Chiang Kai-shek's second son, Chiang Wei-kuo, although not Chiang Kai-shek's biological son, was no less favored and trusted by Chiang Kai-shek than Chiang Ching-kuo. So much so that in chiang kai-shek's later years, the two sons actually broke out into a struggle because of the problem of future succession. The scale of this struggle may seem small, but it basically ruined Jiang Weiguo's political fate.
First, Jiang Weiguo's life
Chiang Wei-kuo's life, when Chiang Kai-shek was alive, was always a confused account. Some said they were sons of Chiang Kai-shek, and some said they were sons of Dai Jitao.
This confused account was basically closed in 1996, when Jiang Weiguo, who was eighty years old at the time, was interviewed in Taiwan and personally admitted that he was the son of Dai Jitao and Japanese nurse Shigematsu Kaneko. At that time, because Dai Jitao was married and afraid of the inside, he did not dare to admit this matter to his wife. Dai Jitao and Chiang Kai-shek were hardcore brothers, and Chiang Kai-shek adopted Jiang Weiguo and gave it to his side wife, Yao Yecheng, to bring him up.
However, the more he knew the cause of this matter, the more confusing Jiang Weiguo's later experience became.
In the Republic of China era, there are still remnants of the old era, and the heirs are still very important. Even if a man is afraid of the inside, if he gives birth to a son outside, can the wife completely refuse it?
Moreover, Dai Jitao was not a person who was very afraid of the inside, and when his original wife Niu Youheng had not yet died, Dai Jitao and Zhao Wenshu had a daughter, and this child had been living in the Dai family in a bright and upright way.
Why was Chiang Wei-kuo instead given to Chiang Kai-shek for adoption?
It is said that Chiang Kai-shek had only one son at that time, that is, Chiang Ching-kuo. However, Chiang Ching-kuo has already inherited the ancestral system to his uncle Jiang Ruiqing, who died without heirs. Chiang Kai-shek was afraid that he would not have an heir in the future, so he raised Jiang Weiguo as his own son.
This statement also does not stand up to scrutiny. Chiang Kai-shek was only 29 years old in 1916, he was rich in the Spring and Autumn Period, he had a wife and a concubine, so why worry about not having another son?
Perhaps, Chiang Kai-shek also had a one-night affair with Shigematsu Jinzi, and it is difficult to distinguish whose son Jiang Weiguo really is?
This can only be speculation.
According to Jiang Weiguo's own account, it is very likely that Dai Jitao only temporarily put Jiang Weiguo in the good brother Chiang Kai-shek's family for a period of time, planning to bring back this illegitimate child after things eased up and got the forgiveness of his wife Niu Youheng. However, the situation developed again and again, and Chiang Weiguo was unable to return for a long time, and Chiang Kai-shek actually thought that he was his son and never let him go back. Later, he also half pushed and half pushed, and regarded his adopted son as a parent.
No one can explain this story, and no one dares to say it. When Chiang Kai-shek was alive, the people of the world pretended to be confused and pretended to understand, shouting one by one, and worshipped Chiang Weiguo as Chiang Kai-shek's concubine.
If nothing else, Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, Soong Mei Ling, were very fond of this son.
Second, being favored alone annoys Chiang Ching-kuo
Chiang Kai-shek's concept of his children was very traditional. Jiang was very serious about his eldest son, Chiang Ching-kuo, but he was even more close to spoiling Jiang Weiguo.
In September 1921, Chiang Kai-shek went south to Guangdong, and Jiang Weiguo was five years old at the time, and he was very reluctant to leave his father, who was very fond of him. Chiang Kai-shek wrote in his diary: "Wei'er was reluctant at first, and he wanted to walk with me, and then he cried loudly, shouted daddy, wrapped himself around me hard, refused to relax, and finally blocked his mother from pulling and releasing." And when he went out, he made a voice at the door that he did not want to give up. This child is very intelligent, and the elderly are especially affectionate and cute. ”
Kissing and loving words came out of Chiang Kai-shek's mouth, which was very strange. He almost never said anything like this to his eldest son, Chiang Ching-kuo.
