The success of the Northern Expedition was mainly due to four military forces: Chiang Kai-shek's First Army, Feng Yuxiang's Second Army, Yan Xishan's Third Army, and Li Zongren's Bai Chongxi's Fourth Army. The four major group armies marched jointly to Beijing and Tianjin, and finally drove Zhang Zuolin to Guanwai.
At this point, the vast area south of the Great Wall was basically unified. But this unification is only superficial, in fact the four major forces have divided their own territory. The Jiang clan mainly controlled the southeastern provinces; Feng Yuxiang controlled Shaanxi, Gansu, Henan, and Shandong; Yan Xishan controlled the northern provinces of Chahar, Hebei, and Shanxi; and Li Zongren Bai Chongxi gui controlled Guangxi and Hunan Hubei.
In any case, it is also a reunification, so where should the capital be?
In 1925, the Kuomintang established a national government in Guangzhou, moved the capital to Wuhan in 1926, and in 1927, the Ninghan split occurred, and the old Chiang Kai-shek established a separate government in Nanjing. Therefore, when the Northern Expedition was successful, the capital was not yet officially determined. At that time, there were mainly two choices, either Beijing or Nanjing.
Feng and Yan basically believed that the capital should be Beijing, which was the capital of the Ming and Qing dynasties, well-equipped and had the temperament of a king. This is, of course, an external statement. The essence of this is because Beijing is within the controllable sphere of influence of Feng and Yan. If the capital is Nanjing, then they are far from the center of power and marginalized.
Of course, the Chiang clan strongly demanded that the capital be Nanjing, that Chiang's core forces be in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and that the Anglo-American forces in China on which he relied were mainly concentrated in the Yangtze River Basin. Shanghai is the base camp of Westerners, close to Nanjing, and Jiang believes that the capital of Nanjing is the most appropriate and safest. They certainly cannot say this to the outside world, and their main statement is that they should adhere to the "premier's will" and set the capital in Nanjing.
Whether it is Beijing or Nanjing is the capital of Beijing is not only a secret competition between political forces, but also a heated debate in society.
Wu Zhihui supported the establishment of the capital Nanjing, and he said four points, which seemed to be more representative of the views of southerners. The first, of course, is to insist on the "Prime Minister's Will". The second point is that Nanjing is far east from the land point of view, but if you add the sea area, Nanjing is more moderate. He should want to emphasize that as a modern country, it is necessary to have a sense of the sea, and the great powers that have risen in modern times are all maritime powers. The third point is that Nanjing is close to Shanghai, has a huge source of investment, and can be easily built. And Beijing is an ancient city, not suitable to become the capital of the new era. The fourth point is still related to Shanghai, which is an international metropolis, a trade metropolis, and the center of Public Opinion in China, so it is most appropriate to set the capital in Nanjing, which is close to Shanghai.
Nanjing Zhongshan Road, which was under construction in 1929
Northerners disagree, they say that Nanjing's low-lying terrain, hot and humid summer, weak folk customs, in history is the land of gold powder of the Six Dynasties, and the atmosphere of malaise is too heavy. Although this argument is too strong in metaphysics, it did have a certain degree of persuasion at that time, and we Chinese be more superstitious about those metaphysics. Historically, the regime that built the capital in Nanjing was far more than six dynasties, but on average, each dynasty did not survive for a long time, and it seems that it did not have a stable and long-term atmosphere here. The Eastern Wu of the Three Kingdoms, the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the Southern Tang and Taiping Heavenly Kingdoms all had nanjing as their capital, but none of them lived for more than a hundred years. The Ming Dynasty was more special, Zhu Yuanzhang fixed the capital nanjing, and later Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing.
Nanjing in the 1920s
Regarding the matter of the "premier's will" setting the capital in Nanjing, the northerners do not directly oppose it, but there is another interpretation. When Sun Yat-sen made his will, Beijing was still in the hands of warlords, so he advocated that the capital be Nanjing, which was only a temporary measure. As for whether it is a stopgap measure, there is no proof for people now, and everyone can interpret it individually. He also said that the real follow-up to the "Prime Minister's will" is to inherit Mr. Nakayama's legacy and build a good country, rather than sticking to the rules.
After the completion of the construction, the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing
This great controversy between the north and the south on the issue of fixing the capital lasted for a long time, and finally the south gained the upper hand in public opinion. The South has mainly grasped an important "debate Dafa" -- the Dafa of hat-pulling.
Public opinion in the south says that Beijing has Dongjiaomin Lane, which is a product of the privileges of foreign powers invading China and a symbol of China's shame. Is it addictive to being a foreigner slave?
The second is to say that the Japanese forces are outside the Guanxi and close to Beijing, and the Japanese very much hope that we will have a capital in Beijing so that they can control it. What you want is the same as the Japanese, which is clearly "to be a lobbyist for outsiders and a lackey for imperialism."
After the public opinion in the south threw out these two points, the public opinion in the north gradually lost its momentum, and these hats were not worn by anyone, and they could only hide. It is said that even Feng Yuxiang had nothing to say after hearing this argument, and did not dare to say anything.
So, why can't public opinion in the north offer the Dafa of hat-buttoning? Beijing has a natural disadvantage in this regard and cannot throw off its hat. Since the late Qing Dynasty, Dongjiaomin Lane has indeed been a dazzling existence, taking 1900 as far as 1900, Dongjiaomin Lane is a barrier that cannot be sold. After the Paris Peace Conference, the Chinese people generally rejected Japan more than any other Western power. Japan still occupies many of our places, and other powers in China are generally concessions, which is different from the situation in Japan. In fact, at that time, we needed the support of Britain and the United States and other powers to contain Japan, so it seemed more appropriate to set the capital at Nanjing, close to the British and American forces. The capital of Beijing always makes people feel that there is a sheep into the mouth of the tiger.
In terms of public opinion, the south had the upper hand, and politically, the Chiang clan also had the upper hand, and Li Zongren Bai Chongxi of the Gui clan also supported the capital Nanjing, and later Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan did not insist.