In the early morning of June 4, 1928, Zhang Zuolin's special train was attacked by an explosion on the outskirts of Shenyang, and the northeastern marshal who commanded the three provinces died in Huangquan. The ensuing scene was unexpected: Zhang Zuolin's favorite concubine Shouyi wore heavy makeup every day, behaved as usual, and pretended that Zhang Zuolin was still alive. Why did she do that? And how did it hide from the eyes and ears of the Japanese and delay the fall of the Northeast? What kind of woman was this who was able to turn the tide in that turbulent era and influence the course of modern Chinese history? It will be interesting to see what kind of tricks she uses.
1. Edification and building: Shouyi's growth process
Shou Yi was born in a family of banner people, and he finally succeeded after ups and downs along the way. Her father, Shoushan, was a general of the Zhengbai Banner Han Army who was responsible for the country, and bravely killed the enemy in the First Sino-Japanese War and made great achievements. Unfortunately, in the battle to block the Russian invasion of the Northeast, Shoushan was unfortunately killed, leaving the young Shouyi and his mother to rely on each other.
Because their mother was only an outsider, the two were left out in the family, and were eventually forced to leave the clan and live in their hometown of Fengtian. The poverty of the environment did not crush Shouyi's ambition to study, she was a bright child since she was a child, diligent and literate, and her teachers all appreciated her studious and outstanding intelligence.
It is no accident that he became famous at a young age, and Shou Yi's outstanding qualities gradually emerged when he was a teenager. In 1917, at the age of 19, when she graduated from the Mukden Provincial Women's Normal College, her parting speech shone brightly. Although it is a routine for ordinary students, Shou Yi is well prepared, easy to play on the spot, elegant and generous, and his loud speech is like a famous Confucian master, and the applause is endless, which immediately becomes a good story on campus. At that time, the VIP guests present were Zhang Zuolin, the handsome man of the Northeast, who saw this girl for the first time and couldn't help but feel good.
This eloquence is actually the beginning of a turning point in Shou Yi's life. Compared with other women of the same age, she is already an outstanding heroine who has no successor, and is destined not to settle for mediocrity. After the speech, Zhang Zuolin, who was famous, gave a dowry gift to Zhang Zuolin, who was in the picture, and proposed to accept her as the fifth aunt. This vision of choosing the best mate laid the foundation for Shou Yi to step into the curtain and make great achievements.
2. Wise governance: win the hearts of the people of Zhangfu
Since Shou Yi married into Zhang's mansion, he has shown extraordinary resourcefulness and ability. Although Zhang Zuolin is the generalissimo of the army and navy, he was born in a peasant family and does not have too deep knowledge. He was very obedient in dealing with people and things, and he also lacked harmony when manipulating military power, which led to complaints from top to bottom.
Shou Yi often accompanied Zhang Zuolin to inspect the military camp, and whenever Zhang Zuolin was speechless, she would take over the conversation with ease, and talk eloquently to boost morale. Sympathetic to the treatment of soldiers, promising meritorious service and rewards, Shou Yi was widely praised in the military camp. Over time, Zhang Zuolin praised her intelligence, not only allowing her to participate in the decision-making of military and political affairs, but also entrusting her to take charge of the affairs of the Zhang Mansion.
Shou Yi has a good way of governing his family and has won the unanimous support of the whole house. The four ladies of the Zhang Mansion have many children, plus the relatives and servants in each room, which are cumbersome and unusual. But Shou Yi is strategic, well-organized, and has never caused trouble due to chaotic management. She is clever and eloquent, and can skillfully resolve Zhang Zuolin's unsatisfactory foul words and calm the discord between husband and wife; can also give advice to Zhang Zuolin, and raise his face in Zhang's mansion.
As Zhang Zuolin's trust and treatment deepened, his entourage had to move closer to Shou Yi, so Shou Yi held the power of Zhang's mansion. Even though Shou Yi is not old in his wife's family and is still young when she takes office, her ability and skills are immediate, and she soon won the reputation of being called "Mrs. Shou" by the mouths of official wives and husbands.
In addition, Shou Yi also showed exquisite imperial skills. In 1926, although Zhang Zuolin was over half a hundred years old, he still wanted to accept the young, and planned to marry Ma Yueqing, the eldest daughter of Huanghua, as the sixth aunt. When Zhang Zuolin was in a dilemma, Shou Yi made a suggestion and asked him to introduce Ma into Zhang's mansion as a maid first, and then restore her status as his wife when the time was ripe. This suggestion made Zhang Zuolin like a treasure, avoided criticism from the outside world, and legitimized Ma Yueqing's status.
