As early as the early 1960s, Lin Biao reminded himself that he had to follow the “three no’s” and “three yes’s” to Mao: “1, do not interfere with people’s determination (to avoid being responsible), 2, do not criticize (to avoid the suspicion of competing for leadership), 3, do not report bad news ( To respond, to praise, to report good news”, and “to know that it is not reasonable, but that things are urgent and follow each other”. Ye Qun recorded one of Lin Biao’s conversations: “All things are inferior, but only the interests are high”, “leaving the interests, everything can not be seen, is the first of a thousand articles”. “To take the big support, the big smooth as a general trick, to imitate En (Gus) in Ma (Kes), St (Stalin) in Lenin, Chiang (Kai-shek) in Sun (Zhongshan), follow the turn, is the big trick. To follow in the same footsteps, get one person and get the world”. Lin Biao’s notes also read: “What is a great contemporary figure? The representative of the number one interest (the answerer)”, “Whoever does not tell lies will have to collapse, and whoever does not tell lies will not be able to do great things.” Lin Biao also warned himself: do not forget the “ancient policy” – “the Lord first after the minister, do not be the first to seize the first”, that is, never first, “how Chairman Mao said, I will do. I will do”.
In 1966, when the 11th Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee was held, Lin Biao was recuperating in Dalian. It was only after Mao Zedong had his secretary call and was accompanied by Air Force Commander Wu Fa Xian that he returned to Beijing on August 6. On the face of it, Lin was reluctant to go out, and it was only after Mao repeatedly asked him to do so. But Mao saw very clearly that Lin Biao’s behavior over the past few years was not that of an “old monk in meditation, with all the four great things empty”. Lin Biao, who lived in the Zhejiang Hall of the Great Hall of the People, bowed to Mao when he saw him, saying that he was ill and did not want to take up his new post. Mao Zedong was furious and scolded Lin Biao: “You want to be the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!” (Ming Shizong was the Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty, a devout Taoist who was not involved in politics.) He sternly rebuked Lin Biao: “It’s a lie that you don’t want to get involved in the movement!” It should be said that Mao’s eyesight was accurate.
In Mao’s advance preparation for launching the Cultural Revolution, it was extremely important to win Lin Biao’s support. In order to meet Lin Biao’s demands, Mao knocked down Luo Ruiqing, who had been loyal to him for a long time, in December 1965, but Mao abandoned Luo Ruiqing not only for Lin Biao, but also for his personal consideration, which was that Luo Ruiqing got very close to Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping and the central front after 1962. in January 1965, Luo Ruiqing was added as vice chairman of the National Defense Commission by the Third National People’s Congress chaired by Liu Shaoqi, who also promised to Luo, such as Lin Biao’s poor health, or Luo to take over Lin’s class, in Mao’s view, these are Liu Shaoqi in digging his own corner. On December 1, 1965, Mao and Lin had a secret talk in Hangzhou, most likely to give Lin a “line of inquiry”, and a few days later, on December 8, Mao suddenly ordered an extended meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee in Shanghai to quickly solve the problem of Luo. Immediately after this, Mao asked Lin Biao to reciprocate by ordering Jiang Qing to “invite the gods” to Lin Biao, convene a forum on literature and art for the troops, and add “commissioned by Comrade Lin Biao” in his own handwriting to the minutes of the forum on literature and art for the troops chaired by Comrade Jiang Qing to pull Lin Biao aboard.
Lin Biao not only understood Mao’s intention to launch the Cultural Revolution, but also gave active cooperation. In order to shock the Central Committee, Lin Biao delivered a speech at the enlarged meeting of the Politburo on May 18, 1966, four years after the “Seven Thousand People Conference”, Lin Biao once again made a big report to the whole party. In his speech, Lin Biao developed Mao’s view that the revisionists were going to stage a coup and frightened the whole party, achieving the purpose of “Qubai scaring the showman”, but he did not expect Mao to have some reservations about his speech. The letter to Jiang Qing was forwarded to Lin Biao through Zhou Enlai. When he was criticized for speaking for Mao, Lin Biao’s “loyalty” was poured on his head and he refused to go to the mountain, but finally accepted Mao’s order.
However, Mao was still not completely at ease with Lin Biao, so in September 1966, he asked Lin Biao to read the biography of Guo Jia in the “Three Kingdoms” and the biography of Fan Ye in the “Book of Song” at the Great Hall of the People, and admonished Lin Biao with ancient history. Guo Jia was a strategist of Cao Cao, who helped Cao Cao break Yuan Shao with great merits and died young at the age of 38. Fan Ye was a native of Song in the Southern Dynasty and the author of the Book of Later Han. 420, Liu Yu became the emperor in place of Jin and the state was called Song. Fan Ye served as a minister of war outside the Shang Shu, but he was often demoted due to his arrogant character. Due to his arrogant character, he was often demoted from his post. Liu Yu’s younger brother, Liu Yikang, the king of Pengcheng, had been in power for a long time, and was suspected by Emperor Wen of Song. In the seventeenth year of Yuanjia (440), Emperor Wen of Song killed and exiled more than ten of Liu Yikang’s close associates for the crime of “conspiring with the party and group, plotting and scheming”, and deposed Liu Yikang as the assassin of Jiangzhou. Liu Yikang was not willing to fail, so he tried to draw in Fan Ye to make him join him finally. In November of that year, when the rebellion broke out, someone informed Emperor Wen of Song that Fan Ye was the mastermind of the coup, so Fan Ye was beheaded for conspiracy in the 22nd year of Yuan Jia (466) at the age of 48.
Mao wanted Lin Biao to learn from Guo Jia and serve the Lord with one heart, and warned Lin Biao with the history that Fan Ye was finally involved in the conspiracy and was beheaded by his whole family. Two things can be seen from this: First, Mao did not trust anyone, and he still had quite deep suspicions about Lin Biao when he promoted him. Secondly, Mao was also frank, and this is how he warned Lin Biao to set his relationship right, which is that the relationship between Mao and him was that of ruler and subject. He took Fan Ye as an example and bluntly warned Lin Biao that the emperor was suspicious and that you should be cautious, otherwise you would end up in a bad place and have to scourge your descendants! These two points are the key to understanding the relationship between Mao and Lin during the Cultural Revolution.
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