Lu Hongtao, the overseer of Gansu: from the late Qing Dynasty to the end of the rebellion

Lu Hongtao, the overseer of Gansu: from the late Qing Dynasty to the end of the rebellion

In the early years of the Republic of China, the Overseer was a very beautiful and powerful character. As soon as this person appears, other local tycoons will be scared to pee! At that time, the Overseers not only held the military and political power of a province, but some of the Overseers were also born into the army, killing people like hemp, and were very fierce. No wonder the local tycoons have to retreat.

When, Lu Hongtao, the overseer of Gansu, was the representative figure of this type of overseer. From the late Qing Dynasty to the tough generals, he worked hard to manage, and gradually sat on the throne of the Gansu Overseer. Who knows, in the end, he fled Gansu miserably in the midst of the rebellion.

1. The old team of Beiyang was ostracized as soon as they arrived in Gansu

From the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, Gansu was the stronghold of conservative forces. Gansu declared a republic only after the Qing Emperor's abdication edict was issued, and it was the last province to declare a republic, and spared no effort in suppressing the Nationalist army of the Han military government in Shaanxi. The typical person in this is Lu Hongtao.

In fact, Lu Hongtao is not really a powerful faction in Gansu. In the system of the Gansu army in the late Qing Dynasty, he was a figure who was ostracized, and the fundamental reason was that Lu Hongtao was a member of the Beiyang system and was incompatible with the local power faction in Gansu.

Then, the question arises, why can Lu Hongtao, who has been ostracized by the local power factions in Gansu, still ascend to the throne of the Gansu Overseer?

This means that Lu Hongtao's brain is good, plus luck is good!

Lu Hongtao (1866-1927), zi xiancha, trumpet jingbo, Xuzhou Tongshan County people. He was born on July 29, 1866 in the fifth year of the Reign of the Qing Dynasty (September 7, 1866 in the Gregorian calendar), died in the 16th year of the Republic of China (August 31, 1927 AD), at the age of 61. Although his hometown is a native of Tongshan County, Xuzhou, there is little mention of the specific township of his hometown in his deeds. It has been speculated that this may be related to his family.

The Lu family is a family that is converted from literature to martial arts. His father, Lu Fengchun, although a man of letters, made great contributions to the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Twisting Army Movement and gained many opportunities.

At the age of 19, Lu Hongtao was admitted to the Tianjin Wubei Academy to study artillery, his classmates are Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang, Wang Shizhen and other people, this network of relations, but also an important help for him to embark on the Gansu overseer, the study of Lu Hongtao, we must pay attention to the study of his network.

In 1891, after graduating from the Tianjin Wubei Academy, Lu Hongtao was assigned to gansu as a probationary officer. After graduating from the Tianjin Wubei Academy, his body was marked with the brand of the Western Affairs Sect, and it was a Beiyang family. Naturally, it was ostracized by the powerful factions in various places.

No, Lu Hongtao went to Gansu as a probationary officer, and was actually suppressed by the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu. Yang Changjun, who was the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu at the time, did not look up to Lu Hongtao and did not use it. So, what was the reason for the Governor of Shaanxi and Gansu to suppress a probationary officer?

I am afraid that this is due to the exclusion of local powerful factions in Gansu.

2. Xinjiang patrolled the pottery mold, giving him a key opportunity

Since Gansu does not use it, it is another place to go. Therefore, Lu Hongtao ran to Xinjiang and defected to Xinjiang to patrol Tao Mo.

Tao Mo character Fang Zhi, a character Square, Xiushui (present-day Jiaxing) people. In the seventh year of Qing Tongzhi (1868), he entered the priesthood and changed his name to Hanlin Yuan Shujishi. He was initially appointed as Wen County and GaolanZhi County in Gansu, and in the winter of the first year of Guangxu (1875), he was appointed as the Zhizhou of Qinzhou. In the tenth year, he was placed under the supervision of the Gansu Envoy, and in the following year he was directly subordinate to the Envoy. Fourteen years moved to Shaanxi to protect the shaanxi inspector. In the seventeenth year, he moved to Xinjiang as the governor, and later became the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu. Twenty-six years transferred to the governor of Liangguang. Tao Mo has been an official in the northwest for a long time, and has been the governor of Zhixian County for more than 30 years, especially the most successful in governing the northwest frontier. Guangxu died of illness in Guangzhou in the twenty-eighth year (1902), and was given the title of Prince Shaobao and Qinsu.

