Hi everyone Lhasa Montgomery here finishing up this CHP overview of the life of Premier Joe and Lai, one of history's great men and in the PRC at least one of the most beloved leaders of modern Chinese history.

You're gonna get about an episode and a half this time.

Hope you don't mind.

I'm only gonna charge you for a single episode.

We left off last time with the tragic story of Sun Wei Shear, Joe and Lai's adopted daughter who died

at the hands of a vengeful Jiang Ching.

You see, Mao may have thrown cold water on the red guards after they spiraled out of control and after they had served their purpose for Mao, but the terror continued.

There were still campaigns like cleansing the class ranks and the three loyalties and four boundless loves.

In the former, over 36 million people got persecuted and anywhere between 750,000 and a

million and a half were killed, many by their own hand.

The Red Guards were Jiang Ching's chief power base, so when Mao said they should all

disband and one by one they got sent down to the countryside?

Jiang Ching sort of lost her primary weapon of terror and authority.

The chief criticism I here directed against Joe and Lye was that he too willingly gave in to Mao's whims and never tried to organize any opposition to Mao.

The historical record is quite clear and from 1966 to 1969.

Joe and Lai waived that little red book as enthusiastically as the next believer.

He led rallies, made appearances with radicals, and exhibited nothing but the most fervent support for the Cultural Revolution.

To have done otherwise, who knows?

Joe and Lai always followed Mao and no matter if he was disposing of an old comrade or making a major speech, he always did the right thing.

That's what Mao liked about Joe. He was very stable and

reliable going back to the 1930s. Inside Mao knew Joe was lip-sinking to all

the propaganda, but as long as he outwardly showed the utmost loyalty

...