Chiang Kai-shek was a tyrant of the early 20th century, who stood out among Sun Yat-sen's many followers and later defeated the warlords of zhulu in the Battle of the Central Plains, becoming the final victor.
However, all this is inseparable from the full support of one person, that is, his brother Zhang Xueliang.
It was precisely because of Zhang Xueliang's northeast Yizhi that Chiang Kai-shek defeated the combined forces of Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan and laid the foundation for victory.
However, the two people who had intersected in this way were turned against each other because of the Xi'an Incident, and in the end, Zhang Xueliang was imprisoned by Chiang Kai-shek for life.
Even when Chiang Kai-shek was dying, he still left his last words: "Don't let go of the tiger."
These four words explained the reason why she did not let Zhang Xueliang go, and Song Meiling, who very much hoped that Zhang Xueliang could be free, could not help but burst into tears after listening to it, and could not say anything else.
"Don't let go of the tiger" endless hatred
After the Xi'an Incident in 1936, Zhang Xueliang, who accompanied Chiang Kai-shek back to Nanjing, was imprisoned by Chiang Kai-shek.
Until the defeat of the Chiang family dynasty in Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek did not spare this former brother, but took him to Taiwan to continue to be imprisoned.
April 5, 1975, Taiwan, Qingming Festival, heavy rain.
The heavens coincided with the festival, but the rain at night was no longer pouring, but pouring like a broken soul.
On the morning of the same day, Chiang Kai-shek, who had been sick for more than a year, changed from the sluggishness of the previous days and appeared particularly energetic.
He talked to his son, Chiang Ching-kuo, who had come to visit, probably lamenting his illness, and he told his son to pay attention to his body.
At night, he suddenly fell into a coma and eventually died of heart failure.
In fact, as early as a year ago, Chiang Kai-shek had a premonition of the coming of the end.
At that time, he was semi-bedridden, often admitted to the hospital, and stayed for several months.
Chiang Kai-shek did everything in his power to create all kinds of conditions, and finally handed over control of Taiwan Province to his son Chiang Ching-kuo.
Moreover, before his death, the conversation he had with Chiang Ching-kuo was equivalent to his last words.
Among them, zhang Xueliang, who was imprisoned by him for nearly forty years, was involved, and Chiang Kai-shek only confessed to Chiang Ching-kuo:"Do not let go of the tiger."
This shows that in Chiang Kai-shek's eyes, no matter how quietly Zhang Xueliang lived in seclusion and how religiously he believed in God's preaching, he was always a "tiger" who was hated and imprisoned by Chiang Kai-shek.
Chiang Kai-shek's godson "must not let the tiger go", it can be said that he was bitten by a snake and feared the well rope for ten years, and it can also be said that the Xi'an incident was too large in chiang kai-shek's psychological shadow area.
What he was most worried about should be that once Zhang Xueliang was truly free and involved in politics, he would once again endanger the Chiang family and force the Chiang regime into a desperate valley again.
As Chiang Kai-shek's wife, Soong Mei Ling, after Zhang Xueliang was imprisoned, she always disagreed with Chiang Kai-shek's decision, but she was powerless to change anything.
She did not expect that her husband's hatred for Zhang Xueliang was so deep that even though nearly forty years had passed, it still had not subsided.
Seeing her husband die, her heart was naturally sad.
However, her husband's hatred for Zhang Xueliang was difficult to reconcile, so that Zhang Xueliang would continue to be imprisoned in his seventies.
The pain and regret in her heart made her cry, and it was difficult to calm down for a long time.
After learning of Chiang Kai-shek's death, Zhang Xueliang was silent for three days.
He recalled his acquaintance with Chiang Kai-shek, from a brother of life and death, and finally to a life and death enemy.
Finally, with a wave of his hand, he wrote down a pair of elegies: caring for Yin, love is like flesh and bones. The battle of political opinions is like a vendetta.
Since his imprisonment, Zhang Xueliang has been extremely silent and has never publicly slandered or cursed Chiang Kai-shek.
Deep down, however, he had argued and fought countless times against this man who had turned himself into a prisoner.
It can be seen from the four words "do not let go of the tiger" that Chiang Kai-shek has never forgiven him in the past, nor has he shown any political forgiveness to him until his death.
Today, this old rival has disappeared into the world forever, plunging into a permanent silence.
However, Zhang Xueliang's inner struggle never stopped, and continued as Chiang Ching-kuo continued to strictly implement his will.
The two brothers' grudges swirled endlessly
Zhang Xueliang is a historical figure with a special position in China's modern and contemporary history, and his deeds are deeply imprinted on the picture of history.
