On May 10, 1922, Zhang Zuolin suffered a crushing defeat in the First Zhifeng War, losing nearly 100,000 troops, all the territories of Rehe and Chahar provinces outside Shanhaiguan were also lost, and the inspectors of the three eastern provinces, the inspectors of Mongolia, and the governors of Chasui were also dismissed. Faced with defeat, Zhang Zuolin declared the independence of the northeast on May 12, severing ties with the Beijing government.
On May 19, the Feng clan generals convened a provincial assembly in Fengtian City (present-day Shenyang, Liaoning Province), announcing that the three eastern provinces would exercise joint provincial autonomy, and still recognized Zhang Zuolin as the inspector of the three eastern provinces and the governor of Fengtian Province, and elected him as the commander-in-chief of the security of the three eastern provinces, and Sun Liechen and Wu Junsheng as deputy commanders. On May 26, Zhang Zuolin, Sun Liechen and Wu Junsheng jointly announced:
Since May 1, the three eastern provinces, together with the southwestern and Yangtze River provinces, have acted in unison to uphold the law, foster autonomy, and promote reunification.
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After that, the deputies meetings of Fengtian, Jilin, and Heilongjiang provinces jointly elected the form of the form, confirmed Zhang Zuolin's position as the commander-in-chief of the security of the three eastern provinces, and "elected" the governors of the three provinces. On July 16, the Eastern Three Provinces Patrol Embassy and the Fengtian Governor's Office merged to form the Eastern Three Provinces Security Command, which consisted of 7 divisions, and the Eastern Three Provinces were completely freed from the control of the Beijing government and became an "independent kingdom".
During the "independence" period, Zhang Zuolin repeated his old trick and wantonly withheld the central government's taxes. On the second day after the declaration of the "independence" of the northeast, Jilin Province was ordered to withhold all railway revenues and funds, after which they could not be released to the central government, and sent people to the road bureau for compulsory enforcement; on the same day, Zhang Zuolin sent a letter to the Postal Administration: "
All postal revenues of the three provinces, except for monthly expenses, are allocated to the Fengtian Provincial Treasury and cannot be released to Beijing.
In terms of customs duties and salt taxes, Zhang Zuolin also called the customs supervision and salt transport envoys of the three provinces, saying: "
All relevant surplus and salt surplus funds will be released from the Fengtian Provincial Treasury from this month onwards, and cannot be transferred to Beijing.
In this way, after the First Zhifeng War, although Zhang Zuolin lost the provinces of Rehe and Chahar, he achieved a great harvest economically. The salt tax, customs duties, postal and railway revenues of the three eastern provinces alone have led to a substantial increase in the income of the Feng clan. In 1923, the tax revenue of Fengtian Province reached more than 30 million yuan, and after deducting expenditure, the surplus of the year was about 8.2 million yuan. Relying on these withheld tax funds, Zhang Zuolin reorganized the army, expanded the arsenal, built the air force, and prepared for the construction of the navy, laying a solid foundation for re-entering the customs and winning the Central Plains.
After more than two years of preparation, Zhang Zuolin regained his former momentum and ambition. From September 15 to November 3, 1924, the Second Zhifeng War lasted for a total of 50 days, ending with the total annihilation of the main force of the Zhi Army and the escape of Wu Peifu. The victory was decided, and Zhang Zuolin immediately issued a telegram on November 6, announcing the closure of the army, the cancellation of the name and battle sequence of the Zhenwei army, and the withdrawal of the garrison along the line in stages, and a statement"
Subsequently, the military advance of the Eastern Province was stopped, and he obeyed the orders of the central government to transfer and observe the obedience of the soldiers
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Although the telegram was not explicitly stated, it can already be regarded as a declaration by Zhang Zuolin to cancel the independence of the three eastern provinces. With the victory of this battle, the control of the Beijing government was transferred from the direct family to the Feng family, and Zhang Zuolin, as the central figure of the situation, once again stepped onto the political stage of the central government and grasped the right to control the Beijing government.
In addition, Zhang Zuolin not only recaptured the former Rehe territory, but also newly occupied, directly subordinated, and Shandong provinces, and extended the Feng clan forces all the way south along the Jinpu Railway, controlling the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the rich lands along the southeast coast, and soon made the Feng clan reach an unprecedented state of prosperity.