He is a pivotal figure in the old Gui warlords, he lost his parents since he was a child, he lived on the streets begging for a living, in the chaotic world he fell into the grass for Kou to become a bandit, but later transformed into a chaotic tyrant in the history of the Republic of China, the official to the two Guangdong patrol envoys, he is known as the "King of Guangxi" Lu Rongting, he has undergone several identity changes in his life, from beggar to bandit, from bandit to warlord, what kind of legendary story does he have, in addition to the King of Guangxi, why does he have the title of political nine-tailed fox?
Lu Rongting
Lu Rongting was an authentic Guangxi Zhuang ethnic group, on August 13, 1859, he was born in Nanning, Guangxi Province, a poor family called Xiongmeng Village, his ancestors relied on farming to make a living. It is said that when Lu Rongting was born, his family did not even have a wrapping cloth that could shield the wind and keep warm, and his father, Lu Yexiu, even went to the landlord's house to work as a short-term worker to supplement the family while farming. In the second year after Lu Rongting's birth, his father was wrongfully made the eyeliner of the Taiping Army by the people in the same village, and he was beaten to death, and when it rained, the mother also left him to marry a family surnamed Wei in the county, while Lu Rongting, who was less than three years old, could only live with his adoptive mother temporarily.
Lu Rongting's childhood was quite tragic, and after a little understanding, the 9-year-old Lu Rongting left the village where he was born for the first time and went to the county town on foot to find his biological mother, but fortunately his mother took him in and sent him to a private school. Originally thought that happiness was close at hand, he could also appreciate his mother's care, but he did not expect that his mother Ou Shi was suddenly seriously ill, and this time, Lu Rongting really became an orphan. At a young age, he not only did not go to school, but also did not even have a place to live, and the unaccompanied and unaccompanied teenagers have been living on the streets since then, and can only beg to live.
Poor people at the end of the Qing Dynasty
He had looked for a child labor job as an apprentice in an oil-paper umbrella shop, but because he accidentally broke a bucket, the shopkeeper threw a tantrum at him and finally threw him out. Lu Rongting, who wandered again, began to go astray, not only learning to steal, but also often mixing with some hooligans and becoming a small gangster in Guangxi. Accustomed to seeing the cold and warm of human feelings, Lu Rongting gradually became cold and deep, and since he was a child, he has been wandering in the jianghu society, and he has also cultivated his strong and tenacious, fierce and decisive temperament. At that time, it was either a reader or a peasant merchant, and a young man like Lu Rongting, if he was not a lazy man who was idle, then generally there were only two ways out, to be a soldier or a bandit.
Obviously, Lu Rongting, who had not read a book and was not taken care of, embarked on the second road, and soon he had a "relationship" with the bandit Zhang Lazhu, not only became a robber, but also became a partner, and the two of them discussed together to "make the bandit cause bigger and stronger". I have to say that Lu Rongting has a natural leadership temperament, because he sees through human nature, he knows how to unite a group of brothers under his command, his infectiousness and natural personality charm have attracted a large number of dead-hearted followers, and since he was a child at the bottom, he has practiced a boy's skill, bold and careful, and the marksmanship is good.
The real bandits in the Republic of China period fought bravely and did not lose to the regular army
Lu Rongting grew up very quickly, he and Zhang Lazhu were not a combination of one general and one army division, and it was said that a mountain could not accommodate two tigers, and Zhang Lazhu Lu Rongting's disintegration was also reasonable. Judging from Lu Rongting's future experience, his golden scales are now a thing in the pool. After the breakup, Lu Rongting gathered his men and horses to set up camp in the Octagon Mountains on the border between China and Vietnam, and became the leader of the bandits completely. However, here Lu Rongting set a few rules, in his heart even if you are a robber, you must be a rogue who robs the rich and the poor, so he told his subordinates: "It is my honor to land with me today, and I will also take my brothers to live a life of eating and drinking, but I have several principles, first, absolutely do not rob Chinese; second, absolutely do not rob the poor!" If you agree with my approach, then we are like-minded brothers, and if the opposite, then I am also a welcome visitor."
Sure enough, Lu Rongting did what he said. Their gang never robbed the homes of nearby villages and towns, but specialized in robbing the French invaders who passed by, and the local people not only did not hate them, but also had a certain posture of welcoming them in the middle of the road. Lu Rongting's brothers were brave and good at fighting, although the number was not the largest than them, but they were all elite soldiers, and in the mountains and forests, these bandits saw the dragon and came and went without a trace, so that the French soldiers suffered a lot, and when they heard Lu Rongting's name, they had to retreat.
Bandits of the Republic of China
In the turbulent times of the times, the more incompetent the government, the more wars there are, the more people are displaced, and the more the grass is in the minority, throughout history, every time the dynasties change, the rise and decline of bandits is also a sign of the rise and fall of the regime. At that time, the government also spent a lot of effort to suppress bandits throughout the country, but the emperor of the mountain was far away, and the strong dragon could not suppress the snake on the ground, and after several bandit suppression operations failed, they also had to change their strategy.
