In 1949, the War of Liberation was gradually coming to an end, and the Nationalist government was in a state of turmoil. In order to save the soon-to-be-collapsed regime and prevent the People's Liberation Army from crossing the Yangtze River, the reactionaries in the United States and Chiang Kai-shek once again proposed peaceful negotiations with the Chinese Communists.
After deliberation, this burden was handed over to Zhang Zhizhong, who soon led the Nanjing peace negotiation delegation to Beiping. The content of the negotiations mainly involves "war criminals" and "river crossing issues", and in order to promote a good result, both sides have made concessions.
However, just as the negotiations were about to reach an outcome, Zhang Zhizhong gave a very inappropriate example, which made the atmosphere of the negotiations once again fall into embarrassment, and Premier Zhou could not help but get angry at the case and reprimanded him on the spot. Seeing that Premier Zhou was so angry, Zhang Zhizhong hurried to apologize and let the negotiations continue.
Premier Zhou
This can't help but make people wonder what Zhang Zhizhong said at that time, which could make premier Zhou, who has always been gentle and elegant, angry? What is the outcome of this peace talks?
Since the collapse of the Chongqing negotiations, the armies of the Kuomintang and the Communists have engaged in fierce confrontation for nearly two years, and watching the People's Liberation Army win frequent victories on the battlefield, while the Kuomintang army has been defeated again and again, this has also made more and more domestic voices of peace.
In early 1949, Chiang Kai-shek officially announced his resignation and returned to his hometown of Xikou, with Li Zongren taking his place, prompting the Kuomintang and the Communists to sit back at the negotiating table.
Before the negotiations began, in order not to let Chiang Kai-shek affect his plans, Li Zongren consulted with Bai Chongxi and advised him to go abroad, and Zhang Zhizhong, in order to think about peace talks, also took the initiative to run to Xikou in an attempt to persuade Chiang Kai-shek, and the result was a scolding with a split head and a covered face.
It turned out that Chiang Kai-shek had already seen this in the newspaper, and he angrily told Zhang Zhizhong: "It is okay for you to force me to go to the wilderness, but it will not be possible to force me to die!" ”
Zhang Zhizhong was well aware that chiang kai-shek could not be persuaded, so he communicated with him many times on the content of the peace talks, which involved the reorganization of the army, the division of the river, and the related matters of the coalition government. Although Chiang Kai-shek maintained an attitude of agreement, in fact he still wanted to preserve the strength of the Kuomintang army and wait until the right time came to compete with the Communists.
After returning from Xikou, Zhang Zhizhong began to discuss with Li Zongren about organizing the Nanjing government and talking about the delegation, and after communicating with the CPC, the members of the delegation sent by the Nationalist government were determined to be: Zhang Zhizhong, Shao Lizi, Zhang Shizhao, Huang Shaohu, Li Steam, Liu Wen, a total of 15 people.
The representatives sent by the CPC were Zhou Enlai, Lin Boqu, Lin Biao, Ye Jianying, Li Weihan, Nie Rongzhen, and Li Lisan.
After the number of negotiators between the two sides was determined, the Peace Talks Committee on the side of the Nationalist Government proposed that it was acceptable to use the eight conditions put forward by the CHINESE Communists as the basis for negotiations, but they also had to formulate a "belly case."
After that, Zhang Zhizhong copied the "belly case" and asked Chiang Kai-shek again, but surprisingly, he did not put forward different opinions, while Chiang Ching-kuo, who saw everything in his eyes at that time, thought that Zhang Zhizhong was "too naïve" and that there would probably be no good result in talking about peace now.
It can be seen from the attitude of the father and son of the Jiang family that they are basically not optimistic about this peace talk, nor are they sincere, and Zhang Zhizhong's mentality is also quite complicated.
Because Zhang Zhizhong had been traveling back and forth to Chiang Kai-shek's hometown a few days before the negotiations began, the Chinese communists were very dissatisfied with his behavior, believing that the negotiations were still being manipulated by Chiang Kai-shek, so after the Nanjing government peace delegation arrived at Beiping Airport by plane on April 1, not many people came to greet them, and the atmosphere at the scene was very cold.
Kuomintang peace talks delegation
What was unexpected was that there was a riot in Nanjing on the same day, and more than 6,000 students and faculty members of more than 10 colleges and universities organized a large parade together to demand that the Nationalist government accept the eight conditions of the CCP.
