Patriotic businessman dedicated to the revolution
The Traitor's Twenty-One Articles
On May 25, 1915, Yuan Shikai secretly signed the traitorous "Twenty-One Articles" with Japanese imperialism, stepping up various preparations for becoming emperor. Yuan Shikai's perverse behavior provoked Cai Yi's indignation. He was ostensibly with the famous prostitute Xiao Fengxian to hoodwink Yuan Shikai, but secretly sneaked to Tianjin many times to discuss Yuan's plan with Liang Qichao, and initially formulated the idea of launching an armed uprising in Yunnan. In November 1915, Cai Yi secretly left Beijing for Tianjin and traveled east to Japan on the pretext of medical treatment. In Japan, Cai Yi received help from Cai Zhikan. Escorted by Cai Zhikan, General Cai Yi was able to return to Kunming, Yunnan Province, from Tokyo via Taiwan and other places, and launched the "Second Revolution".
Distribution map of the second revolution
Cai Yi
In 1924, after Feng Yuxiang launched the Beijing coup, Duan Qirui, Feng Yuxiang, Zhang Zuolin and others invited Sun Yat-sen to the north in an attempt to convene a national conference to discuss the state of the country, with a view to peacefully reunifying the country. This caused great panic among the Japanese authorities, and the Japanese military vigorously advocated sending troops to obstruct it. After Cai Zhikan learned of the Japanese side's attempts by taking advantage of the Japanese government's connections, on the one hand, he reminded Sun Yat-sen to be careful and vigilant, and on the other hand, he cooperated with Li Liejun, a representative sent by Sun Yat-sen to Japan, to lobby everywhere, and finally persuaded Japanese politicians to abandon the plot.
Sun Yat-sen
Later, Li Liejun told him to pay more attention to the "Manchu-Mongolian issue", and Cai established close ties with local authorities in northeastern China. After Zhang Zuolin was killed by the Japanese bomb, Cai provided bomb fragments to the Northeast Foreign Affairs Committee to investigate Japanese crimes. In the years that followed, he often reported the collected japanese political situation to Zhang Xueliang on a purely obligatory basis to facilitate the diplomatic decisions of the northeast authorities.
Li Liejun
Under the cover of doing business, Cai Zhikan traveled extensively between northeast China and Japan, befriended high-level political figures, secretly engaged in anti-Japanese activities, and became a figure with the Japanese imperial family, high-ranking political officials, political party leaders, and high-level military and political leaders in northeast China, creating conditions for him to undertake special missions.
Grant special missions
Japanese Diet
One day in June 1928, Cai Zhikan was at his home to entertain Japanese Congressman Masatsuru Nakano and his party, and suddenly received a large cake parcel sent from Shenyang. Wang Jiazhen is the contact between Zhang Xueliang and Cai Zhikan, and is also an old friend of Cai's who does not say anything, and whenever Wang's arrival in Tokyo, he collapses in the Cai Feng line run by Cai.
Eastern Conference
At that time, Japan had already served as prime minister of the Cabinet of Ministers, Yoshiichi Tanaka, leader of the Political Friends Association of the Progressive Faction for Aggression against China, and successively convened the Eastern Conference and the Dalian Conference to actively plan for the armed invasion of China. It is rumored that Tanaka wrote the results of the two meetings into a sonata to play the emperor, the main points of which were: to explain Japan's active and fundamental policy toward Manchuria and Mongolia, to reorganize the South Manchurian Railway Society as an institution for annexing northeast China; to put forward the distorted theory of Manchu and Mongolian non-Chinese territory; to reward Koreans to move to Manchuria and Mongolia and use it as a tool for entering Manchuria and Mongolia; to build a large circular line of Manchurian-Mongolian railway for military purposes, to encircle the central area of Manchuria and Mongolia, to contain the military, political, and economic development of Indochina, and to prevent the invasion of Russian forces; to establish the Great Boat Association with Dalian as the center. In order to master maritime traffic and dominate the Pacific Ocean; to change the mode of operation of the South Manchuria Railway Company, to welcome investment in Manchuria and Mongolia, and to welcome investment in Manchuria and Mongolia, Japan can use foreign capital to enhance the opportunity to seek Manchuria and Mongolia; to set up a colony province to be in charge of Japan's enterprising Manchurian affairs, to do its utmost to prevent Chinese people from moving to Manchuria and Mongolia, and to ensure vested interests, its most appalling core proposition is: "If you want to conquer the world, you must first conquer China; if you want to conquer China, you must first conquer Manchuria and Mongolia." ”
Wang Zhengting, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the National Government
Due to the contradictions and differences within the Japanese ruling clique, led by the Political Friends Association headed by Tanaka, and the opposition Civil Affairs Party, these confidential information was spread outside the world and immediately attracted the attention of various countries. It is said that more than 2,000 intelligence officers from various countries gathered in Tokyo to explore secrets, and the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union all spared no expense and would want to get it. Wang Zhengting, foreign minister of the National Government, also wanted to know about this, and sent personnel to Harbin to prepare to invest 500,000 yuan in foreign countries to purchase. In this context, Cai Zhi was deeply ashamed of this mission, which is Japan's top secret, and if it fails, it is really dangerous to live. But Cai still promised to try harder.
