One day in November 1934, Chiang Kai-shek convened an emergency meeting on the encirclement and suppression of the Nationalist army. At this time, after the Battle of Jiufeng Mountain, the Red Army had already advanced into the Hunan area.
The trend on where the Red Army will move next became the focus of discussion at this meeting.
At that time, all the generals of the Nationalist Army agreed that the Red Army would go to Xiangxi to join the Red Second and Sixth Army Corps led by He Long and Xiao Ke.
But Lao Jiang's "think tank" Yang Yongtai denied it. He noted:
The Red Army would abandon the shortcuts, make a detour along the Yangtze River, and then go north to western Sichuan.
After this idea was proposed, not only did many generals disagree, but even Lao Chiang also expressed opposition.
You must know that about 80 years ago, Shi Dakai's route of leading his troops to leave was very consistent with what Yang Yongtai mentioned. But in the end, it was not the end of the Wing King being captured and the whole army was wiped out.
But in fact, in the end, the Red Army really chose to take this route.
Imagine if Chiang Kai-shek had adopted Yang Yongtai's advice at that time, I am afraid that the Red Army would have found itself in a predicament again.
So who is this Yang Yongtai? Known as the "Wolong of the Republic of China" and "Poison Zhuge ", what "achievements" has he made?
The political sea rises and falls, and the change survives
He was "young and promising", and after the Xinhai Revolution, Yang Yongtai served as a temporary member of the National Assembly and took refuge in Yuan Shikai.
However, due to the perverse behavior of "Yuan Datou" and unpopularity, he soon fell into decline, and everyone rebelled and left.
Probably sensing the general change, Yang Yongtai turned to Guangzhou to participate in the Dharma Protection Movement, and during this period, joined the Political Science Society.
Sun Yat-sen saw that the person in front of him was skillful, brave and strategic, so he intended to cultivate him.
So he promised that after the establishment of the Guangzhou Military Government, he would serve as the director of the Department of Finance. But what people didn't expect was that Yang Yongtai was hesitant every time and repeatedly shirked.
Because he believed that the Guangzhou military government at that time was just a shell, and the real power was still in the hands of the Beiyang warlords.
In addition, many people in the Political Science Society have defected to the southwestern warlords one after another, and the idea of "getting rid of his grandson" gradually sprouted in his heart.
So soon, the fickle Xiao Yang "jumped ship" again and turned to the southwest warlords Cen Chunxuan, Lu Rongting and others.
But because of this, he also aroused the dissatisfaction and resentment of many people in the Kuomintang, laying the groundwork for his later assassination.
Perhaps because of his hometown, Yang Yongtai decided to make a big show this time and work hard for a long time.
In 1920, Chen Jiongming returned to Guangdong, and Yang Yongtai took refuge under Cao Kun of the Beiyang government after Lu Rongting was expelled.
But in less than three years, Cao Kun fell, and Yang Yongtai, who had been repeatedly frustrated, could only follow with bad luck.
Yang Yongtai, who has ambitions but nowhere to perform, has to live in Shanghai, but he can't make a difference.
Although later he also submitted "cover letters" to warlords such as Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi. Even in order to show his talent, he also wrote a book of 10,000 words.
Although Li and Bai both saw Yang Yongtai's strategy and talent, they were not very confident about his "fickle" character and did not agree in the end.
And just when Yang Yongtai ran into walls everywhere and was at a loss, he was unexpectedly appreciated by Chiang Kai-shek.
In fact, Lao Jiang resolutely refused at first, after all, this person's label of "opportunist" is really worrying.
However, Yang Yongtai did not give up, and he wrote a "policy for cutting the domain" to Lao Jiang with enthusiasm, and asked his friend Xiong Shihui to pass it on his behalf.
At that time, Lao Jiang had been busy cutting off the forces of various warlords, and after seeing this strategy, he praised it again and again on the spot, and asked Yang Yongtai to come to see him as soon as possible.
In this way, Yang Yongtai relied on his own strength and analysis and interpretation of the current situation, and successfully got the reuse of Lao Jiang and became a high-level think tank by Jiang's side.
