After the end of the Zhiwan War, due to the conflict of interests, the direct and feng clans quickly shifted from cooperation to confrontation, and after nearly two years of open and secret struggle, they officially met on April 28, 1922. However, the war, in which the two sides invested more than 200,000 troops, the real battle lasted only one week and ended in a total rout of the Feng clan. Then, why did the Warlords of the Feng Clan who shouted before the war that "throw a whip at the yangtze river and cut off the flow of the Yangtze River and walk the horse to see the flowers of Luoyang" lose so quickly? Let's analyze it today from the perspective of public opinion
▲Zhang Zuolin and Wu Peifu photo
Public opinion sounds like a nihilistic thing, and it is wonderful to use. For this point, Zhang Zuolin, who was born from a bandit, is far less well understood than Wu Peifu, who was born in Xiucai.
In fact, a very important reason why the Zhiwan War was able to end so quickly was that Wu Peifu seized on the "reunification of force" of the Anhui clan to cause public indignation, and successfully dominated public opinion, making everyone think that "
The sea fell apart, chasing the origin of the disaster, and Duan was the head of the rong
The morale of the Anhui army was severely damaged, resulting in the collapse of the entire Anhui army after the forward command post on the western front was secretly attacked.
▲Republic of China student parade
After tasting the sweetness, Wu Peifu paid more and more attention to public opinion. In the face of the inevitable direct war, Wu Peifu planned the layout in advance, and it can be said that before the war began, he had already occupied the initiative.
After Jin Yunpeng was forced to resign, Zhang Zuolin supported Liang Shiyi as premier of the state. Compared with Jin Yunpeng, Liang Shiyi was more obedient to Zhang Zuolin, but at the same time he also left Wu Peifu with a more lethal handle, which directly isolated the Feng family.
After Liang Shiyi came to power, in order to solve the financial problem, he held secret negotiations with Xiao Pan, the Japanese minister in China, and agreed to borrow money from Japan to "redeem" the Jiaoji Railway, but after "redemption", it still existed in the form of a Sino-Japanese joint venture, and the Japanese had to be hired as the chief train and chief accountant. This is equivalent to turning the Jiaoji Railway around or controlling it in the hands of the Japanese, while the Nationalist government has increased its foreign debt by tens of millions of yuan out of thin air.
▲Photo of Liang Shiyi
Wu Peifu clung to this point and began to frantically attack Liang Shiyi in the newspaper, accusing him of "
Liang Shiyi did not ask about the stakes, disregarded public opinion, did not go through the outside, and went so far as to allow the envoy to ask for money to redeem the road
”。 In the face of Leung's rebuttal, Wu Peifu also said"
Since we have taken back our own affairs, why do we have to use Japanese people as the chief accountant of the car? Since the government has no prejudices, why should it secretly allow the Japanese envoy to demand it? And why not through the outside but by the Leung face? Since the banking groups of various countries cannot borrow money alone, why should they borrow japanese money alone?
”
In the end, Wu Peifu relied on sharp writing to successfully stir up the people's emotions. To this end, Shanghai workers held a large-scale demonstration against the traitors of the Liang cabinet, and more than 40 groups in Beijing, including the Diplomatic Federation, jointly telegraphed the 10 major crimes of Liang Shiyi. In addition, student parades of varying sizes across the country. Faced with Tao Tao's popular sentiments, Liang Shiyi was forced to submit his resignation to President Xu Shichang, and although he was not approved, he was also allowed to leave his post on leave.
▲Photos of the Republic of China parade
As the representative of the Feng clan in the cabinet, Liang Shiyi was labeled as a "traitor", and the Fengzhi warlord behind Liang Shiyi naturally did not have a good reputation. Since the Feng clan does not have a good reputation, the direct clan reputation that stands on the opposite side of the Feng clan is much better. Through his ability to write and make flowers, Wu Peifu successfully packaged himself as a patriotic general, which was supported and welcomed by all walks of life.
On the eve of the outbreak of the Zhifeng War, Zhang Zuolin and Wu Peifu fought in the newspaper. In order to make excuses for himself to enter the customs, Zhang Zuolin publicly stated"
If there is no end to reunification, then the country will never have a peaceful day, and if the obstacle does not go, then reunification will eventually be indefinite. It is to lead the division to follow the simple obedience, enter the customs and garrison, and expect to use force as the backing of reunification.
▲Zhang Zuolin photo
However, Zhang Zuolin's practice of controlling public opinion is indeed far from that of Wu Peifu. In the face of Zhang Zuolin's remarks, Wu Peifu quickly counterattacked and listed Zhang Zuolin in one breath."
Obstructing reunification, acting perversely, endangering the national system, losing power and flattering foreigners, guilty of friends, undermining law and order, indulging in banditry and harming the people, using force to carry out soldiers, plundering weapons, committing banditry, and killing the same kind
And so on the ten major crimes, once again successfully dominate the direction of public opinion,
Of course, in addition to Wu Peifu's superb public opinion guidance skills, there is also a very important aspect of this kind of public opinion guidance, that is, the Fengzhi warlords led by Zhang Zuolin are indeed unsatisfactory in many aspects. In addition to the above-mentioned Liang cabinet betraying state sovereignty, he also used traitors Cao Rulin and Lu Zongyu, which is completely contrary to public opinion.
▲ Mass demonstrations against Cao Rulin and Lu Zongyu
In addition, Feng Jun's base is a bandit who recruits security, and his discipline is very poor, and there are many violations of discipline. There was once a 10-year-old child who was directly shot by The Fengjun detectives because he said that fengjun was defeated. When the army marched, most of them directly requisitioned shops and houses, and some residents were directly requisitioned as Zhuangding before they could evacuate. Therefore, the people's evaluation of the Fengjun is not good.
On the other hand, on the side of the Zhi Army, Wu Peifu ruled the army very strictly. After the Battle of Zhiwan, Wu Peifu strictly demanded that soldiers not enter the city of Beijing without orders, and that the destroyed mintian houses could be compensated according to the price, and Wu Peifu himself repeatedly issued a statement that he would never borrow money from the great powers. Whether Wu Peifu's move is a show or a sincere intention, in contrast, ordinary people still prefer the Victory of the Zhi Army.
▲ Wu Peifu photo
In the end, before the first Zhifeng War began, national public opinion once again fell to the Zhi Army."
The whispers of the common people, and the hopes of their day and night, all thought that the final victory would be the direct army
”。 This change in public opinion has two effects: First, it is difficult for the Fengzhi to find reliable allies, the so-called "triangular alliance" is nothing but ineffective, and has not played any role, and Wang Yongjiang of the Fengzhi department once commented that "whether it is Duan Ye, Lu Ye, or Sun Ye, they are just cheating me of money and playing me, and there is nothing to rely on." As for seeking civilian support, it is even more delusional.
Second, the morale of the Feng army suffered a serious blow. The Fengjun was originally a warlord with bandits as the main body, whether it was disciplined or bloody, it could not be compared with the direct army with the Beiyang Yan Division as the main body, and now in the face of such public opinion, the "heart of death" of each unit is even more shaken, and the troops will collapse if they are slightly frustrated, which is very similar to the situation faced by the Anhui army at the beginning.
Some people say that the victory or defeat of the war will eventually return to the back of the people's hearts. In the First Zhifeng War, Wu Peifu seized on Liang Shiyi's handle and the fact that the discipline of the Fengzhi warlords was not strict, and used his literary advantages to successfully dominate domestic public opinion and provide support for the direct clan to win the war. From this point of view, Wu Peifu was indeed superior to Zhang Zuolin's skills when he was not fighting.
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