In Zhang Xueliang's iron cabinet, there is an unknown silver dollar locked, and even those who know its existence do not understand why Zhang Xueliang should treasure an unremarkable silver dollar alone.
But Zhang Xueliang himself knew how significant the significance of this silver dollar really was.
On January 11, 1929, Zhang Xueliang, as a young marshal, with his unexpectedly fierce wrists, decided to kill two of his father Zhang Zuolin's right and left arms, Yang Yuting and Chang Yinhuai.
Before he really started, Zhang Xueliang hesitated, and finally used this silver dollar to decide Yang Yuting's life and death.
After throwing it six times, the strange result was that this young young marshal broke out in a cold sweat, and he who had never been superstitious couldn't help but feel that some things in this world were really evil.
The political game of the Bong regime
An explosion at the Sandong Bridge near Huanggutun Station killed Zhang Zuolin, a great warlord of the Feng clan who dominated the northeast.
After the Huanggutun Incident, the Feng clan entered the post-Zhang Zuolin era.
Zhang Zuolin did not designate a successor before his death, because he could not imagine that his death would come so unexpectedly, and he was hastily fixed at the age of 54.
After his death, there were three people in the Feng clan who were most qualified to inherit Zhang Zuolin's position, namely Zhang Zuoxiang, Yang Yuting, and Zhang Xueliang.
These three people have their own origins, Zhang Zuoxiang represents the elder faction within the Feng family, and it can be seen from his name that he has a great relationship with Zhang Zuolin, is a brother who fights the world, holds military power, has high prestige, and has the deepest seniority.
Yang Yuting was relatively inferior, he represented the emerging "foreign school" within the Feng family, that is, the Japanese non-commissioned officer faction, who was Zhang Zuolin's senior counselor and was deeply appreciated by Zhang Zuolin.
The last Zhang Xueliang, the youngest, the most junior, and the least prestigious, was Zhang Zuolin's eldest son, the most righteous and righteous, and controlled the most elite third and fourth fronts in the Feng Army.
When Zhang Zuolin was alive, he intended to cultivate the eldest son, but Zhang Xueliang was young after all, so he did not designate his son as his successor.
This led to the death of Zhang Zuolin, the Fengzhi regime was vaguely three-legged, and all three of them could become the new leaders of the Fengzhi.
But in the end, the top candidate must be determined by internal and external factors.
First of all, Zhang Zuolin was killed by the Japanese, and japan's conspiracy to invade the northeast was exposed, and the new heir must not be a pro-Japanese element.
Judging from the overall situation, in the future, the Feng clan will inevitably have to deal with the Kuomintang, so the new successors cannot be stubbornly conservatives.
So Zhang Zuoxiang, the most competitive elder, was out first.
Yang Yuting advocated the overthrow of Chiang Kai-shek and was not suitable for negotiating with the Kuomintang, so Zhang Xueliang, who advocated the change of banner in the northeast, became the best candidate for the new leader of the Feng clan.
From the internal point of view, Zhang Zuoxiang, who eventually represented the old school, also turned to support Zhang Xueliang, and his uncle and nephew joined forces, and Yang Yuting's faction was isolated.
Zhang Xueliang eventually succeeded in succeeding the Feng dynasty.
It is reasonable to say that Yang Yuting, who has no hope of ascending to the throne, should judge the hour and size up the situation, actively play the role of "Zhuge Liang", and properly assist Zhang Xueliang, the "orphan" who was left behind.
But obviously, his presence and some practices made Zhang Xueliang, a young marshal, feel threatened.
Yang Yuting aroused Zhang Xueliang's disgust
As mentioned earlier, Zhang Xueliang advocated changing the banner in the northeast and taking the central line and cooperating with the Nationalist government, while Yang Yuting advocated taking the local factional line and cooperating with Li Zongren, a representative of the Gui clan, to overthrow Chiang Kai-shek together.
The two disagreed on their positions.
