Chiang Kai-shek and Tang Shaoyi were fellow revolutionaries, but they drifted apart in the stormy season. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese puppet regime intended to use Tang Shaoyi's influence in Chinese officialdom to deliberately sow discord. In order to maintain the unity of the regime, Chiang Kai-shek repeatedly advised Tang Shaoyi, but was finally refused. Faced with a grim situation, Chiang Kai-shek had to order the assassination of old acquaintances, but what was the truth? Did Tang Shaoyi finally defect to the Japanese or was he mistakenly killed by Chiang Kai-shek? What kind of shocking story is hidden behind this?
Operate in the same room, and the wind and clouds will meet
In the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu, the Qing Dynasty was in danger, and Tang Shaoyi was only 18 years old with lofty ambitions and long-cherished wishes to reform China. At a young and vigorous age, he read a lot of books at Columbia University, studied both Chinese and Western, and was deeply concerned about the country's decaying situation. Just when Tang Shaoyi, who was full of enthusiasm, was determined to change the world, Sun Yat-sen, who was also studying in the United States, had already germinated the idea of overthrowing the Qing Dynasty.
In the thirty-third year of Guangxu, Tang Shaoyi returned to his homeland with a full stomach. He was appointed Minister of Correspondence and was responsible for handling Sino-Korean relations. Soon, Tang Shaoyi concurrently served as the Chinese minister to Japan, Yamen, and became an important diplomatic official of the Qing Dynasty royal family. However, he became increasingly disillusioned with the decaying Qing Dynasty and gradually became close to Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries. Recommended by a friend, Tang Shaoyi joined Sun Yat-sen's alliance and campaigned for the overthrow of the Manchu Yiyao rule.
In the third year of Xuantong, the revolutionary party was the first to wave its troops in Wuchang. Tang Shaoyi strongly supported the revolution, joined the revolutionaries to establish a provisional government in Nanjing, and appointed him as the first prime minister, realizing his revolutionary dream in his youth. However, after the victory of the revolution, the views of the parties from all walks of life diverged from each other, and the contradictions between the parties and the differences began to appear. In particular, Chiang Kai-shek was in the ascendant during this period and formed an indissoluble bond with Tang Shaoyi.
In the third year of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek joined the National Revolutionary Army in the warlord melee and was rushing to seize power. At the same time, Tang Shaoyi's political philosophy also began to turn conservative, and he no longer supported Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary ideas. After the defeat of the revolution, Tang Shaoyi chose to part ways with Sun Yat-sen and turned to Shanghai to engage in financial investment, temporarily away from politics.
There are many crises, and they take refuge in self-preservation
After the outbreak of the 77 Incident, North China was in a state of wolf smoke. Hu Zongnan commanded the army in Beiping, and Wang Jingguo guarded Fengtian. The iron hooves of the Japanese army spread all over the Hebei Plain and approached the gatehouse of the capital. When the fall of Beiping was imminent, Chiang Kai-shek fled from Nanjing and went to Wuhan to concentrate the anti-Japanese forces of the whole country.
As a concession city, Shanghai was a place where merchants gathered and foreign capital penetrated, and it was a battleground for the Japanese army. The Japanese army launched the Battle of Songhu one after another, vowing to capture the Shanghai Concession. In order to escape the war, the middle class in the concession moved west and fled north. However, Tang Shaoyi, who has no worries about drinking and eating, has a lot of assets in Shanghai and insists on sticking to it.
The situation is critical, and all forces have recruited Tang Shaoyi. Wang Jingwei established a puppet regime in Nanjing, pleaded bitterly in the face of heavy responsibilities, and promised glory in power. Tang Shaoyi has a wide range of contacts in the government and the opposition and superb diplomatic skills, so he is indeed an excellent candidate. The envoys who went back and forth were even more sweet-talking, as the saying goes, "the golden hammer hit the door", and they rushed to please the old man Tang.
