In fact, before marrying Wu Hailan, Zhang Lingfu married his first wife Xing Fengying as early as 1923 under the arrangement of his family.
Zhang Lingfu was born in the countryside of Xi'an, and his family was not very well-off, but the elders, with insight, sent him to the ancient city of Xi'an to study very early.
Zhang Lingfu was smart and easy to read, and with excellent results, he was successfully admitted to the best middle school in Xi'an - Chang'an Middle School.
Zhang Lingfu is not only easy to read, but also loves calligraphy.
After he entered Chang'an Middle School, he often went to the nearby forest of steles to copy the stele. Over time, his calligraphy was quite famous in Xi'an, and even Yu Youren, a veteran of the Nationalist army garrison in Shaanxi, praised him as a wizard, and gave him more guidance in his later life.
(Zhang Lingfu old photo)
In 1923, Zhang Lingfu was admitted to the History Department of Peking University.
In the same year, he obeyed the arrangement of his family and married Xing Fengying, a girl from a neighboring village.
After that, due to family changes, Zhang Lingfu failed to complete his studies due to financial difficulties.
At that time, the Republic of China government only established the Whampoa Military Academy in order to train a revolutionary army. At the suggestion of Yu Youren, Zhang Lingfu was admitted to the military academy and began his career as a horseman.
After Zhang Lingfu graduated, he was incorporated into the 21st Division of the Nationalist Army.
The Northern Expedition soon after gave Zhang Lingfu the opportunity to emerge.
He was so brave and strategic on the battlefield that after the End of the Northern Expedition, Hu Zongnan, the commander of the First Division, who admired him, called him by name. After he was transferred to the First Division, Hu Zongnan was even more attached to him and regarded him as a confidant.
Under the promotion of Hu Zongnan, Zhang Lingfu was appointed colonel of the 1st Regiment of the Independent Brigade of the First Division.
At this time, Zhang Lingfu was at the time when the spring breeze was triumphant, and like many nationalist officers at that time, Zhang Lingfu did not refuse to marry another wife, not to mention that he and Xing Fengying had an arranged marriage without emotional basis.
In 1933, under the introduction of a friend, Zhang Lingfu met Wu Hailan, a young girl born in Guangyuan, Sichuan.
Wu Hailan was originally a person in the town, his family was a copper shop, relying on copper ware for his business, and the economy was quite rich.
What is valuable is that in that kind of closed town, Wu Hailan's father actually did not favor sons over daughters, but sent her to the county school to become a female student.
Young and beautiful, and knowledgeable, this has become a landscape in the town, and there are more mediators to flatten the threshold of Wu Hailan's family.
(Zhang Lingfu and Wu Hailan)
After Zhang Lingfu met Wu Hailan, he was very satisfied with her.
The Wu family also felt that although Zhang Lingfu was more than 10 years older than his daughter, her daughter could marry an officer and be his wife, and she would inevitably live a worry-free life in the future. Therefore, both sides decided that Zhang Lingfu and Wu Hailan became relatives in the winter of that year.
The gentle and virtuous Wu Hailan took good care of Zhang Lingfu. The two lived a life of deep love after marriage. A year later, she also gave birth to her daughter Zhang Qingfang.
In 1935, on the orders of the Nationalist government, Zhang Lingfu made an expedition to the northwest.
During this period, Wu Hailan was placed in the ancient city of Xi'an along with the families of other officers of the First Army and stayed in the rear.
Unexpectedly, in the winter of this year, Wu Hailan could not easily hope to return to her husband who had been away for a long time, but unexpectedly, she died under his pistol.
For a time, the case of "the head of the regiment killing his wife in the ancient city" was stirred up in Xi'an. The Xi'an women's circle insisted on seeking justice for Wu Hailan, and even alarmed Song Meiling.
So, why did Zhang Lingfu kill Wu Hailan?
One way to say it is "unchaste.".
According to Zhang Lingfu's colleagues, the reason why Zhang Lingfu shot Wu Hailan was because Zhang Lingfu's colleagues joked at the time.
At that time, Zhang Lingfu had a colleague who returned to Xi'an to visit his relatives, and Zhang Lingfu asked him if he had seen his wife?
Colleagues quipped that they saw that your wife was wearing a cheongsam and a young man in a suit was preparing to go into the cinema to watch a play. Look at their demeanor, quite affectionate.
The speaker has no intention, the listener is intentional, not to mention That Zhang Lingfu has always had an extreme personality. So when he heard that Wu Hailan did not keep chastity, he took a family leave without saying a word.
After returning home, Wu Hailan asked him what he wanted to eat as usual.
Zhang Lingfu liked pasta and said he wanted to eat some dumplings.
Wu Hailan went to the backyard vegetable field to cut leeks.
Zhang Lingfu followed and fired a shot at the back of Her head behind Wu Hailan.
(Old photo of Wang Yuling)
Another way of saying it is "universal communism".
Zhang Lingfu's fourth wife, Wang Yuling, later recalled that Zhang Lingfu killed Wu Hailan because Wu Hailan was a communist.
It turned out that Zhang Lingfu found out during a visit to his relatives that Wu Hailan had stolen his military documents.
No matter how Zhang Lingfu interrogated her, Wu Hailan just wouldn't say why she took the documents.
Although there was no evidence, Wu Hailan's attitude made Zhang Lingfu suspect that she had a relationship with the Communist Party. Coupled with the fear of affecting shitu, in a hurry, Zhang Lingfu shot her.
Although there are different opinions, Zhang Lingfu, as a party, has always been secretive about the killing of his wife and has never given a statement. Therefore, the death of Wu Hailan has become a mystery.
After Wu Hailan's death, her brother Wu Zhengyou complained about her grievances and complained everywhere.
However, Zhang Lingfu was a general in the Nationalist army and a local government official, so Zhang Lingfu remained at large and continued to be his regimental commander in the First Regiment.
In desperation, Wu Zhengyou found the Women's Circle of Xi'an and asked them to uphold justice.
At that time, it was the rise of feminism, and at this moment, there were women who died innocently, which seemed to the female world to be a reproduction of "hell is empty, the devil is in the world".
Under the righteous indignation, the female circles jointly signed "Shangshu" Song Meiling and requested that the murderer Zhang Lingfu be severely punished.
At that time, in order to enhance the morality and spirit of the people, Soong Mei-ling and Chiang Kai-shek set up the "New Life Movement Promotion Association" in Nanjing, and vigorously publicized new ideas such as "women are the driving force of the family."
In the view of Song Meiling and Chiang Kai-shek, Zhang Lingfu's killing of his wife not only violated the law of the land, but also violated the original intention of the New Life Movement, and has already caused a bad impact on society.
Therefore, under Chiang Kai-shek's personal interrogation, Hu Zongnan, who wanted to protect Zhang Lingfu, had to let him "take the initiative to surrender" in order to strive for leniency.
After a trial ruling by a military court, Zhang Lingfu was finally sentenced to death, but soon after, the sentence was changed to 10 years in prison.
However, because Zhang Lingfu was Chiang Kai-shek's proud protégé. Under chiang kai-shek's suggestion, he did not suffer like an ordinary prisoner in prison, but instead read and wrote and cultivated himself.
In 1937, after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Nationalist government ordered that all the officers and men in prison, except for "political prisoners", should be reinstated as officers and men in prisons, and they should go to the battlefield to make meritorious deeds.
Zhang Lingfu was able to regain his freedom and go to the battlefield, and his case of killing his wife was not resolved.