When Zhang Zuolin was still alive, Yang Yuting was ambitious, and once risked the leading department to allocate 3.7 million yuan in an attempt to develop personal power, and Zhang Zuolin removed him from his post after learning about it.
But Zhang Zuolin was ultimately sorry for talent, after all, Yang Yuting's person could bring much greater use, and then re-activated Yang Yuting.
Now that the big guy who has been suppressing it is gone, it is unlikely that Yang Yuting is not stupid and wants to move, and has some other thoughts.
Yang Yuting is also a person who loves to show his posture, and he put himself taller than Zhang Xueliang because he and Zhang Zuolin were born into death.
After Zhang Xueliang took the throne, the most urgent need was to quickly establish his prestige in the army, but Yang Yuting was old and senior, always liked to rely on the old and sell the old in front of the young marshal, preaching without giving face, and Zhang Xueliang, who often squeezed, could not come to the stage.
His arrogance and frivolity made Zhang Xue's conscience burn.
The relationship between the two also gradually stiffened to a freezing point.
What made Zhang Xueliang feel most threatened was not actually from Yang Yuting himself, but his "little brother" Chang Yinhuai.
Chang Yinhuai was also a capable figure under Zhang Zuolin's lifetime, concurrently serving as chairman of the Northeast Transportation Commission and governor of Heilongjiang Province.
But he is also a figure of Yang Yuting's faction, when Zhang Zuolin was alive, the "eldest brother" Yang Yuting was subservient to the big warlord, and Chang Yinhuai naturally had no other words, but now that the big warlord was dead, there was a young marshal left.
The mind that was not active before may have quietly ignited.
Yang Yuting opposed the submission of Chiang Kai-shek to the Nanjing government, and Chang Yinhuai also opposed it, and Chang Yinhuai was in charge of the Northeast Railway Bureau, using the powerful financial resources in his hands to openly and covertly grab territory for Yang Yuting and give Zhang Xueliang a stumbling block in the economy.
Zhang Xueliang wanted to take out some silver dollars from Chang Yinhuai's pocket to serve as military expenses, but Chang Yinhuai dared not give them.
The various disobediences and acts of power and blessing of the two were actually not enough to make Zhang Xueliang kill them.
Because these two are in a high position, in addition to the shortcomings of the two, it is still a figure worth reusing, Yang Yuting is a veteran-level figure, and it is not a good choice for Zhang Xueliang, whose foundation is not stable.
Unfortunately, no matter how long the fuse, there will be a day when it burns to the end.
What prompted Zhang Xueliang to really kill was the next thing that happened.
A silver dollar is a matter of life and death
On the afternoon of January 11, 1929, Yang Yuting and Chang Yinhuai came to the Shuai Mansion together, consulted with Zhang Xueliang, and suggested that he set up the Northeast Railway Supervision Office and hand it over to Chang Yinhuai to manage.
At that time, the person in charge of the Middle East Road was Lu Ronghuan.
Yang Yuting's implication was that Zhang Xueliang ordered Lü Ronghuan to be removed and replaced by Chang Yinhuai.
Zhang Xueliang was extremely angry and laughed, so that Chang Yinhuai's ability was too great, and he was the chairman of the traffic committee, and he was the chairman of Heilongjiang, and now he had to go to the Middle East Road to manage things.
Co-authoring the whole three eastern provinces is no one can not be? How could he be called a man of all the posts in the three eastern provinces?
The power is monstrous, is it going to rebel next?
Zhang Xueliang disagreed, and Yang Yuting was very unhappy, and must let Zhang Xueliang order the removal of Lü Ronghuan and replaced him with Chang Yinhuai.
Yang Yuting came prepared for this trip, and directly took out the pre-drafted documents on the spot, and sent Zhang Xueliang to sign on it.
It is all about persecution.
This completely provoked Zhang Xueliang to be angry, and his killing heart suddenly rose.
But Zhang Xueliang is young and young, and his son can ascend to this position by inheriting his father's business, and he is by no means a straw bag boy, he is not only not a waste snack, but also has a deep mind and a strong ability to strategize.
