In Qian Dajun's life, he was a rare military think tank around Chiang Kai-shek, and he was also a veteran of the battlefield who had experienced a hundred battles. Later, however, he was gradually marginalized from the central figure of the Kuomintang.
When his life was dying, he summoned his sister-in-law, who had been taking care of him by his side, and said in a weak but unusually firm voice: "Now, I can tell the truth about my dismissal to the outside world." ”
This is a dusty past, how did he go from being a close confidant of Chiang Kai-shek to being marginalized?
Qian Dajun: Chiang Kai-shek's right and left hand
Qian Dajun, born in the Whampoa Military Academy, is an alumnus of Chiang Kai-shek and an important confidant. He played a crucial role in the Kuomintang during Chiang Kai-shek's rule. In 1936, in order to consolidate his power, Chiang Kai-shek established the Chairman's Chamber, similar to the Qing Dynasty's Military Aircraft Department.
Qian Dajun served as the first director of one of the departments, responsible for military management, which shows his important position in Chiang Kai-shek's heart. Qian Dajun, an outstanding graduate of the Whampoa Military Academy, was an alumnus of Chiang Kai-shek, and the two formed a deep friendship on campus.
His military prowess was evident during his time at the school, and he demonstrated excellent command and strategy skills in simulated battles and tactical discussions. These early performances laid a solid foundation for his later military positions within the Kuomintang.
In 1936, Chiang Kai-shek reorganized power within the Kuomintang, and in order to further control and centralize power, he set up the Chairman's Chamber, which was similar in power structure to the military aircraft department of the late Qing Dynasty, divided into three departments, each of which was held by Chiang Kai-shek's cronies.
Qian Dajun was appointed the first director of one of the departments, which was responsible for military affairs and was one of the most central power organs within the entire Kuomintang. When Qian Dajun accepted the position, he was given a special task of overhauling and optimizing the Kuomintang's military command and supply chain system.
He organized a number of internal audits to check the efficiency and combat effectiveness of military departments at all levels. Under his strict management, many non-compliant suppliers have been cleared out of the military supply system, and a series of new supply chain management measures have been implemented to ensure the supply of military supplies and greatly improve the response speed and execution of military operations.
In addition to internal management, Qian Dajun often attended strategic meetings with Chiang Kai-shek to discuss how to deploy troops to deal with local warlord separatism and Communist guerrilla tactics. At these meetings, he was always able to make precise recommendations for military deployment and logistical support to help the KMT maintain its advantage in multi-front operations.
Under his leadership, the department was more than a simple military institution, but more like an efficiently functioning military think tank, providing many innovative strategies and reform proposals.
Dark power struggles
Although Qian Dajun's power was great, it was short-lived, and he was impeached only two years later on charges of corruption. The turmoil began with an anonymous whistleblower letter alleging that Qian Dajun had received huge kickbacks in military procurement through his brother Qian Tisheng. The anonymous letter detailed the dates, amounts, and even a list of the companies involved, making the accusation seem convincing.
The letter soon fell into the hands of Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek took this very seriously and immediately ordered the Kuomintang discipline inspection organs to conduct an in-depth investigation of this accusation. The team first verified the details mentioned in the anonymous letter and carefully checked them against the military procurement records in an attempt to identify any possible flaws.
Qian Dajun's brother Qian Tisheng was also implicated, and the investigation team questioned him many times. During a series of intense inquiries, the investigation team found some suspicious points that did not match the transaction records of Qian Tisheng. These findings have sharpened the focus of the investigation on the financial dealings of Qian Dajun and his brother.
At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek personally summoned Qian Dajun and had a long conversation with him. During this meeting, Chiang Kai-shek put the whistleblower letter and the preliminary evidence uncovered by the investigation team in front of Qian Dajun, and asked him if there was anything he could explain. Qian Dajun resolutely denied this, emphasizing that he has always put the interests of the country and the nation first.
But the pressure of the investigation is increasing, and despite Qian Dajun's best efforts, the chain of evidence has gradually improved enough to support the accusations against him. Towards the end of the investigation, Chiang Kai-shek summoned Qian Dajun again. This time, he told Qian Dajun that if he could not provide stronger evidence to clear his suspicions, he would have to deal with it in accordance with party discipline and state law.
Faced with more and more unfavorable evidence, Qian Dajun felt unprecedented pressure. At the final deliberation meeting, Qian Dajun's brother Qian Tisheng also failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove his innocence. In the end, Chiang Kai-shek made a decision: Qian Tisheng was executed on suspicion of serious corruption, and Qian Dajun was removed from all positions as a warning.
Escaped
After being severely punished by Chiang Kai-shek, Qian Dajun's political career seemed to have come to an end. However, due to his past contributions within the party and his good relations with some of the top brass, he has not been completely excluded from the political scene. At the most difficult moment, he found Soong Ziwen, hoping to use Soong Ziwen's influence to seek relief for himself from Chiang Kai-shek.
Song Ziwen was the financial director of the Kuomintang at that time and one of Chiang Kai-shek's important advisers, and he had many cooperation with Qian Dajun, and the relationship between the two has always been good. Through a series of contacts, Qian Dajun finally conveyed his situation to Song Ziwen, hoping to use Song Ziwen's power to change his situation.
Song Ziwen expressed some sympathy for Qian Dajun's situation and decided to do his best to help him. He first communicated with Chiang Kai-shek and tried to win tolerance for Qian Dajun. In his exchange with Chiang Kai-shek, Soong Ziwen emphasized Qian Dajun's long-term contributions to the party and his achievements in military management, and believed that he should be given a chance to make corrections.
