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In February 1954, before the Fourth Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee, Chen Geng called his secretary and said to him seriously: "Bring me my pistol."

Secretary Ren didn't know what was going on, but he felt that the situation might be serious because Commander Chen Geng had not touched the gun for a long time since he gave it to him for safekeeping.

After receiving the pistol, Chen Geng pulled the bolt skillfully, nodded with satisfaction, and said, "You have maintained the gun well. Give me another 20 rounds of bullets."

After Chen Geng loaded the gun, he walked into the yard with Song Renqiong and aimed at the chimney on the roof. Chen Geng's son Chen Zhijian was also there at the time, and Chen Geng said to him, "Look, Xiaojian." Then he pulled the trigger, and a brick on the chimney cracked. Then Chen Geng put the gun in his pocket, walked out of the yard with Song Renqiong, and went to the Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai to attend the meeting.

After the meeting, Chen Geng looked much more relaxed, and regained his previous carefree and humorous demeanor. Chen Geng called Secretary Ren again and handed him the gun and bullets. Secretary Ren did not dare to ask any more questions. He counted the bullets, and there were 19 bullets, not more or less, and the gun chamber was also clean.

For a long time, Secretary Ren did not know what Chief Chen Geng was doing with the gun, and why the humorous chief was so serious. It was not until later that he learned that Chief Chen Geng had gone to Zhongnanhai to attend a meeting to criticize Gao Gang. Not only did Chen Geng make a speech at the meeting, but Premier Zhou also personally arranged for Chen Geng to sit behind Gao Gang to prevent Gao Gang from doing anything irrational at the meeting.

The Fourth Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee was held from February 6 to 10, 1954. A total of 52 people attended the meeting. One of the important topics was to criticize Gao Gang's separatist activities. Chairman Mao was on vacation at the time and did not attend the meeting. With Premier Zhou's careful arrangement and proper consideration, the meeting ended smoothly and passed the "Resolution on Strengthening Party Unity" without any accidents.

According to the "Biography of Chen Geng", in 1953, Gao Gang was active everywhere. At that time, Chen Geng was on a business trip in Dalian, and Gao Gang came to see him and talk to him. Gao Gang knew that Chen Geng had some personal opinions on work, so he tried to win over Chen Geng and make him stand on his side.

As an old party member who joined the party in 1922, Chen Geng was keenly aware that Gao Gang had violated organizational discipline. After Gao Gang left, he immediately called Premier Zhou and reported Gao Gang's abnormal behavior.

At a later meeting, someone exposed Gao Gang's attempt to win over Chen Geng. Premier Zhou immediately stood up and said, "The first person to report Gao Gang's ambition to me was Chen Geng..." Premier Zhou told everyone about Chen Geng's report. The Biography of Chen Geng records that "Bo Yibo and Chen Geng immediately resolved their misunderstanding, and the relationship between the two old comrades became more harmonious."

After the Fourth Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee, Comrade Shaoqi was very satisfied with Chen Geng's performance and praised him, saying: "Although Chen Geng likes to joke around, he has a strong sense of organizational discipline!"

Chen Geng had a strong sense of party spirit and was disciplined. Premier Zhou, who had led Chen Geng for a long time, was very clear about this, so he gave him such a confidential and important task to complete.

According to Chen Geng's old comrade General Song Shilun's recollection:

On the eve of the Zunyi Conference that decided the fate of the Party and the Red Army, Premier Zhou personally ordered Chen Geng to lead a cadre group to protect the conference in order to ensure that the conference could proceed smoothly and safely. At that time, Premier Zhou told Chen Geng meaningfully: "You should protect the convening of this conference just like you protected the Party Central Committee in Shanghai."

When he was in Shanghai, Chen Geng used the alias "Wang Yong" and worked in the Central Special Branch under the leadership of Premier Zhou, serving as the chief of the Second Section of the Special Branch. During this period, Chen Geng personally commanded the Red Team to kill Bai Xin, the traitor who betrayed Comrade Peng Pai. Later, Gu Shunzhang defected, and Chen Geng left Shanghai and went to Tianjin to set up the Northern Special Branch.

