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going west along chang'an avenue from tiananmen square, you can see a two-story-high red wall on the north side of the road, stretching for hundreds of meters. it looks particularly solemn and majestic under the reflection of green trees and red lanterns. inside the red wall is zhongnanhai, which covers an area of ​​more than 1,500 acres.

zhongnanhai was originally a royal banquet resort. after the founding of new china, it became the office of the party central committee and the state council, and the political core of china. zhongnanhai is not open to the public. the tall flagpole and majestic sentinel in front of xinhua gate make zhongnanhai full of mystery.although we often hear the name of zhongnanhai, we cannot easily walk through this gate, and we can't help but be curious about the daily life of the leaders inside.

zhongnanhai

busy daily work

when beijing was peacefully liberated and the central government just moved to beijing, chairman mao had been working in the shuangqing villa in xiangshan. he believed that communists should not live in the palace of feudal emperors, so he was unwilling to move into zhongnanhai. although zhongnanhai was still large and shady with green trees, it was actually dilapidated, overgrown with weeds, and desolate. the mud in the water was so deep that it could cover the thighs.after ye jianying and others took over beijing, they carried out large-scale renovations on zhongnanhai to provide it with basic office and living conditions.

afterwards, the politburo held a special meeting to discuss the issue of the central government moving into zhongnanhai. premier zhou convinced chairman mao with two reasons: first, safety. at that time, the kuomintang spies were still rampant, and zhongnanhai had a natural advantage; second, it could be centralized, which would help improve work efficiency.

chairman mao

therefore, the main reason for leaders to move into zhongnanhai is for work, and work has become the top priority in their daily lives.at the beginning of the founding of new china, there was a lot of work to be done, and the leaders in zhongnanhai worked almost day and night. compared with them, the "996" criticized by young people today is nothing compared to them.the staff of zhongnanhai have a deep understanding of this. there is no concept of working hours or saturdays and sundays here, and the work is busy regardless of day or night. chairman mao was a famous "night owl". he had to finish the things he didn't finish during the day at night. the key is that there were always things that could not be finished. because there were too many things that needed to be taken care of by him, the staff around him had to work around the clock.

chairman mao

premier zhou was busy all his life and could be said to be the busiest person in zhongnanhai. he worked more than 12 hours a day, and was even busier during holidays. during his busiest days, he worked for more than 30 hours before taking a break.sometimes he stayed up too late and felt a little hungry, but he couldn't bear to wake up the staff, so he took out some peanuts to fill his stomach. when he finished all the work and walked out of the office, it was already dawn.according to ji dengkui's son ji pomin's recollection, his father's work and rest schedule was to get up at 12 noon. after washing up, he spent an hour reading newspapers such as the people's daily and processing some documents prepared by his secretary in the morning. after eating "breakfast", he went to the office to work and got off work and went home around 12 o'clock in the evening. after eating "dinner", he continued to deal with a large number of documents brought back, and sometimes he had to be busy until five in the morning before he could go to bed. in order to keep up with the work progress of the leaders, the general office of the central committee became the most difficult department. li xin, deputy director of the general office, once said:"i have to work four shifts every day and i have never had a quiet meal at home."

premier zhou

among the leaders in zhongnanhai, there was another busy man, marshal ye jianying. ye jianying was the mayor of beiping and the director of the military control commission at the time. faced with the "mess" left by the kuomintang, he had too many things to do. just cleaning up the garbage gave him a headache. the garbage next to tiananmen square piled up into a mountain, almost three stories high. the weeds on tiananmen square were also half a person tall. ye jianying took charge of the establishment of the "cleaning movement committee" to govern the dirty, messy and poor conditions in the capital. at the same time, it was necessary to appease the people's hearts as soon as possible and restore the social order in the capital. as the saying goes, "the more capable, the more work", chairman mao asked him to lead the bandit suppression work in south china.therefore, ye jianying was very busy every day.

ye jianying

once, on new year's eve, premier zhou was still convening a meeting, which lasted until nine o'clock in the evening. marshal ye, who was sitting next to him, could not help but make a suggestion to the premier:"prime minister, today is the spring festival. can you give everyone half a day off?"premier zhou looked up at everyone's expectant eyes and said with rare candor:"okay, let's go back and celebrate the new year!"finally, the leaders returned home before 10 pm, which was rare, and had a reunion meal of dumplings with their long-awaited families. the daily life of the leaders in zhongnanhai is mainly work. they adhere to the concept of "worrying about the world first", working day and night to lead the new china to get back on track as soon as possible and enter the road of rapid development.

