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In 1988, Chiang Ching-kuo died, and because there was no successor to the Chiang family, the ruling power in Taiwan finally fell into the hands of Lee Teng-hui.
After the change of power, some political prisoners who had been imprisoned by the Chiang family for many years were able to regain their freedom, including the famous Zhang Xueliang.
In an interview, the reporter mentioned Yang Yuting, Zhang Xueliang sighed and said: "I was never superstitious before killing Yang Yuting, but I had to believe after killing him!"
Why did Zhang Xueliang say that? What happened when he did it to Yang Yuting?
was ordered to be in danger, and gradually became disgraceful
On August 29, 1885, Yang Yuting was born in a small mountain village in Faku County, Liaoning Province. He admired Zhuge Liang since he was a child, and vowed to be like Marquis Wu, Kuangjun to assist the country and leave his name in history.
With such a dream, Yang Yuting has studied hard since he was a child, entered the private school Xi at the age of 10, and was admitted to the Xiucai at the age of 19.
Yang Yuting
After the Qing Dynasty canceled the imperial examination, Yang Yuting turned around and was admitted to the Fengtian Army School, and two years later he was awarded a publicly-funded study abroad quota and entered the famous Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School.
After returning from school, Yang Yuting was just in time for the founding of the Republic of China, and his talent was recognized by Zhang Zuolin, a Fengtian boss, who was first appointed chief of staff of the Overseer Military Administration, and then promoted to chief of general staff, and obtained the rank of major general in the army.
After entering the Overseer's Office, Yang Yuting performed well and won Zhang Zuolin's trust. He is not only good at armament manufacturing, but also familiar with recruit training, making him a rare all-rounder.
In 1918, Yang Yuting, with his strong connections, collaborated with his former classmates to concoct the sensational "Qinhuangdao Robbery Case". In this robbery, Yang Yuting snatched nearly 30,000 rifles for Zhang Zuolin and made a great contribution.
Zhang Zuolin
In this way, Yang Yuting's status in the Feng system rose steadily, and soon became Zhang Zuolin's right-hand man, gradually grasping the military power of the three eastern provinces.
Under his strategy, Zhang Zuolin led the Feng army to gain the upper hand in the Second Zhifeng War, occupying the city of Beijing in one fell swoop, and expanding the sphere of influence from outside the Guanxi to inside the Guan.
Not only that, Yang Yuting also saw the opportunity of the "May Massacre" and used the excuse of maintaining order to let the Feng army take the opportunity to enter Shanghai and include the Songhu area in the Feng sphere of influence.
However, the good times did not last long, and with the successive victories of the Kuomintang's Northern Expedition, the Beiyang warlords suffered heavy losses, and Zhang Zuolin's Feng system was no exception.
In desperation, Zhang Dashuai accepted the opinions of Yang Yuting and others, took the initiative to negotiate peace with the Nanjing government, and completely abandoned the city of Beijing, shrinking his forces back to Guanwai.
On June 4, 1928, Zhang Zuolin rushed back to Mukden from Beijing by train, and was seriously injured by explosives planted by the Japanese after passing by Huanggutun Station.
When he was dying, Zhang Zuolin handed over the Feng army to his eldest son Zhang Xueliang, and asked his henchman Yang Yuting to assist his son in mastering the army as soon as possible.
At first glance, there was nothing wrong with this arrangement, Zhang Xueliang had quite a prestige in the army, as long as Yang Yuting cooperated with him, he would soon be able to control the Feng army.
But Zhang Zuolin ignored one thing, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Yuting seem to be the backbone of the Feng army, but they do not belong to the same camp.
It is reported that at that time, the Feng army was divided into two camps, namely the "non-commissioned officer faction" and the "Lu Da faction."
Yang Yuting stills
The former is mainly composed of graduates of the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School, and Yang Yuting is the core figure of this faction. The latter pointed out that the generals at the Army University in Beijing were headed by Zhang Xueliang.
In order to compete for power and profit, the two camps are competing in secret, so Yang Yuting and Zhang Xueliang don't like each other.
After Zhang Zuolin's death, the relationship between the two people did not ease, but became worse and worse.
Yang Yuting looked down on Zhang Xueliang's prodigal appearance, thinking that he was a standard gentleman, who knew all day long that he smoked big cigarettes, played with women, and did not do his job.
And Zhang Xueliang was extremely dissatisfied with Yang Yuting's high self-esteem and self-esteem. What made him even more unhappy was that at this time, Yang Yuting controlled the military and political power of the Feng Department with one hand, and almost overthrew himself as a young marshal.
