Let's go straight to the subject, on the question of why Chiang Kai-shek could not kill Zhang Xueliang, the author roughly listed seven reasons, let's analyze them one by one.
First of all, Zhang Xueliang always believed that the reason why the veteran general did not kill him was because Song Meiling was secretly sheltering, Zhang Xueliang respected Song Meiling very much, and was also grateful to her, as long as Song Meiling was still alive, Chiang Kai-shek would not kill him.
After the Xi'an incident, the Song brothers and sisters personally promised Zhang Xueliang in order to rescue Jiang, as long as he promised to let old Jiang return to Nanjing safely, he would definitely ensure his personal safety, but Song Meiling did not expect that old Jiang did not conduct a military trial of Zhang Xueliang and lock him up, which made Song Meiling feel that he was untrustworthy of Zhang, so the two brothers and sisters put pressure together to force Chiang Kai-shek to give up the idea of killing Zhang Xueliang.
Second, Chiang Kai-shek, as a leader, personally promised not to kill Zhang Xueliang before leaving Xi'an; there were many people present at the time, and he could not have rebelled; weighing the pros and cons, Chiang Kai-shek would not have the intention of killing, but not killing did not mean that he would not be imprisoned, and as long as the old Chiang Kai-shek was still alive, he would have been imprisoned all the time.
Third, Chiang Kai-shek knows Zhang Xueliang very well, as a typical brother-in-law, Zhang Xueliang is a person who gives headaches to his superiors and makes his subordinates unlucky, and although Zhang Xueliang is one of the initiators of the Xi'an Incident, he is by no means the mastermind.
Yang Hucheng was 4 years older than Zhang Xueliang, whether it was political experience or military command ability, it was above Zhang Xueliang, the old Jiang received intelligence, Yang Hucheng was the first to put forward the suggestion of blackmailing the Heavenly Son to order the princes, and arresting Jiang was also the first to be put forward by him.
When Zhang Xueliang launched the military advice, he did not put old Chiang to death, he also put his own guard next to old Chiang to protect his safety, and after the matter was over, he personally sent Chiang Kai-shek back to Nanjing, so old Chiang saw it very clearly, killed one by one, and treated him differently.
Fourth, Zhang Xueliang did three major things, one was the northeast Yizhi in 1928, when Zhang Xueliang submitted to the National Government and allowed the whole country to be unified; second, the Middle East Road Incident broke out in July 1929, Zhang Xueliang led his troops to fight against the Soviet army and defended national sovereignty; third, during the Central Plains War, Zhang Xueliang issued a telegram of "supporting Chiang Kai-shek and seeking rebellion", sending the Northeast Army into the customs and supporting Chiang Kai-shek in winning the Victory in the Central Plains War.
These three things have more or less helped old Jiang, Zhang Xueliang is meritorious, in addition, the wives of both sides are sisters, and old Jiang remembers the old, so he let this little brother go.
Fifth, although Zhang Xueliang was detained, the main force of the Northeast Army still existed, and if Zhang was killed in a hurry, it would easily arouse the dissatisfaction of the Northeast Army and push the Northeast Army into the anti-Chiang Kai-shek camp.
Sixth, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng have different backgrounds, Zhang Xueliang is a famous young marshal, he has a huge network of relationships behind him, every move is highly concerned, if you kill Zhang, it will inevitably cause adverse effects and damage your own image.
As for Yang Hucheng, who came from a poor family, he was completely an army general who worked hard by himself, he had no prominent family lineage, his relationship was relatively simple, and he did not have a close relationship with old Chiang, more importantly, Chiang Kai-shek was undefended against Zhang Xueliang, but he was secretly wary of Yang Hucheng.
Old Jiang had long suspected that Yang Hucheng had a deep connection with the Communist Party, and had long wanted to get rid of it quickly, so as soon as he returned to China, he was trapped and brutally killed by Old Jiang.
Seventh, judging from the whole situation, Chiang Kai-shek would not have killed Zhang Xueliang; when he was detained in Xi'an, old Chiang promised a tripartite agreement with his leadership personality that he could not harm Zhang and Yang; after the Xi'an incident, the domestic call for resistance to Japan was higher than a wave, hindering the whole situation, and Chiang Kai-shek would not secretly kill the killer.