premier zhou

simple daily life

in some palace dramas, the princes and nobles eat delicacies from the mountains and the sea, wear silk and satin every day, and live a luxurious and comfortable life. however, the daily life of the leaders in zhongnanhai is quite different, and is extremely simple. when premier zhou's niece zhou bingde first entered zhongnanhai, she exclaimed:“life here is too simple!”in terms of diet, chairman mao's standard working meal was "four dishes and one soup". usually, he mainly ate vegetarian dishes such as chinese cabbage, water spinach, peppers, and bitter melon fried with black beans. he would add braised pork or steamed fish once or twice a week to improve his life. the staple food was coarse grain rice made of brown rice with some sweet potatoes and beans. during the three difficult years, chairman mao took the lead in not eating meat, and the leaders in zhongnanhai and the people outside the red wall shared the hard times.

chairman mao

liu shaoqi's lunch usually consisted of two plates of light side dishes, rarely meat. what he didn't finish at noon would be continued at night. one night, liu shaoqi found that the bitter melon left over from lunch was not served. the waiter replied that there were only a few slices left, so they threw it away. liu shaoqi said distressedly:"what a pity! we can't waste the fruits of the working people's labor!"seeing that liu shaoqi often worked until late at night before eating dinner, the staff was worried that leftovers would lead to malnutrition. so they applied to the organization for a 50-cent night meal allowance every day. when liu shaoqi learned about this, he said to the staff seriously:"i am responsible for my own life. even if i live frugally, i have to return the subsidy to the government!"the leaders in zhongnanhai maintain a style of saving food and living a frugal and simple life when it comes to eating. they don't eat an extra bite of meat or spend a penny of public money.

liu shaoqi

zhu de's working meal was sweet potato rice with "three dishes and one soup", mainly vegetarian dishes and kimchi. zhu de and his wife's food ration was only 26 kilograms. as there were many people in the family, it was inevitable that there were too many people and too little porridge, and some of the children were not full. zhu de embarked on the road of self-reliance. he reclaimed wasteland and planted vegetables in the courtyard, which not only improved his family's life, but also benefited the staff. the courtyards of other people's houses were full of flowers, while zhu's courtyard was full of fragrant fruits and vegetables, which became an interesting story in the zhongnanhai courtyard.

zhu de

during the spring festival of 1961, premier zhou invited staff and relatives in beijing to the west flower hall for a new year's eve dinner. the guests were seated at three large tables. when the meal started, only steamed buns and millet porridge were served. nephew zhou baozhang was somewhat puzzled, and deng yingchao explained earnestly:"these are all good things. new china was built with millet and rifles. only because the revolution led by chairman mao was successful can we eat meat buns!"

deng yingchao

the leaders also practiced strict economy in clothing. according to tian atong, who made clothes for chairman mao:"chairman mao didn't have high requirements for clothes. he was never picky and wore whatever he had. he liked to wear gray zhongshan suits."premier zhou's clothes were mended the most. once, premier zhou brought a coat and asked tian atong to mend it for him. tian atong saw that it was really torn and old, so he said:"i think i'd better make you a new one?"the prime minister insisted on repairing it, so tian atong had to dismantle the coat and rework it. after premier zhou put it on, he said happily:"isn't this great? it's almost as good as new!"

premier zhou

in terms of housing, the leaders of zhongnanhai generally have their own small courtyards, which are equivalent to single-family villas today. however, these houses are relatively old, and repairs are commonplace. although the furniture in the house is provided by the government, other facilities are relatively backward, with almost no electrical appliances. on hot days, they have to fan themselves with cattail leaves to cool off.it was not until the early 1970s that the hospital was equipped with refrigerators, televisions and other items.in addition to the leaders' own families, each courtyard also has guards, secretaries, drivers, cooks and others living together, giving it a very lively and crowded feel.

chairman mao's courtyard

although the living experience is better than that of most people outside, it is still a far cry from the feeling of living in a villa now. if there is one thing that is special, it is in terms of transportation. the leaders of zhongnanhai usually have special cars to pick them up when they travel, and they don’t have to ride bicycles or squeeze into buses. but this privilege is limited to the person himself, and his family members do not have this convenience, and the family members are accustomed to it. once, when school was over, liu shaoqi’s driver went to school to pick up the child after finishing his business. when liu shaoqi learned about it, he severely criticized the staff:"the politburo has stipulated that family members cannot ride in special cars. how can we not comply? we cannot let our children develop a sense of privilege!"