In 1928, the Japanese created the Huanggutun Incident and killed Zhang Zuolin.
So Zhang Xueliang took charge of the northeast in June 1928 and began to appear on the political stage of China, when the most important problem facing Zhang Xueliang was the survival of the northeast.
At that time, there were three paths in front of Zhang Xueliang:
The first was to submit to Japanese imperialism; the second was to close oneself off and divide the northeast; and the third was to accept the "peace talks," change the banner and change the banner, and obey the National Government in Nanjing.
"The revenge of killing his father is not to wear the heavens together", Zhang Xueliang absolutely cannot accept the fate of being a Japanese puppet.
However, as he continued to divide the northeast, he felt that it was difficult to resist in the face of the Japanese who were sharpening their knives.
Moreover, Zhang Xueliang also believed that "to calm down difficulties and avenge family revenge, only the whole country can be reunified and all-out efforts should be made to deal with Japan."
In the end, he decided to choose a third way: obedience to Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government.
So on December 29, 1928, Zhang Xueliang telegraphed the whole country to change the flag and change the banner.
Zhang Xueliang's move to change the northeast not only temporarily thwarted Japan's ambition to annex northeast China, but also consciously supported Chiang Kai-shek, enabling the National Government in Nanjing to finally complete the formal unification and ending the darkest situation of the Beiyang warlord melee since the Republic of China.
The Northeast Yizhi was the first major historical event promoted by the joint participation of Zhang Xueliang and Chiang Kai-shek after the formal contact and exchange between the two men, marking the beginning of the relationship between the two men.
However, the expansion of Chiang Kai-shek's sphere of influence caused dissatisfaction among Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren, and other factions.
In May 1930, the Central Plains War broke out, and Chiang Kai-shek's combined forces with Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang and Li Zongren fought in the Central Plains for more than four months.
The two sides have won or lost each other, it is difficult to distinguish between high and low, and they both hope to maintain "neutral" Zhang Xueliang.
It can be said that at that time, under the situation of stalemate between the two sides, Zhang Xueliang, who had hundreds of thousands of troops and dominated the northeast, became the most important weight on the scale.
Whoever can get the support of Zhang Xueliang will become the victor.
As a result, the warring sides frequently sent people to lobby, and Xu used the high-ranking official Houlu to win Zhang Xueliang over and ask for his help.
Yan Xishan appointed Zhang Xueliang as deputy commander of the Republic of China Army, Navy and Air Force, but Zhang Xueliang refused.
Chiang Kai-shek may have seduced Zhang Xueliang with the title of deputy commander of the army, navy and air force, the land of Qingdao, and a huge amount of money, but Zhang Xueliang remained unmoved and declared "armed neutrality."
But in fact, Zhang Xueliang has always been inclined to Chiang Kai-shek, and he believes that only in this way can the territory of the northeast be protected from foreign aggression.
So Zhang Xueliang decided to send troops to help Chiang Kai-shek, and on September 18, Zhang Xueliang sent a telegram saying "calling for peace."
At the same time, 100,000 troops were sent into the pass, pingjin was peacefully received, and the Central Plains War ended quickly.
The Battle of the Central Plains was Zhang Xueliang's second cooperation with Chiang Kai-shek, further strengthening their relationship.
Zhang Xueliang led his army into the customs to quell the war, turned the tide of the situation, supported Chiang Kai-shek, and enabled him to defeat his opponent politically and militarily.
From then on, the Feng, Yan, and Gui factions lost the strength to win the Central Plains and fight against Jiang.
Zhang Xueliang's armed mediation of the Central Plains War was a move that was a favor to Chiang Kai-shek, saved Chiang Kai-shek at a crucial time, and paved the way for Chiang Kai-shek's future political career.
After the Central Plains War, Zhang Xueliang became an important figure under one person and above ten thousand people, and had a prominent position in the National Government.
At this time, it was the best stage of the relationship between Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Xueliang.
The two followed the example of Taoyuan Sanjie and became brothers, and Zhang Xueliang began to fully obey Chiang Kai-shek emotionally and spiritually.
When Japan launched the September 18 Incident in 1931, Chiang Kai-shek repeatedly instructed Zhang Xueliang to adopt a policy of non-resistance to Japan's aggression.
Because Zhang Xueliang had the ideas of "supporting Chiang Kai-shek" and "being loyal to the king", relying on the League of Nations, and preserving strength, he faithfully implemented Chiang Kai-shek's "non-resistance doctrine" at that time.
As a result, in just over four months, the three northeastern provinces were completely reduced to the iron heel of Japanese imperialism.