Fortunately, at this time, the contradiction between Zhang and Yang is not deep, and they can barely work together.
The contradictions intensified until they became irreconcilable
After Zhang Xueliang finished his filial piety for his father, within a few days, in the name of the marshal, he launched the so-called rectification of the Feng system. In this adjustment of the military system, Zhang Xueliang abolished the original corps and changed to the "group brigade system".
Yang Yuting had been serving as the commander of the Fourth Army of the Feng Department, and after the restructuring, the post of commander was revoked. This plan of "drawing wages from the bottom of the kettle" directly abolished Yang Yuting's military power.
This move made Yang Yuting extremely indignant, but he finally chose to forbear for the sake of the overall situation. This patriarch saw very clearly that Zhang Xueliang had just ascended to the throne, and his prestige was completely insufficient, and the Feng family was in the most dangerous stage at this time, and he couldn't bear any infighting at all.
Even so, Zhang Xueliang's inner anxiety and jealousy still did not disappear. Therefore, when the Nanjing government sent a letter of persuasion, Zhang Xueliang was shaken. He felt that defecting to Chiang Kai-shek and joining the camp of the Nationalist Army would be very beneficial to the future development of the Feng family.
However, Yang Yuting expressed resolute opposition to the change of flag, believing that the Northeast should be firmly controlled by the Feng Department, and cooperating with the Nationalist Government is completely seeking the skin of the tiger.
Because Yang Yuting felt that Chiang Kai-shek was completely untrustworthy, this was an ambitious, despicable and shameless villain. Even Chiang Kai-shek, a staunch ally of the Communists, could turn against him, let alone the warlords of the Feng faction who had opposed the Nationalist government.
For this reason, Yang Yuting persevered in persuading Zhang Xueliang, but he was never able to change the other party's mind. On December 29, 1928, Zhang Xueliang announced the "Northeast Change of Banner" and pledged allegiance to the Nanjing Nationalist Government headed by Chiang Kai-shek.
Yang Yuting stills
In addition to the difference in concepts, Yang Yuting and Zhang Xueliang also constantly had friction in the process of working together, and the contradictions became more and more intense.
For example, Yang Yuting couldn't get used to Zhang Xueliang's casual style, and repeatedly persuaded in the name of his elders, and he didn't know how to restrain his words, and he made Zhang Xueliang unable to come to the stage many times.
What's even more excessive is that Yang Yuting called Zhang Xueliang "young marshal" on the surface, but privately called him "Little Sixth Son" more than once. These words slowly reached Zhang Xueliang's ears, deepening his dissatisfaction with Yang Yuting.
What made Zhang Xueliang unbearable the most was that Yang Yuting also acquiesced to his henchman Chang Yinhuai to set up a mountain and forest garrison with the Young Marshal's Mansion behind his back, and provided him with a large amount of ordnance.
Acacia evergreen
Under Chang Yinhuai's management, Heilongjiang gradually had a tendency to break away from the autonomy of the Dashuai Mansion, which obviously touched Zhang Xueliang's reverse scales.
At this point, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Yuting are already on the same page, and they can't continue to work together at all. Considering that the other party was a veteran of the Feng department, Zhang Xueliang decided to "salute first and then soldier".
He first admonished Yang Yuting to live overseas in a tactful way, and promised to provide him with a lot of money that he would never spend in his life, but Yang Yuting was not interested in this at all.
In desperation, Zhang Xueliang changed his way again, he tried to transfer Yang Yuting to a deserted place through the method of rising and descending secretly, and completely drove out the center of power.
But Yang Yuting has been in the officialdom for many years, and he has long figured out these tricks, and he did not hesitate to refuse Zhang Xueliang's promotion and eliminate the crisis.
Yang Yuting stills
The plan failed twice in a row, and Zhang Xueliang was a little helpless. However, he was still reluctant to kill the killer at this time, until a man appeared and an unexpected birthday feast.
The murderous intent suddenly rose, and someone was sent to do it
In addition to Zhang Xueliang, the Japanese also did not deal with Yang Yuting at that time, and they had long wanted to get rid of him. It is reported that the Kwantung Army sent someone to contact Yang Yuting, who had studied in Japan before, in an attempt to reach a cooperation with Zhang Zuolin through him.
Unexpectedly, Yang Yuting not only categorically rejected the request of the Kwantung Army, but also repeatedly reminded Zhang Zuolin that the Japanese government has wolf ambitions and must not cooperate with it.