After Cai Zhikan was ordered, he considered it again and again and decided not to take "spying means" to buy, because this would not only be dangerous for his life, but also likely to waste a huge amount of money. He analyzed the political situation in Japan in detail, and felt that the policy differences and fierce internal strife between the Political Friends Association and the Democratic Political Party could be used, so he decided to take advantage of the fact that the Democratic Political Party opposed Tanaka's radical policy of armed aggression against China and persuaded them to try to publish this secret document in order to stop the actions of the Political Friends Association, which would lead to the collapse of the Political Friends Cabinet. It's a dangerous move.
Subsequently, Cai Zhikan hosted a banquet for former Minister of the Interior of the Civil Affairs Party, Takeji Bed, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yanotaro Nagai, and former Minister of the Interior, Nobuhide Makino. At that time, the leaders of Japan's political parties were very poor, and these people had close financial ties with the Cai family, and had a penchant for opium smoke and five-plus pi liquor, and only the Cai family had energy sources. Cai proposed to Nagai that he take out the Tanaka Sonata and publish it in the magazine "Rihua" sponsored by Cai, but Yongjin refused. Cai Shi also made a statement to The Bed, in order to overthrow the Political Friends Association, the world should be informed: Tanaka's policy of occupying Manchuria by force will inevitably lead to the severance of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, and both sides will be defeated. The bed promised: "If you think it is necessary, I should inquire about the clues." A few days later, The Bedtime said: "The royalists (imperialists) believe that Tanaka's policy of annexing Manchuria by force will eventually provoke a military revolution and endanger the Emperor's lineage, and they are eager to undermine Tanaka's policy." However, if the emperor or the elders intervene directly in Tanaka, it is necessary to cause a revolution in the young and strong soldiers. The elders are now in a dilemma. I can use this opportunity to get Tanaka Shojo, which has a good chance of success. Please prepare high Chinese food and wujiapi wine for my feast on the elders. ”
Cai Shi took out 5,000 yen and asked Mei Lanfang's old chef Cui Mou to prepare the best dishes, and invited the elders to a banquet in the second residence of the bed, explaining the plan agreed upon by the two. Six or seven days later, Makino nobuhito said that if the Chinese government dared to make Tanaka's chapter public, the royalists could use British and American public opinion to prevent Tanaka from launching a policy of force. Cai immediately informed Wang Jiazhen of this opinion. Four or five days later, Wang Jiazhen wired 5,000 yuan, and a telegram said: "The hospital bed fee of 5,000 yuan is returned (referring to the bed banquet fee). If his illness is to be treated in Europe and the United States, Yu Bao is responsible. Makino was overjoyed to see the telegram and said, "The throne can be preserved, and my old life can be extended." He immediately ordered his concubine Yamashita Toyo to appoint the imperial scrivener and arrange for Cai to enter at night to copy the Tanaka Chapter.
Night breaks the foot bridge to copy the secret seal
On the evening of a certain day in June, Cai Shi smuggled the "Broken Foot Bridge" into the imperial palace. The Japanese Imperial Palace has twenty-four gates, thirty-six partial doors, the imperial police many people with knives to watch, in front of each gate there is a long bridge, the Japanese people call it "broken foot bridge", if someone sneaks across the gate bridge, the imperial police will wield a knife to cut off their feet, and then punish the crime of disrespect (death penalty).
According to Cai's later recollection: "At 11:50 (night), I carried thirty or forty large and small yellow book skins for the royal library, several green silk threads, three silver cones, and a pack of large and small needles, dressed as a supplementary book worker, carrying the gold round 'Royal Temporary Passage Spleen' (number 72) handed over by Count Makino, and led the way by Yamashita Yong to the Imperial City. At 0:50, enter the library through the "Imperial Gate under the Autumn Leaf Mountain". "The Tanaka Sonata is made of 'Nishiuchi paper' for the exclusive use of the Japanese Cabinet Chapter, a total of 60 or 70 sheets, and is labeled 'Prime Minister Tanaka Sonata'. I packed the original with carbonated paper and traced it with a pencil. The carbon acid paper used is a thin base paper for the president of the Democratic Party, which took two nights and was carefully copied. ”
When the work was accomplished, Cai Shi was overjoyed and telegraphed Wang Jiazhen: "I will do my best to make amends." "Hide the copy in the compartment of the suitcase, personally go to Shenyang, and hand it over to Wang Jiazhen to collect." Wang Shi was undecided for a moment, immediately sent Zhang Xueliang personally, and the next day he was ordered to fly to Nanjing to report. Later, Tanaka's sonata became a major issue in the war of words between China and Japan at the League of Nations conference. The Japanese side accused Tanaka of forging the chapter for China, and the Chinese representative leaked that it was copied from the Japanese Imperial Family Library.
As a result, the Japanese government tracked down and all 28 people, including the imperial treasury official Yamashita Isamu, were dismissed from office, and at that time, Japanese newspapers said that "Chiang Kai-shek's twenty-eight stays in Japan returned to heaven." Soon, Cai Zhikan was arrested and imprisoned, his private home was also forcibly occupied, but he could not recover it, and his personal property value of 2 million yen was confiscated, which was a large property at that time.
Chinese Min anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall
In his early years, Cai Zhiyuan followed Sun Yat-sen to the "Alliance", and once lurked in the Japanese Imperial Palace to outwit the Tanaka Recital to expose Japan's conspiracy to invade China. In 2012, his son Cai Guangyuan donated six volumes of original documents about this history to the Chinese Min Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall.