the outbreak of the incident, Chiang Kai-shek was forced to transfer 11 elite divisions from the Northern Route Army in the Central Soviet Region, and formed a "Fujian Army" with the troops in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, led by Jiang Dingwen, to "crusade" the 19th Route Army. Against this background, the pressure on the eastern and northern sides of the Central Soviet Zone was greatly reduced, and an opportunity to break the enemy's "encirclement and suppression" appeared.
At the same time, Li Jishen and Chen Mingshu, through Cai Tingkai, sent representatives to the western Fujian front to discuss with the Red Army on cooperation in anti-Chiang Kai-shek and anti-Japanese matters, and signed the "Preliminary Agreement on Anti-Japanese and Anti-Chiang Kai-shek." This is a very good opportunity, and the agreement includes: the two sides immediately cease military operations; the two sides adopt the principle of mutual assistance and mutual assistance; immediately release political prisoners imprisoned in Fujian; the two sides negotiate to issue an anti-Chiang Declaration, and immediately carry out various preparations for anti-Japanese and anti-Chiang kai-shek military operations.
Unfortunately, because Wang Ming was carrying out the "Left" line in the Central Soviet Region at that time, he believed that Li Jishen and others were originally "warlords" and "the Fujian people's government was a speculator", and as a result, cooperation could not be realized. This is a great pity, Mao Zedong later commented: "Miss the opportunity, the opportunity is lost!" ”
Under chiang kai-shek's heavy military suppression, the Fujian people's revolutionary government only existed for 3 months before it failed, Li Jishen avoided Leaving Hong Kong, and he and Chen Mingshu, Jiang Guangnai, Cai Tingkai and others established the "Chinese National Revolutionary Alliance" in Hong Kong, with Li Jishen as the chairman. Soon after, Chiang Kai-shek expelled him from the Kuomintang again.
After the All-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1937, Li Jishen, out of strong patriotic feelings, further profoundly realized that Chiang Kai-shek's dictatorship would cause disasters to the country and the nation. Through his contacts with the Communists, he became more and more sympathetic to the CCP's ideas and began to work closely together.
In his later years, Li Jishen
Thus, we see the scene of Mao Zedong personally writing a letter to him on the eve of the founding of New China. On October 9, 1959, Li Jishen died of illness in Beijing at the age of 74. Li Jishen's last wish was to hope for the early reunification of the motherland, and he also wrote a poem a few days before his death:
"Ten years of National Day ten thousand years of red, Henglu brilliance forever shining; I am with the whole people's ambition, and I want to see Kyushu together!"