liu shaoqi

in terms of culture and entertainment, the dance party in chunouzhai in zhongnanhai is the best relaxing activity for leaders. chairman mao usually walked out of his office after 10 o'clock in the evening to chunouzhai to relax his tense brain with the light and beautiful dance music. chairman mao likes to take big steps when dancing and does not pay attention to stepping on the dance points. after dancing for more than an hour, he still goes back to the office to continue working. some open-air movies are also shown regularly in zhongnanhai. the screening time is after 10 o'clock in the evening. the leaders who are off work take the opportunity to change their brains and relax. the family members also brought stools from home to join in the fun. for the children, this is a good welfare. it can be seen that the leaders of zhongnanhai have nothing special in their daily life such as clothing, food, housing, and transportation. there is not much difference between them and ordinary people outside the red wall, not to mention the extravagant life of the feudal emperors in ancient times.

chairman mao

you have to live your life calculatively

in the eyes of ordinary people, the leaders in zhongnanhai care about national affairs every day, so they should not have to worry about daily firewood, rice, oil and salt, right? this is not the case. since 1955, the distribution system of cadres in my country has been changed from the supply system to the salary system, and a 24-level salary system has been implemented. the leaders in zhongnanhai have higher levels and relatively higher salaries, but they also have a lot of expenses. if you don't budget carefully, you will also be stretched to the limit.except for guards, chefs and other civil servants who are dispatched by the state and do not need to be paid, most other expenses have to be paid by oneself.in 1960, chairman mao proposed a "salary cut" proposal. the higher the rank, the greater the cut. chairman mao, liu shaoqi, premier zhou, zhu de and others saw their monthly salary reduced to 404.8 yuan.

guard

chairman mao and premier zhou were fine, but liu shaoqi and zhu de had many families, and their lives were obviously tight. their wives had to keep accounts every day. the children took their rice bowls and food coupons to the canteen to get food to save money, because in the canteen, they could get a small dish of dried radish or peanuts and other side dishes for a few cents. when ji dengkui first came to beijing to work, the staff of the central logistics department told him that the monthly rent was 150 yuan. his wife was furious on the spot:"my monthly salary is only 170 yuan. how can i have money for food after paying the rent?"after coordination, the organization approved the charging of 30 yuan. when hua guofeng, who was also a level 9 cadre, came to beijing, he paid 150 yuan in rent. when he walked into the house, he didn't even have a radio or a bicycle. the food that the cooks had to buy every day was paid from the leaders' salaries.

ji dengkui

there are special supply stores in zhongnanhai. the prices there are similar to those outside, but the quality of the dishes is better, the variety is richer, and you can buy some goods that are not available outside. however, all kinds of consumption also require money. there are many leaders in zhongnanhai, and naturally there are many meetings to be held every day. during the meeting, people feel dry mouth and tongue, so they can't avoid drinking water or tea. over time, the consumption of tea is a considerable expense. in 1958, premier zhou set a rule:"only boiled water is provided free of charge during the meeting. if you want to add tea leaves, you have to pay 20 cents."during a meeting, chen yun habitually asked for tea, but he didn't have any money with him, so he had to go out and borrow two dimes from his secretary to avoid embarrassment. chairman mao spent the most on tea, spending more than 30 yuan a month. in order to save money, he often held meetings in his own juxiang book house and used his own tea to entertain everyone for free.

juxiang book house

later, when the leaders went out for inspection, they brought this rule to the local areas. some old cadres were reluctant to spend this money, and had to ask the waiter for boiled water before the meeting. li xiannian often called everyone for a meeting on the eve of the preparations for the fourth national people's congress. one day, he was busy until more than one in the morning, and li xiannian felt a little guilty, so he invited everyone to drink coffee to refresh themselves. each cup of coffee was priced at 40 cents, and 30 people spent 12 yuan on li xiannian. everyone was extravagant for once and satisfied their "foreign addiction". the open-air movies in zhongnanhai are free, but watching movies in the cinema in the small auditorium costs money. the small auditorium will show one or two movies a week, and the ticket price is 20 cents per ticket. if two movies are shown together that night, the ticket price is 30 cents. whether it is chairman mao, premier zhou or ordinary staff, everyone consciously buys tickets to enter and sits in the seats according to their numbers.

li xiannian

according to the description of the people who visited zhongnanhai:“the environment of zhongnanhai is quite good, but it is not much different from beihai park.”the only difference is the division of labor. several generations of zhongnanhai leaders have been thinking and working here, leading the people of the country to work hard, which has brought about the vigorous development and prosperity of new china. they have created extraordinary miracles in their seemingly ordinary lives. time flies, the times are progressing, and the big words "serve the people" inside xinhua gate will always exist in the hearts of the zhongnanhai leaders.

references

“zhongnanhai past: leaders took the initiative to cut their salaries, liu shaoqi and zhu de had “tight living expenses”,” outlook weekly, july 6, 2015;

“unveiling the cultural life of national leaders in zhongnanhai”, phoenix.com, april 3, 2012;

yu jundao, leaders behind the red walls, social sciences academic press, june 1, 2013.