He Chengzhu (何成濬), a native of Suizhou, Hubei Province, was made a second-class general in the Nationalist Army during the Republic of China and was twice appointed governor of Hubei Province. Born in a wealthy merchant's family, he was intelligent and studious from an early age, and in that year, as the first place in the academy examination and the last list of talents in the Great Qing Dynasty, he was selected by Prime Minister Yamen to study in the Zhenwu Academy of Japan, and three years later he was admitted to the Infantry Section of the Japanese Non-Commissioned Officer School. If it were not for the abolition of the imperial examination by the Qing court, it would also embark on the road of lifting people, entering the military, and shining on the lintel.
However, after the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising that led to the demise of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing court sent troops south to suppress the revolution, and he was appointed as a first-class staff officer, and at this time, He Chengtao, knowing that the Qing Dynasty's morale was about to run out, secretly rebelled against the water, helped the rebel army and defected to the revolutionary party, went to Nanjing to participate in the preparation of the provisional government, and served as the deputy chief of the War Department, and then was trusted by Chiang Kai-shek and was once appointed as the general counselor of the Headquarters of the Eastern Expeditionary Army.
After the Northern Expedition conquered Wuhan, He Chengtao was appointed governor of Hubei Province for meritorious service; although he had not served as a military instructor, trained the army, established a small organization, or established a separate army, he became the commander-in-chief many times and became a lieutenant general in the army, because he was eloquent and could speak the Tao, relying on a sharp mouth, to win over the warlords of all sizes, and to be reused by Chiang Kai-shek.
In that year, He Chengtao was ordered to go to Fujian to lobby Wang Yongquan, the defender of Yanping Town, at that time, Fujian was lined with mountains and leaders, he entered Fujian alone, achieved success in rebellion, and assisted the army in fuzhou, and was once appointed as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy of the East Road Thief Army, he led his brigade to sweep southern Fujian and reorganize the nationalist army, which lasted about two years, and then He Chengtao successfully lobbied the Jiangxi governor Of Jiangxi, Ben Ren, and became the 11th Army under his command.
He Chengli has had several successes in lobbying the miscellaneous card army with his three-inch uncorrupted tongue, and has won unanimous praise from his superiors, and has been praised as "Little Meng Taste Jun" and the big parent of Hubei, and is known as a genius lobbyist and the leader of the miscellaneous card army.
To this end, in April 1927, He Chengli was sent by Chiang Kai-shek to Shanxi to contact Yan Xishan and persuaded Yan Xishan to send troops to participate in the Northern Expedition. When He was passing through Beijing, he first contacted Han Linchun, a non-commissioned officer classmate in the Feng department, and pointed out that he was going to Taiyuan, and Han Linchun once fell into the river when he was in Japan, and thanks to his risk of death to save him, he could not refuse his request. However, considering that this was very unfavorable to the Feng family, he advised him to go to see Zhang Xueliang first.
He Chengliang was very good at observing the color of speech and was willing to spend money, so he was very favored by Zhang Xueliang, and he told Zhang that he would never do anything to sorry Zhang when he went to see Yan, and he also said that he would tell the truth about the results of the negotiations afterwards, and Zhang Xueliang sent him to Taiyuan with his own special car, and after he saw Yan Xishan, he said that Fengshi had already been in contact with the Northern Expeditionary Army and was no longer your reliable ally. In this way, both Yan Xishan and Feng Zhang felt that they had to cooperate with Chiang Kai-shek in order to have a way out.
After several negotiations, Yan Xishan agreed to be the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army. When he returned to Beijing, he talked with Zhang Xueliang for a few more days and encouraged him to change the Blue Sky and White Sun Flag, and Zhang Xueliang also talked about some of his own difficulties and put forward some conditions, which laid the foundation for the future northeast Yizhi.
He Chengliang's performance as the genius first lobbyist did indeed make great contributions to Chiang Kai-shek, stabilizing Sun Chuanfang's five-provincial coalition army, causing the commander of the Northern Expeditionary Army to drive straight into Wuhan and crush Wu Peifu in one fell swoop; moreover, he said with three inches of tongue that Xu Yuanquan, the main general of the Zhilu Coalition Army, surrendered and the Beijing-Tianjin region became his world without much effort; he lobbied Zhang Xueliang to change the banner and change banners; during the Jiang-Gui War, He Chengjun persuaded a large number of Gui generals to turn against the enemy in the face of battle, and forced "Little Zhuge Ge" Bai Chongxi to flee Pingjin without a single shot.
Especially in the Great War of the Central Plains, because this battle was the key battle for Chiang Kai-shek's success or failure, in the early stage of the great war, Chiang Kai-shek was attacked on three sides, and the situation was very unfavorable, and the two sides used a total of more than 1 million troops.
Moreover, most of these small warlords under He Chengli were born as bandits, ate, drank, and gambled, paying attention to the righteousness of the jianghu, and once there was a desperate war, they would frequently turn against each other, and anyway, if there was milk, it was a mother.
At this time, He Chenglian used the magic weapon of "throwing money and war" and became a master of throwing money; when persuading these small warlords who had no opinion at all, no matter which side of the warlords formed an alliance or a war, their respective representatives drank wine in the tobacco house and the prostitutes, and large and small transactions were constantly signing and signing, as long as the price was right, Yuan Datou and the tobacco soil were in place, and the war was over, and it was indeed "a soldier who yielded without a war."
He Chengtao was generous, and for these deputies, he asked for money to give money, and he wanted women to give women, never talking about his position, nor asking them to stand on his side, while Yan Xishan, although he also gave money, was preoccupied and calculated, and reimbursed people for some travel expenses, so he asked the deputies to go back and persuade the lord to send troops to help. As a result, more and more people were pulled over by Chiang Kai-shek, and even those who were originally inclined to Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan turned their faces one after another.
He Chengtao was well versed in this way, knowing that in the eyes of these small warlords, there were only interests and no doctrines, and as long as the money was in place, everything was a paper tiger. After each battle, the officers had wine and meat, and there were beautiful women to accompany them, and they sent money every three days and a banquet on five days. In addition to being willing to spend money, the discipline of these miscellaneous soldiers under his command is also to turn a blind eye, as long as there is no major chaos, they will not be prosecuted, so under the command of He, the battle is very hard.
In this way, in the western battlefield of the Central Plains War, the melancholy sound of drizzle in the phonograph overshadowed the rumbling sound of guns. When Feng Yuxiang personally led the main force to fight the eastern front, the western front had reached the brink of total disintegration. After the end of the war, Feng Yuxiang, who had almost lost his old books, wrote in his diary that his Northwest Army was good everywhere, that is, he could not see money at first, and he could not see women at first.
Although He Chenglin made great contributions to Chiang Kai-shek's rule, he calculated everything, but in the end it was because during the Xi'an Incident, the two sides misjudged that the two sides would fight, and Chiang Kai-shek was bound to collapse, and openly supported He Yingqin, and as a result, he was ostracized and treated coldly. Slowly withdrew from the authorities.
Subsequently, He Chengtao left his post, although he served as the governor of Hubei Province twice, but his past merits were also deliberately diluted, so he had to go back to his hometown in SuiXian county to "talk about wine and mulberry" with the old peasants, went to Hong Kong during the Liberation War, later moved to Taiwan, successively served as a national policy adviser, a senior member of the staff organization, a member of the appraisal committee, etc. In 1961, he died of illness in Taiwan, buried in the First Cemetery of Yangmingshan, and wrote "Eighty Memories" in his life.