Not only that, after Zhang Zuolin was killed, Yang Yuting still resolutely opposed cooperation with Japan, and repeatedly disrupted the deployment of the Kwantung Army in Northeast China.
Yang Yuting stills
Therefore, after the Japanese learned of the contradiction between Zhang Xueliang and Yang Yuting, they constantly sent people to sow discord, trying to get rid of this thorn in the eye and thorn in the flesh by Zhang Xueliang's hand.
At the behest of the Kwantung Army, Professor Okawa Shuming approached Zhang Xueliang step by step and gained his trust. When the time was ripe, Okawa Shumei took the opportunity to give Zhang Xueliang a book, and highlighted the part of the book in which Toyotomi Hideyori was overthrown by the powerful minister Tokugawa Ieyasu.
After Zhang Xueliang saw the relevant content, he immediately thought of himself and Yang Yuting, and in a fit of anger, he moved to kill this Feng elder.
A few days later, Yang Yuting held an extremely beautiful birthday banquet to celebrate his father's birthday. Before the banquet began, Zhang Zuolin took his wife Yu Fengzhi to Yang's mansion in a high-profile manner and gave him a valuable gift.
However, this banquet became Yang Yuting's talisman, and he first received Zhang Xueliang with the etiquette of an ordinary guest, which caused the latter's dissatisfaction.
Then, Yang Yuting accepted the compliments and congratulations from the guests from all over the world without restraint, just like the posture of a leader in the Northeast.
At the same time, the real handsome man was left out in the cold throughout the whole process, and almost no one talked to him. This humiliation made Zhang Xueliang angry and determined to eradicate Yang Yuting.
However, after all, Yang Yuting is a veteran of the Feng department, and he has made great contributions to Zhang Zuolin, and he is also highly respected and loved in the army.
Therefore, although Zhang Xueliang had murderous thoughts, he was still entangled in every way. He was worried that once Yang Yuting was killed, the situation in the Northeast might be completely ruined.
In desperation, Zhang Xueliang chose to make a decision by throwing silver dollars, leaving Yang Yuting's life and death to God.
He thought that if the silver dollar landed and was facing up, then he would kill Yang Yuting. What Zhang Xueliang didn't expect was that he threw three silver dollars in a row, all of which were positive.
Zhang Xueliang, who has never been superstitious, was rarely panicked at this time, and he decided to give Yang Yuting another chance to throw the silver dollar again.
This time, Zhang Xueliang silently thought in his heart, if the silver dollar landed on the opposite side, then Yang Yuting would have to die. As if there was really providence in the dark, after Zhang Xueliang tossed it three more times, the silver dollar was turned side up every time, without exception.
The guidance of heaven made Zhang Xueliang firm in his killing intent, and after some careful arrangements, he decided to do it on January 10, 1929.
Yang Yuting stills
In the evening of that day, Yang Yuting and his confidant Chang Yinhuai received a call from the Marshal's Mansion, inviting them to discuss the establishment of the Northeast Railway Supervision Office.
Yang Yuting and Chang Yinhuai were not surprised, and arrived as scheduled at 7 o'clock that night. Who knows, as soon as the two entered the door, they were tied up by Zhang Xueliang's personal soldiers. Subsequently, they were killed in the Tiger Hall of the Great Marshal's Mansion, and their bodies were quickly returned to their respective homes.
As it turned out, Zhang Xueliang's previous worries were justified. After he got rid of Yang Yuting, he did not monopolize power, and the situation became even more erosive. In the end, the Japanese created the "918 Incident" and completely drove Zhang Xueliang and Feng out of the Northeast.
Yang Yuting's death became a knot in Zhang Xueliang's heart, and he mentioned in a chat with Taiwanese historian Tang Degang in his later years that I was never superstitious before killing Yang Yuting, and I had to believe it after killing him.
Of course, there are also many people who think that Zhang Xueliang's decision to kill Yang Yuting is blamed on the will of God, which is a manifestation of evading responsibility. It was as if he himself had implemented the "policy of non-resistance" first, but afterwards he said that he had been instructed by Chiang Kai-shek.
If it weren't for the "Xi'an Incident" to turn the tide, Zhang Xueliang Jiuquan must have been ashamed to see Zhang Zuolin, Yang Yuting and a group of Feng veterans.
This article was originally written by "On History and the Present", and has been opened for the whole network to protect rights, and may not be reproduced without authorization, and infringement must be investigated.