After many discussions and assessments, Chiang Kai-shek still had reservations. In this case, Song Ziwen found another path - through Song Meiling. Soong Meiling was not only Chiang Kai-shek's wife, but also an influential female figure within the Kuomintang. Song Ziwen explained Qian Dajun's situation to Song Meiling in detail, hoping that she would mention it to Chiang Kai-shek at the appropriate time.
After learning about the whole incident, Soong Meiling decided to mention the incident to Chiang Kai-shek at an innocuous moment. After a dinner, Soong Meiling made a light mention of Qian Dajun's case, and she did not directly defend Qian Dajun, but casually asked Chiang Kai-shek if he might have been too harsh.
Chiang Kai-shek listened to Soong Meiling's words and began to reconsider the treatment of Qian Dajun. After some deep thought, he finally decided to give Qian Dajun a lighter punishment - not to let him return to his original position, but to arrange for him to serve as secretary general of the Aviation Committee. This position, although limited in power, is also a beautiful one.
Was Qian Dajun's dismissal really due to corruption? The matter has to start with the Xi'an incident.
The turmoil of the Xi'an Incident
In December 1936, Qian Dajun accompanied Chiang Kai-shek to Xi'an by special train, in order to force Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng to launch an encirclement and suppression of the Red Army. Chiang Kai-shek hoped to force local forces to obey the orders of the central government through direct military action and deterrence.
During his arrival in Xi'an, Qian Dajun was responsible for coordinating contacts with local officers and arranging specific matters for the trip. He discussed the plan of action with Chiang Kai-shek on the train many times, and during the long train journey, Qian Dajun also had to deal with intelligence and reports from all sides. On the third day of their arrival in Xi'an, an accident happened.
Zhang Xueliang personally visited and brought a piece of news: there was a problem with the locomotive part of the train and needed to be temporarily pulled to the garage for repair. Without a thorough understanding of the situation, Qian Dajun agreed to this arrangement according to Zhang Xueliang's suggestion. Because Qian Dajun had a good private relationship with Zhang Xueliang, he did not have many doubts when dealing with this unexpected incident.
He assigned a technical team to accompany the car to the garage, and he returned to the car to continue with other urgent matters. Unexpectedly, this decision directly led to the later Xi'an Incident. A few days later, Zhang Xueliang's guards raided Huaqingchi in the early hours of the morning and succeeded in detaining Chiang Kai-shek.
Qian Dajun was awakened by this sudden change and found himself in an extremely passive situation. Due to the fact that the locomotive part of the train was pulled away for "repairs", the entire train was stopped in an unfavorable position, losing the possibility of a quick evacuation. In the chaos, Qian Dajun also tried to organize resistance and protect Chiang Kai-shek's safety.
He quickly directed the security guards in the carriage to set up the defense, despite the very limited resources and manpower. During an attempt to break out, Qian Dajun was seriously wounded, and shrapnel hit him in the abdomen, and he was in critical condition. Despite being seriously wounded, Qian Dajun struggled to maintain order until reinforcements arrived.
Afterwards, he received emergency treatment in the hospital and barely survived after multiple surgeries. After this incident, although Chiang Kai-shek was rescued, his trust in Qian Dajun was shaken. Chiang Kai-shek could not believe that all this was just an accidental coincidence, and he suspected that Qian Dajun might have a premeditated plan with Zhang Xueliang, believing that Qian Dajun was suspected of dereliction of duty in this incident.
Although Qian Dajun vigorously defended himself, emphasizing his loyalty and hard work in the incident, Chiang Kai-shek's doubts still existed. So the next day, he found an excuse for "corruption" and dismissed him from his post.
The ups and downs and happiness of old age
After the Xi'an Incident, Qian Dajun's political career and influence declined significantly, and he no longer held key military positions, but was placed in relatively marginal positions. In 1975, that year, Chiang Kai-shek died at the age of 87, and the news quickly shook the entire Taiwanese political scene, and with it, the gradual decline of the Chiang family's power.
In the midst of this wave of change, a craze for accounts of high-ranking Kuomintang officials swept across the island, and many began writing memoirs revealing memories related to Chiang Kai-shek. As Chiang Kai-shek's former confidant, Qian Dajun naturally became the focus of many writers and reporters.
However, out of consideration for Chiang Ching-kuo, Qian Dajun chose to remain silent and declined all requests for interviews. Although Qian Dajun suffered many political turmoil and changes of position in his later years, his life was extremely happy, and this happiness came from his two wives - Ouyang Zaoli and her sister Ouyang Shengli, who were sisters.
Ouyang Zaoli was very seriously ill in a serious illness, and the strange illness that doctors could not diagnose made her unable to eat all day, and her condition quickly deteriorated to a critical situation. Faced with the threat of death, she wrote a will, instructing Qian Dajun that if she died, her sister Ouyang Shengli would continue the strings.
Just after Qian Dajun prepared everything according to Ouyang Zaoli's last wish and married his sister-in-law Ouyang Shengli as his successor, an unexpected thing happened: Ouyang Zaoli miraculously recovered.
However, in 1982, Qian Dajun's body was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer. At the end of his life, he instructed Ouyang Shengli, who had always been by his side, to make public the diary he had kept privately over the years. These diaries not only recorded the real reasons why he was dismissed by Chiang Kai-shek, but also revealed the complicated relationship between Chiang Kai-shek and the Song family.
The publication of this diary is not only an explanation of Qian Dajun's political career, but also a contribution to history, allowing the outside world to more fully understand the complex relationships and events of that turbulent era.
Resources
Chiang Kai-shek's Last Days
Research on the Xi'an Incident
From Whampoa to Taiwan: The Fate of the Kuomintang Military Generals