In the Xinhai Revolution, Wuchang, where the first shot was fired, was in Hubei Province. During the period from the Wuchang Uprising to the Northern Expedition of the Nanjing government, warlords everywhere looked at Hubei as if whoever controlled Hubei had the confidence to chase after the Central Plains.
So, in the era of warlord chaos, who once controlled Hubei?
(Li Yuanhong's old photo)
1. Li Yuanhong.
The first to occupy Hubei was, of course, the later President Li Yuanhong. After the Wuchang Uprising, Li Yuanhong was elected by revolutionaries as the governor of Hubei. Although Li Yuanhong behaved without desire and without desire, it seemed that his ascension to the throne was out of helplessness. But in fact, he is a person with a city government at heart.
After serving as the governor, Li Yuanhong cooperated with Yuan Shikai, first using the "Qunyinghui Incident" to marginalize Zhang Zhenwu and other founders. Later, he borrowed Yuan Shikai's hand and killed Zhang Zhenwu.
But Yuan Shikai was unwilling to carry this black cauldron, and published a telegram from Li Yuanhong advising him to kill people. In the end, the reputations of Li and Yuan were damaged to a certain extent. However, Li Yuanhong therefore seized the opportunity to control the military and political power in Hubei and began to vigorously suppress revolutionaries.
The Hubei revolutionaries did not succumb to Li Yuanhong's oppression. As time went on, the revolutionaries' resistance became stronger and stronger, and Li Yuanhong was anxious all day.
In the end, Li Yuanhong accepted Yuan Shikai's invitation and went to Beijing to become a puppet vice president. He spent more than two years in Hubei and basically achieved nothing.
(Duan Qirui old photo)
2. Duan Qirui.
After Li Yuanhong stepped down, Duan Qirui took over the post of Governor of Hubei. But Duan Qirui actually only worked for two months, and he classified a large part of the Hubei New Army into the Anhui clan. After receiving the replenishment of troops, he went to Beijing in a dashing manner.
Third, Duan Zhigui.
The person who succeeded Duan Qirui was Duan Zhigui, a loyal subordinate of Yuan Shikai. As early as the end of the 20th century, Duan Zhigui had been following Yuan Shikai and was extremely praised by Yuan Shikai.
During his time in Hubei, Duan Zhigui and Yuan Keding went to the theater to watch a play together, and Yuan Keding immediately fell in love with the famous Kunling Wang Keqin. In order to curry favor with Yuan Keding, Duan Zhigui secretly sent someone to contact Wang Keqin privately, expressing his willingness to use eight thousand silver dollars to buy a "dowry" for her.
As a result, this matter was quickly circulated, and the "Dahan Bao" specially opened a column of "The Theory of the Wolf Scourge in the Central Plains" and publicly reported the whole incident. Duan Zhigui became angry and embarrassed, and on the grounds of "bandits in the newspaper hall", he sealed up the entire Han newspaper library and arrested more than a dozen people.
As soon as this matter came out, the entire Wuhan crowd was indignant. Duan Zhigui could not get off the stage, and he let go of all the arrestees. In this way, his reputation in Hubei was completely rotten.
Yuan Shikai was very dissatisfied with what Duan Zhigui had done, and transferred him to Fengtian as an overseer.
(Old photo of Wang Zhanyuan)
4. Wang Zhanyuan.
After Duan Zhigui left, it was originally Zhang Xiluan who served as the overseer of Hubei. However, Yuan Shikai was not at ease with Zhang Xiluan and secretly ordered Wang Zhanyuan, commander of the Hubei Second Division, to openly resist. Zhang Xiluan was very embarrassed, and Wang Zhanyuan naturally managed the military affairs of Hubei.
During the warlord melee, Wang Zhanyuan can be said to have ruled Hubei for the longest time. For more than six years, Wang Zhanyuan was keen to loot the people's fat and people's ointment, and Hubei was made into a miasma by him.
Wang Zhanyuan was a very corrupt man, and the people of Hubei had already heard about it. But what Wang Zhanyuan did after he arrived in Hubei far exceeded people's expectations. After taking control of Hubei, Wang Zhanyuan extended his hand into various fields in Hubei, including banking, textiles, food, and military supplies. In just a few years, Wang Zhanyuan had looted a huge fortune, and the people of Hubei dared to be angry but did not dare to speak.
Later, Wang Zhanyuan provoked a mutiny among soldiers because of his embezzlement of military salaries, triggering a vigorous "king-down movement" throughout the province. In the end, Wang Zhanyuan failed in the crusade, and Hubei was occupied by Wu Peifu's "firefighting army".
(Old photo of Xiao Yaonan)
5. Xiao Yaonan.
In 1921, the Beiyang government appointed Xiao Yaonan, commander of the 25th Division, as the overseer of Hubei. Xiao Yaonan learned from Wang Zhanyuan's defeated experience and quickly repaid the military salary to pacify the army. In the following years, Xiao Yaonan vigorously developed Hubei's water conservancy undertakings. He built a lot of water conservancy in many parts of Hubei and built many levees. For example, the Xinzhou Goose Neck Embankment Gate, which he donated to build, is known as the "Xiao Public Gate".
In addition, Xiao Yaonan also attaches great importance to education, upgrading several junior colleges in Hubei to universities, and inviting well-known people to serve as principals, which promotes the development of education in Hubei.
Xiao Yaonan was basically the only one who had done practical things in Hubei during the warlord melee.
6. Chen Jiamu.
Xiao Yaonan later died in office. He was replaced by his old subordinate Chen Jiamu. However, soon after Chen Jiamo took office, the Nanjing government began the Northern Expedition, and Chen Jiamo was soon defeated and captured. The era of warlord rule in Hubei came to an end.
(Reference: Records of warlords of the Republic of China)