For the pottery mold that took him in, Lu Hongtao was extremely grateful. Later, after he became the overseer of Gansu, Lu Hongtao specially published a set of essays for Tao Mo, "Tao Qinsu Gong Gong It can be seen that although Lu Hongtao was born in the army, he is a very grateful person and attaches more importance to loyalty and filial piety. This book is also one of the important documents for the study of the northwest frontier issue today.

After Tao Mo was transferred to the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Lu Hongtao also followed Tao Mo to Gansu. In the late Qing Dynasty, reform was slowly progressing, and Lu Hongtao, who graduated from the Martial Arts Academy, was naturally valued by people. In 1897, Tao Mo appointed him as the orthodox instructor of the foreign artillery team. This is to say that there is a place in the Gan army. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Gan Army was a special force, which played a decisive role in maintaining the stability of the northwest region and in defending the tranquility of the northwest frontier.

At this time, the main force of the Gan Army commanded by Dong Fuxiang was in Beijing, serving as the garrison of the Beijing Division in the name of the Right Army of Wu Wei, and later engaged in a bloody battle with the Eight-Nation Alliance.

In October of the twenty-first year of Guangxu (1895), after the signing of the Treaty of Maguan, the Qing government replaced Hu Tangerine with Yuan Shikai. As a result, Yuan Shikai organized the Beiyang New Army at the Tianjin Station. A generation of tyrants, thus began a career of storm. The Beiyang New Army thus appeared.

3. Lu Hongtao led the troops to participate in the first large-scale military exercise in the history of Gansu

However, the Gansu New Army was relatively late. In the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu (1901), Gansu began to train the new army. The following year, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Song Fan, changed the governor of the ninth battalion and the banner to a standing army. In 1905, Gansu changed the standing army into a new army. At this time, the Gansu New Army had only two thousand men on horseback. This number is a bit small, not even a standard establishment, let alone changed to a town association. However, for Lu Hongtao, there was a decisive opportunity.

In 1905, he was promoted to the post of governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and once again selected personnel to organize the original standing army into three battalions, known as the first standard of the Gansu New Army. Despite being called the New Army, it is still an old army in its bones and its training is also lacking. Yun Sheng appointed Lu Hongtao as the first battalion pipe belt of the first standard of infantry. In this way, Lu Hongtao can be regarded as having a starting team. Lu Hongtao adopted a new method, trained subordinates, strictly governed the army, the effect was very obvious, and he paid great attention to instilling the idea of loyalty, and often placed anthologies such as Zeng Guofan Hu Linyi.

In 1910, Lu Hongtao was promoted to the position of First Standard Commander (equivalent to regimental commander). The following year, Lu Hongtao participated in the first major military exercise in Gansu's history. In the autumn of the third year of Xuan reunification (1911), Chang Geng, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, in order to test the results of the training of the new army in Gansu, ordered the Gansu Supervisory Training Office to prepare for the new army congress exercise. This is also the first large-scale military exercise held by the modern army in the history of Gansu.

At that time, the exercise area was: from the arch star pier in the east, to cuijiaya in the west, to the Yellow River in the north, and to the South Mountain in the south. The offensive and defensive sides are the first and third standards. The first standard Lu Hongtao's unit is the defensive force; the third standard Zhou Wuxue's department is the attacking force. The two sides dispatched more than 3,000 troops. However, this time the exercise is very different from the exercise in the northern ocean and the southern provinces.

The exercise began in early August with attack and defense. According to records, the general situation was like this: on August 15, the Zhou WuXueBu attacked Lu Hongtao's position and marched to Tumen Dun, and Zhou Ling marched from the main road and detoured along the south road. The Overseer asked, "When the enemy is approaching, why are the soldiers divided into two ways?" Zhou answered: "Use the tactic of dividing and combining all-out attacks to destroy the enemy position." The Overseer affirmed. After that, the two sides fought between Tumen Dun and Cui Jiaya, and the victory and defeat were inseparable.

However, the final result is not a winner or a loser. Chang Geng, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, commented that "there is a law of defense and a strong attack", and he did not wait for a decisive victory, rewarded both sides, and ended the exercises. It can be seen that Lu Hongtao still has a certain ability.

