Yuan Shikai, who had been emperor for 83 days in 1916, died of illness on June 6 in despair after being opposed by the whole country. Although the country was not rich and powerful before him, at least there was no war. However, after Yuan Shikai's death, the Republic of China entered the era of warlord chaos, and in order to compete for power between warlord factions in various places, a series of open and secret struggles were launched, so that the Republic of China entered an era of no big wars and continuous small wars. However, in this mutual battle, three warlords took the lead and were also the strongest. There are three warlords of the direct lineage, the Anhui clan, and the Feng clan, all of whom control several provinces and have more than 100,000 troops. Therefore, these three families are also called the three major warlords of Beiyang by later generations.
However, after the death of Yuan Shikai, the first of these three warlords to rise was the Anhui warlords, and their leader was Duan Qirui, a cadre general before Yuan Shikai's death, and Qirui followed Yuan Shikai during the training period of the small station. His outstanding military ability was also appreciated by Lao Yuan, and he was called one of the three masters of Beiyang. Naturally, after Yuan Shikai became the president of the Republic of China, the generals who had been born and died with him must have been high-ranking officials Houlu, and Duan Qirui belonged to the military generals, so he served as the chief of the Beiyang Army, that is, the later commander-in-chief of the army.
Duan Qirui
It may be precisely because he was a close general of Yuan Shikai, so after the death of the old Yuan, Duan Qirui took the lead in rising as orthodox, and was also elected as the premier of the Republic of China, with the support of various local generals. The forces that supportEd Duan Qirui are called the Anhui clan, probably because Duan Qirui himself is from Anhui, so it is called the Anhui clan. The main members were Xu Shuzheng, Jin Yunpeng, Duan Zhigui, Fu Liangzuo, Lu Yongxiang and other Generals of the Republic of China, or the Overseers were all members of the Anhui clan.
However, the Anhui system that took the lead in rising, just like the flower without a hundred days of red, did not maintain, and the lasting hegemonic status declined relatively quickly. In the Zhiwan War in July 1920, it was defeated by the zhi and feng clans, and since then the Anhui clan has lost its hegemonic position and withdrawn from the center. Although, the defeat of the campaign did not bring disaster to the Anhui dynasty, but only lost its hegemonic position. In the subsequent Jiangsu-Zhejiang War, the Anhui system was completely in decline.
Warlords of the Anhui clan
In this battle, the Anhui warlord Lu Yongxiang and the direct warlord Qi Xieyuan fought a battle for Shanghai, and the battle ended with Lu Yongxiang's defeat, and since then the Anhui forces have collapsed and withdrawn from the stage of history. And Duan Qirui, who once had great power in his hands, also took turns as politicians without real power.
Then, why did the Anhui warlords who took the lead in rising became the first of the three major warlords in Beiyang to embark on the road of decay! I'm afraid this has a lot to do with a person. He is Xu Shuzheng, the core member of the Anhui clan, and it can be said that Xu Shuzheng played a crucial role in the rise of the Anhui clan, and he was also the culprit in the decline of the Anhui clan.
Xu Shuzheng is a very capable person and has certain talents, but he is more arrogant and bold. Feng Guozhang was very annoyed, but he could not find evidence and could only bear it, because at this time Zhang Zuolin's Feng Junjun entered the customs to support Duan Qirui, so Feng Guozhang could only be dumb and eat Huang Lian, and there was bitterness that could not be said, but this matter also accumulated contradictions between Zhi and Anhui.
Xu Shuzheng
And then Xu Shuzheng did a very arrogant thing, without anyone's consent, he killed Lu Jianzhang, one of the elders of the direct lineage, and this incident also became the real fuse of the Zhiwan war. It is precisely because of Xu Shuzheng's arrogance that the Anhui clan has brought ruin to the Anhui family, and at the same time, this incident has also brought him a catastrophe. Friends who may know history know that it was precisely because Xu Shuzheng killed Lu Jianzhang, and later, Lu Jianzhang's nephew Feng Yuxiang also killed Xu Shuzheng in the same way.
It is precisely because of Xu Shuzheng's arrogant personality that he has caused a lot of trouble for the Anhui clan, and at the same time, he has established an invincible enemy. Even Zhang Zuolin, who had supported the Anhui clan, was offended by Xu Shuzheng, and Xu also sent assassins into the northeast to assassinate Zhang Zuolin. This made Zhang Zuolin, who could not bear it, decide to teach the arrogant Anhui clan a lesson, and sent troops into the customs to support the direct clan in their crusade against the Anhui clan. It was under the circumstance that Xu Shuzheng had too many enemies and was arrogant, which contributed to the outbreak of the Zhiwan War. The Zhiwan War also lost the Northwest Army and the Border Defense Army that Duan Qirui painstakingly managed, and the Anhui Clan was devastated and went into decline. It is really Success and Xiao He, and defeat is also Xiao He.