In 1897, at the age of 23, Wu Peifu was still an "addict". One day, he was addicted to smoking, and when he arrived at the smoke house, he wanted to swallow the clouds and spit out the fog. Unfortunately, however, the smoke house was full that day, and the "ordinary seat" was already overcrowded. Wu Peifu then went to the "Elegant Seat" to ask the local gentry Weng Clan for a cigarette.
However, Weng Shi did not have a good feeling for this young smoker, and he kicked Wu Peifu out of the room. This incident made Wu Peifu quite depressed, and he immediately summoned the famous local "Ten Tigers" group to make a big fuss in the Weng Mansion, but he was quickly arrested by the government.
Wu Peifu, who understood his own misfortune, made up his mind to quit smoking. And in order to avoid disaster, he also fled to Beijing overnight, and his life was once poor.
However, no one would have thought that Weng Shi's kick would actually kick out a big warlord who was in the limelight.
(Wu Peifu old photo)
Wu Peifu was born in 1874 in Penglai County, Shandong Province. Since he was a child, he was sent to a private school by his parents to study, and he memorized the four books and five classics. In 1896, Wu Peifu took the Dengzhou Imperial Examination and won the Xiucai, from which his later title of "Xiucai General" was derived.
After fleeing to Beijing, Wu Peifu once made a living by counting gua gua and writing spring leagues, and his life was quite miserable.
It was not until 1901 that Wu Peifu was admitted to the infantry class of the Kaiping Wubei Academy, which officially began his military career. After graduating from school, Wu Peifu entered the Beiyang Governor's Training Office as a staff officer, and later he was selected by Yuan Shikai to participate in the spy activities of the Japanese army. Although he was once captured by the Russian army, Wu Peifu refused to confess. During his execution in Harbin, Wu Peifu jumped off the train and finally managed to escape.
Because of his outstanding performance, Wu Peifu was recommended by the Japanese to Cao Kun, the commander of the third town of the Qing Army, and thus began his journey to take off.
After entering Cao Kun's command, Wu Peifu was quickly appreciated by his superior intelligence and outstanding ability. In 1912, Cao Kun was instructed by Yuan Shikai to pretend to mutiny in the third town and scare away the emissaries who had taken Yuan Shikai south, and Yuan Shikai claimed the title of emperor in Beijing on the grounds of "instability in the north".
After the success of the plan, Yuan Shikai rewarded him for his merits. Cao Kun, who played an outstanding role in this incident, was knighted first class, and Wu Peifu was promoted to brigadier general of the Sixth Brigade.
In the nearly ten years that followed, Wu Peifu participated in many warlord melee battles, and he himself was known as the "General of Changsheng" for his repeated military achievements.
(Zhang Zuolin's old photo)
In 1922, the First Zhifeng War broke out. Wu Peifu led 100,000 zhi troops and Zhang Zuolin's 120,000 Fengjun troops to fight a bloody battle outside Shanhaiguan, and finally Zhang Zuolin was defeated.
After this war, Wu Peifu held a heavy army in Luoyang, and his power had affected most of China.
In 1924, time magazine in the United States put Wu Peifu on the cover, which also made the latter the first Chinese to appear on the cover of time magazine. American journalist John Powell even thinks That Wu Peifu is more likely than anyone else to unify China.
In 1926, Wu Peifu and Zhang Zuolin formed the Beijing government in Beijing.
In July of the same year, the Guangdong Nationalist Government began the Northern Expedition, and the Northern Expeditionary Army was full of momentum and soon captured the city of Wuchang. In desperation, Wu Peifu had to flee to Xinyang, Henan.
The following year, the Nationalist government in Wuhan carried out a second Northern Expedition, and Wu Peifu suffered a two-sided attack. He fled to Sichuan with his remnants and was protected by the warlord Yang Sen.
(Xu Shichang's old photo)
In 1932, Wu Peifu returned to Beiping from Sichuan. During his time in Shimono, Wu Peifu was visited by the Japanese many times. The Japanese are optimistic about Wu Peifu's energy, and they have repeatedly said that they want to support Wu Peifu and help him make a comeback.
However, despite the great temptations, Wu Peifu still refused the help of the Japanese. In his eyes, Chinese things, it is not the turn of the Japanese to point fingers.
In fact, Wu Peifu is not the first time to show a patriotic side. After the news of the Paris Peace Conference reached China, the May Fourth Patriotic Movement broke out across the country. At that time, the Anhui clan advocated signing a contract, and the Feng clan was reluctant to express its position only with the thin mud, only the direct family resolutely opposed it. Wu Peifu telephoned President Xu Shichang at that time and said: "Qingdao gains and losses are for the survival of our country." If you sign, it is equivalent to cocooning yourself, drinking and committing suicide. And for those students who were arrested, Wu Peifu also advocated "immediate release, otherwise the public will be angry and difficult to offend."
In 1939, Wu Peifu accidentally injured his gums with bone dandruff while eating dumplings, and soon developed a fever. In order to effectively solve the pain, Wu Peifu had to enter a Japanese hospital with advanced medical effects for treatment. However, during the treatment, because of Wu Peifu's patriotic stance, the Japanese dentist was instructed by Kenji Toihara to secretly kill Wu Peifu.
Although Wu Peifu was a warlord, he did a lot of bad things. However, in terms of patriotism, he is still worthy of affirmation.
(Reference: Archives of warlords of the Republic of China)