4, east into Shaanxi, the late Qing General Lu Hongtao, frantically suppressed the Shaanxi People's Army

On October 10, 1911, the Xinhai Revolution broke out. Soon, Shaanxi announced that it would respond to the revolution and establish the Shaanxi Han Military Government. This incident greatly panicked the Qing court, and ordered the Gansu side to organize people and horses to go east to suppress it. Sheng Yun, the former governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, who had already left office, also fled on foot from Xi'an to Pingliang. In Lanzhou, the old and the young also celebrated each other, raised money and grain, and prepared to send troops to suppress the Shaanxi Revolutionary People's Army.

This time, the Gan army that marched east to suppress the Shaanxi Revolutionary People's Army was divided into two parts, led by Ma Anliang and Lu Hongtao, with Lu Hongtao's Zhenwu Army as the northern front and Pingliang attacking from Pingliang; with Ma Anliang as the southern front, attacking from Tianshui.

This campaign to suppress the Shaanxi Revolutionary Army was a battle for Lu Hongtao's fame.

Before leaving, Lu Hongtao reorganized the Zhenwu Army. This is Lu Hongtao's concubine, and most of the officers are composed of graduates of the Armed Forces Academy, which is known as the "New Army" and has strong combat effectiveness. They not only replenished various firearms, but also purged the suspected officers of the revolutionary party. At that time, Yan Yunpeng, the pipe belt of the first battalion of the Zhenwu Army, was in contact with the revolutionary party, and Lu Hongtao forced the first battalion to die, disbanded the first battalion, and installed personnel in other battalions.

Lu Hongtao's forces attacked Shaanxi from Jingchuan. At this time, the revolutionary army in Shaanxi was mostly untrained students and peasants, as well as a part of the new army, which was undertrained and even worse equipped with ordnance. The overall strength was far inferior to Lu Hongtao's unit. The only thing you can rely on is passion.

In November, Lu Hongtao's forces captured Changwu and captured the Shaanxi Nationalist Army. Lu Hongtao brutally beheaded him and hung his head at the city gate for public display. Then, capture Bin County. The Shaanxi Nationalist Army Gou Zhanbiao and other troops fought back, defeated Lu Hongtao's troops, and recaptured Yingzhou. Unexpectedly, the Shaanxi Nationalist Army lost the battle against Lu Hongtao's Zhenwu army at Randian Bridge, and Gou Zhanbiao was captured and killed. Later, the Shaanxi Nationalist Army sent Xiang Zishan's troops to confront Lu Hongtao, and defeated Lu Hongtao many times to Zishan. However, when reinforcements from the Qing army arrived, Lu Hongtao's troops detoured and encircled, and the Shaanxi Nationalist Army collapsed and xiang Zishan was killed in the breakthrough. Lu Hongtao's troops, extremely ferociously filled in the corpses across the river, and then occupied Changwu, approaching Yongshou.

In the Battle of Yongshou, the shaanxi nationalist army Qiu Yanbiao's troops, desperately resisted, 8,000 people died and wounded more than 7,000, and finally had to retreat, Yongshou lost. At this time, chang'an city only had a barrier left in Qianzhou. The two sides launched a fierce offensive and defensive battle in Qianzhou, and Lu Hongtao's troops detoured to capture Liquan and directly approached Xianyang, and Xi'an was about to be destroyed.

In this battle, Lu Hongtao showed a typical style of a fierce general, with a fierce offensive, cruel and easy to kill, and able to attack and defend. For the merits of Lu Hongtao's department, Shengyun, who supervised the military affairs of Shaanxi, once asked the Qing government for credit for him. Lu Hongtao had said that he would capture Xi'an in 10 days.

However, on February 12, 1912, the last emperor Puyi issued an abdication edict, and although the Gan army in Shaanxi was divided into two factions. But in March, under the telegram of Gansu's recognition of the republic, Lu Hongtao and other troops withdrew to Gansu under the orders of Yuan Shikai.

In this battle, Lu Hongtao won the title of fierce general and officially appeared in the Gansu political arena, which aroused the attention of all walks of life. It laid the foundation for him to later become the overseer of Gansu.

5. One step ahead, Lu Hongtao took control of Lanzhou City

In May 1913, Yuan Shikai appointed Lu Hongtao as the commander-in-chief of Liangzhou Town, which was considered to have territory and was also registered in the Beiyang government. At this time, in the overall situation of Gansu, Lu Hongtao could not speak, because the number one was Zhang Guangjian, a close confidant of Yuan Shikai. Soon he had a chance.

