Chiang Kai-shek's wife is Song Meiling, Song Meiling's older brother is Song Ziwen, and Song Meiling's eldest sister is married to the big capitalist Kong Xiangxi. In this way, these three families in the four major families of the Republic of China are not only political allies, but also very close in-laws.
Only Chen Guofu Chen Lifu brothers, who have nothing to do with the Jiang family at all, how can they be among the four major families?
At that time, there was a rumor that the world of the Chiang family, the party of the Chen family, meant that Chen Lifu had formed the Central Unification, (the Investigation and Statistics Bureau of the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, referred to as "Central Unification") was a national secret service organization controlled by the Chen brothers.
Chiang Kai-shek can control the world, how can it be that only the party cannot control it? If the Chen brothers could exert influence on the Kuomintang alone, how could the Chen brothers end up in a situation where they were far away from home, poor and destitute, and even when they were sick, there was no cure?
The real reason is that the Chen brothers also have a very special relationship with Chiang Kai-shek, let's first look at the history of the Chen brothers.
Chen Guofu joined the League in his early years, and after participating in the defeat of the Yuan War, he and Chiang Kai-shek speculated in stocks on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. After the establishment of the Whampoa Military Academy, he worked in the Shanghai office of the military academy, mainly responsible for purchasing materials and recruiting talents.
Chen Lifu graduated from the Department of Minerals of the Early School of Tianjin University (Beiyang University) in 1922. After studying in the United States, he obtained a master's degree in mining from the University of Pittsburgh in 1925, which was indeed a rare talent in China at that time.
After returning to China, he went to the Whampoa Military Academy and served as Chiang Kai-shek's confidential secretary.
The two brothers also have real talents and practical learning, and have achieved great achievements in their respective posts.
However, these achievements were also appreciated by all walks of life of the Kuomintang, but they were not enough to make Chiang Kai-shek very trusting. The most fundamental reason is their uncle, Chen Qimei.
Chen Qimei, an early bourgeois revolutionary. Revolutionary decisive faction, Chiang Kai-shek's brother-in-law.
Chen Qimei was one of the founders of the League, and his revolutionary resoluteness was as prominent as his character shortcomings. But in any case, he was a revolutionary forerunner that Sun Yat-sen appreciated. It was precisely because of Chen Qimei's recommendation and introduction that Chiang Kai-shek had close contact with Sun Yat-sen and was initially appreciated by Sun Yat-sen.
However, Chen Qimei had a fierce personality, repeatedly assassinated Yuan Shikai, plotted against warlords everywhere against Yuan, and did a lot of work to maintain the republic, so that Yuan Shikai hated Chen Qimei to the bone, and Chen Qimei was assassinated by Yuan Shikai in the process of preparing funds for the revolution by sending people to provide funds as bait.
Yuan Shikai did not allow anyone to handle the aftermath for Chen Qimei.
At this time, Chiang Kai-shek wanted to be grateful for Chen Qimei's affection for him, found a way to properly handle Chen Qimei's aftermath, and was also determined to treat Chen Qimei's relatives kindly.
After Chen Qimei's death, the revolutionary activities of the League also fell into a low ebb. Sun Yat-sen asked Chiang Kai-shek to organize the Whampoa Military Academy, and Chiang Kai-shek arranged for Chen Guofu to go to Shanghai to purchase materials and recruit talents.
Another nephew of Chen Qimei, Chen Lifu, graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in the United States with a master's degree, and Chiang Kai-shek invited him to serve as his own secretary at the Whampoa Military Academy.
Of course, with the intelligence of the two brothers and Chiang Kai-shek's confidants, they were naturally very successful in the official arena.
In order to strengthen Chiang Kai-shek's control over the Kuomintang, Chen Lifu founded the secret service organization "Central Unification".
Through Chen Lifu's special relationship with Chiang Kai-shek and the privileges of the secret service agency, the brothers Chen Lifu and Chen Guofu gradually rose to the ranks of the plutocrats of the Republic of China, and eventually became one of the four major families that controlled the economic lifeline of the Republic of China.
However, in the end, the power and wealth of Chen Lifu and Chen Guofu's brothers made Chiang Kai-shek jealous, and after arriving in Taiwan, he removed them from all their posts and lost power at Chiang Kai-shek's office.