On May 19, 1939, the cover character of Time magazine in the United States was Yan Xishan, the main initiator of the Central Plains War that broke out a month ago. To be the cover of Time magazine is a leader.
Time magazine described Yan Xishan this way: "He is a real 'warlord of peace', this is his first war in many years, so last week's public interest and sympathy were focused on this great, chest-haired, thick-voiced Marshal Yan." ”
On October 29, 1911, Yan Xishan led a rebel army and killed Lu Zhongqi and his son Lu Guangxi, the Western Governor, and was later elected as the Governor of Shanxi. From this moment until he left Taiyuan in March 1949, Yan Xishan ruled Shanxi for nearly forty years and was a veritable "King of Shanxi".
From the perspective of personal career development, Yan Xishan is very successful. In addition to Yan Xishan's ability to be inside, he also needed the help of others. Among all the people who assisted Yan Xishan during his administration of Shanxi, Zhao Daiwen (Zi Cilong) was called "Yan Xishan's chief assistant" by historians.
Yan Xishan became the governor of Shanxi, and Zhao Daiwen was one of the most important supporters, and he was elected to the provincial council. Before Yan Xishan's monopoly of power, Yuan Shikai was the biggest opponent, and Zhao Daiwen actively advised Yan Xishan. After Yuan Shikai's death, Yan Xishan finally realized his long wish to combine the military and political power of Shanxi.
Zhao Daiwen's ability began to show, and he presided over the National Normal School in Shanxi, actively cooperating with Yan Xishan's political actions from the ideological aspect. How much did Yan Xishan rely on Zhao Daiwen? From Yan Xishan's early diary, we can know a little bit about it.
On October 25, 1931, Yan Xishan wrote in his diary, "Thirty years after the friendship between The Second Long tun wu, public and private events have been through the waves, although there are people who are in danger of being extremely worried about their wealth, they are also red and worried, and yesterday they said that when people's hearts are broken, the country will have to cope with the death, crying and losing its voice, not fearful, but also hurt." ”
In May 1936, Zhao Daiwen, who was nearly old, became the chairman of the Shanxi Provincial Government, coinciding with the establishment of the Anti-Japanese National United Front. The prescient Zhao Daiwen saw the red army of workers and peasants flourishing, and he proposed to Yan Xishan the idea of uniting with the Communists to resist Japan, which eventually led to the first realization of the anti-Japanese national united front in Shanxi.
In November 1940, Yan Xishan sent people to negotiate with The Chief of Staff of the Japanese "Shanxi Dispatch Army", Nanshan Hideyoshi, asking the Japanese army to give weapons and ammunition that could equip 30 regiments of the Jinsui Army. Regarding Yan Xishan's possible collusion with the Japanese, the 74-year-old Zhao Dai Wenyi said rhetorically:
"I've always been subordinate to him (Yan Xishan), but this matter can no longer be ambiguous with him." "If you surrender, I will jump into the Yellow River and die, and I will never follow you back to Taiyuan." In terms of national righteousness, Zhao Daiwen is unambiguous. On the first day of the first lunar month in 1943, Zhao Daiwen died of illness at the age of 77.
References: Yan Xishan and Zhao Daiwen, Zhao Daiwen: Yan Xishan's Chief Auxiliary