Therefore, Zhang Xueliang remained silent on the surface and said calmly, this matter involves diplomatic issues, and it is necessary to carefully consider and consider the long term.
Zhang Xueliang told the two that after dinner, he sent Yang Yuting and Chang Yinhuai away as usual.
After the front foot was sent, the back foot immediately began to arrange the strangulation plan for the two people.
But Zhang Xueliang did not make up his mind.
Zhang Xueliang's wife Yu Fengzhi has a good relationship with Yang Yuting's wife, and Zhang Xueliang has a murderous heart for Yang Yuting, because he feels that he should do this matter, but he still can't make up his mind in his heart, and there is no one around to discuss, which can be described as a lot of entanglement.
"I'm not superstitious, but I'm really superstitious about this." In his later years, Zhang Xueliang recalled the entanglement of that year and could not help but sigh.
In the end, Zhang Xueliang, who had never been superstitious, decided to gamble on the will of heaven, so he took out a silver dollar and prepared to use it to decide Yang Yuting's life and death.
For the first time, the silver dollar was bounced high and landed in the palm of the hand, which was the front.
The second time, it was still facing upwards.
The third time, it was still positive.
Zhang Xueliang was very stunned, because before he lost the silver dollar, he thought in his heart, if it was positive, it would mean that God thought that what he was going to do was correct, and he must kill Yang Yuting.
The result was all positive three times, could it be that he was destined to do something to Yang Yuting?
In the face of the results of the three times, Zhang Xueliang was shaken, he felt that this money was not right, and he was ready to throw it away.
So Zhang Xueliang turned the money over, and thought in his heart, if God feels that it is wrong for him not to kill Yang Yuting, then go against it.
That is to say, if it is positive, Yang Yuting has escaped a disaster, and if it is negative, it must be killed.
The first time it was played, it was the opposite.
The second time, it was the opposite.
After the third pop-up, the silver dollar fell into the palm of his hand, but Zhang Xueliang suddenly did not dare to look at it, so he called his wife to see the result for himself.
Yu Fengzhi looked at the silver dollar in her husband's palm and suddenly cried.
Zhang Xueliang was surprised by his wife's performance and asked her: "What are you crying?" ”
Yu Fengzhi sobbed, "I know you're going to kill someone." ”
Zhang Xueliang looked down at the words, and sure enough, it was the opposite.
This result was really too evil, three times evenly positive, three times equally opposed, and the second time directly forced Yang Yuting to die, as if the heavens were determined not to leave him a way to live.
Zhang Xueliang, who had already wavered, couldn't help but be silent, he looked up at the sky and sighed, and then locked this silver dollar into the depths of his iron cabinet.
In the evening, Yang Yuting and the two arrived as promised, thinking that this time they would definitely force Zhang Xueliang to sign the document, but what they saw was the muzzle of the black hole hole.
The person in charge of carrying out the execution held up a gun and said coldly to the two: "On the orders of the commander, you obstruct the New Deal, undermine reunification, execute you two, and execute them immediately." ”
Yang Changdang was like dead ash below, and he couldn't say a word.
With the sound of several gunshots in the Tiger Hall, Yang Yuting and Chang Yinhuai had no return, and both became the ghosts of Zhang Xueliang's gun.
According to the recollections of those present at the time, Chief of Staff Rong Zhen came to Zhang Xueliang's Shuai Mansion, and as soon as Zhang Xueliang saw Rong Zhen, he took his hand thousands of times, looked a little nervous, and said to him: "Old Rong, you touched my heart and beat it." ”
Chief of Staff Rong looked at the wrong young marshal and felt a little inexplicable.
After slowing down for half a moment, Zhang Xueliang said, "Yang, often taught me to kill." ”
Rong Zhen was stunned.
Many years later, someone asked Zhang Xueliang in an interview: "Did you think about imprisoning Yang Yuting first?" ”
Zhang Xueliang, who was already dying of old age, waved his hand: "You are not right about this, the so-called one word rejuvenates the state, and one word loses the state." ”
Because this matter has a lot to do with Mrs. Yu Fengzhi.
