During the Republic of China period, when the warlords were rising together, the major warlords continued to conquer each other, and many legendary figures emerged, and Xu Shuzheng was one of the representatives. Xu Shuzheng was born in 1880 in Xiao County, Jiangsu Province (now part of Anhui) during the Qing Dynasty. After the end of the Sino-Japanese War, Xu Shuzheng abandoned Wen Congwu and threw his pen from Rong.
In 1901, Xu Shuzheng went to Jinan to join Yuan Shikai, the inspector of Shandong at that time, when Yuan Shikai's mother had just died and there was no time to receive him. When Xu Shuzheng was wandering the streets of Jinan, he met a figure who changed his fate, he was Yuan Shikai's right and left arm, and later the Anhui leader Duan Qirui. As soon as the two saw each other, Xu Shuzheng soon became Duan Qirui's right and left arm, and with Duan Qirui's support, he sent Xu Shuzheng to the Japanese Zhenwu School and the Japanese Army Non-Commissioned Officer School to study military affairs.
After returning to China, Xu Shuzheng was assigned by the Qing government to the Sixth Town of the Army stationed in Nanyuan, Beijing, and still under the command of Duan Qirui. After the Xinhai Revolution, Xu Shuzheng served as the director of the Military and Horse Department and the deputy chief of the army. After Yuan Shikai's death, Vice President Li Yuanhong became the president, Duan Qirui was still the premier, Xu Shuzheng served as the secretary general of the State Council, and later after Duan Qirui was ousted from power, it was also Xu Shuzheng who wandered around, secretly planning, and helping Duan Qirui regain the power of the Beiyang government.
One of the most sensational things Xu Shuzheng did in his life was to recover Outer Mongolia, which was also part of the Qing Dynasty and should have been administered by the Republic of China government after the Xinhai Revolution, but under the planning of Tsarist Russia, Outer Mongolia declared independence. Xu Shuzheng has long been worried about the issue of Outer Mongolia and has always wanted to find an opportunity to take Back Outer Mongolia. After the October Revolution in Russia in 1917, civil strife formed in Russia, the newborn Soviet power was facing a situation of internal and external troubles, and there was a danger of collapse at any time, and the princes and lamas of Outer Mongolia were shaken, so they had the heart to revoke autonomy and return to China, and Xu Shuzheng also saw the opportunity at this time.
In 1918, after Xu Shuzheng resigned as deputy commander-in-chief of the Feng army, he began to send people to Henan, Anhui and other places to recruit troops and horses, prepare to build a northwest border defense army, and prepare to form three divisions and four brigades to prepare for the reconquest of Outer Mongolia. However, due to the domestic warlord melee, Xu Shuzheng's plans were disrupted, and by 1919, Xu Shuzheng's northwest border defense army was no more than a brigade of thousands of troops. But Xu Shuzheng did not give up, and he began to promulgate a series of policies to prepare for the reconquest of Outer Mongolia.
On October 23, 1919, Xu Shuzheng personally led the troops of the 7th and 8th regiments of the 3rd Brigade from Beijing. Xu Shuzheng's operation was smooth, although he only brought two regiments of troops, he was able to sweep all the way through, and by the 29th, Xu Shuzheng arrived at the outer Mongolian capital of Kulun (present-day Ulaanbaatar). Under the pressure of Xu Shuzheng's force, on November 22, President Xu Shichang approved the withdrawal of Outer Mongolia, and the whole territory of Mongolia was again placed under the direct jurisdiction of the Chinese central government. Xu Shuzheng's move did make a great contribution to the unification of the country at that time, but due to the warlords in the country at that time, there was no opportunity to garrison the Troops in Outer Mongolia, and the following year, after the situation in Soviet Russia stabilized, he regained control of Outer Mongolia.
Xu Shuzheng offended many people because of his tough tactics, and once killed Feng Yuxiang's uncle, Lu Jianzhang, the governor of Shaanxi. On December 30, 1925, Feng Yuxiang sent people to intercept Xu Shuzheng's train in Langfang, and Xu Shuzheng, who was wearing pajamas, was "invited" out of the train and was immediately shot.