Every era has heroes, and they are the brightest stars for that era, but looking at the whole river of history, they are all over the clouds, and to get out of this situation, there is no one who has great kindness and righteousness to mankind and the nation.
In his later years, Yan Xishan interpreted the life from extraordinary to trough, and even to the "desolate suburbs", as a great warlord who once enjoyed a great reputation in China, Yan Xishan was once a existence that could compete with Chiang Kai-shek, Feng Yuxiang and others. However, after the defeat of the Kuomintang in Taiwan, he also had to decline, and eventually went to a lonely old age.
"King of Shanxi" Yan Xishan
Yan Xishan was born in a landlord family in Wutai County, Shanxi, and as a young man, he never knew what trouble was, and he entered a private school step by step under his father's arrangement.
Yan Xishan was very intelligent since childhood, and at the age of 14, he and his father opened a bank in Wutai County to learn financial knowledge that no one had ever heard of at that time.
However, because of a failed speculation, Yan Xishan and his father lost all their family savings, and even ended up in debt, so he had to flee with his father to Taiyuan City to hide debts.
Although the investment failed, it taught Yan Xishan a valuable lesson in his life, and it also became a valuable experience in his future political activities. Later, he was admitted to the Shanxi Wubei Academy, and because of his excellent results, he was sent to Japan to study.
In the late Qing Dynasty, both domestic and foreign students exuded a strong atmosphere of democracy, Yan Xishan chose to join the League in such a wave of democratic revolution, and with excellent personal ability, reached a decision with Sun Yat-sen to "echo the south and respond to the north", that is, "when the southern provinces revolt, they must respond remotely in Jin Province", from this moment on, Yan Xishan began to step onto the political stage, this year, Yan Xishan was 23 years old.
Later, Sun Yat-sen led the vigorous Xinhai Revolution in the south, and Yan Xishan, who was then the colonel of the Shanxi New Army, knew about it, and conspired with the members of the League in Taiyuan to respond, and then the Taiyuan Uprising broke out.
The Taiyuan Uprising was the most glorious page in Yan Xishan's life, and the success of the Xinhai Revolution made him one of the most important leaders in Shanxi.
However, Yuan Shikai stole the fruits of the revolution, and Yan Xishan had some scruples after learning about it, but for the success of the democratic revolution, he wrote to Yuan Shikai saying that "if he can coordinate with the military and the people, subvert the imperial system, and then incubate the republic and start with the people", he supported Yuan Shikai as the president.
In fact, at this time, Yan Xishan had begun to be fascinated by power, and most of the members of the League led by Sun Yat-sen at that time did not recognize Yuan Shikai, and had different opinions with Yuan Shikai on issues such as the establishment of the capital.
In order to curry favor with Yuan Shikai, Yan Xishan stood up to support Yuan Shikai's opinion, which also made Yuan Shikai see that Yan Xishan was different from other members of the Alliance. Therefore, after Yuan Shikai seized power,
Yan Xishan was appointed chairman of Shanxi Province.
Yan Xishan also began his 38-year journey to "King of Shanxi".
The dispute between Yan Xishan and Chiang Kai-shek
In 1915, Yuan Shikai attempted to "restore", which caused strong dissatisfaction among many people in China at that time, first of all, the League led by Sun Yat-sen, and Yuan Shikai also had a lot of opinions on the League.
However, yuan shikai, who had ambitions, still chose to "act perversely", so he set up a national defense army in Yunnan with Cai Yi, Tang Jiyao and others, and Yan Xishan at this time could not see the situation clearly, and still led by Yuan Shikai.
But Yuan Shikai was soon defeated, and when people noticed Yan Xishan at this time, they found that Yan Xishan seemed to be out of the matter and did not suffer much impact.
In fact, at that time, Sun Yat-sen, Cai Yi and others did not think of attacking Yan Xishan, but Yan Xishan had been entrenched in Shanxi for many years, and Yan Xishan's Shanxi army was numerous, not a soft persimmon, so it had not been moved.
Years of war have made the people in beijing, Hebei and other war zones particularly yearn for the stability of Shanxi, so Shanxi ushered in a moment of rapid development, and Yan Xishan was also happy to rest with the people. As a result, the development of Shanxi was actually the fastest area at that time.
Later, when the country entered the period of warlord chaos, Yan Xishan was always in a neutral and out-of-the-box position, until 1924, when the Zhifeng War was fought, Yan Xishan felt that his wings were gradually growing, so he took the initiative to begin to participate in major domestic events.
At that time, during the Northern Expedition, the Kuomintang army actively fought for Yan Xishan for the successful completion of the Northern Expedition. By 1928, Yan Xishan was already in a pivotal position among many warlords, and Chiang Kai-shek was extremely jealous of the power he possessed, so he gave him the status and reputation he deserved.
In fact, at this moment, Yan Xishan's life is considered successful and brilliant, but Yan Xishan himself is obviously obsessed with power, and he is not satisfied with the status quo.
In 1930, the Central Plains War broke out between Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang and Chiang Kai-shek, which was far larger than the previous Northern Expedition, and the result of the war was that Chiang Kai-shek won the victory and has since held a high position in the Kuomintang.
A miserable old age
Since the Central Plains War, although Yan Xishan's power is still there, it is no longer in a stage of vigorous development as before, and then the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation broke out.
At the end of the Liberation War, Yan Xishan was obsessed and unwilling to compromise with our army, and soon, when our army liberated Shanxi, Yan Xishan also had to follow Chiang Kai-shek south.
March 1949,
Yan Xishan took dozens of boxes of gold and flew to Taiwan on a heavily overloaded plane
In fact, at that time, Chiang Kai-shek already had great opinions about Yan Xishan, and as early as when Li Zongren forced Chiang Kai-shek to go to the court, Yan Xishan took the opportunity to become the president of the Executive Yuan of the Kuomintang.
The liberation of Shanxi not only meant that Yan Xishan had to flee, but also meant that Yan Xishan's concubine troops were destroyed one after another, and the army was the basis for Yan Xishan's great power in the Kuomintang, and the loss now also meant that Yan Xishan's old age would not be better.
However, Yan Xishan did not want to flee overseas like Li Zongren, Song Ziwen and others, and he held the idea that Chiang Kai-shek would "see the pearls with wisdom" and followed Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan, but Chiang Kai-shek did not think of letting Yan Xishan, who had no power, take power again, and soon.
Chiang Kai-shek completely removed Yan Xishan from his post.
In his later years, Yan Xishan moved to the side of Yangming Mountain,
This place was a remote area in Taiwan at that time.
There were no telephones, no lights, not even a decent road.
However, Yan Xishan, who was more than sixty years old, was able to live in such a desolate suburb, and lived for more than ten years until he finally grew old. In fact, at this moment, Yan Xishan had already looked down a lot, and at this moment, he also knew that he had no chance to return to the center of power.
brief summary:
In 1960, Yan Xishan suddenly fell ill, because it was a few hours after the ambulance arrived because of the remoteness, and Yan Xishan also died at the age of 77 because of the inability to rescue him.
After his death, Chiang Kai-shek personally came forward to the funeral, and even his funeral could not be described as solemn, Chiang Kai-shek asked He Yingqin to set up a funeral group and presented a plaque with the words "Qi Huai Qi Xun", and the story of a generation of "Shanxi Kings" has since fallen lonely.