There are many Chinese folk legends about the Fengjian warlord Zhang Zuolin, and the reviews are mixed.
But there is no doubt that Zhang Zuolin can rise from the chaotic times, from a poor peasant beard to the last person in power of the Beiyang government, and his own ability is absolutely sufficient.
Zhang Zuolin
And Zhang Zuolin's rise is also talked about, after all, among the warlords in the early years of the Republic of China, or studying abroad or graduating from domestic martial arts, bandit origin like Zhang Zuolin can be described as unique.
So how did Zhang Zuolin grow from a bandit to the king of the Northeast? This has to mention Zhang Zuolin's boss killer attribute, killing his three bosses in succession, and finally successfully rising
Zhang Zuolin
1. Rising bandits
In the first year of Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Zuolin was born in Fengtian Haicheng County, but the family environment was not good, after all, if he came from a large family, he would not be a bandit.
When Zhang Zuolin was a child, his father was killed by gamblers, and Zhang Zuolin began an outlaw career, eventually joining the Yi Army stationed in Yingkou.
Before and after the Sino-Japanese War, Zhang Zuolin went into exile and became a bandit, and began to run amok everywhere, becoming the bandit big brother in the northeast.
But Zhang Zuolin knew very well that there was no way out when a bandit, so Zhang Zuolin took the initiative to find Shengjing's general Zengqi and wanted to be recruited.
After some wandering, Zhang Zuolin successfully persuaded Shengjing's general Zengqi's wife, and used the lady's offensive to blow the wind in his ears, and was finally successfully adopted.
From here, Zhang Zuolin turned into an officer and soldier who ate imperial food.
With his understanding of bandits, Zhang Zuolin has continuously expanded his strength in eliminating bandits, and his status is getting higher and higher.
By the eve of the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, Zhang Zuolin had become the head warlord of the northeast region, and a group of troops began to move between the Manchus and the revolutionary party to seize profits.
Here we have to mention Zhang Zuolin's biggest benefactor in his life - Zhao Ersun, the governor of the three eastern provinces.
Zhao Ersun
1. Zhao Ersun
Zhao Ersun was a royalist, and after the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, he naively believed that Zhang Zuolin could be controlled and used, so he even asked Zhang Zuolin to lead troops to control Mukden.
In the end, Zhang Zuolin led his army to occupy Mukden on the grounds of "raising troops and serving the king", and was appointed by Zhao Ersun as the deputy head of the military department of the Fengtian National Security Association.
At the same time, Zhao Ersun ordered him to concurrently serve as the commander of the Central Patrol Battalion, commanding 15 battalions, and Zhang Zuolin's power in his hands increased greatly.
In 1912, Zhang Zuolin booby-trapped and killed the revolutionary Zhang Rong, who was considered by Zhao Ersun and the Qing court to be the last loyal minister of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, so he was appointed as the minister of military training outside the Guanwai, and the 24 towns were in charge.
But this is undoubtedly like Dong Zhuo entering Luoyang for Zhang Zuolin, and Zhang Zuolin, who has a large army, is not at all controllable by Zhao Ersun.
After Zhang Zuolin seized the military and political power in Mukden, he quickly kicked Zhao Ersun aside.
After Yuan Shikai and the Southern Revolutionaries made peace and talks, Zhang Zuolin decisively defected to Yuan Shikai, who was the most powerful at the time.
As for the Manchu Qing court and Zhao Ersun, they were directly abandoned by Zhang Zuolin, and Zhao Ersun did not expect that Zhang Zuolin, who he pulled up with one hand, would betray him without hesitation.
Zhao Ersun also became the first stepping stone on Zhang Zuolin's rise to prominence.
2. Zhang Xiluan
After Zhang Zuolin took the revolutionary party into power, he successfully obtained military power in Mukden and became a prince on the side of the town.
However, there was also a boss on Zhang Zuolin's head, that is, Zhang Xiluan, the first governor of Mukdendu, who was an official appointed by Yuan Shikai after the establishment of the Republic of China, and was not the same thing as the original governor of the three eastern provinces of the Qing court, Zhao Ersun.
Although Zhang Xiluan did not have military power, he was a friend of Yuan Xiangcheng, and Zhang Zuolin was also recruited by Zhang Xiluan, pulling him into Yuan Shikai's camp.
