The death of the Great Leader on September 9, 1976.
On September 10, Hou Zhilu, a 68-year-old member of the brigade of Dayanan Village, Jiangtun Commune, Teng County, Shandong Province, was isolated and examined for tearing up the 20-cent RMB that fellow villager Zhang × Ruan had bought vegetables from him in the vegetable field in front of his Home.
September 11, Dayanan Village brigade reported the situation to the commune and explained the situation, and strongly requested the higher authorities to arrest Hou Zhiru; the same day, the Jiangtun Commune Party Committee decided to arrest Hou Zhiru according to the law and reported to the county Public Security Bureau.
On September 12, the Teng County Public Security Bureau approved the arrest.
September 13, Teng County County Party Committee agreed with the Public Security Bureau and agreed to the arrest.
In just four days, Hou Zhilu fell from the sky to the ground and was branded as an active counter-revolutionary and began a Life of labor and reform. From the conclusion of this “case”, the reason for being branded as an active counter-revolutionary was that “when our great leader Chairman passed away, he tore up the RMB, thinking that the RMB could not be spent, and he had particularly serious thoughts of expecting Chiang, which was of a serious nature and caused great public anger.
Hou Zhilu in the first interrogation and Zhang × Ruan was interrogated told the story: September 10 at 2 pm, the same village Zhang × Hong’s Family to entertain people because they invited people to play stove, so his brother Zhang × Ruan went to Hou Zhilu’s house to buy a few cucumbers, Hou Zhilu is not specialized in selling vegetables, just a few ditch cucumbers planted in the field, usually neighbors to buy also generally do not charge, this Time, Hou Zhilu is also not prepared to collect money But Zhang × Ruan or hard to throw 20 cents to him, Hou said: “no money, here, do not want me to tear it”, Zhang did not want, turned around and took the cucumbers and left, Hou Zhilu then gambled on this may affect the rest of his life of 20 cents torn thrown in the field. This should be the end of the matter, perhaps according to the current view, may also be considered a matter of courtesy between neighbors. But the subsequent development of the matter is completely unexpected.
Zhang left, Hou Zhilu feel not quite right, rushed to the field of the torn two cents picked back, hidden in the matchbox, from their own money to take two cents sent back to the Zhang family, but it was too late, Zhang home has been Hou torn money told his brother Zhang × Hong, in the class struggle as the platform of the era, plus Zhang × Hong is also a village cadres, awareness is relatively high, so when Hou sent money back to the Zhang brothers Naturally, the Zhang brothers did not stop there, but to the field to find, not coincidentally, found by Hou missed a corner of the torn 20 cents. The evidence was conclusive and Hou Zhilu was transferred to the team headquarters of Dayanan Village for interrogation.
This is the initial interrogation and questioning of the two sides described, in a strong political atmosphere, in the powerful people’s dictatorship organs under the offensive, and perhaps there may be some kind of intention to prompt, the answer to the later interrogation and the initial interrogation is completely two answers, but from the interrogation records can be seen Hou Zhilu old man helpless, the following is the record of the interrogation on October 10, 1976, is also in the archival materials The last interrogation.
Q: Hou Zhilu, how have you been thinking about it these days?
A: In the past few days, I have been thinking about my dissatisfaction with the new society.
Q: Tell me about it!
A: I am dissatisfied with the planting of 40 acres of cotton and planting apple trees, I think more Food community members to share more food more good, and planting apples community members can not eat.
Q: Tell me more.
A: usually work hot days, I do not go to work, the captain criticized. The captain sent or sometimes asked me to plan the ground, I think the work is heavy. These I am dissatisfied with the captain.
Q: Tell me more.
A: The first few months of the team divided the small pig seedlings, I was divided a small, no one wants it, give me it, I gave the captain a quarrel, why people do not take the small, give me the small, I am dissatisfied with the captain.
Q: You are dissatisfied with the captain, how can you link to the new society?
A: I have no opinion about the reality of the new society.
Q: dig your reactionary ideological roots!
A: I tear the yuan on the thought that Chairman Mao died, the yuan is useless, when tearing.
Q: Why did you tear the yuan?
A: I am dissatisfied with the new society and have a change of mind.
Q: How are you dissatisfied with the new society?
A: To the team to set seeds, such as corn in the wheat field, the wheat are overwhelmed, I remember a few times. I keep the old method of planting, I do not understand the scientific planting.
