In the feudal era, because of the so-called "primogeniture inheritance system", the eldest son had absolute power in the family, which was the key to distinguishing it from other heirs.
This is especially true in the royal family, since the implementation of the Zhou Rites, as long as the eldest son does not make mistakes, even if his ability is mediocre, he can be reused. The relationship between the crown prince and other princes was thus estranged.
In ancient times, there was no shortage of various things to seize the throne, the most talked about was the "nine sons seizing the concubine" in the Kangxi period, and the development to modern times, because of the rise of democratic concepts, has rarely appeared such a situation.
However, in Taiwan Province, there was a pair of brothers who were estranged from each other because of the provocation of their respective forces, and later the brother intended to let the younger brother take over the big responsibility, but the younger brother had no choice but to smile bitterly.
The brothers were Chiang Ching-kuo and Chiang Wei-kuo, and in his later years, when Chiang Ching-kuo was seriously ill and dying, he summoned his brother, whom he had rejected for many years, and said:
How's it going, you come to take over!
Jiang Weiguo said with a bitter smile
: It's too late, I don't have any team, how to pick up?
His answer was not poignant.
Why this situation has been created, it depends on the matter between the two people.
Chiang Ching-kuo and Chiang Wai-kuo
There is a six-year difference between Chiang Ching-kuo and Jiang Weiguo, but the two have suffered a world of difference since childhood.
His elder brother Chiang Ching-kuo was born in 1910, and his birth mother was Chiang Kai-shek's original wife, Mao Fumei, because Mao Fumei's marriage to Chiang Kai-shek was arranged by his parents, and Chiang Kai-shek was not satisfied, so he was out of the country for many years and was very indifferent to his wife. Chiang Ching-kuo often saw his mother crying alone, so he had a deep hostility toward Chiang Kai-shek since childhood.
Later, he went to Shanghai to study, and it happened that Chiang Kai-shek's career was developing during this period, and Chiang Kai-shek had the intention of getting closer to his son, but Chiang Ching-kuo respected him and stayed away, and Chiang Kai-shek had no choice.
His days in Shanghai exposed Chiang Ching-kuo to advanced democratic ideas, and he participated in the May Thirtieth Movement before studying at Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow in 1925.
During his studies at Sun Yat-sen University, he became acquainted with Deng Xiaoping, and under the influence of the communist atmosphere in the Soviet Union, he had a deep yearning for the Communist Party, and in this year joined the Chinese Communist Youth League and the Russian Communist Youth League.
In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek launched the "April 12" coup d'état, chiang ching-kuo learned of it, and then publicly took the stage to give a speech denouncing his father, and then openly severed relations with Chiang Kai-shek.
The second contact with his father Chiang Kai-shek was in the thirties, Chiang Ching-kuo had successfully completed his marriage and gave birth to a son, looking at his son he also finally thought of his father, so he wrote to Song Meiling and said: "I want to see my parents day and night. ”
Chiang Kai-shek was very happy to learn of this, and with the formation of the united front, Chiang Ching-kuo's resistance to Chiang Kai-shek was much less, and Chiang Kai-shek also took this opportunity to keep Chiang Ching-kuo by his side and let Chiang Ching-kuo join the Kuomintang in 1938.
At this point, Chiang Ching-kuo finally met his father after years of wandering, during which he suffered a lot, and even was once imprisoned and begged for food to live, while his younger brother Jiang Weiguo was completely different from him.
Jiang Weiguo played a small role and followed his father Chiang Kai-shek's side, plus Song Meiling liked Jiang Weiguo and did not like Chiang Ching-kuo, And Jiang Weiguo lived quite peacefully and comfortably around Chiang Kai-shek, which was completely different from Chiang Ching-kuo who was abroad.
It is also such a different experience, the personality, experience, memory, etc. between the two are different, which also lays the groundwork for the estrangement between the two in the future.
Chiang Ching-kuo suppressed Chiang Wei-kuo
If it is only a difference in personality, there may not be a gap, but the identity of the two can't help but make the brothers love each other.
