young marshal spring and autumn

Although Duan Qirui's temporary ruling was only in name, it made some wandering figures from Anhui Province who had been down for a long time think that it was another chance to make a comeback.Among them, there is Xu Shuzheng, who was once an important person, Duan Qirui has always been regarded as his right-hand man, and is known as the "Little Fan Military Advisor".

After the defeat in the Zhiwan War, in order to prevent retaliation, Xu Shuzheng was sent abroad for "investigation". At that time, it was also a reasonable "placement" for politicians to step down.At this time, Xu Shuzheng, who had been disappearing from the political scene in China and had been active for a long time, finally couldn't hold back the distress of staying away from the political arena, and telegraphed Duan Qirui, intending to return to Beijing from Europe.

Since Xu Shuzheng shot and killed Feng Yuxiang's uncle Lu Jianzhang, Feng had to bear the burden of humiliation and stay away from the political center for a long time.Although Feng Yuxiang doesn't have enough soldiers and food, it is a piece of cake to deal with the unarmed Xu Shuzheng.

Duan Qirui knew that Feng Yuxiang would not let Xu Shuzheng go, of course he was afraid that his "soul" Xu Shuzheng would throw himself into the tiger's den.However, on December 12, Xu Shuzheng still arrived in Beijing, and held a public meeting with the head of state. At this time, Qirui was still the acting head of state and temporarily in power.Xu Shuzheng was forced to go abroad because of the failure of his activities to promote Duan Qirui's comeback by contacting Guangdong, Fenghui and Anhui to fight against the Straightforward. Zhang Zuolin is the core, and Duan Qirui is just a foil, far from being as popular as Duan Zhirui.As soon as he returned to China, he advocated the great alliance of the Beiyang faction and the unification of the military and government in the "National Unification Committee", which played into the hands of Zhang Zuolin and others, but also touched the most sensitive nerves in Feng Yuxiang's heart. Old hatred and new hatred came to his heart at the same time. He wanted to kill Xu Yi to vent his anger up.

Duan Qirui was aware of it, and hurriedly told him the dangerous situation in Beijing, and advised him to leave Beijing quietly.Xu Shuzheng didn't take it seriously: "I am the special envoy of the state, Feng Yuxiang just wants to make things difficult for me, so he can't touch me easily!" On the afternoon of December 12, Xu Shuzheng asked the executive government to prepare a special car for him, and then boarded the car to go to Tianjin.

He didn't know that Lu Jianzhang's son, Lu Chengwu, was ordered by Feng Yuxiang to sneak into Beijing with a pistol team for several days, but he never found a chance to assassinate Xu Shuzheng.Unexpectedly, Xu boarded the train bound for Tianjin, Feng Yuxiang decided to kill Xu Shuzheng openly!

Zhang Zhijiang, Feng Yuxiang's subordinate who was stationed on the Beijing-Tianjin line, received Feng's order to "stop Xu Shuzheng halfway and shoot him on the spot", and immediately led people to force the train to stop at Langfang Station.It was late at night, Xu Shuzheng had already fallen asleep, Zhang Zhijiang's adjutant got into the car twice to ask him to get off, but was excused by excuses, this guy really felt something was wrong.Zhang Zhijiang sent someone to the car to force him to invite him, so Xu Shuzheng put on a suit and a fur coat, and followed the people out of the car.As soon as Xu Shuzheng got out of the station, soldiers from the Zhang Shi Pistol Battalion swarmed up, dragged Xu to a nearby grove, shot him dead immediately, and stripped Xu Shuzheng of all his clothes.

In order to deal with public opinion, Lu Chengwu rushed from Beijing to Langfang overnight and announced to Xu's entourage: "I am Lu Chengwu, the son of Lu Jianzhang. Xu Shuzheng assassinated my father. Today I will avenge my father and kill Xu Shuzheng!" : "Your father was killed by Yang Yuting, don't make a mistake." Lu Chengwu said sharply: "I did not make a mistake, I avenged my father, and I am aboveboard."

