Yuanxin also reported to Mao that the three vice premiers, Hua Guofeng, Ji Dengkui, and Chen Xilian, had requested that someone be named acting premier. (These three younger provincial leaders had been brought into the Politburo in 1973 with the expectation that they would later be leading candidates for higher positions.) Mao immediately replied that Hua should be given responsibility for leading the daily work of the party.