On November 28, 1921, Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Fumei divorced, and the two children were affected, and Chiang Kai-shek's diary said that "Wei'er is lovely, Jing'er is pitiful", which shows the difference between the two.
During the Whampoa period, Chiang Kai-shek often wrote letters to his two sons. Most of Chiang Ching-kuo was taught to learn, to teach the law of man, to be serious, and to be less loving. Most of the fathers in the world have such an attitude towards their eldest son, and they are afraid that their sons will not become instruments, so they are often very serious.
He was extremely caring for Jiang Weiguo, and when he wrote to him, he mostly talked about missing and loving his young son.
In a letter from his family on March 8, 1923, Chiang Kai-shek said, "I haven't seen you for three months. I saw people flying kites in the open space in front of the base camp today, and I remembered even more the fun of your kite flying in the city last year.
He also wrote, "Lately I have been learning to ride a horse every day, and I have had a great ride. When I come home in the future, I will buy you a pony and teach you to ride a horse, and I will buy a big horse myself and ride a parade with you in the wilderness. ”
In September 1924, Chen Jieru took Chiang Weiguo to Huangpu to visit Chiang Kai-shek. When he was in Huangpu, Chiang Kai-shek was very fond of Jiang Weiguo, and Song Xilian and Sun Yuanliang, students of the first phase of Huangpu, recalled: "Every evening, after the military academy's academic affairs have come to an end, President Jiang often walks hand in hand with Chen Jieru on the campus, and sometimes leads the lively and lovely Weiguo on a tour."
In 1925, Chiang Ching-kuo was sent to the Soviet Union to study, and Chiang Weiguo was alone with Chiang Kai-shek and enjoyed the love of his father. Chiang Kai-shek often took him with him, and most of the Huangpu teachers and students knew Chiang Kai-shek's favor for this son. During the Northern Expedition, many generals and officers and soldiers even knew that Jiang had a son named Jiang Weiguo, but few people in Jingguo knew about it.
Chiang Kai-shek was very attentive to the education and cultivation of weiguo, and did not throw it into the Soviet Union for more than ten years like Jingguo. In 1934, at the age of eighteen, Jiang Weiguo was admitted to Soochow University, and two years later, he was sent to Germany by Chiang Kai-shek to study military affairs, with high hopes.
Chiang Kai-shek personally wrote to Germany asking the relevant parties to take proper care of Weiguo, and it is said that Hitler twice received Weiguo and instructed to provide preferential treatment to the son of the Chinese fuehrer.
Compared with the two, Chiang Ching-kuo's life in the Soviet Union was very unsatisfactory, because Chiang Kai-shek was anti-communist, and Chiang Ching-kuo was once assigned to Siberia and almost lost his life.
Of course, it is not a big deal to suffer some hardships when you are a teenager, and later you can exercise strong willpower, work ability and vision, which can be said to benefit from the soviet union's more than ten years of tribulations.
However, in terms of the feelings of father and son and brother, Chiang Ching-kuo will undoubtedly be jealous because of his father's preference.
In 1937, Chiang Ching-kuo returned to China through all kinds of difficulties and dangers, and although Chiang Kai-shek was glad that his eldest son had returned, he did not express his apologies for the absence of his father's love for twelve years, but sent him to Gannan and held the concept of "the prime minister from the state department" and let him continue to exercise his ability to govern at the grass-roots level. After Chiang Kai-shek returned to China in 1940, he was placed in Hu Zongnan's troops, and although Yun was demoted and trained, at that time the soldiers were in danger of war, and Chiang Kai-shek was ready to transfer Weiguo back to Chongqing at any time.
Comparing the two, Chiang Ching-kuo was very dissatisfied. Chiang Ching-kuo once summoned twelve county magistrates under him to a meeting, the theme of which was originally to discuss the gains and losses of the New Deal in Gannan Province. Jiang Chingguo took out a wall chart to explain how type A people are, how type B is, and how people of type O are, and finally summed up that type O blood is hero blood. The blood type of Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo is type O, and the blood type of Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo is type A.
