Text/Kingdom Building
When the news of the Xi'an incident reached Xikou in Fenghua, Zhejiang, 61-year-old Jiang Jieqing was listening to a play at a temple fair, Wen Xun fell down and died three days later. The family refused to pay for his funeral, and stored the coffin in the ancestral hall for Chiang Kai-shek to deal with after he escaped from danger. In January 1937, Chiang Kai-shek escaped from danger and returned to Xikou to recuperate, held a solemn mourning ceremony for his eldest brother Chiang Kai-shek, and on April 22, 1937, when he came out of the funeral, Lin Sen, chairman of the National Government, personally went to Fenghua to mourn...
Jiang Jieqing was born in 1875, the eldest son of Jiang Zhaocong, a wealthy family in Fenghua Xikou, whose original name was Jiang Ruisheng. He is 12 years older than his half-brother Chiang Kai-shek (genealogical name Jiang Ruiyuan and daimyo Chiang Kai-shek).
In 1895, Jiang Zhaocong died of illness, when Chiang Kai-shek was an adult and Chiang Kai-shek was 8 years old. After taking care of his father's affairs, Jiang Jieqing, as a parent, asked to separate the family and divide the property, and Jiang Zhaocong's widow Wang Caiyu had a cowardly personality and did not dare to oppose. So Jiang Jieqing took the best house in the family and the most profitable Yutai salt shop and Qianzhuang for himself, and distributed several ear rooms and more than a dozen acres of thin land to Wang Caiyu's orphans and widows. Wang Caiyu, a small-footed woman, did not have the ability to cultivate the land, and she also had to raise several young children such as Chiang Kai-shek, and the difficulties of life could be imagined. From the beginning of Chiang Kai-shek's understanding, he was full of resentment towards his eldest brother Chiang Kai-shek, and the two brothers had almost no feelings to speak of.
In 1905, Chiang Kai-shek planned to study in Japan, but because he was not a public student, he needed to bear the relevant expenses. Chiang Kai-shek returned to Xikou to consult with his mother, and his mother, Wang Caiyu, was both happy and sad. I am glad that my son, who has been looked down upon by his neighbors since he was a child, has come out, dares to study abroad, and will be able to get ahead in the future. Sadly, he did not have savings for his son to go abroad, and could only sell the land he relied on for his livelihood. Chiang Kai-shek asked his eldest brother Chiang Kai-shek for help, and Chiang Kai-shek did everything he could to resign, but Chiang Kai-shek's two uncles, although they were not related by blood to Chiang Kai-shek, actually sold 20 acres of good land to support chiang kai-shek to help Chiang Kai-shek complete the study abroad.
In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek became the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army and the chairman of the Kuomintang, becoming a powerful figure in the Nationalist government. Jiang Jieqing shyly looked for his brother to seek care, and although Chiang Kai-shek hated Chiang Kai-shek, he still arranged a fat messenger for the Zhejiang customs supervisor to give him. Jiang Jieqing brought into full play the stinky temper of the local rich people in the countryside, embezzled and accepted bribes, embezzled bribes, perverted the law, and made zhejiang customs a miasma. The people below kept reporting upwards, and the top level of the Nationalist Government looked at the face of Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek and did not investigate it in depth, leaving Chiang Kai-shek to deal with it himself. Chiang Kai-shek scolded Chiang Kai-shek, and Chiang Kai-shek felt that something big would happen sooner or later in the position of customs supervision, and simply resigned. Chiang Kai-shek was quite pleased with this and instructed the local officials in Zhejiang to pay much attention to Chiang Kai-shek, who had opened a money house. With Chiang Kai-shek, the protective god, Chiang Kai-shek became the richest man in Fenghua, and his life was quite moist.
On December 13, 1936, the news of the Xi'an Incident reached Fenghua Xikou. At that time, Jiang Jieqing was rushing to the temple fair to listen to the play, and it was said that Chairman Jiang was captured by the Northeast Army, his life and death were unknown, and his blood pressure soared instantly and caused a stroke, and he fainted in the theater. The family carried home seven hands and eight feet to rescue, did not get better, and died three days later. At that time, Chiang Kai-shek was detained in Xi'an by Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, and the Nationalist government was dispatching troops to plan to rescue them by force. Jiang Jieqing's family did not dare to make a funeral for him, so they collected the body and placed it in their ancestral hall.
On December 25, 1936, Zhang Xueliang reached a peace agreement with Chiang Kai-shek and accompanied Chiang Kai-shek to Nanjing. After Chiang Kai-shek arrived in Nanjing, when he heard that his eldest brother Chiang Kai-shek had died of fright, he became angry and angry, arrested Zhang Xueliang, and handed him over to the Special Military Tribunal of the Military Commission for trial and sentencing.
In January 1937, Chiang Kai-shek returned to Zhejiang Fenghua on leave to recuperate (he fell and injured his waist during the Xi'an Incident), and incidentally presided over the funeral of his eldest brother Jiang Jieqing and nephew Jiang Xiaoxian (a major general in the Military Commission, who was killed by the Northeast Army during the Xi'an Incident and posthumously awarded the title of Lieutenant General). On April 22 of the same year, Chiang Kai-shek's coffin was buried, and many Kuomintang military and political figures, including Lin Sen, chairman of the National Government, and Members of the Central Committee Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan, He Yingqin, Ju Zheng, Yu Feipeng, and Zhu Jiahua, personally went to Xikou to offer condolences. Although it is said that the two brothers Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Kai-shek were at odds with each other since childhood, nor did they have deep feelings, they were still treated with courtesy under the influence of traditional Chinese feudal concepts. Therefore, after Chiang Kai-shek was frightened and died, it was also reasonable that Chiang Kai-shek would hold a solemn funeral for him.