This work experience in the Central Special Branch made Chen Geng pay great attention to the secrets of the Party and the country. He repeatedly emphasized to everyone at work that they must pay attention to confidentiality. At the 1956 All-Army Confidential Work Conference, Chen Geng told everyone a story:

During the second phase of the fifth campaign of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, the 180th Division of the 60th Army of the Volunteer Army was surrounded by the enemy. Our telegraph operators Zhao Guoyou and Wei Shanhong burned the code book together. At that time, the enemy's bullets and shells were fired at them. In the explosion, Wei Shanhong was wounded and rolled down the cliff. Zhao Guoyou was afraid that the code book was not burned through, so he insisted on holding a branch to fiddle with the code book in the fire until he was hit by several bullets and bled to death beside the fire.

"The head can be cut off, the blood can be shed, but the party's secrets cannot be lost!" Chen Geng used this story to warn everyone to do a good job of keeping confidentiality.

General Chen Geng was also a man of integrity and hatred of evil, which is why he could always identify ugliness and hypocrisy at a glance. Chen Geng was not only the first person to report Gao Gang's problems to Premier Zhou, but he also saw through Zhang Guotao very early.

During the Long March, before the Red First and Fourth Fronts joined, Chen Geng told Song Shilun: "Zhang Guotao is not a good guy." He reminded everyone to be careful of him. Chen Geng had worked in the Red Fourth Front Army for a period of time and served as a division commander, so he had a good understanding of Zhang Guotao.

Later, Zhang Guotao falsely accused Chen Geng in front of Premier Zhou, saying: "Chen Geng is Chiang Kai-shek's man. When he was captured, Chiang Kai-shek talked to him. He also saved Chiang Kai-shek's life." Premier Zhou was very clear about this history and ignored him.

After this, I don’t know whether Premier Zhou told Chairman Mao or Chairman Mao heard from others that Zhang Guotao was dissatisfied with Chen Geng, so he personally found Chen Geng and asked him to stay away from Zhang Guotao and avoid risks.

Chen Geng was indeed in danger at that time. According to Song Shilun's recollection, Zhang Guotao's chief of staff Li Te had specifically asked Song Renqiong, Mo Wenhua and others where Chen Geng had gone.

In 1959, Guo Moruo's play "Cai Wenji" was performed in Beijing, and Chen Geng went to see it. In one scene, Cao Cao's wife, Bian, mended a quilt that Cao Cao had used for ten years. Bian complained that Cao Cao was too frugal and was reluctant to change a quilt. Cao Cao said, "Many people in the world don't even have a quilt to cover themselves with. Having a quilt is already a great happiness."

Chen Geng disagreed and gave Guo Moruo his advice in person: "I think Cao Cao can fill out an application form to join the party, and Mr. Guo can be his introducer!" As soon as this was said, everyone burst into laughter.

In 1955, at a meeting to discuss the implementation of the military rank system, a leader proposed that our military ranks and uniforms should have national characteristics. Chen Geng retorted: "Then if each of us puts two bird-of-prey tail feathers on his head and carries four large flags on his back, will that be national?" Marshal Ye Jianying, who was present, was speechless because of Chen Geng's laughter.

General Chen Geng is sharp and humorous, carefree and principled. He seems careless but strictly abides by discipline. This is probably why everyone likes him.

According to Liu Juying, a founding major general, General Chen Geng was a man of great personality. Once, Chairman Mao summoned him for something, and Chen Geng drove straight to Zhongnanhai immediately after receiving the notice. At that time, the guards of Zhongnanhai did not recognize him and stopped him and refused to let him in. No matter how they tried to persuade him, it was useless. So Chen Geng asked the driver to go home.

Chairman Mao waited for a long time but did not see Chen Geng, so he called him again to ask about his situation. Chen Geng said, "I went there, but the guards said they would not let me in, so I had to come back." Chairman Mao got angry and told his secretary to do it immediately. In the future, no one was allowed to stop Chen Geng from going to Zhongnanhai.

Later, Harbin Institute of Technology had something to report to Premier Zhou, so Chen Geng asked Liu Juying to go to Zhongnanhai. Liu Juying said, "I can't enter Zhongnanhai with my identity!" Chen Geng said, "It doesn't matter, you can go in by taking my car." Liu Juying tried it and it worked.