In the winter of 1897, Su Yuanchun, the viceroy of Guangxi, was once again defeated in the action of suppressing bandits, and he saw that he could not succeed in the attack, and could only sing a traditional political drama of thousands of years - Zhao'an. Negotiate with the bandit leader, absorb the bandit army by adding officials to the knighthood, and turn it into a regular army, making the best use of it. With a three-inch tongue, Su Yuanchun successfully persuaded Lu Rongting, although this is a very Chinese way to enter the army, from a bandit to a government minions seems to sound disgraceful, but for Lu Rongting, instead of taking the brothers to live a life of living in seclusion in the mountains and forests, it is better to eat the worries of the king and join the army, these people can also go home with their parents and wives and children in a bright and upright way, and every month there is still Feng Lu to receive, why not enjoy it.
Warlord of the Republic of China
Therefore, Lu Rongting naturally completed the role change by means of this "Zhao'an", abandoning the dark and casting the light from a bandit leader in the gray area to a "pipe belt", equivalent to a battalion-level cadre in the army, at this time Lu Rongting also changed his rough small characters, no longer called Lu Yasong, and really began to use the name of Lu Rongting to walk the rivers and lakes.
To say that gold will shine everywhere it goes, when he is a bandit, Lu Rongting will be a maverick rogue, and when he is an official, he can also do something like a board and an eye. Among the officers and men, Lu Rongting made outstanding military achievements, his career was smooth, and he became the viceroy of Guangxi from the pipe belt, which lasted 16 years, and he became the highest-ranking military leader in Guangxi.
Subsequently, the Xinhai Revolution broke out, the emperor became a thing of the past, and after the fall of the Qing government, Lu Rongting, instead of following the loneliness, relied on his own ability to be appreciated by the new regime and became the governor of Guangxi of the republican government. Soon, he once again led his troops on a campaign, defeated Long Jiguang, the warlord leader who had been entrenched in the Guangdong region, and entrusted the cause of his hometown in Guangxi to his subordinate Chen Bingkun, while he himself came to the rich and glamorous Guangdong Province to take up his post as the governor of Guangdong. With the help of Beiyang President Li Yuanhong and Prime Minister Duan Qirui clamping down on each other, Lu Rongting mediated from it to continuously raise his own value and rise again, ushering in the highlight of his career - the two Guangdong patrol envoys.
It can be said that Lu Rongting's success in the political arena in his early years had to be attributed to his own superiority, in addition to the performance of the pioneer soldiers on the battlefield who were not afraid of life and death to make his subordinates happy and convinced, Lu Rongting's ability to win people's hearts was also an important factor in his success. When he was in Guangxi, Lu Rongting had just been promoted from banditry to an official, but he traveled widely, not only co-opting Mo Rongxin, Wei Changrong, and other officers as die-hard enemies, and calling them "Guangxi Sanrong", but also getting to know Sun Yat-sen during his inspection tour of Japan and secretly joining the League. It is not difficult to see that in fact, since the recruitment of An, Lu Rongting's social principle has never put eggs in the same basket, and it is his consistent style to plan ahead. During his term of office, he and his friends adhered to the purpose of one glory and one loss, and then after everyone was elected to the throne, they spared no effort to promote the dead party and stabilize their own power, which is undoubtedly a "virtuous circle".
Sun Yat-sen League
In addition to the above as an official, Lu Rongting's personality has many aspects, just take two things. When he fought with the Frenchmen in the early years, Lu Rongting was chased and killed by French soldiers, injured and ran all the way to hide, if it were not for a kind peasant woman who took him in and hid him under the bed of his family, he might have been shot countless times by captives. Later, Lu Rongting, who was lucky enough to survive, personally sent someone to bring the old woman who rescued him to live in his mansion after developing, and also required the family to provide for the woman Bi Gong Bijing as a mother, and it has to be said that this behavior has been regarded as a fountain of water to repay.
However, this benevolence was not really carried out by him. After being recruited by the government, Lu Rongting, who was originally a bandit, was transformed into a bandit, and in the face of his old friends who already had different positions, he ruthlessly suppressed them in cold blood, and used his knowledge of the mountains and forests to carry out a cruel annihilation operation, leaving no living mouth, and stepping on the accumulated white bones of his former companions to make a big profit for political capital. If this is because of different positions, it may be understandable. But in the real political arena, Lu Rongting did not stand in only one line, he repeatedly jumped between various forces and stepped on many boats.
For Lu Rongting, politics is nothing more than a tool for gaining finance and power, like the color and pai nine in the hands of gamblers. He did not have a fixed faith, did not have the original intention of thinking about the people, and did not have the determination to fight for the revolution, he suppressed the League for the Qing government, but he was also a member of the League. When Yuan Shikai stole the fruits of victory from the Xinhai Revolution and became the president, Lu Rongting ostensibly followed the group to count down Yuan Shikai's despicable and vicious, but on the other hand, he wrote to Yuan Shikai to express his loyalty and support for his claim to be emperor.
Yuan Shikai
When Yuan Shikai's claim to be the empress dowager was opposed by everyone and his power was overthrown, Lu Rongting declared the independence of Guangxi and even sacrificed the banner of revenge against Yuan Shikai, becoming a great man who "recreated the republic" in this incident. Another example is Zhang Xun's restoration, Duan Qirui's rebellion, etc., every time Lu Rongting is deeply involved in it, but every time he can easily slip out of the way with a full tail, and he can also fish some benefits along the water, no wonder this Guangxi king will also have the name of the political nine-tailed fox, do not do things to the end, and always leave the way back is his way of dealing with the world.