Jump into the staff and make suggestions
And after he took office, he did two major things for Chiang in succession.
One of them is to plan the "Sacrifice Soul Crying Coffin" incident.
After Sun Yat-sen's death, President Jiang cried heartbreakingly on the stage, with a handful of snot and tears, and also delivered a passionate and emotional speech.
But in fact, what is implied behind this is Yang Yongtai's portrayal of Chiang Kai-shek as the "legitimate heir of Mr. Zhongshan".
Although this kind of behavior is somewhat contrived and even embarrassing, the effect of political performance is often as follows:
People know that this is fooling, but it is still easy to be led by the nose by the performers.
Coupled with Lao Chiang's troops, he soon became the number one person in the Guangzhou National Government.
The second is to offer the strategy of "cutting the feudal domain".
He proposed to Chiang Kai-shek to use different means to suppress the warlords of all stripes.
For example, the use of economic means against Feng Yuxiang; political isolation of Yan Xishan; military means were taken against Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, etc.; Zhang Xueliang was treated with diplomatic means.
In this way, the decline of the warlords was soon revealed.
In accordance with Yang Yongtai's proposal, Chiang Kai-shek ostensibly appointed the above "princes from all walks of life" to the central government to take temporary posts, so as to further achieve the goal of reorganizing the army and dividing the localities.
In particular, the "military consolidation case" proposed by Lao Chiang is obviously a deprivation of the warlord's military power.
Feng Yuxiang and others expressed resolute opposition, although they were reluctant to sign in the face of Hu Hanmin later, but they soon rebelled.
This can make Lao Jiang anxious, Yang Yongtai said unhurriedly:
"Chairman, don't worry, I have a way."
In the face of the warlords' attack, Yang Yongtai asked Chiang Kai-shek to sow discord between the Gui generals and Lu Diping, the chairman of Hunan Province at the time.
Later, he successfully encircled Bai Chongxi's general Li Pinxian.
When the Jiang-Gui War broke out, the Gui army suddenly turned against each other, which caught Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi off guard, and they could only accept the fate of defeat.
On the other hand, Feng Yuxiang, who has always been shrewd, does not seem to have been able to resist Yang Yongtai's economic suppression.
Of course, this suppression was not for him, but for his subordinate generals.
At that time, many generals in the Northwest Army accepted bribes and put down their dignity because of the excessive benefits given by Yang Yongtai. Even Shi Yousan and Han Fuyu, one of Feng Yuxiang's "Thirteen Taibao", were bought one after another.
It seems that Lao Jiang has really made a lot of money.
After the defeat, Feng Yuxiang was unwilling, so he went to Shanxi to find Yan Xishan to cooperate, intending to join forces against Chiang.
However, Yan Laoxi's shrewd calculations are not ordinary, even to the point of shamelessness.
So the final result was that he accepted Chiang Kai-shek's huge fortune and the fictitious title of "deputy commander-in-chief of the national army, navy and air force", and agreed not to rebel.
But he didn't want to offend Feng Yuxiang, so the "King of Shanxi" put the "King of Northwest" under house arrest in Jian'an, serving good wine and food.
As a result, in August 1928, Chiang Kai-shek convened a second reorganization meeting and decided to reduce the local army.
Seeing that his interests were threatened, Yan Xishan decisively joined Feng this time, and even the Gui family joined the team to raise troops against Chiang, and the Central Plains War was about to break out.
Yang Yongtai successively offered Chiang Kai-shek three proposals.
First, it is necessary to carry out coordinated operations between the air force and the army to crack down on the forces of warlords.
Second, "silver bullet" diplomacy. Yang Yongtai specially set up a battlefield club for entertainment along the Longhai front.
This kind of club is widely built on mobile trains, including big smoke, gambling equipment, Chinese and Western food, singing and dancing girls, etc.
However, it was naturally not for Chiang's troops, but was specifically designed to dissipate the warlord forces.
The third is to successfully recruit Zhang Xueliang to join the Jiang army.
Through the above three strategies, coupled with the support of imperialism and the Jiangsu-Zhejiang chaebols, Chiang Kai-shek finally became the victor of the war and basically unified China in form.