This case caused quite a stir at the time, and after it reached the Nanjing government delegation, they were even more worried that the negotiations would be difficult.
Sure enough, after the meeting between the two sides, Premier Zhou directly questioned Zhang Zhizhong: "Li Zongren has promised to hold peace talks based on eight peace conditions, so why should he send military and police to suppress the students?" Before the peace talks, such a tragic case occurred, and I could not help but doubt the sincerity of the Nanjing authorities! ”
Such an unpleasant thing happened just after arriving in Peiping, which naturally made both sides very embarrassed, but in any case the negotiations had to continue, so in the next few days, the representatives of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party first communicated on the issue of war criminals and crossing the river.
Zhang Zhizhong
First of all, on the issue of war criminals, the Chinese Communists originally hoped to clarify the list of war criminals and hold them accountable for the war, but later, in order to show sincerity, they changed it to remove the words "culprit and the first evil," indicating that as long as they can clearly understand right from wrong and know repentance, do things that are beneficial to the PEOPLE's Liberation Army, or peacefully resolve the civil war, they can be dismissed.
However, Zhang Zhizhong's side believed that although war criminals should be punished, there was no need to nominate them, and in the final analysis, he was still trying to help Chiang Kai-shek save his reputation.
The other is the issue of crossing the river; as long as the proposal put forward by the Kuomintang delegation is in the interests of both sides, most of the CPC can accept it, but this "rule by river" resolutely disagrees, and there is no room for bargaining at all.
This could make Zhang Zhizhong feel difficult, and he could not make a decision alone, so he consulted with Premier Zhou and wrote to Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi to try to make them make concessions again.
But as a result, both Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi overestimated the Nationalist government at this time, and instead of considering the current strength of the two parties from a practical point of view, they even wanted to bargain, so the negotiations entered a stage of stagnation.
Here, knowing that the Kuomintang's attitude was still so arrogant, Chairman Mao publicly published an article in the Xinhua News Agency, attacking the Delegation of the Nanjing Government: "Whether you sign an agreement accepting the eight conditions or not, the People's Liberation Army will always advance!" The implication was to inform the Kuomintang that the Chiang dynasty would eventually collapse, and that their only way out was to move closer to the people.
After that, the atmosphere between the Kuomintang and the Communist delegation became more and more awkward, and Zhang Zhizhong repeatedly consulted with the REPRESENTATIVEs of the CPC and the Democratic Representatives, at least not to make the signing of the contract like a surrender, so that they could get by on their faces.
However, when discussing the issue of war criminals and crossing the river, even their delegations often quarreled, and their opinions were never unified, and they refused to make concessions.
On April 13, the first talks between the Kuomintang and the Communists officially began, at which Premier Zhou carefully explained the Draft Internal Peace Agreement. First of all, the entire responsibility for the war should be borne by the Nanjing government, which should be placed at the beginning of the article, and it is also a document to ensure future domestic peace.
As for the issue of punishing war criminals, the main war criminals must be punished, and the more than two hundred Japanese war criminals who were previously released by the Nationalist Government in Nanjing must also come back and deal with them again.
After Premier Zhou finished speaking, Zhang Zhizhong raised objections to some of the contents of the draft, such as some of the irritating words in the previous article, such as "betrayal", "rebellion", and "punishment of war criminals", etc., it is best to change and delete.
When talking about the transfer of power, he also said that it was not appropriate for the Nanjing government to become an organ under the jurisdiction of the People's Revolutionary Military Commission, hoping that the CPC side would give more consideration.
In the next two days, the delegations of the two sides discussed the content of the draft again, and the Chinese Communists also made some concessions. Finally, on the 15th, the "Internal Peace Agreement" was finalized and immediately sent to the Nanjing government delegation.
At more than nine o'clock in the evening, the representatives of the two sides held a second meeting, at which Premier Zhou solemnly stated: "Limit the reply of the Kuomintang government in Nanjing to the 20th of this month, and if we cannot get the agreement signed by then, then we will only have to cross the river and cannot delay it any longer." ”
The meaning of the Chinese Communists at this time is already very clear, and whether a peace agreement is reached or not only determines whether the PLA will cross the river by force or peacefully.
