The One Who Helped Make the Peaceful Liberation of Beiping Possible
In 1948, the political and military contest between the Nationalists and the Communists had reached its decisive hour. Mao Zedong, directing from behind the lines, laid out the Pingjin Campaign with the aim of "securing the surrender of the central government army without a fight." To that end the CCP's North China Bureau Urban Work Department (henceforth the City Work Department) instructed the Beiping underground Party to approach "people who could talk with Fu Zuoyi," so as to influence and to bring about a peaceful uprising by Fu — the commander-in-chief of the North China Suppression Headquarters.
When the underground Party organization in Beiping suffered severe damage, and was instructed from above to halt all activity and go fully to ground, Comrade Cui Yueli was given the task of making direct contact with Fu Zuoyi's trusted senior adviser, and of keeping the complete picture of Fu Zuoyi's movements. The assignment put him in the most dangerous position imaginable.
He established direct contact with Liu Houtong — "Lieutenant-General Chief Adviser" — who had been Fu Zuoyi's teacher at the Baoding Military Academy. Their relationship went back decades. Cui Yueli worked steadily on Liu Houtong to persuade Fu Zuoyi, telling Liu to tell Fu: following Chiang Kai-shek leads nowhere — Chiang has always destroyed those he cannot use; do not sell yourself to the Americans; cherish your own honorable history of resisting Japan and loving your country.
Cui Yueli said to Liu Houtong, earnestly: Make Mr. Fu understand — going back to Chahar and Suiyuan is no longer possible, and for Beiping, not fighting is not merely fewer dead and less destruction; it is the preservation of a great ancient cultural capital, which is in the interest of the people. To accept the peaceful liberation of Beiping would be a great service to the people — and the people will not forget it.
Through Cui Yueli, Liu Houtong came to understand and endorse the CCP's United Front policy. He went repeatedly to Fu Zuoyi on his own initiative and urged: be responsible for Beiping; be responsible for the common people. Liu Houtong worked for 85 days, with such strain and anxiety that his left eye went blind. Afterwards he was called "the Old Man of Peace."
In mid-December 1948, Comrade Cui Yueli entered formal negotiations with Fu Zuoyi's side as the representative of the Communist Party. While the negotiations continued, intelligence-gathering to support the talks also continued — through Deng Baoshan, deputy commander of the North China Suppression Headquarters, and through Fu Dongju, Fu Zuoyi's daughter.
On October 1, 1949 — the founding ceremony of the PRC — Comrade Cui Yueli, aged 29, ascended the Tiananmen rostrum as secretary to Peng Zhen, Party secretary of Beijing. In that capacity he saw Chairman Mao, and heard with his own ears Mao's solemn proclamation: "The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China has been founded!" — "The Chinese people have stood up, from this day on!" — "Long live the people!"