Q: Tell us about your reactionary ideas!
A: I remembered that when I was a quartermaster in the 421 regiment of the 73rd Division of the 35th Nationalist Army, everyone bought my account, and I was able to be in charge when I said one thing, but now no one listens to me, and I am not satisfied.
Q: Tell us about your bad thoughts in recent years.
A: On the death of the President, the money is useless.
Q: What ideas guide you?
A: My change of mind, is still want to be like in the past, I say a sentence, people can buy my account.
Q: to its policy Education ……
A: My bad thoughts, or dissatisfied with the new society, some systems such as rural work, etc., I am dissatisfied and can not see.
Q: and then confess!
A: usually see the village cadres are reluctant to talk more, it (give) look down on them as well.
Q: You look down on the cadres.
A: I despise them.
Q: How do you despise?
A: I think they are inferior to me.
Q: What is inferior to you?
A: (No words)
Q: Continue to confess.
A: I’ve confessed all my bad thoughts! I think that when I was an official in the past, I said one thing, that now is not as good as then, the President died, the yuan is useless, I just tore.
Q: Tell me more!
A: No.
Q: Go back and think about it.
A: Yes.
The text is recorded here, some crying and laughing, Hou Zhilu can be said to dig out his decades of bad “ideas” together, even the village cadres of certain behavioral dissatisfaction also admitted to social dissatisfaction, and the interrogators are really no way, no longer digging deeper what can only say I don’t know what else Hou Zhilu can tell us, but he can only say things like “tell us more” and “go back and think about it”.
According to the view of the people’s dictatorship, Hou Zhilu’s move to tear up the 20 cents was an act to vent his discontent with the new society, and such a reactionary act was motivated, long-planned, and had its own history. A look at Hou Zhilu’s experience before he was 68 years old shows why the dictatorship would be on the line for such a thing.
Born in 1909.
started studying before 1918, including two years at the county higher school.
studied for six months in 1927 at the Jinan Dongliuang Military Implementation School, run by warlord Zhang Zongchang
began farming at home in 1931.
in 1933, defected to Fu Zuoyi troops, in the 35th Army (army commander Fu Zuoyi) 421 regiment (leader Sun Lanfeng, the same village) staff sergeant quartermaster, second lieutenant quartermaster, captain quartermaster and other positions.
He returned home after the Taiyuan Defense War in 1938, and during the period from 1941, he worked at home as a farmer, ran a small business, joined Du Guangdian’s guerrillas, and worked as a secretary in Long Zhenbiao’s unit.
After 1942, he worked as a clerk in the pseudo-Yutai county government for two years.
serving as a section clerk in the Teng County Government of the Kuomintang in 1946.
from 1947 to 1953, working at home as a farmer.
From 1953 to 1969, he wrote lecture notes and engraved wax plates at Wuhan University and Wuhan Institute of Water Conservancy and Electric Power, and worked as a custodian at the cement factory of the Institute of Water Conservancy and Electric Power, and then as a clerk at the Wuchang Jiekou Washing and Dyeing Company.
He was repatriated to his hometown in 1969 when the population of large cities was evacuated nationwide until the time of the incident.
From the above 68 years of Hou Zhilu’s life, we can see that he had a historical stain. Although his family was classified as a poor peasant during the land reform, his personal composition was classified as a pseudo-non-permanent element. Before the mid-1960s, his life was relatively good, but after the mid-1960s, with the proliferation of ultra-leftist thinking and the tightening of the strings of class struggle, his good days were over. From the archival materials, in order not to miss a reactionary, Teng County went to Wuhan from 1964 to investigate his situation and was interrogated several times, and the Red Guard rebels in Wuhan during the Cultural Revolution had also outwardly transferred his situation. In 1969, due to the international situation, the country’s major cities began to evacuate their populations, and Hou Zhilu, who was not of good composition, was sent back to his hometown first. After he returned to his hometown, he was interrogated several times and asked to confess his problems. The people’s dictatorship, which had never let down its guard against him, could not afford to let him go, for he dared to take the risk of tearing up the RMB 20 cents, just when the whole country was immersed in great sorrow. I have not seen his case in the archives after October 1976, but I believe that with the correction of the extreme leftist trend, his life would be better.
How big was the trouble caused by the 20 cents? For Hou Zhilu as an individual, I am afraid it can be measured, but for the whole nation, the trouble caused by the 20 cents is much bigger.
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