Profit-seeking impermanence and trouble
Moreover, during the ten-year confrontation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, Lao Chiang has always followed the principle of "settling the inside before the outside world", which was proposed by Yang Yongtai.
In 1932, Chiang Kai-shek arrived in Wuhan and stepped up the fourth "encirclement and suppression" of the Red Army.
Yang Yongtai wrote another 10,000-word letter, in which he explained that the focus was on "seven parts politics and three points military," and divided the specific work into "discipline and upbringing" to sever the ties between our party and the masses.
After that, it was about infiltrating and disintegrating the Red Army internally.
Yang Yongtai advised Chiang Kai-shek to take advantage of the advantages of public opinion to rehearse plays, distribute leaflets, and give generous treatment to those in the Red Army who wanted to "surrender to sincerity."
Although the fourth "encirclement and suppression" failed, it also caused significant damage to the Red Army.
Through the above-mentioned series of "political encirclement and suppression" activities, the Soviet area was gradually blockaded by the Kuomintang army, and the Red Army was forced to move to the Sichuan region under pressure.
Although Yang Yongtai also divided Liu Xiang's forces later, and then helped Jiang occupy Sichuan.
However, Chiang did not adopt Yang Yongtai's prediction of the transfer of the Red Army's line, otherwise it might have caused more damage to our army.
Through the continuous strategic output of Chiang Kai-shek, Yang Yongtai gradually became a member of the strategist with great weight in the voice around Lao Chiang.
Even the documents submitted to the authorities had to be reviewed by Yang Yongtai before they could be sent to Chiang Kai-shek.
But what happened to such a man of high status who was assassinated in 1936?
In fact, although Yang Yongtai was in a high position at this time, he aroused the jealousy and even resentment of many people. We know that in the early years, Yang Yongtai had countless enemies because of frequent "job hopping".
As a representative of the Department of Political Science, many of the policies promulgated by him actually threatened the interests of other factions. Among them, there is the CC series with the Chen brothers as the core.
In October 1935, after Wang Jingwei was assassinated, Yang Yongtai wanted to take the opportunity to replace him, but was resolutely opposed by the CC department.
And the situation of the two sides facing each other has also been completely brought to the table. In desperation, Yang Yongtai decided to resign from his position and go abroad for inspection. Lao Jiang naturally would not agree.
In order to balance the forces of various factions, he decided to appoint Yang Yongtai as the chairman of Hubei Province.
In this way, Yang Yongtai became a feudal official far away from the temple, although he was in power, but he also gave the killer an opportunity.
Under such an opportunity, at the end of February 1937, Yang Yongtai was brutally killed when he went to Hankou to attend a banquet.
The final investigation results showed that the instigator behind the murderer Chen Xieqi was Liu Luyin, who originally belonged to the Hu Hanmin faction.
However, there is still a debate in the historiographical circles on this issue. There is also a view that Yang Yongtai was assassinated by CC agents.
Partisan rivalry, in-depth analysis
We know that the factional nature of the Kuomintang runs through the whole process, and Chiang tried to create a balance that contained each other, but in the end he was defeated by his own calculations.
For example, there is the CC department that manipulates party affairs, the Whampoa department that is responsible for the military, and Song Ziwen, Kong Xiangxi and others who manipulate finances. In addition, it is the Department of Political Science where Yang Yongtai works, which manipulates the administration.
The predecessor of the Department of Political Science was the "Political Science Society" founded by Li Gengen in the early years of the Republic of China, and Yang Yongtai was among them.
It is worth mentioning that his introducer Huang Yin is one of them.
Although Yang Yongtai was later incorporated into Chiang Kai-shek's command, he was never able to enter the central system of the party's upper echelons.
Even in the eyes of others, Yang Yongtai was just one of Chiang Kai-shek's many advisers.
Li Gengen previously commented:
"Yang Yongtai is like the tobacco in Yunnan, addictive to smoke and easy to use, but it will be poisoned after a long time."