He was right, and the public opinion in the official history is more sympathetic and attitude towards this. After all, it was Xu Shuzheng who violated the unspoken political rules first and killed Lu Jianzhang first.But in this time and space, Zhang Hanqing was in power, and the things that he had been thinking about for a long time had no chance were completely resolved after this incident.

The first to attack was "People's Daily". It published a headline on the front page the next day entitled "Feng's soldiers arbitrarily mobilized the army to kill the central government officials. How can the warlord power not be eliminated to defend the dignity of the country", launching pens against Zhang Zhijiang and Lu Chengwu. It also insinuated that this incident was instigated by Feng Yuxiang, or that Feng Zhi should be investigated for the crime of lax rule of the army, so as to comfort the world.

Then the propaganda agencies under the control of the People's Party played up the incident overwhelmingly. The rolling news broadcast method continued to discredit Feng Jun.Zhang's father and son conveyed the following message to Feng Yuxiang through various channels: Under the circumstances, Feng Yuxiang must resign to thank him, otherwise the central government will explicitly remove him from his post and prosecute his subordinates for committing crimes; To maintain the authority of the central government, we will not hesitate to crack down on it.

Although the princes from all walks of life are not interested in the Feng faction, and they all make friends with the Feng faction in private as an important bargaining chip against the central government, but in this case, Feng Yuxiang is wrong, and he must be responsible for his political short-sightedness.Under heavy pressure, Feng Yuxiang even prepared to resist with force.He secretly contacted Yan Xishan, preparing to attack the central government.

Yan Xishan also has this intention.As the Feng Clan gradually stabilized the country, some unstable elements in Jin Province either expressed their sincerity to the central government openly or secretly, and some generals under them gradually became more centrifugal.In this way, it won't be long before he doesn't need to be attacked by the army, and he himself will be scattered.Instead of doing this, it is better to wave your arms while the four sides are still not flat, or you can win a way out.

But Yan's behavior was not approved by his civil and military assistants.Yan Xishan's lifelong important advisers, the General Councilor, Zhao Daiwen, the principal of Shanxi National Normal University, and Shang Zhen, the first member of his staff, strongly opposed it.The National Normal University had a considerable status in Shanxi at that time, and its students were almost all over the government departments. Therefore, Zhao Daiwen was respected as "Mr. Most of the generals of the Sui Army went out of their homes."General Counselor, Director, Chief of Staff, one title after another, plus the 20-year life-and-death friendship with Yan Xishan, in this land of Shanxi, it can also be called "below one person, above ten thousand people", status It cannot but be called prominent.

Influenced by decades of traditional culture, Zhao Daiwen has a strong sense of loyalty to the emperor and love the people deep in his thoughts. He is loyal to his chief officer Yan Xishan, and he does not want Yan Xishan to "call chaos" and commit crimes. .I want to do everything I can to stop the chaos and reconcile, and eliminate the war.Therefore, during the period of negotiating state affairs in Beijing on behalf of Yan Xishan, Zhao Daiwen took the trouble and tried his best to do Yan Xishan's work.Beginning in January, Zhao Daiwen telegraphed Yan Xishan from Beijing, expressing his approval of his "going abroad with Feng".

Feng Yuxiang also sent Xue Dubi to see Zhao and state his opinions on Lianjin and Guidaofeng.When Zhao heard this, he was furious, stood up from his chair, threw a fine porcelain teacup with a lid, threw it on the ground, and said loudly: "You want to kill Yan Bochuan ("I" in Wutai dialect) Mile. 'Walking up and down the house, furious.Zhao Daiwen was anxious day and night in Beijing and couldn't sleep at night. He said in many conversations: "I can't bear to see another civil war in China. If there is another civil war, I will jump into the Yellow River." Beijing newspapers published it in big characters.Immediately, Zhao Daiwen returned to Shanxi with Zhang Zuolin's handwritten letter.