As soon as these words came out, the crowd was stunned. There is a way to be estranged from each other, not to mention the recent frequent rumors of discord between the two princes, and no one dares to say anything more.
Chiang Kai-shek naturally knew about this, but when Kou was attacking furiously that day, it was not easy to reprimand his son.
Part of the reason for the discord between the two sons is that when the two were young, they lived in completely different environments, one in the Soviet Union and the other in Germany, the ideological and cultural systems were very different, and the values were too different. Chiang Ching-kuo had a lot of Communist overtones, and although Chiang Kai-shek repeatedly reprimanded him to change it, he also ordered him to read the Confucian Classics in the Fengfeng Room of his hometown and revise his thinking. However, when Chiang Ching-kuo was young, he had a deep thought, and even when he died, he did not clear the communist color. However, Jiang Weiguo's comprehensive German education is quite different from Chiang Ching-kuo's concept.
The main reason is political succession.
Chiang Kai-shek's dictatorship has become a reality, and after a hundred years, he will inevitably be succeeded by his son. The bigwigs in the party have unconsciously had different supporters, and Chiang Ching-kuo was such a keen person, competing for interests, waiting for life and death, and the estrangement between the two brothers was naturally getting bigger and bigger.
Third, the youngest son fell out of favor
Chiang Kai-shek's attitude toward Chiang Wei-kuo also quietly changed.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, chiang kai-shek often lost his temper with his subordinates, and Chiang Weiguo, who had always been quite favored, was incomparable.
Jiang Weiguo served in the army, and the level of ability displayed by Jiang Weiguo was far inferior to that of Chiang Ching-kuo, and he lost his frivolity and pride. Chiang Kai-shek sometimes couldn't help it and would scold Chiang Wei-kuo. Chiang Kai-shek said in his diary: "I am ashamed that Wei'er forced too much." "The compulsion is too much, and the subtext is actually the performance of Wei Guo, which has not kept up with Chiang Kai-shek's expectations."
In 1944, Jiang Weiguo and Shi Jingyi married, and Chiang Kai-shek, in addition to congratulating him, did not forget to admonish Jiang Weiguo, "Do not drink alcohol, do not lie", hoping that after his marriage, he could change his life and get a new life.
Before and after his retirement from Taiwan, Chiang Ching-kuo's position in the Kuomintang regime was rising day by day, and Chiang Kai-shek was interested in letting him deal with many major matters, and the situation of supporting the eldest son to take up the position was already very obvious. And Jiang Weiguo has been in the military for a long time, and his influence and future can no longer be the same as Chiang Ching-kuo.
Jiang Weiguo's proud and frivolous character is very clearly reflected in his military deeds.
Jiang Weiguo began his military service in 1940 with the rank of second lieutenant platoon leader, and by 1950, he had risen rapidly to the rank of major general of the armored corps.
Jiang Weiguo suffered few setbacks in his life, always in the spotlight, and developed a solipsistic personality. After becoming the commander of the armored troops, Jiang Weiguo regarded this service as a private prohibition, and no one was allowed to interfere in the affairs of the armored troops, especially Chiang Ching-kuo was not allowed to interfere a little.
Commanders at or above the division level in the Nationalist army could not be re-elected for more than five years, but Jiang Weiguo served as commander of the armored corps for fifteen years.
This has alarmed many people, including Chiang Kai-shek.
The two sons came to power, originally to consolidate the family world, but now the two men, one army and one government, have actually become a confrontational trend, and Chiang Kai-shek is sad and disappointed. Of course, the object of his disappointment was mainly Wei Guo.
Chiang Ching-kuo has been politically tempered for more than ten years, politically mature, the feelings between father and son have gradually warmed up, and his personal conduct is also very upright, which conforms to Chiang Kai-shek's moral requirements. The most important thing is that Chiang Ching-kuo has no selfish intentions, and what he has done is bright and upright, purely for the sake of Chiang Kai-shek's country, which makes Chiang Kai-shek very proud.