However, his past relationship with the Kuomintang made it difficult for Tang Shaoyi to make up his mind. Moreover, in his heart, Wang Jingwei's puppet regime has a shallow foundation and cannot guarantee the future. Chiang Kai-shek even sent people to persuade him several times, and he told him not to lose his morality. However, the Japanese army was advancing, and the situation was becoming more and more dangerous, and it was difficult for Tang Shaoyi to retreat.
The Japanese army captured Shanghai and blocked the streets. The French Concession has been reduced to the only space, and it is also in turmoil. Tang Shaoyi's mansion was destroyed by artillery fire, and he personally searched calmly in the ruins, still with a fearless face. Seeing his indifferent style of fame and fortune, the commander of the Japanese army was revered and decided to find another way.
So he secretly sent someone to visit Tang Shaoyi's boudoir privacy. The spies learned that he had been living in poverty in recent years, and that he was still greedy for trysts. The Japanese army then strategized and lured a lot of money and beauty, hoping to capture Tang Shaoyi's mind. Sure enough, Tang Shaoyi's vision was shaken, and he intended to show goodwill to the Japanese army.
The Japanese army took advantage of the situation and agreed to Tang Shaoyi's unreasonable demands. He drank lavishly, took concubines, and bought a huge property in the center of Shanghai. The Japanese army waited patiently and was tempted at all levels, and Tang Shaoyi began to show his strength, and gradually had the idea of relying on the Japanese hypocrisy.
Life and death are at stake, and Jiang Dai conspires
Shanghai fell, Tang Shaoyi moved to the French Concession, although the environment was temporarily peaceful, but the situation became more and more severe. When the Chiang Kai-shek authorities learned of the rumors of Tang Shaoyi's collusion with the Japanese puppets, their sense of crisis was unprecedentedly high. The commander had an order, and Dai Li, the head of the military command, was personally in charge of the case.
Chiang Kai-shek sent people to Shanghai several times, flatly denied the rumors of Tang Shaoyi's relationship with Japan and the puppet, and hoped that Tang Shaoyi would change his mind. But the news feedback, Tang Shaoyi turned a blind eye to the messenger and insisted on his position. Chiang Kai-shek's three letters of punishment still could not reverse Tang Shaoyi's will.
Faced with this major hidden danger that endangered the morale of the army and undermined the overall situation of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Chiang Kai-shek gritted his teeth and made up his mind. He personally wrote a secret order, asking Dai Li to try to get rid of Tang Shaoyi, kill a hundred people, and warn those who peep into the enemy.
Soon after the secret order was issued, Dai Li sent an action team to Shanghai to lurk. However, the French Concession was heavily guarded, and ordinary methods were difficult to penetrate. Fortunately, in the early years, he was mixed in the Sichuan-Shaanxi area, and Dai Li had many henchmen in the old department, and he operated smoothly in the concession many times, so he was naturally comfortable this time.
The fighters quietly entered the French Concession and used the location of the Tang Mansion to survey the surrounding environment. Cat path and mouse path, everywhere, be careful and vigilant, always cover up, and do not show traces. Until the moon was dark and the wind was high, the team members began to take advantage of the void and waited quietly in the Tang Mansion.
At dawn the next day, Tang Shaoyi got up as usual and went straight to the bedroom. The team had the opportunity to strangle him to death. When Tang Shaoyi did not show up after the deadline, the attendants discovered the tragedy and exclaimed to shock the entire French Concession. The news of Tang Shaoyi's death spread all over the streets of Shanghai in an instant.
The person in charge of the French Concession was shocked by the murderous methods of the criminals in this case, and was ready to launch an arrest for the culprit. The members of the team had slipped away in the dark of night, and they were nowhere to be seen. And the biggest suspect in this case is actually the Nationalist Government, which is also an anti-Japanese alliance. Although this action ensured the stability of the overall situation of the Anti-Japanese War, it also brought a great rift to the relations between the two sides.
There is a dispute within the party, and the truth is confused
The news of Tang Shaoyi's death was like thunder, shocking the Central Plains. Chiang Kai-shek's authorities flatly denied any involvement, but the party elders remained bewildered and doubtful about the case.