Shou Yi not only protected himself, but also put down his body to help Zhang Zuolin, and won Zhang Zuolin's favor because of this. Later, Ma officially became the sixth aunt, but Zhang Zuolin did not reduce his trust in Shouyi at all. Not only that, whenever Zhang Zuolin has a major military and political matter to discuss, he will first consult Shouyi's opinion. It can be seen that Shouyi's wisdom and intelligence have already established a very high status and prestige in Zhangfu.
3. Crisis response: pretending that Zhang Zuolin survived
In the early morning of June 4, 1928, Zhang Zuolin's special train was bombed on the outskirts of Shenyang, and the most powerful warlord in Northeast China was killed on the spot. This great change immediately brought great shock to the Zhang Mansion and plunged into an unprecedented crisis.
As Zhang Zuolin's favorite concubine, Shou Yi did not cry and was at a loss like other ladies, but responded calmly at the first time and quickly took a series of actions to deal with emergencies. She ordered the guards to be strengthened, cut off Zhang's communication with the outside world, and flatly denied the news that Zhang Zuolin had been killed, insisting that Zhang Zuolin had only suffered minor injuries.
Subsequently, Shou Yi made an unexpected decision: she asked the staff of Zhang's Mansion to continue to work as usual, eating and drinking as usual, even she herself wore heavy makeup every day, pretending to be nothing, and the entire Zhangfu seemed to be alive and well.
This practice is actually the result of careful consideration by Shou Yi. Once the news of Zhang Zuolin's death is made public, it will inevitably attract the prying eyes of the Japanese, and the entire Northeast will soon fall. Instead of waiting passively, it is better to take the initiative to take it by surprise, confuse the real with falsehood, and gain time to wait for Zhang Xueliang to return to his teacher.
In order to create the illusion that Zhang Zuolin was alive, Shou Yi arranged a lot of detailed work. For example, Zhang Zuolin's weekday meal recipe was temporarily surveyed, and the kitchen manager was asked to prepare it as usual; and asked the servants to arrange a couch for Zhang Zuolin in Yangchun Garden every day and prepare a change of clothes; even instigated an uproar in the Zhang Mansion from time to time, creating the false impression that Zhang Zuolin was instructing the miscellaneous servants.
In addition, Shou Yi also specially arranged for someone to deliberately prune the old cherry blossom that Zhang Zuolin likes to see in the Zhangfu Garden, just in case outsiders peep into the messy branches of the cherry blossoms and become suspicious. Her meticulous attention to detail is truly staggering.
Even in the face of small dissent such as Zhangfu's cronies, questioning whether Shou Yi's approach was too reckless, Shou Yi was uncharacteristically ruthless, insisted on his own opinions, and even used Zhangfu's private treasury to bribe many corrupt officials and corrupt officials to strictly prevent news leakage. Through all kinds of careful deployment, Shou Yi successfully deceived the eyes and ears of the Japanese, and also won valuable time to wait for Zhang Xueliang's support.
Fourth, the battle of wits with Japan: postpone the fall of the Northeast
Although Shou Yi successfully disguised the illusion that Zhang Zuolin was alive inside the Zhang Mansion, it was not easy to completely conceal it from the Japanese side. After all, at that time, the Japanese warlords had coveted the three eastern provinces for a long time, and once they found out that Zhang Zuolin had really died, they would definitely take advantage of the situation and quickly annex the northeast.
In the face of such a crisis, Shou Yi racked his brains to deploy strategies, and clever plans were frequent. She first used her profound cultural literacy and skillful communication skills to deal with the wife of Takeshi Tian of the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang, misleading the Japanese side into knowing nothing about Zhang Zuolin's death.
According to historical records, in June 1928, Uchida's wife asked people to visit Zhang's mansion many times, in order to get a glimpse of Zhang Zuolin's whereabouts. In order to avoid suspicion, Shou Yi always met Mrs. Uchida and entertained him personally. In several conversations with Mrs. Uchida, Shou Yi talked endlessly, eloquently, and behaved generously and decently, without the slightest melancholy of Zhang Zuolin's death, which made Mrs. Uchida doubtful about the rumors that Zhang Zuolin was ill.