After listening to Premier Zhou's words, Zhang Zhizhong also suddenly felt that there was no point in arguing about the details anymore, so he slowly stood up and made a long speech from a personal standpoint: "There is an old saying in China called brothers, friends, brothers, and brothers, and the struggle between the kuomintang and the communist party is like a dispute between brothers, the eldest brother can't manage the family well, let the younger brother manage, in the past, although the brother was wrong, he felt ashamed, but the younger brother was able to take up, the older brother also felt honored, and even helped him to do a good job." ”
Zhang Zhizhong and Premier Zhou
As soon as Zhang Zhizhong's "brother theory" was finished, the people present also had different expressions, but Premier Zhou could no longer bear it at this time, and he shot up on the spot and said indignantly to Zhang Zhizhong: "Have you treated us like brothers?" Since 1927, your Kuomintang has killed thousands of Communists, and this account must be calculated by the people! ”
Premier Zhou believes that in the case of the actions of chiang kai-shek's government in the past two decades and in the past two years, it is not a fraternal struggle, but a struggle between revolution and counter-revolution, and the Chinese Communist Party must maintain its seriousness in this regard.
Seeing that Premier Zhou, who had always been gentle and elegant, was so angry, and the atmosphere at the meeting became awkward in an instant, Zhang Zhizhong hurriedly apologized to Premier Zhou, saying that his words were not very accurate, so that the meeting could continue.
In the end, during the talks, Zhang Zhizhong said that in principle he could accept the draft, but he would first ask Nanjing for a reply, so the next day, he sent Huang Shaohu and Qu Wu back to persuade Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, and the Kuomintang elders and the presidents of the Five Yuan.
Bai Chongxi and Li Zongren
Before they left, Premier Zhou specially attended the scene to send them off, and he instructed the two not to ask Chiang Kai-shek, but preferably to sign it by Li Zongren.
But what was unexpected was that when the already drawn up peace agreement reached the Nanjing government, it immediately caused a huge internal reaction, some people thought that it was making them surrender unconditionally, and Li Zongren was even more disappointed.
He thought that this was not the same as he had expected before, at the same time, Huang Shaohu was also severely reprimanded by Bai Chongxi, and he angrily said to the person in front of him: "It is difficult for you, such conditions can even be brought back?" ”
When the peace agreement reached Chiang Kai-shek, he even slapped the table on the spot and scolded Zhang Zhizhong for being incompetent, and he also commented bitterly that the Nanjing delegation accepted to convey this matter: "It was done by those who are extremely sincere and shameless."
Chiang Kai-shek
Immediately afterward, Chiang Kai-shek did not care to consider Li Zongren's attitude, and directly summoned Chiang Ching-kuo and ordered him to issue an edict to the generals at the front: "Let Tang Enbo give me a good fight, and we must guard the natural danger of the Yangtze River!" Tell Bai Chongxi again that the peace talks have broken down, and central China is all dependent on him! ”
Soon, Li Zongren, who received the news, called Zhang Zhizhong and said that he refused to accept the amendment and did not agree to the People's Liberation Army crossing the river, and at this point, the Peking Peace Talks officially broke down.
At the same time, they also informed the Nanjing government delegation to evacuate quickly, but unexpectedly, the rest of the people, including Zhang Zhizhong, chose to stay in Beiping to support the Communist Party and side with the people.
On April 21, Chairman Mao and President Zhu issued an order to march to the whole country, urging the People's Liberation Army to resolutely, thoroughly, and cleanly annihilate all Kuomintang reactionaries in China who dared to resist and liberate all of China.
So in the next few months, the People's Liberation Army continued to break through, successively defeating the Kuomintang troops defending along the river, liberating Nanjing, Wuhan, Shanghai, Fujian, Xinjiang and even Chongqing provinces.
On October 1 of the same year, Chairman Mao, together with a group of CCP leaders and democrats, announced the official founding of the People's Republic of China on the tower of Tiananmen Square.
Seeing that the general trend of the National Government had gone, and there was no room for turning back, Li Zongren quickly flew to the United States with his family on the grounds of medical treatment.
As for Chiang Kai-shek, he was unable to defend Chengdu and fled to Taiwan in a hurry, and since then, the Kuomintang's reactionary rule on the mainland has been completely overthrown.