Zhang Guangjian vigorously supported his cronies in Gansu and suppressed the local power factions in the eight towns of Gansu. There is a saying circulating in Lanzhou City: "Anhui dialect that will be spoken in the morning, there will be a foreign knife crossing in the afternoon." In the spring of 1915, Zhang Guangjian's close confidant Wu Zhongying, the defender of Longdong Town, mutinied his troops. Zhang had to transfer Lu Hongtao to the post of Longdong Zhenshou (龍東镇守使) and command the Zhuangkai army at the same time.

Although Lu Hongtao's thinking is outdated, he still has a certain method of managing the army. When he was in Longdong, he managed the army more strictly, rarely disturbed the people, and was recognized by the local people and gentlemen. This became an advantageous condition for him, who later served as the overseer of Gansu.

In 1920, after the fall of Zhang Guangjian, Lu Hongtao and Ma Fuxiang became popular candidates for the Overseers. As a result, Lu Hongtao's campaign was supported not only by the local strength and gentlemen of Longdong, but also by the Gansu people in Beijing. He moved faster, sending a battalion of infantry and a company of machine guns from Pingliang to forcibly enter Lanzhou to control the situation. Then, Lu Hongtao entered Lanzhou City.

At this time, the situation in Lanzhou was still very tense, the local town guards were spoiled, and the local gentlemen were even more afraid of the war and the war hurting the people. Therefore, under the mediation of various aspects, Lu Hongtao and the town guards in Gansu reached an agreement, which was regarded as maintaining the apparent tranquility.

The three factions within the Beiyang government also had their own means. The calligrapher Pan Linggao of the Republic of China was recommended by Wu Peifu to be the governor of Gansu Province, while Lu Hongtao was recommended by Duan Qirui to be appointed as the overseer of Gansu, which led to a secret struggle, and finally, Lu Hongtao and the Gansu gentry joined forces and bombed Pan Linggao. (For details, see my article "The Truth About the Departure of the Great Calligrapher Pan Linggao from Gansu: Besieged by Warlords and Local Gentlemen of Lanzhou")

Lu Hongtao was born in the army, and there was not much success in governing the localities, and the management deployment was still the old way of Zhongjun. Soon, his subordinates learned to land on Hong Tao's family, acted together, and began to force the palace.

6. The rebellion and separation of relatives, Li Changqing pressed forward step by step, and Lu Hongtao was paralyzed

In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, after Zhao Kuangyin became emperor, he used a trick called "a cup of wine to release military power", and exchanged glory and wealth for the military power of his subordinates, avoiding his subordinates from adding another yellow robe. After Lu Hongtao became an overseer, he did not find a way to control his subordinates, and could only watch as Li Changqing, Zhang Zhaokui, and others forced the palace.

Zhang Zhaokang was very dissatisfied with Lu Hongtao. Zhang was a close confidant of Lu Hongtao, who succeeded Lu Hongtao as the guardian of Longdong Town, and was also an important figure in Lu Hongtao's control of Longdong. Who knows, Zhang Zhaokang betrayed Lu Hongtao. It is not difficult to understand that with The lessons of Lu Hongtao, everyone wants to be an overseer. Zhang Zhaokui was dissatisfied with Lu Hongtao's appointment of a private person, and handed over the government secretary and the supervision of the telecommunications administration to Lu Hongtao's relatives. As a result, the two turned against each other. Zhang Zhaokash began to stand on his own, set up a lecture hall in Longdong, privately purchased arms, and secretly sent people to visit, directly related to Cao Kun, Wu Peifu and others, which clearly showed that he had invested in his own home.

And that's not all, Zhang Zhaokui and Lu Hongtao's cronies Li Changqing of the First Regiment of the First Division of the Gansu Army colluded with each other, and the two promised each other that after Zhang Zhaokui became the governor of Gansu, Li Changqing would be appointed as the defender of Longdong Town. Unexpectedly, Zhang Zhaokui had selfish intentions and wanted to help his son to the position of the guardian of Longdong Town.

This triggered Li Changqing's dissatisfaction. Therefore, Li Changqing cooperated with Huang Degui (the leader of the second regiment) to drive Lu Hongtao down. Who knows, Huang Degui is firmly opposed. So Li Changqing decided to get rid of Huang Degui first. This is the reason for the later changes of Li Changqing and Huang Degui.

After Lu Hongtao heard Li Changqing's actions, he was anxious and angry, and as a result, he was paralyzed by a stroke.

Under these circumstances, Lu Hongtao decided to resign as the overseer of Gansu. Soon, the Beiyang government appointed Feng Yuxiang, the northwest border defense inspector, to concurrently handle the aftermath of the Gansu military affairs, and Lu Hongtao as the governor. At this time, Li Changqing and Zhang Zhaokui were pressing forward step by step. In desperation, Lu Hongtao had to send his wife to Tianjin first.