It can be said that Zhang Xiluan represents Yuan Shikai's face and will in the northeast, and is the handle of Yuan Shikai's control of the northeast and Zhang Zuolin.
For Zhang Zuolin, who was bent on becoming the king of the northeast, people like Zhang Xiluan naturally did not like it, so he wanted to take the opportunity to kill or expel Zhang Xiluan.
At that time, Yuan Shikai was fighting with the southern revolutionaries, and he did not have much idea about the northeast, and he did not want the northeast to be chaotic.
So Zhang Zuolin took the opportunity to blackmail Yuan Shikai and sent a telegram to Duan Qirui, then army chief, saying:
"In the Battle of Xinhai, the great president paid attention to the south, and all the power of Lin sitting in the north....... I would like to lead the whole army to garrison the desert in order to save my life. I hope that I will leave the province as soon as possible, so that there will be no end to disaster. ”
To put it simply, Zhang Zuolin means that either you replace Zhang Xiluan, or my old Zhang may join the Southern Revolutionary Party.
At that time, you Yuan Xiangcheng will fight on both the north and south, can you still fight so smoothly?
Faced with Zhang Zuolin's style of riding the wall directly, Yuan Shikai had no choice but to let Zhang Xiluan resign and appoint Duan Zhigui to Fengtian as the governor.
3. Duan Zhigui
Unlike Zhang Xiluan, Duan Zhigui was Yuan Shikai's favored courtier, a real concubine in Beiyang.
Yuan Shikai's purpose in sending Duan Zhigui to the northeast was simple, that is, to suppress Zhang Zuolin and try to pull the northeast to his subordinates.
For this reason, Zhang Zuolin still made the old move, and threatened Yuan Shikai with an army in his hands.
On the one hand, Zhang Zuolin frequently gave gifts to the newly appointed Duan Zhigui, and the etiquette was sufficient, but on the other hand, he directly threatened Yuan Shikai.
Zhang Zuolin directly and publicly stated that he would resign, resign from public office and no longer hold his position,
Although he resigned from his post nominally, the Northeast Fengjun Army was all troops personally brought out by Zhang Zuolin, and how could others command it.
Just as Yuan Shikai originally fished in his hometown, the Manchus could not command the Beiyang Army at all.
Yuan Shikai used this move to threaten the Manchu Qing and proved his strength, and now Zhang Zuolin used the same trick to deal with Yuan Shikai.
For Zhang Zuolin's resignation, Duan Zhigui also personally visited the mansion, but Zhang Zuolin was closed and secretly let people walk the news.
Duan Zhigui was a smart man, he understood that the northeast was Zhang Zuolin's place, and he could completely control the northeast unless the Beiyang Army army marched into the northeast.
Now Yuan Shikai's main eyes are on the south, and the northeast is obviously beyond his reach. Duan Zhigui felt that if he continued to be in the northeast, he would definitely be fierce.
In the end, Duan Zhigui voluntarily resigned as the commander of Suiyuan and left the northeast.
As soon as Duan Zhigui left, Zhang Zuolin directly claimed that Duan Zhigui had embezzled a huge amount in his tenure in the northeast and embezzled the hard-earned money of the people of Mukden.
In fact, the hard-earned money of these northeastern people was obtained by Zhang Zuolin and was only given to Duan Zhigui, but Zhang Zuolin claimed to seek justice for the people of Mukden.
Faced with this naked threat, Yuan Shikai had no choice but to appoint Zhang Zuolin as the "General of Shengjing" and serve as a military governor to handle Mukden's military affairs.
Fourth, the final rise
Using Zhao Ersun, Zhang Zuolin successfully entered Mukden and became a provincial warlord from an ordinary local officer.
Using Zhang Xiluan, Zhang Zuolin successfully jumped ship again, jumped out of the leaky ship of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and became one of the Beiyang warlords.
Using Duan Zhigui, Zhang Zuolin eventually completed the rule of Fengtian Province, and Yuan Shikai could no longer restrain Zhang Zuolin, and he became a veritable king of Mukden.
Of course, King Fengtian was not the focus of Zhang Zuolin's goal, and in 1917 he annexed Heilongjiang Province; In 1919, he expelled Meng Enyuan, the overseer of Jilin.
In the end, Zhang Zuolin successfully annexed Heilongjiang and Jilin, unified the three eastern provinces, and became a veritable king of the northeast.