The marriage between Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling was a political marriage, and among the four marriages, Chiang Kai-shek undoubtedly helped him the most, and Soong Mei-ling was active in the political and diplomatic fields, and went to the United States many times to seek support. Chiang Kai-shek once told Soong Mei Ling that his wife's ability could reach 20 army divisions. Of course, this is mostly exaggerated? Or is it Chiang Kai-shek's heartfelt words? We don't know that.
▲ Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling
But in any case, Chiang Kai-shek was very sure of Soong Mei-ling.
The famous "two bombs and one satellite" scientist Qian Xuesen was obstructed by the United States when he returned to China, and a general in the United States once said that Qian Xuesen's ability was worth the strength of 5 divisions. Later it turned out that it was more than that? Relevant experts have pointed out that Qian Xuesen's return to China has brought China's weapons industry forward by two decades.
However, although Soong Meiling's personal ability is very strong, she still cannot escape the fate of Chiang Kai-shek's failure. Moreover, although Soong Mei-ling's status in Chiang Kai-shek's mind is very high, he is not entirely obedient to Soong Mei-ling in many things, and Chiang Kai-shek has his own opinions.
Before fleeing to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek was also seeking other ways to retreat, and he wondered where to go if Taiwan could not keep the possibility of going into exile. His preferred place is the Philippines, and he has visited the Philippines many times to communicate with the Philippine president and reached an agreement. The Philippine president said that it was enough to inform them in advance of the list and number of people they went to. The second place Chosen by Chiang Kai-shek was Japan, where he studied in his early years and also had feelings for Japan.
Soong Mei-ling, on the other hand, did not approve of Chiang Kai-shek's choice, and she felt that if she went into exile, the best place should be the United States, followed by Switzerland. She chose the United States because Song Meiling grew up in the United States and studied in school, and she recognized the environment and conditions there. Switzerland was chosen because Song Meiling felt that the environment in Switzerland was good and the country was relatively neutral. In order to get Chiang Kai-shek to agree to his choice, Soong Mei-ling also found his niece and son-in-law and others to persuade Chiang Kai-shek, but Chiang Kai-shek was not moved.
▲ Stills of Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling
Another thing, Chiang Kai-shek did not listen to Soong Mei-ling's advice and had a cold war with Soong Mei-ling for three or four months. Moreover, Chiang Kai-shek also made harsh remarks that if Soong Meiling insisted on his own opinion, he might not be re-elected as president, and he would also go on vacation, and in the end he would really "run away from home."
History Tanjun felt that this incident was also one of the reasons for the deepening of the gap between Soong Mei-ling and Chiang Ching-kuo, and it also directly led to the fact that about two months after Chiang Kai-shek's death, Soong Mei-ling immediately flew to the United States for retirement.
So what kind of thing is it? It was in the 1970s, when Song Meiling's nephew Kong Lingkan was the one who served as counselor of the embassy in the United States, that is, the deputy ambassador. He was the son of Song Meiling's eldest sister, Song Meiling, who intended Kong Lingkan to be the chief executive instead of Chiang Ching-kuo.
Chiang Kai-shek was extremely disgusted by this, first, he felt that Kong Lingkan was a foreign relative, and second, his ability was not impressive. Because Kong Lingkan told Chiang Kai-shek that it was impossible for Himon to serve as president based on the intelligence and analysis obtained in the United States in his early years. As a result, Chiang Kai-shek made some mistakes in his analysis and had a bad relationship with Nixon.
▲Chiang Kai-shek
Moreover, Chiang Kai-shek had already set a successor in his mind and focused on cultivating his son Chiang Ching-kuo, so how could he let Soong Mei-ling's mother-in-law occupy a high position and dictate to it? Chiang Kai-shek knew that the breakdown of his relationship with Soong Tzu-wen, who had served as finance minister in the Nationalist government, was a living example.
Later, Song Meiling saw that Chiang Kai-shek would rather not be the president than agree to give Kong Lingkan a high-ranking official, and finally had to give up, and later restored his relationship with Chiang Kai-shek, after all, they were all seven years old and eighty years old, not young, and could not afford to be hurt.
The difference between Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling that we are talking about this time is that before the defeat and escape to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek added the names of three more people to the specially drawn up assassination list and handed them over to the military command.
▲Song Meiling
The three people specially added by Chiang Kai-shek to the assassination list were Zhang Xueliang, Yang Hucheng, and Soong Ching-ling. Chiang Kai-shek's hatred for Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng stemmed from the Xi'an Incident, and he had long wanted to kill him quickly, but first, he took into account the influence, second, people from all walks of life put pressure on him, and third, with the protection of Soong Mei-ling, Chiang Kai-shek did not kill the killer.
And Chiang Kai-shek can't love Soong Ching Ling, although she is Soong Mei Ling's sister. But because the two have different political views, and in public, Soong Ching Ling has also accused Chiang Kai-shek, and Soong Ching Ling is still close to us.
However, when he fled to Taiwan in defeat, Chiang Kai-shek again wanted to vent his hatred and cut the grass and remove the roots. Therefore, a few days before Chiang Kai-shek left, Yang Hucheng's family of three, as well as his confidential secretary Song Qiyun's family, all died tragically under the butcher's knife of the military command.
I don't know whether the military commanders knocked on the mountain and shocked the tiger, or whether they had a choice to kill, anyway, they did not first take Song Qingling and Zhang Xueliang to open the knife. Then Song Meiling learned of this matter, and immediately Chiang Kai-shek turned his face and made a big fuss.
Soong Mei Ling told Chiang Kai-shek very seriously that if he dared to treat the little guy as such, then he would make public Chiang Kai-shek's unseemly things. The little guy here refers to Song Meiling's name for Zhang Xueliang, which shows Zhang Xueliang's position in Song Meiling's mind. After gaining his freedom in his later years, Zhang Xueliang also recalled that he was able to save himself mainly because his wife helped.
Not to mention Song Qingling, she is the second sister of Song Meiling, and the three sisters once went to the United States to study together, and their feelings are very deep. Although later, because of different political views, there was some problem with the feelings between the sisters, and they rarely saw each other and rarely interacted. Even Song Meiling did not mention the name of her sister Song Qingling in public, and when her sister Song Qingling was seriously ill in her later years and wanted to see her, she did not go, but replied with 4 words "letter received".
But even so, deep down, Song Qingling is still Song Meiling's good sister. Chiang Kai-shek wants to move his sister Soong Ching Ling, can Soong Mei Ling not be in a hurry?
That is to say, Zhang Xueliang and Song Qingling, who Chiang Kai-shek finally wanted to kill, were both people that Song Meiling cared about very much, and they were Friends and Relatives of Song Meiling. Song Meiling was naturally very angry and tried her best to stop Chiang Kai-shek. In the end, fortunately, under the protection of Song Meiling, the two were able to be safe.
Soong Mei-ling has a pivotal position and role in Chiang Kai-shek's mind, and it is not a matter of principle, and Chiang Kai-shek still has to carefully consider Soong Mei-ling's words.