In Taiyuan, Zhao Daiwen had an unpleasant conversation with Yan Xishan.As soon as the two met, he asked Yan Xishan sternly: "I heard that you are going to rebel, is there such a thing?" Yan Ze acted calmly, and said unhurriedly: "Cilong, why are you so angry? Sit down and talk slowly, it is everyone's opinion on the matter of enshrining." Before Yan Xishan finished speaking, he continued to say: "Zhang's administration took Zhiping and Anhui, and he has successfully unified China, and his prestige has been established. He is the government, and you are all his subordinates. If you want to take the lead in beating him, isn’t this a rebellion?” While speaking, Jia Jingde and Xue Dubi approached Yan about something.As soon as he entered the door, he bumped into the muzzle of the gun, and was reprimanded by Zhao Daiwen: "I heard that you are the one who encouraged the commander-in-chief to rebel. If you say it later, I will hit you on the head." Frightened by his prestige, both Jia and Xue dared not To make any defense, I had to retreat silently.After Jia and Xue withdrew, Zhao Daiwen continued the original topic and said earnestly: "People all over the country are tired of war and hope to live a peaceful life. Are you not afraid of being scolded by people all over the world? The inside of Zhizhang has become an iron bucket, and the army is also very powerful. You think that there are many people in the alliance, but in fact they are all mobs. These people fight when they see benefits, and avoid when they are killed. If you want to beat him, don’t you invite failure? Those people in Taiyuan are either politicians in exile or frustrated soldiers, can you listen to their nonsense?” Although Zhao Daiwen spoke with sincerity, moved with emotion, and understood reason, Yan Xishan He only responded with one sentence: "You were bought by Zhang Zuolin." The old man was so sad that he hid his tears and left.

Opposition from military commanders is also high.Shang Zhen, the commander of the Shanxi First Division, went to the society in his early years. After various experiences, he did not fall behind in Wen Tao and Wu Lue.After taking refuge in Yan Xishan as a last resort, the reason why he has been working hard for ten years like a day is just for the unforgettable kindness of knowing him. The famous Taiyuan Arsenal was built by his novice.However, as far as its nature is concerned, everything is controlled by others and unwilling, so it is inevitable to look for opportunities to seek independence.Shang Zhen made an attempt in this regard. Aiming at the bad habits of poor quality and outdated consciousness developed by the Jin army after not fighting for a long time, Shang Zhen established the Datong Military and Political School in Datong in a short period of time. More than 200 students were enrolled in the first phase.After the Zhifeng War was completed, he believed that all factions had been unified under Zhang Zuolin's banner, and obedience to the central government was the key to the problem.Therefore, Shang Zhen began to show a tendency of separation from Yan Xishan when he was appointed as the commander of the Shanxi First Division.

At the end of the East China War, the Central China, Northwest, and South China Commands of the People's Army were frequently dispatched, and the whole army was preparing to send troops to the Southwest and liberate the whole of China.At this time, Li Zongren and others did not dare to confront the central government directly, so they had to acknowledge the legitimacy of Zhang Zuolin's government on the surface.Yan Xishan didn't dare to move after seeing him, so Feng Yuxiang's plan to unite Gui and Jin against Feng had to be shelved for the time being.

In desperation, Feng Yuxiang had no choice but to announce his resignation from the military, and wrote to the National Defense Commission, requesting his resignation as the vice chairman of the National Defense Commission and the commander of the First Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and handing over his army to Lu Zhonglin, an important general.Zhang Zuolin sent a telegram to express his consolation, and appointed him as the special envoy of the Republic of China executive government to tour the Soviet Union, so as to fully learn the experience of the Soviet Union's army building, and as a pre-stop for Zhang Hanqing's upcoming visit to the Soviet Union.

In this incident, Feng Yuxiang had the will to kill, and Zhang Hanqing had the will to kill.Xu Shuzheng's fate is also Feng Yuxiang's fate.