On June 4, 1928, Zhang Zuolin was seriously injured by the japanese Kwantung Army's pre-buried explosives on a train, and then died. After Zhang Zuolin's death, the situation in the northeast was very chaotic for a while, Zhang Xueliang was urgently recruited back to inherit his father's career, at that time, there were many people with prestige among the old subordinates who followed Zhang Zuolin, how could the young and shallow Zhang Xueliang convince the public? At the critical moment, a person stood on his side, that is, the second in command of the Northeast Army, Zhang Zuoxiang.
Zhang Zuoxiang's ancestral home was directly under the flower pot village of Taikoozhuang in Shen County, and his family later came to the northeast. Guangxu was born in the seventh year of Guangxu (February 9, 1881) in the southern miscellaneous woods of Jinxian County, his parents were farmers, the family was relatively well-off, his father was a mason, in addition to cultivating several plots of land, life is relatively abundant. Zhang Zuoxiang studied at a nearby private school when he was a child and received a Mongolian education, but three years later his father asked him to abandon school and learn the masonry craft with him to earn a living.
Guangxu twenty years, that is, in 1894, the Outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, this year Zhang Zuoxiang was just 13 years old, his hometown is in the center of the war, The Japanese invasion led to economic decline, the people are not happy, Zhang Zuoxiang's family livelihood was seriously affected, resulting in the young Zhang Zuoxiang began to go out to make money, support the family, he went to his uncle's house to help, cousin Zhang Zuozheng and his temperament, similar interests.
In the twenty-third year of Guangxu (1897), the Qing government built a railway from Shanhaiguan to Xinmin, and Zhang Zuoxiang decided to leave his uncle's house to build a railway. At this time, his cousin Zhang Zuozheng, who was very good friends with him, was falsely accused and thrown into prison, and later proved that he had not violated the law and was released. However, the Qiu family did not give up because of this, and on the way back home from prison, Zhang Zuozheng was killed by the Qiu family Guo Yu, and before he died, Zhang Zuozheng's last words to Zhang Zuoxiang were to ask him to avenge him.
In order to escape the persecution of the enemy family, Zhang Zuoxiang ran away from home, in 1901, Zhang Zuoxiang ended his turbulent and displaced life, found and killed Guo Yu, who had become an officer and soldier of the Qing Army, and then returned to his hometown of Jin County, gathered dozens of people to take revenge on the Guo family, killed several people and led his men to wander around in order to avoid the pursuit of the government, there was no place to stand, and survived by robbing the family. At this time, Zhang Zuoxiang heard that Zhang Zuolin of the Octagonal Terrace was a righteous man and was deeply supported by the green forest, so he led his men to defect to Zhang Zuolin.
When Zhang Zuoxiang surrendered to Zhang Zuolin, just when Zhang Zuolin was in danger, the nearby bandit Xiang Zhaozi was attacking Zhang Zuolin's octagonal platform, zhang Zuoxiang led more than 40 people to hold the artillery tower, successfully covered Zhang Zuolin's exit from the city, and made great contributions to killing Xiang Zhaozi. Since then, Zhang Zuoxiang has become more and more highly valued by Zhang Zuolin, and has become a brother with Zhang Jinghui and Zhang Zuolin, and Zhang Zuoxiang has also become the second boss.
In 1902, after Zhang Zuolin's bandit team was incorporated by the Qing court, Zhang Zuolin was appointed as the pipe leader of the guerrilla horse brigade of the XinminFu, and Zhang Zuoxiang was made a sentinel. After Zhang Zuolin returned to the Qing government, Zhang Zuoxiang transformed himself into an "official family member", successively serving as a sentry officer and pipe belt of the Qing army's guerrilla horse brigade, and graduated from the TangWu Hall in the three years of Qing Xuanun (1911).
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shikai stole the fruits of the Xinhai Revolution and became the president of the Republic of China, Zhang Zuolin also obeyed the administration of the Republic of China in the northeast, and his status continued to rise, and Zhang Zuoxiang also soared. In 1916, Zhang Zuolin was appointed Fengtian Overseer and Governor, and Zhang Zuoxiang was appointed commander of the infantry brigade of the 27th Division. In 1918, Duan Qirui appointed Zhang Zuolin as the patrol envoy of the three eastern provinces, and Zhang Zuoxiang served as the chief of the general staff and senator of the patrol envoy, and concurrently served as the commander of the 27th Division and the brigade commander of the Guard Brigade.
Zhang Zuoxiang is loyal and loyal, and is Zhang Zuolin's most trusted cadre and brother, but Zhang Zuoxiang is not pretentious and aggressive because of this, but is very generous and humble, and zhang Zuoxiang's personality can be seen from the handling of Guo Songling's defection incident. At that time, Zhang Zuolin advocated that all the generals who participated in the defection be shot and executed to avoid future troubles. It is also a warning to other military generals to avoid similar things in the future. However, Zhang Zuoxiang insisted on leniency, giving these generals and soldiers a chance to no longer hold them accountable for the matter, and did not hesitate to exchange his own life for a pardon for Guo Songling's subordinates. Zhang Zuolin accepted Zhang Zuoxiang's suggestion, pardoned Guo Songling's subordinates, avoided a bloody massacre, and preserved the strength of the Feng army.
On June 4, 1928, Zhang Zuolin was killed by the Japanese army in Huanggutun, Shenyang, and most of the warlords within the Feng clan advocated that Zhang Zuoxiang should take over the government and feng clan, but he refused again, and advocated that zhang Xueliang be replaced by the young marshal, and then by virtue of his prestige and status, he united the members of the feng clan and assisted the young marshal, serving as the deputy commander of the Northeast Border Defense Army, a member of the Northeast Political Affairs Committee, and the chairman of the Jilin Provincial Government.
On the eve of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zhang Zuoxiang resigned indignantly and withdrew from the military and political circles because he was dissatisfied with the signing of the "He Mei Agreement" between the Nanjing government and Japan. Since then, he has been living in seclusion in the British Concession of Tianjin. During the period of seclusion, the Japanese and puppet authorities always wanted to use Zhang Zuoxiang's prestige to form a puppet regime, but they were all rejected by Zhang Zuoxiang's stern words. Chiang Kai-shek also repeatedly asked Zhang Zuoxiang to come out of the mountains and take up a post in the northeast after the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, but he was also refused.
With the tension of the situation, Zhang Zuoxiang arranged for his son Zhang Tingshu to garrison the Great Wall to fight the Japanese army, and also quietly let his son join the Red Army, under the leadership of the Ccp, Zhang Tingshu participated in the formation of the first guerrilla group of the Eighth Route Army and was appointed commander of the first guerrilla column of the Eighth Route Army. In the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zhang Tingshu led the army to fight in bloody battles, and there were many impressive achievements.
It can be said that Zhang Zuoxiang received considerable courtesy on both sides of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and his national integrity was an example for the people of the times and an example for future generations to learn. After the liberation of Jinzhou, Zhang Zuoxiang was mistakenly captured by the People's Liberation Army, and after learning his identity, he was treated courteously by the People's Liberation Army and sent someone to escort him back to his Apartment in Tianjin by Rehe Caodao by car. In March 1949, Zhang Zuoxiang suddenly died of cerebral hemorrhage.