Although Hua Guofeng, who succeeded as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and "the great helmsman," in 1976, tried to carry on the Maoist rhetoric and to gain an authority like that of Mao's. He also allowed the rehabilitation of many of Deng's allies, who, calling for economic reform, then revolted against him. During the 1978 working conference held in November, preparing for the plenum, Chen Yun raised the "six issues"—Bo Yibo, Tao Zhu, Wang Heshou and Peng Dehuai; the 1976 Tiananmen Incident; and Kang Sheng’s errors—to undermine the leftists. At the same conference, Deng said it was necessary to go over ideological barriers.