Gao Gang's Manipulation of Chairman Mao

When word got back to Mao, that Gao Gang was cozying up to his Soviet chums and even revealing very sensitive party info, smoke started coming out of the Chairman's ears. In a style that would become all too familiar later on, Mao had supposedly told Gao casually that he was dissatisfied with Joe and Li and Liu Xiaoche and they weren't doing their jobs well. Now, after the Gao Gang affair, not too many people ever made this mistake again. But Gao took this to mean that Mao was giving him the go ahead to get rid of Joe and Liu. Behind the scenes, one on one lobbying with key party leaders, not being terribly discreet