Jiang Weiguo was not.
He was pampered at an early age, and when he grew up, he was smooth sailing, he suffered less hardships in his life, he was far inferior to his eldest brother in terms of self-discipline and self-sustainment, and after he became the commander of the service, he was even more flying and jumping out, rarely reflexively introspecting himself, and did many things that made Chiang Kai-shek look bad.
In 1953, Jiang Weiguo's wife Shi Jingyi died, Wei Guo was very sad, in order to commemorate his wife, he disregarded the Kuomintang authorities' stipulation that soldiers were not allowed to work part-time outside, founded Jingxin Primary School and Jingyi Girls' College, and served as the chairman of the two schools, which caused public opinion to criticize. In this regard, Chiang Kai-shek once asked Jiang Weiguo to resign as chairman of the two schools, but Jiang Weiguo was not moved.
In January 1963, Chiang Kai-shek, in order to prevent Chiang Wei-kuo from forming a constraint on Chiang Ching-kuo, transferred Chiang Wei-kuo to the post of president of the "Army Command and Staff University."
Jiang Weiguo still did not know his father's painstaking intentions, and was unwilling to give up the armored troops, and proposed that Zhao Zhihua, the deputy commander of the armored troops, take over as the commander.
Chiang Kai-shek was not allowed, and Guo Dongyang, whose rank, seniority, and ability were all under Zhao Zhihua, was promoted to take over as commander.
The accumulation of various contradictions eventually led to the so-called Hukou Mutiny.
4. Mutiny at the mouth of the lake
The Lake Mouth Mutiny actually did not actually take action.
On January 21, 1964, Zhao Zhihua, deputy commander of the armored corps, suddenly went to the Hukou base in Hsinchu, Taiwan Province, to conduct a combat readiness inspection of the First Armored Division.
Zhao Zhihua unexpectedly summoned all the division personnel for a lecture. According to common sense, the combat readiness inspection only needs to see whether the various combat readiness training is carried out normally and whether the armored vehicles are in good condition. In the absence of anything too important, there is no need to summon all the officers and men for a lecture.
Zhao Zhihua was in front of all the division personnel, and as soon as he opened his mouth, something was wrong.
He said: The international situation is not conducive to Taiwan, and Japan and France are scrambling to curry favor with the Chinese Communists.
This is not a political mistake, at most it is a negative speech. Then, Zhao Zhihua said something that made many people feel like a great enemy.
He said that the senior generals of the Kuomintang were corrupt and incompetent, and there was no hope of counterattacking and restoring the country; The president was surrounded by a group of villains and asked the officers and men of the First Armored Division to follow him to the presidential palace to protect the president and implement the "Qing Jun's side".
The officials present looked at each other, and no one dared to answer.
Following Zhao Zhihua, the two political workers, Zhu Baokang, a lieutenant colonel in political work, and Zhang Mingshan, a second lieutenant in political work, saw that the situation was not good, and commanded the guards to subdue Zhao Zhihua on the spot, and then summoned the gendarmes and escorted them to the armored corps headquarters.
Armored forces are the more effective units in the army, because of their equipment firepower greatly exceeds that of ordinary infantry units. Because Chiang Kai-shek regarded it as the Imperial Forest Army, the garrison was mostly at the key point, and it was relatively close to Taipei. If the armored forces really rebelled, then Taipei would quickly fall into crisis.
Chiang Ching-kuo, who was in charge of the Ministry of National Defense at the time, was alarmed and instructed the air force units near Taipei to quickly enter a wartime state, and ordered the engineers to blow up the three main bridges through Taipei if the infantry units could not stop the rebel armored troops.
Fortunately, no one in the First Armored Division responded to Zhao Zhihua's mutiny, and Zhao Zhihua was quickly controlled.
Upon hearing the news, Chiang Kai-shek handed over the matter to Chiang Ching-kuo, who instructed the political fighters of the Ministry of National Defense to investigate and deal with the matter, and subsequently characterized the matter as a mutiny.
Because it occurred at the mouth of the lake, it was later called the Mutiny at the mouth of the lake.