Afterwards, when both were spurned by the Chinese, Chiang Kai-shek hinted at Zhang Xueliang in his conversation.
He said to Zhang Xueliang: "Now the overall situation in China is very dangerous, you and I are like sharing a leaky boat, we must go down first, in order to save the ship from sinking, who do you think will go down first?"
Zhang Xueliang understands that this is to make himself a "scapegoat".
In desperation, on March 11, 1933, he sent a telegram to the whole country, announcing that he would go down to the wilderness, "to thank the people of the country." ”
Zhang Xueliang was influenced by the inherent idea of "loyalty to the king", and in order to maintain Chiang Kai-shek's prestige, he did not make public the telegram that Chiang Kai-shek ordered him not to resist, but could only swallow the bitter fruit himself.
Chiang Kai-shek took advantage of Zhang Xueliang's character weaknesses and could not wait to pass on the responsibility for the loss of land to Zhang Xueliang.
This fully shows that Chiang Kai-shek did not use practical actions to repay Zhang Xueliang's "life-saving" kindness to him during the Great War in the Central Plains.
On the contrary, he repaid his gratitude with resentment, and as a result, Zhang Xueliang not only lost his hometown where he was raised, but also made him get the nickname of "General of Non-Resistance" and bear the guilt of not resisting.
Then in 1936, in order to persuade Chiang Kai-shek to stop the civil war, he united with the Communists to resist Japan.
Zhang Xueliang, under the condition that the "bitter advice" and "weeping advice" were ineffective, risked detaining Chiang Kai-shek and his entourage, implemented "military advice," and forced Chiang Kai-shek to unite with the Communists to resist Japan.
This was originally Zhang Xueliang's "resentment of Chiang Kai-shek" action launched in order to protect himself under the persecution of Chiang Kai-shek, not anti-Chiang Kai-shek, still less did he want to break away from Chiang Kai-shek.
But this practice, after all, is Zhang Xueliang's first attack, and it is Zhang Xueliang who is resentful of Chiang Kai-shek.
The Xi'an Incident was resolved peacefully thanks to the efforts of Nanjing, Xi'an, and the Chinese Communists.
In order to safeguard Chiang Kai-shek's "leadership prestige," Zhang Xueliang resolutely decided to personally send Chiang Kai-shek back to Nanjing, thus showing the people of the world that the reason why he withheld Chiang Kai-shek and did not fight for power and territory was purely for the purpose of jointly resisting Japan.
At the same time, it also shows that for the sake of the interests of the country and the future of the nation, he disregards his personal safety.
But in fact, this is also a benevolent act for Chiang Kai-shek, at least to ensure Chiang's personal safety.
However, as soon as Chiang Kai-shek returned to Nanjing, he handed Zhang Xueliang over to the Military Commission for handling according to law.
Although the actions seen in front of the curtain are all benevolent and righteous, behind the scenes, they have a deep hatred for Zhang Xueliang, and naturally they will take sinister and vicious and vicious means.
Since then, Zhang Xueliang's long seclusion career has begun.
It is undeniable that Chiang Kai-shek's detention of Zhang Xueliang was to a large extent to safeguard the authority of the Nanjing government and his "leader's personality", not just out of a simple sense of revenge.
However, in terms of the result of this practice, Chiang Kai-shek lost to Zhang Xueliang, and it was his act of repaying favor with resentment again.
Hearts can't connect
In Zhang Xueliang's life, Song Meiling and Zhao Yidi were the most respected and close women he respected.
Zhao Yidi accompanied him in life and death, while Song Meiling was to ensure the safety of the second half of his life.
In 1925, Zhang Xueliang and Song Meiling met in Shanghai.
One is a playboy, the other is a well-known bridesmaid, two young people in their 20s often dance and play together, and get along very happily and harmoniously.
Later, Zhang Xueliang once said to Wang Shujun: "If I hadn't had a wife at that time, I would have chased after Song Meiling.", of course, Chiang Kai-shek did not know these things.
After the Central Plains War, the relationship between Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Xueliang reached its best.
After Zhang Xueliang and Yu Fengzhi came to Nanjing, Song Meiling personally arranged a ceremony to welcome Yu Fengzhi.
She changed the political scene of the past and adopted a family, feminine way.
She and Yu Fengzhi embraced warmly, and set up a banquet in the private residence to wash the dust for Zhang Xueliang and Yu Fengzhi, and soon the two were inseparable.
Song Meiling's mother, Mrs. Song, also recognized the elegant and delicate Yu Fengzhi as a dry daughter, and Song Meiling and Yu Fengzhi became dry sisters.
