Through various means, Zhang Zuolin successfully became the governor of Fengtian In April 1916. However, Zhang Zuolin, who had successfully ascended to the throne, did not have time to be happy, but found that his energy in the position of overseer and governor was a bit overwhelmed. Born in the grass, he was able to march and fight, and it was a little difficult for him to calm down and deal with political affairs, so he openly sought the talent to rule the world.
In this case, Wang Yongjiang, who had been rejected by Zhang Zuolin, once again entered Zhang Zuolin's vision through Yuan Jinkai's introduction. At that time, Yuan Jinkai's evaluation of Wang Yongjiang was that "Yongjiang is a wizard in the world, and the generals under the curtain have no right." Please let the general release the small suspicion directly, so as to achieve a great cause. In this way, Zhang Zuolin accepted Yuan Jinkai's introduction and successfully recruited Wang Yongjiang.
▲ Zhang Zuolin and Wang Yongjiang stills
Wang Yongjiang first served as a senior adviser to the Overseer For a time, and then was appointed by Zhang Zuolin as the chief of the Fengtian Police Department and the chief of the Shenyang Police Department. However, soon after Wang Yongjiang took office, he had a conflict with Zhang Zuolin's brother Tang Yulin. The reason is very simple, Tang Yulin's men are mostly from the green forest, usually free and loose, fighting with the relationship with Zhang Zuolin, often doing some things that violate the law and discipline.
In the past, the police did not dare to control and could not control tang Yulin's subordinates, but after Wang Yongjiang took office, he resolutely refused to indulge them. One day Wang Yongjiang arrested several of Tang Yulin's men, and Tang Yulin went to the police station to ask for someone, and when Wang Yongjiang did not let go, Tang Yulin asked him to surround the police station. Although Wang Yongjiang was a scholar, he did not instigate at all, and directly ordered the police station to wait in a strict position.
▲ Tang Yulin and Wang Yongjiang stills
The matter reached Zhang Zuolin, who believed that Tang Yulin's men were at fault and chose to support Wang Yongjiang. However, at the same time, Wang Yongjiang's position was also adjusted to the director of the Department of Finance and the director of the Tobacco and Alcohol Monopoly Bureau, which can be regarded as fifty boards on each side. However, Tang Yulin was very angry with these fifty boards, and in a fit of anger, he led his men to Xinmin County, while Wang Yongjiang took office without saying a word, and successfully created his own legend.
▲Zhang Zuolin stills
In the post of director of the Department of Finance and director of the Tobacco and Alcohol Monopoly Bureau, Wang Yongjiang's talents have been brought into full play to the greatest extent. At that time, he was faced with a situation in which the entire financial system was very disorderly, the economy was close to collapse, and the annual tax revenue was only more than 10 million yuan, which could not support the expenditure of the Fengjun army, so he had to borrow a lot of foreign debt every year.
Not only that, at that time, many powerful people evaded taxes by concealing or underreporting manors, paddocks, pastures, etc., and the few taxes that could be collected were also exploited layer by layer, and there was very little money that could be successfully put into the treasury in the end. And officials in the bureaucracy, from top to bottom, collude to form a group of interests, and these people even include people in the tax system.
▲ Zhang Zuolin and other stills
In the face of these problems, Wang Yongjiang immediately reformed the financial system after taking office, the most important of which was the reform of the tax system, on the one hand, he carried out a large-scale clean-up of personnel in the industry and shot 14 people according to law; on the other hand, he sent people to clear the land and levied all the manors, paddocks, pastures, etc. that had been concealed and not reported in the past.
Through Wang Yongjiang's unremitting efforts, the economic situation in the northeast quickly improved, not only repaying all the previous debts, but also having a lot of savings. In this regard, Zhang Zuolin's own evaluation is
"It's something I never dreamed of"
。
▲Wang Yongjiang stills
In view of Wang Yongjiang's contribution and ability, Zhang Zuolin wanted to further promote Wang Yongjiang's position and appointed him as the governor of Fengtian Province. Although the power of the provincial governor is not as good as that of the overseer, it is not something that anyone can do if they want to, especially in the northeast, which is basically controlled by Zhang Zuolin's absolute cronies.
However, in the face of this position, Wang Yongjiang actually chose to refuse. Despite Zhang Zuolin's repeated persuasions, Wang Yongjiang's refusal attitude was also very firm. Later, Wang Yongjiang chose a centering plan, Zhang Zuolin was still the governor of the province, he was the acting governor, that is to say, the position of fengtian governor was still Zhang Zuolin's, but the power of the governor was Wang Yongjiang's. Not only that, Wang Yongjiang also made a request to Zhang Zuolin,
"All officials, large and small in the province, shall be appointed and shall not be allowed to interfere with the rain"
▲ Wang Yongjiang and Zhang Zuolin stills
It should be said that this requirement is even more exaggerated than simply asking for a provincial governor's position, because at that time, although a province had a governor and a provincial governor, the overseer basically had the final say in matters large and small. Wang Yongjiang's request to Zhang Zuolin was undoubtedly to tell Zhang Zuolin that although he did not want the name of the governor, the power of the governor must be completely attributed to himself.
For Wang Yongjiang's "excessive" request, Zhang Zuolin did not hesitate to agree, not only that, Zhang Zuolin also advised the people around him, saying,
"Wang Yongjiang has a bad temper and is quite difficult to serve, so be cautious"
。 From this incident, we can also see Zhang Zuolin's way of employing people and the amount of tolerance.
It is precisely because Zhang Zuolin trusts so much that Wang Yongjiang reorganized the northeast economy in a short period of time, providing important support for the expansion of the Feng army. Later, people often compared Wang Yongjiang and Yang Yuting, believing that they were the two people who contributed the most to Fengjun, and the evaluation was very objective. Without Wang Yongjiang, the economic situation in the northeast at that time would not have been able to withstand Zhang Zuolin's profligacy, after all, the major wars such as the Zhiwan War, the Zhifeng War, and the Zhejiang Feng War were all involved, and behind this needed a lot of money and wealth support.
Statement: The picture source network in the article, if there is infringement, please contact the author to delete.