At that time, Zhang Xueliang actually did not want to kill Yang Yuting, and at first he only wanted to shoot Chang Yinhuai alone and lock yang Yuting up first.
However, Yu Fengzhi said to him, "Lock him up, what will you do in the future?" ”
If those heavyweight bigwigs in the northeast come to Yang Yuting, should you protect him at that time, or what?
This sentence made Zhang Xueliang wake up like a dream, and it also became the last hypnotic to end Yang Yuting's life.
Many years later, the old man who witnessed the scene of that year revisited the old place with a bunch of descendants, came to Zhang Xueliang's former office, pointed to the door, and said: "On the night of the incident, Zhang Xueliang was lying on the wooden bed in the secretary's hall. ”
Everything was arranged in advance, after the two arrived, there was no warm-up activity such as eating, playing cards, etc., and they were shot when they entered the door, and the action was very decisive and fierce.
When the later people arrived, they saw that the bodies of Yang Yuting and the two were placed in the house, so they wrapped them in a carpet and then sent them to the Yang Gong Ancestral Hall to let the family members bring the bodies back.
The next day, Zhang Xueliang quickly published the "Judgment of Yang Changfu Law" and other documents, announcing the various crimes of the two men, such as secretly forming party henchmen, plotting civil unrest, and embezzling money and dereliction of duty.
Zhang Xueliang personally wrote a letter to Yang Yuting's wife as a sign of comfort, the Yang family and the Chang family each paid 10,000 yuan in funeral expenses, especially the Yang family, Zhang Xueliang was worried that the Yang family might have others thinking about this money, and also specially sent a few people to warn that these family properties of the Yang family were not allowed to move.
The silver dollar that made Yang Yuting lose his life has also been locked in the iron cabinet by Zhang Xueliang as a souvenir.
This incident became a permanent haze in Zhang Xue's conscience, and he still felt cold in his heart when he recalled the results of the six strange silver dollar throwing.
Naturally, there will be no supernatural events in the materialist world, and the six results may be really a great coincidence, or the result of the more inclined balance in Zhang Xue's conscience.
Killing Yang Chang and the two was the first major thing Zhang Xueliang did in internal affairs after completing the Northeast Yizhi, but it was also without any procedures, and he started to do it in the afternoon and started it at night.
Therefore, it also left some criticism for Zhang Xueliang, and some people felt that although the two were at fault, they did violate the taboo of the politicians, but they would not be killed by Zhang Xueliang so hastily and fiercely.
This incident also had a great impact on the politics of the northeast, with both positive and negative.
In terms of internal affairs, Chang Yinhuai also has the side of exerting great efforts to govern him; without him, the management of the transportation undertakings in the northeast has been affected; in terms of negotiations with Japan, without Yang Yuting, it is difficult to buffer the situation at an urgent juncture, and the situation in the three northeastern provinces soon produces earth-shaking changes.
Zhang Xueliang is guilty and remorseful, and decades later he reflects on Yang Yuting's death in his memoirs.
When Yang Yuting made a mistake, his father chose to deal with it in a more euphemistic and inclusive way, if he could do the same, maybe the history of subsequent occurrences could be rewritten.
However, at that time, he was young and vigorous, and he was full of intentions, and after all, he regretted not being the beginning.
Zhang Xueliang's behavior can not simply be evaluated by right and wrong, from the perspective of his identity as a political figure, there is also a good or bad analysis, can only say that everything has two sides, people are no exception, politicians do things especially from the overall situation, weigh the advantages and disadvantages, merits and demerits, whether they contradict each other, has always been worthy of in-depth consideration.
Sources of information:
Zhang Xueliang described himself in his later years
WANG Haichen,GUO Junsheng. Zhang Xueliang's "Shooting and Killing of Yang Chang Incident"[J].Journal of Northeastern University (Social Science Edition),