Li Zongrensu, a warlord from the Gui family, disagreed with Chiang Kai-shek, and he was the first to stand up and denounce Chiang Kai-shek for violating the revolutionary purpose of the League, disregarding human rights, and indiscriminately lynching. Under his generous statement, the old revolutionaries, who had defected to the Kuomintang, joined in the attack.
In the face of tough doubts from within the party, Chiang Kai-shek did not refute directly, but responded in a low-key manner and expressed his position in a roundabout way. He first said that the case had nothing to do with him and did not know the reason. Second, Chiang Kai-shek also revealed that the case was led by the military commanders, and a special task force was already under secret investigation.
Despite Chiang Kai-shek's denial of shirk, he was secretly skeptical of his authorities. The party elders did not have the right to intervene directly in the case, but they could not fully trust Chiang Kai-shek's words. As a result, after a silent confrontation between the two sides, a new game was launched in private.
Chiang Kai-shek was under siege at this time, the warlords were still in a scuffle, and the foundation was still shallow. In order to avoid escalating the situation, he decided to take a roundabout approach. Chiang Kai-shek personally presided over the investigation of the case in order to cover up the negligent actions of the military commanding forces. At the same time, he commanded the formation of a task force to draw up a cover plan to prevent more insider leaks.
Under the circumstances of Chiang Kai-shek's personal investigation, the external situation of the Nationalist Government was calm for a while. Regarding the cause and process of the case, the official has made a vague public response, intentionally or unintentionally. Within half a year, the attention of the whole society to this matter slowly cooled down.
However, many years later, at the beginning of the liberation of the mainland, a batch of original diaries of Chiang Kai-shek were found in Nanjing. The diary records the causes and consequences of Chiang Kai-shek's assassination because he was worried that Tang Shaoyi would defect to the Japanese puppeteers.
With this rare batch of historical evidence, historians can finally restore the truth of the events of that year. The Kuomintang authorities' claim that they had no knowledge of the case is naturally self-defeating and ridiculous.
The ups and downs of the sea of history, the facts are exposed
After Chiang Kai-shek's diary was exposed, the truth of Tang Shaoyi's case was finally revealed to the world. This sensational old case file has once again aroused heated debate from all walks of life. Some people questioned that Chiang Kai-shek's killing in battle violated his revolutionary morality; Some people also believe that Chiang Kai-shek had no choice but to act as a last resort under the circumstances.
Today, it is impossible to completely clarify the details of this case, but its twists and turns are evocative. Although Chiang Kai-shek was in power at that time, his revolutionary fellow Tang Shaoyi also had good military and political strength. Although Tang Shaoyi hesitated at the critical moment, he never admitted to surrender to the Japanese puppet. Although the relationship between the two sides is shallow, they have also formed an indissoluble bond.
Faced with a precarious situation, Chiang Kai-shek finally chose a desperate path. People of insight generally believe that Chiang Kai-shek's determination to kill Tang Shaoyi was motivated by the overall situation of maintaining the united front of the Anti-Japanese War. However, his distrust of the revolutionaries and his insistence on killing Tang Shaoyi also caused a lot of criticism at the time.
Even the diary that was made public after many years was not enough to completely solve the mystery in people's minds. After all, the diary was written by Chiang Kai-shek alone, and it inevitably has a certain subjective color, so there are still many mysteries about the specific process. However, the discovery of these diaries at least confirmed from the side that Chiang Kai-shek was indeed the mastermind of the assassination of Tang Shaoyi back then.
Even if the truth of the case is revealed to the world, the parties will not be able to explain and clarify. After all, Chiang Kai-shek and Tang Shaoyi have long since passed away with the wind and will remain silent forever in the long river of history. This case has become a good story that will always be discussed, but it can no longer be fully solved.
end
Interestingly, in the years after Chiang Kai-shek's diary was exposed, people from all walks of life made high statements about the case, singing about it or supporting it. The case was re-judged and summarized not only by professional historians from Chinese mainland, but also by political commentators and journalists at home and abroad. What began as a historical discussion about a bizarre crime turned into a protracted battle of ideas.