As the eldest and second sons who will inherit the mantle of Chiang Kai-shek in the future, the two have their own pursuit forces, and they support the two brothers to varying degrees in order to continue to hold great power in the Kuomintang in the future.
In order to let their followers grasp the initiative, they do not hesitate to "manipulate right and wrong, add oil and vinegar", and these seemingly existent rumors make the two brothers jealous of each other.
After the Kuomintang defeated Taiwan, Chiang Ching-kuo's feelings were even deeper: Soong Mei-ling was a power-seeker, while she and Chiang Ching-kuo were only superficially moderate, but privately regarded each other as political enemies.
In this regard, Chiang Kai-shek was very distressed, and his heart was planning to let the calm and atmospheric Chiang Ching-kuo take over the great task, so he intended to suppress Soong Mei-ling's move to install forces in the Kuomintang, and when Soong Mei-ling saw this, he planned to support his favorite second son, which made Chiang Ching-kuo even more wary of Chiang Wei-kuo.
Thus, the "Hukou Mutiny" occurred: Major General Zhao Zhihua, a former subordinate of Chiang Weiguo and deputy commander of the Kuomintang armored corps, scolded corruption within the Kuomintang in his speech, saying that he wanted to "serve the king" and "lead the troops to eliminate the bad guys around Chiang Kai-shek."
He asked the soldiers who would like to go together, and at this time an officer belonging to Chiang Ching-kuo's system stepped forward and said, "I'll go with the deputy commander!" After saying that, he walked behind Zhao Zhihua and grabbed him while Zhao Zhihua was not paying attention.
This incident made Chiang Ching-kuo grasp the handle, and he constantly said that Chiang Wei-kuo's "bad" was around Chiang Kai-shek, and he was so angry that Chiang Kai-shek was no longer willing to let Chiang Wei-kuo control the military power.
Jiang Weiguo was unable to take over
In fact, at the time of the "Hukou Mutiny," Jiang Weiguo had resigned from his post as commander of the armored corps for many years, and had little to do with him at all, but Chiang Ching-kuo seized the opportunity to make a big fuss.
Chiang Kai-shek had intended to let his steady eldest son succeed him, so in Chiang Ching-kuo's means, Chiang Kai-shek's intention was completed. Chiang Ching-kuo became chairman of the Kuomintang Central Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee in 1975, officially becoming the first person of the Kuomintang.
After taking power, Chiang Ching-kuo did not let Jiang Weiguo return to his original post, and by the early 1980s, Jiang Weiguo's position was commander-in-chief of the joint logistics, and although he had his own supporters in the Kuomintang, and his former appointment as the president of the military academy also allowed him to save a lot of contacts, but because of Chiang Ching-kuo's intentional suppression, he did not really belong to his own backbone.
In Chiang Ching-kuo's later years, he seemed to have finally realized that his health was not good and he needed to find his next successor.
At this time, he thought of his younger brother Jiang Weiguo.
He made Jiang Weiguo the secretary general of the "National Security Council."
And with Jiang Weiguo for a long time to talk to each other,
The implication is that Jiang Weiguo can grow up and take over the big task.
However, the time left for Jiang Weiguo was not long, and after only two years, Jiang Chingguo suddenly fell seriously ill, and when he died, he looked for Jiang Weiguo:
"You come to take over!"
Jiang Weiguo smiled helplessly after listening to it: "It's too late, I don't have my own team, I can't pick it up." His words were full of helplessness and bitterness.
brief summary:
In 1997, Jiang Weiguo died in Taipei due to complications of diabetes at the age of 81. Looking back at Chiang Wei-kuo's life, in the early years under the protection of Chiang Kai-shek, it can be said that the wind and water were smooth, but the middle-aged career was full of ups and downs, and I do not blame him, I can only say that Chiang Kai-shek had a bad start, if there was no struggle for power within the Kuomintang, how could it cause a situation of brotherly harm?