Huang Degui was more loyal, and in order to guard against Li Changqing, he personally escorted Lu Hongtao's wife out of the city. However, Li Changqing took advantage of Huang Degui's absence to surround Huang Degui's troops and disarm them. At this time, Li Changqing was even more stubborn, and Lu Hongtao had no choice but to quickly relinquish his post as commander of the First Division of the Gansu Army in order to seek peace.

Immediately, Lu Hongtao quickly left Gansu and went to Tianjin. Halfway through, he sent a telegram to the Beiyang government and Feng Yuxiang, telling him the truth of the matter. Lu Hongtao had gathered enough late Qing generals to reach the end of the rebellion and separation of the people, and it was only more than ten years.

These time nodes were important turning points in Lu Hongtao's life: in May 1922, Lu Hongtao was officially appointed as the overseer of Gansu. In July, he was appointed General Suwu. In March 1924, Lu concurrently served as governor of Gansu Province. In this year, Lu Hongtao changed the provincial defense army into the First Division of the Gansu Army and appointed himself as the commander of the division.

7. Lu Hongtao is also the owner of the first car in Gansu

A hundred years ago, in the summer of 1921, a small car, after a long journey for a month, finally drove into Lanzhou City. This is the first small car in Gansu. His master was Lu Hongtao.

Thirty days, about 2,000 kilometers of travel, an average of 70 or 80 kilometers a day, this speed, is really not fast. It is not as fast as the eight hundred miles of the Tang Dynasty. A hundred years later, it would take at most two days for people to travel from Beijing to Lanzhou. Along the highway, it is easy to run seven or eight hundred kilometers a day, which is not a big deal. From one month to two days!

In the past hundred years, the speed of the car has increased rapidly, and the times have changed rapidly. The ancient Lanzhou has also developed from a closed, backward city to a modern metropolis. Nowadays, the streets are full of cars, and people are no longer as curious about cars as they were a hundred years ago, full of freshness.

Lu Hongtao's car was sent by Dong Shien. Dong Shi'en is Lu Hongtao's younger brother and has been passed on to others since childhood. Therefore, the surname is Dong. For his brother to send such a gift, Lu Hongtao naturally had a lot of face. This is the first in Lanzhou. This car is also the first car in Gansu.

This car detonated lanzhou city, and there were people watching on the street, and people were talking about it in the streets and alleys. Although ten years ago, there were also several cars that drove from Central Asia along the Silk Road to Lanzhou. After all, it was a foreigner's car. This car is different. It was a gift from Dong Shien, the younger brother of Lu Hongtao, the overseer of Gansu, and was the first car of the Gansu people.

"If a car is like a tiger, don't take the middle way; if you take the middle way, you will die without a warning!" The car in the Overseer's Mansion was an iron tiger, running on the road, but it was not as slow and leisurely as a carriage. The speed of the car is fast, the impact is large, and it is easy to provoke. Walking in the middle of the road, he was hit by a car and died without complaint. Despite this, there are still many people every day, standing at the door of the Gansu Provincial Government, to see what happens!

Some people are inspired. Since the car is fast, wouldn't it be better to engage in a car transportation business? It can not only solve the problem of inconvenient people's contacts, but also make money, which is not beautiful. The following year, some leading figures in Gansu, such as Lu Hongtao and Lin Xiguang, planned to launch the Longyou Automobile Co., Ltd., preparing to buy a car and do a big job. Unfortunately, this idea could not be realized in the end due to the chaos of the war.

Although this idea has not been realized, the conceptual impact on people is deepening day by day. Four years later, Feng Yuxiang's ministry launched passenger transport operations on the Sealand Highway. In this way, the car changed this ancient land step by step. That's a story for another day. We continue to talk about Lu Hongtao.

Lu Hongtao served as the governor of Gansu for 5 years, basically had no political achievements, and even legalized opium cultivation, introduced tobacco mu fines, maintained the operation of the government, and set up a silver dollar bureau to create sand plate silver dollars. During his tenure, Gansu had its own first car in Gansu Province. In addition, he allocated 100,000 yuan to support Liu Erzhuo in renovating the Five Springs Mountain. Fortunately, he still maintained the stability of gansu's political situation, allowing Gansu to avoid war.

In August 1927, Lu Hongtao fell ill and died in Tianjin.