Jiang Weiguo did not know it at first, and although he was in a suspicious place, he still calmly explained to Chiang Kai-shek that armored soldiers have always obeyed orders and would not do anything rebellious. Chiang Kai-shek did not approve.
This incident directly pointed to the struggle between the two men of longitude and latitude.
Zhao Zhihua was Jiang Weiguo's nemesis. When Zhao Zhihua was captured by the People's Liberation Army on the mainland and later fled to the Chinese army, Jiang Weiguo did not care about his previous suspicions and promoted him to become the regimental commander again. Later, he followed Jiang Weiguo all the way to Taipei and rose to division commander and deputy commander.
A few years ago, there were already rumors that the armored soldiers only listened to the second son, and it was rumored that some people wanted to seize power by force and support the second son to take the throne.
Although Chiang Kai-shek did not heed these rumors, his heart could not be touched. At this time, Jiang Weiguo and Zhao Zhihua could not avoid suspicion no matter how they said it.
Therefore, although Jiang Weiguo said things up and down, he failed to clear his suspicions. Jiang Weiguo also wanted to intercede with Song Meiling. Although Song Meiling has always favored Wei guo for her two stepsons, this matter is too sensitive and directly involves Chiang Kai-shek's personal safety, and she did not make any remarks, but left it to Chiang Ching-kuo.'s disposal.
Chiang Ching-kuo then took full control of the initiative. He suggested that Chiang Kai-shek transfer all the senior generals from the northeast of the armored corps, as well as the senior officers used by Chiang Weiguo, including the political and war supervisors, because some people alleged that when Jiang Weiguo led the armored troops, he was surrounded by northeasterners, and the middle and high classes of the armored troops at that time were almost all northeasterners.
After this change, the team that Jiang Weiguo had operated in the armored army for many years was swept away by Chiang Ching-kuo.
The Hukou soldiers became a turning point in Jiang Weiguo's political destiny, and he never had military power again. In the political circles, due to the absence of positions for many years, there has been no movement.
Chiang Kai-shek's attitude toward Chiang Wei-kuo has since plummeted.
Chiang Kai-shek believed that Chiang Weiguo had improperly employed people, "Weiguo, whether you are academic or work, you are very hardworking and diligent, and all your achievements are very good, that is, your knowledge of people is a little poorer." "For example, in this matter at the mouth of the lake, it is reasonable to say that Deputy Commander Zhao has been under your command for a long time, so why does such a person still keep him in the armored troops?" You don't know people enough. (From "Jiang Weiguo's Oral Autobiography")
Although Chiang Kai-shek did not publicly punish Chiang Weiguo, Chiang Weiguo basically lost Chiang Kai-shek's trust as a result. In Chiang Kai-shek's eyes, Chiang Wei-kuo no longer had the conditions to lead troops, and after that, Chiang Wei-kuo engaged in nearly 18 years of military education and withdrew from the political center.
After Chiang Kai-shek's death in 1975, Chiang Ching-kuo successfully succeeded him, but he still missed Chiang Wei-kuo and refused to let go.
Lieutenant General Jiang Weiguo's term of office had expired, but Chiang Ching-kuo had delayed giving him a promotion. Under song Meiling's interrogation, he was barely promoted to the second rank of the army's three-star general.
In March 1981, the Kuomintang summoned the "Twelfth Plenary Session" to elect twenty-one members of the Central Standing Committee, that is, the highest decision-making level of the Kuomintang, and Jiang Weiguo was not surprisingly defeated. The depth of the estrangement between the two brothers is evident in this.
Jiang Weiguo has been depressed in his later years, talking about the power struggle, in fact, he did not have much thought. It's just that when he was young, he was too angry and refused to give face to his eldest brother. As for the Hukou Mutiny, Jiang Weiguo did not admit to directing Zhao Zhihua until his death. He also told people that although I had left the armored corps, those who had the heart would take the opportunity to attack me. It was really unexpected that things had developed in this way. What he means is that Chiang Ching-kuo has shaded him behind his back.