In addition to deceiving Mrs. Uchida's eyes and ears, Shou Yi also ordered the gate of Zhang's Mansion to be strictly sealed, so that no outsiders could enter or exit. Even the citizens of Shenyang could not get even half a step close to Zhang's mansion, so rumors about Zhang Zuolin's assassination could only stop outside the gate of Zhang's mansion. Shou Yi's move directly cut off the Japanese source and completely blocked any rumors about Zhang Zuolin's death.
Not only that, Shou Yi also set many traps, which in turn restrained the actions of the Japanese side. She first spread some false news about Zhang Xueliang's return to the division in Zhang's mansion, and then secretly instructed her cronies to prepare a good opportunity for Zhang Xueliang's troops in Shenyang City, which caused the Japanese side to be on high alert and heavily defended.
In order to further contain the actions of the Japanese side, Shou Yi even bribed many Japanese informants and eyeliners in Shenyang with a large amount of money, confusing the public and greatly increasing the difficulty for the Japanese side to obtain true information. Through various careful deployments, Shou Yi successfully made the Japanese side look at the wind and shadows, and there was no way to verify Zhang Zuolin's true life and death situation.
In this way, Shou Yi and the Japanese launched a battle of wisdom and bravery. With her extraordinary strategy and skill, she not only succeeded in hiding from the Japanese side, but also won precious time to wait for Zhang Xueliang's support to arrive. It was precisely this three-year time difference that caused the Northeast to finally fall to the Japanese in 1931, which was delayed for three years, and won precious years of freedom for the sons and daughters of the Northeast.
Fifth, the finality of the Northeast: adhere to the righteousness of the abdication
At the beginning of October 1928, Zhang Xueliang personally led the iron cavalry from Beiping to the northeast, and finally arrived in Shenyang. At this time, the news of Zhang Zuolin's death could no longer be concealed. After more than three months of evasion game, Shouyi successfully won a precious buffer time for the Northeast.
After Zhang Xueliang met with Shou Yi in private, he was sincerely amazed by her superb intelligence and heroic actions. Out of trust and respect for Shouyi, Zhang Xueliang also followed her advice and adopted a more prudent foreign policy to avoid intensifying the contradictions and causing the Japanese side to advance.
Under the command of Zhang Xueliang, the warlord melee in the northeast was temporarily calmed down, and the situation was re-stabilized. At this time, Shou Yi could have commanded the entire Zhang Mansion to continue to maintain the status quo, but she unexpectedly made a shocking decision - she voluntarily abdicated and handed over the housekeeping to Zhang Zuolin's eldest son, Zhang Xue, Burns.
It takes a great deal of courage and determination to do so. After all, in the past ten years, Shou Yi has been worthy of being the actual ruler of Zhangfu, holding great power and power. However, she resolutely chose to abdicate voluntarily and returned the housekeeping power to the eldest son of the Zhang family, undoubtedly at the expense of personal interests for the sake of the Northeast.
Shou Yi did this, in fact, based on the general environment of the Northeast at that time. Although Zhang Xueburns is still young, after all, he is the descendant of the Zhang family, and if he can grasp the power, he will definitely gain more support and contribute to the stability of the situation in Northeast China.
In contrast, Shou Yi is only a concubine after all, even if her skills are superb, in this great struggle to maintain the sovereignty of the Northeast, she will inevitably be regarded as an outsider. If she continues to be in power, it will inevitably trigger infighting in the Zhang family and weaken the united front in the northeast. For the sake of the overall situation, Shou Yi finally chose to stay away from the center of power and take the initiative to avoid contradictions.
In fact, for a period of time after Shouyi's abdication, the situation in the Northeast did take a turn for the better, Zhang Xueburns took office after taking office, and he personally supervised the anti-Japanese resistance, and confronted the Japanese puppets for several months, which once made people full of hope for the prospects of the Northeast. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, and in September 1931, the "918" incident broke out, and the Northeast was finally annexed by Japan.
Although the final ending is a sigh, Shou Yi's contribution to delaying time is obvious to all. She used her wits and courage to fight for three years of precious freedom for the Northeast, and she also demonstrated her heroic spirit of chivalry and courage and consideration of the overall situation with practical actions. This point is enough to be recorded in the glorious chapter of the history of the warlords in Northeast China.