Subsequently, Chiang Kai-shek came to a good and good place, and the next day, he and Zhang Xueliang exchanged Lan Pu and married as brothers with different surnames.
The Xi'an Incident, on the other hand, has become a key word that connects the names of Zhang Xueliang, Chiang Kai-shek, and Song Meiling.
Although Chiang Kai-shek was unwilling to ensure the safety of Zhang Xueliang's life, Zhang Xueliang still insisted on personally sending Chiang Kai-shek back to Nanjing.
But Song Meiling always insisted: "When you return to Nanjing, you must send Han Qing back to Xi'an." ”
However, she had to renege on her word, and since then, Zhang Xueliang has been under house arrest for more than half a century.
Soong Mei-ling then said to Chiang Kai-shek: "We are sorry For Han Qing. ”
Unable to keep her promise to send Zhang Xueliang back, she managed to save Zhang Xueliang's life and strived to care for Zhang Xueliang in life.
In the introspection record of the Xi'an Incident that Zhang Xueliang personally wrote later, he also recalled the yin and yang errors before the incident.
He said that if his wife had been in Xi'an at that time, there would not necessarily have been a Mutiny in Xi'an.
Moreover, Zhang Xueliang insisted that the reason why Chiang Kai-shek did not kill himself after the Xi'an Incident was that Song Meiling, the protective god, was present.
Zhang Xueliang wrote in his biography: I am not dead, the key is that Madame Jiang helped me. Chiang Kai-shek is going to shoot me.
Soong Mei-ling said to Chiang Kai-shek, you are going to be unfavorable to that young man, and I will leave Taiwan immediately and publicize all your affairs.
This sentence can be said to have hit the crux of Chiang Kai-shek.
Zhang Xueliang regarded Song Meiling as a confidant, because she said to the outside world that when the Xi'an Incident occurred, Zhang Xueliang did not want money or territory, what he wanted, he wanted sacrifice.
Zhang Xueliang said that as long as Song Meiling is alive, he will keep this secret.
Soong Mei-ling's extraordinary care and love for Zhang Xueliang was both similar in temperament and a little compensation for Chiang Kai-shek's narrow-mindedness.
Since being imprisoned by Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwan's Inoue Hot Springs, Zhang Xueliang and Soong Meiling have interacted mainly through letters and have sincere feelings.
Song Meiling directly called Zhang Xueliang "Han Qing", and Zhang Xueliang called Song Meiling "Lady" and called himself "Liang".
From the letters exchanged between the two, it can be seen that Song Meiling is very concerned about Zhang Xueliang under house arrest.
Especially reflected in life, often send daily necessities, gifts to Zhang Xueliang.
After getting older, Zhang Xueliang's eyes were not good, and Song Meiling specially brought back a table lamp from the United States to give it to him.
When Song Meiling even gets chocolates from friends, she will send them to Zhang Xueliang to share.
In the long years of confinement, Zhang Xueliang, who was empty and helpless, could only worship God and believe in Buddhism.
Later, he became a devout Christian through the persuasion of Song Meiling, who hoped that faith would help Zhang Xueliang stay away from politics and dispel the resentment in his heart.
After Zhang Xueliang was imprisoned, Miss Zhao Si, who was a yugong in Hong Kong, was able to return to Zhang's side, which was Song Meiling's lead.
Later, through the facilitation of Song Meiling, on July 4, 1964, 64-year-old Zhang Xueliang and 51-year-old Miss Zhao Si held a Western-style wedding under the auspices of an American priest.
The lovers, who had been in love for many years, finally became husband and wife, and Song Meiling attended this simple wedding.
After Zhang Xueliang was freed, he once sighed: "Song Meiling lives for one day, and I can live for a day."
Therefore, from this point of view, Song Meiling is almost the protective god of Zhang Xueliang after being imprisoned.
In 2001, 26 years after Chiang Kai-shek's death, Zhang Xueliang passed away.
Two years later, Song Meiling also passed away.
The curtain of that era finally closed before people's eyes, leaving behind a legend that seemed so extravagant in peacetime.
The deep friendship between Song Meiling and Zhang Xueliang has left good memories for future generations, and has crossed the eternal traces in the long river of years.
Text/Blue Wind Candle Dust
Bibliography:
[1] Chiang Kai-shek on Zhang Xueliang before his death: Admonishing Chiang Ching-kuo not to let go of the tiger, Science and Technology Literature, 1995(9);
[2] Lu Fanyan, Zhang Xueliang's Political Career and Chiang Kai-shek, Journal of Weinan Normal University, 2001(12).