Speaking of Cai Yi, a powerful yunnan general in the early years of the Republic of China, the most widely circulated story was his affair with Xiao Fengxian, a famous prostitute in Beijing. However, in fact, the stories of Cai Yi and Xiao Fengxian are mostly contained in wild history, and it is difficult to distinguish between true and false. The real Cai Yi is a rare military talent and patriotic general in modern China, who once commanded the troops with illness and fought many battles with fewer victories. The young Cai Yi is firm-willed, not afraid of danger, and has a revolutionary idealistic spirit and heroism.
Today, let's talk about this legendary general of the Republic of China.
Cai Yi was born in 1882, his original name was Gengyin, the character Songpo, a native of Shaoyang, Hunan, and studied in a private school at an early age. Very smart, willing to study hard, at the age of 13, he was admitted to the show. At the age of 16, Cai Yi was admitted to the Changsha Shiwu School, where he studied under Liang Qichao, Tan Si and other reformers, and was appreciated by Liang Qichao, who was the chief teacher of Chinese the changsha Shiwu Academy at that time, and the two established a deep friendship between teachers and students. Therefore, cai Yi was influenced by the idea of restoration in his youth, which laid the ideological background for his future revolutionary cause. Later, Cai Yi was admitted to Shanghai Nanyang Public School to study. In 1899, like many aspiring young people at that time, Cai Yi also went to Japan to study. In Japan, Cai yi came into contact with more enthusiastic young people who were eager for change, and they often gathered to discuss various revolutionary ideas and even how to overthrow the Qing government. During his time in Japan, Cai Yi's revolutionary determination became even stronger. In 1900, Tang Caichang returned from Japan to participate in the uprising organized by the Self-Reliant Army, and Cai Yi also returned with him. As a result, the uprising failed, and Tang Cai often died tragically. It was during this period that Cai Yi changed his name to "锷". The uprising failed, and Cai Yi could not stay in China, so he had to return to Japan and continue his studies.
In November 1902, Cai was admitted to the Tokyo Army Non-Commissioned Officer School. He was active in thought and outstanding in his achievements, and together with his classmates Jiang Fangzhen and Zhang Xiaozhun, he was also known as the "Three Masters of Chinese Non-Commissioned Officers".
In 1904, Cai Yi returned to China. Since the localities were training new types of land at that time, this required a large number of instructors. International students like Cai Yi, who have foreign study experience and good grades, are still more sought-after after returning home. Cai Yi has successively coached the new army in Hunan, Guangxi, Yunnan and other places. At that time, Cai Yi was young and handsome, wearing boots on his feet, carrying a command knife at his waist, and commanding the training of troops every day. He spoke incisively and thoroughly about military theory, and his actual combat skills on the playground were also very skilled, so everywhere he went, he was welcomed and loved by soldiers.
Cai Yi was hired to come to Yunnan as an instructor in the Army's Lecture Hall. After penetrating deep into the Dian Army, he found that the revolutionary party activities distributed in the Yunnan Army's Daowu Hall and the 19th Town of the New Army were frequent, and they were actively planning and organizing the anti-Qing revolutionary struggle. Although Cai Yi did not participate in the League, he was affected by the rising revolutionary situation and secretly maintained contact with the League, sympathizing with and assisting the activities of the Revolutionary Party. He assured the members of the League that in the event of a revolution, "absolute sympathetic support would be given." ”
On October 30, 1911, the revolutionaries Li Gengen and others led the New Army in Kunming in response to the Wuchang Uprising, and Cai Yi was elected as the commander-in-chief of the provisional revolution. Soon after, the Yunnan military government was established, and Cai Yi was appointed as the governor. During the period when Cai Yi was in charge of Yunnan, he actively renewed personnel, eliminated maladministration, straightened out finances, reduced the army, set up education, and developed industries, thus making Yunnan present a scene of vigor and vitality.
After Yuan Shikai became the provisional president, he transferred Cai Yi to Beijing, nominally reusing him, but in fact he was not at ease with him and transferred him to Beijing for surveillance. During his time in Beijing, although Cai Yi held idle posts, he was still enthusiastic about military activities. Together with Jiang Fangzhen, Yan Xishan, and 11 other people, he organized a military research association to study in depth various military academic issues. In addition, he also continued to write letters to Yuan Shikai, offering ideas and suggestions for national defense construction and army building, and pouring out his strong desire to build a powerful armed force. However, Yuan Shikai simply did not listen to Cai Yi's set of military reform ideas. Yuan Shikai himself started from military training, and for the military, whether it is theory or practice, he is an old qualification, of course, he can't listen to the opinions of Cai Yi. The thing he was most anxious about at this time was to call himself emperor. First become the emperor and then say, the rest can be put aside.
Cai Yi saw that Yuan Shikai was not at all concerned about his own ideas, and his ambition to claim the title of emperor was becoming more and more obvious. As a result, he no longer had illusions about Yuan Shikai, pretended not to care about politics, and often sought out Xiao Fengxian, a famous prostitute in the capital, to make Yuan Shikai let down his guard. Secretly, he often went to Tianjin to discuss Yuan's plan with Liang Qichao.
In November 1915, Cai Yi secretly left Beijing and rushed to Tianjin, where he immediately traveled east to Japan in the name of medical treatment. Then it traveled through Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Vietnam, went around in a big circle, and arrived in Kunming on December 19 of that year. In the Yunnan army, where the democratic revolutionaries were gathered, from the time of the establishment of the "Preparatory Committee" in mid-August, middle- and lower-ranking officers actively took active activities and planned to launch an uprising against Yuan. After September 11, 1915, officers at and above the regimental level, headed by Tang Jiyao, held several secret meetings, established the strategic decision to protect the country and seek Yuan, and began to prepare for war. Cai Yi arrived in Kunming, hastening the outbreak of an armed uprising against Yuan in Yunnan.
In 1915, Cai Yi, Tang Jiyao and others declared the independence of Yunnan on December 25, organized the Defending Army, and launched the Patriotic War. Cai Yi served as the commander-in-chief of the First Army of the Protectorate Army, and Tang Jiyao became the governor of the Yunnan Military Government, forming three armies of the Protectorate Army, which were sent from three directions in Sichuan, Xiangxi, and Guangxi to seek Yuan. Cai Yi led 4 echelons of about 8,000 people into Sichuan, planning to launch a surprise attack on the Sichuan army, surprisingly victorious, capturing the key places of Xuzhou (present-day Yibin) and Luzhou, and then attacking Chengdu in the north and Chongqing in the east, and then moving east to Wuhan.
In the spring of 1916, Cai Yi led his troops to defeat yuan troops in the area of Naxi and Luzhou in Sichuan, forcing Yuan Shikai to abolish the imperial system. After Yuan Shikai's death, Li Yuanhong succeeded him as president of the Republic of China Congress, and on July 6, 1916, he appointed Cai Yi as the governor of Sichuan. However, at this time, Cai Yi's condition deteriorated, and he hastily dealt with the aftermath of Sichuan Province, that is, in September, he went to Japan to treat throat cancer. On the morning of November 8, 1916, he died in Fukuoka, Japan, at the age of 34 due to ineffective medical treatment.
On April 12, 1917, Cai Yi's body was transported back to Changsha, and the Beiyang government gave him extremely high "treatment" and held a state funeral for him at The Yuelu Mountain in Changsha. Cai Yi was the first person in the history of the Republic of China to enjoy the treatment of "state funeral".
Throughout Cai Yi's life, it is like a meteor, although short, but dazzling, brilliant, the moment it crosses the sky, let the sky leave his mark.