In addition to manipulating administrative affairs, Yang's political science department in the Kuomintang is also committed to the in-depth study and excavation of high-level ideas, which is somewhat scrutinizing.
On the one hand, they served Chiang Kai-shek as his advisers in controlling the political situation.
On the other hand, they try to influence the will of the decision-makers through some of their own ideas, and then seek benefits for their own faction.
After the national army entered Sichuan, the reason why Yang Yongtai was able to divide the forces of Liu Xiang, the "King of Sichuan", was that one of the most typical methods was to know how to win people's hearts.
Through a series of measures such as monetary bribery and expanding crimes, they secretly replaced Liu Xiang's subordinates and replaced them with Chiang's henchmen.
For another example, when Yang Yongtai submitted Chiang Kai-shek's proposals, he often prepared two different plans, positive and negative.
Then secretly observe which plan Chiang Kai-shek prefers, and then observe the words and expressions, and submit it decisively.
However, after all, Yang Yongtai is a member of the "Department of Political Science", and the strategies he provides are inevitably based on his own faction, and sometimes he inadvertently or even intentionally causes damage to the interests of other factions.
is the so-called tree big move, and when Yang Yongtai and them are really in a high position in the later stage, there will be many dissatisfied voices.
Among them, there are the Chen brothers of the CC lineage.
Because they were all loyal to Chiang Kai-shek, the Chen brothers found a breakthrough enough to attack Yang Yongtai, and that was the fact that he had betrayed Mr. Sun.
Yang Yongtai was speechless about this.
But even so, Lao Jiang seems to be able to only turn a blind eye, why is this?
Although the CC department and the Whampoa department are extremely loyal to him, they are limited in their fields after all.
Ever since Chiang Kai-shek established the Nationalist Government in Nanjing in 1927, the two forces of Wang Ching-wei and Hu Hanmin have always kept it at bay.
After the confrontation between Ning and Yue, Lao Jiang went into the field for the second time.
It was only after he returned to power that Lao Chiang realized that his shortcomings compared to Wang Jingwei were that he did not consolidate and strengthen his political power.
On the one hand, it is due to the great difference in the personalities, thoughts, etc. of the two.
On the other hand, since Chiang came to power, he has been committed to cutting off the warlords and "suppressing the Communist Party".
Therefore, after Chiang Kai-shek's comeback, although the post of president of the "Executive Yuan" was still given to Wang Jingwei, he also had a backhand.
It is the Department of Political Science represented by Yang Yongtai and Huang Ying.
Therefore, there are roughly three reasons why Lao Jiang reuses the Department of Political Science and Yang Yongtai himself.
First, to contain other factions within the party.
Second, to give him advice on "suppressing the Communist Party" and "negotiating with Japan."
The third is to solve the urgent need of the crisis of the lack of qualified personnel for political power building, and then stabilize its own position.
Therefore, although Yang Yongtai has many enemies, he has always served Chiang Kai-shek in the central government, and it is difficult for other forces to take direct revenge on him.
It was not until 1935 that Yang Yongtai was appointed chairman of Hubei Province by Chiang Kai-shek and got a piece of his own "territory".
People have different opinions about Lao Jiang's approach.
There is a view that the Jiang clan attaches more and more importance to Yang, so he gives him real power to rule the region, and at the same time can contain other forces.
There is also a view that at this time, Chiang Kai-shek had secretly felt Yang Yongtai's "manipulation" of him, so he transferred him out.
And Yang Yongtai was assassinated less than a year after he was transferred to the local government.
epilogue
In general, Yang Yongtai is indeed a very strategic talent, and he is not worthy of the title of "Poisonous Zhuge ".
But with the rise of his position and the expansion of power, it is inevitable that Yang Yongtai will fall into a trend of factional struggle, but it has also led to his death.
Some people also say that it was because he offended many people when he "cut the domain" at the beginning, so after losing the protection of Chiang Kai-shek, the guns were also aimed at him.
But after thinking about it, although Chiang Kai-shek held a rich funeral for Yang Yongtai afterwards, perhaps even Lao Chiang himself was secretly happy.
-END-
[Text: Here]
[Editor|Chang Gung]