Two months after Gu Weijun left the presidential palace, Yuan Shikai sent someone to send him a message asking him to return to continue to serve as the presidential secretary. Gu Weijun explained the situation to Tang Shaoyi. Tang Shaoyi told him that he and Yuan Shikai resigned because they disagreed, and it had nothing to do with you, not to mention that the president personally asked you to go back, and you should go back even more. As a result, Gu Weijun returned to Beijing in August 1912 and continued to serve as secretary of the Presidential Office and concurrently as secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, thus beginning his diplomatic career of nearly 50 years.
With the help of his father-in-law Tang Shaoyi, Gu Weijun's career was smooth sailing. In 1914, Gu Weijun was promoted to counselor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In Gu Weijun's career, in addition to Tang Shaoyi's favor, Yuan Shikai's appreciation of him also played a very important role. Gu Weijun himself had foresight and outstanding diplomatic skills. He is familiar with American history and handles various foreign-related affairs with ease. During his tenure as Yuan Shikai's English secretary, Gu Weijun did not simply translate, Yuan Shikai trusted him and often let him deal with some specific matters. For example, in 1913, the British envoy to China, Zhu Erdian, asked to see Yuan Shikai, and Yuan Shikai directly asked Gu Weijun to talk with him. In addition, he is responsible for dealing with foreign journalists and foreign newspapers, and conveying voices from the presidential palace. These things allowed Gu Weijun to be trained and further broadened his horizons.
In July 1915, Gu Weijun was promoted to minister in Mexico. Three months later, Yuan Shikai appointed Gu Weijun as a minister in the United States.
Here's a detail that needs to be said. That is, why Yuan Shikai appointed Gu Weijun as a minister in two countries in less than half a year.
In early 1915, Yuan Shikai was very dissatisfied with the performance of the minister in the United States, Xia Kaifu, and dismissed him in a fit of rage. Who will take over the post of ambassador to the United States? At that time, Lu Zhengxiang, the minister of foreign affairs, recommended Gu Weijun, and Cao Rulin, vice minister of foreign affairs and Gu Weijun's compatriot, also recommended Gu Weijun, and Yuan Shikai also felt that Gu Weijun was very suitable. However, there is a problem, that is, Gu Weijun's qualifications are not enough. The United States is a big country, and the relationship between the Republic of China government and the United States is extremely important. Gu Weijun has not yet served as a minister abroad, and his qualifications are obviously insufficient. What to do? After summing up, Yuan Shikai decided to let him first serve as a minister in Mexico, and then the minister in Mexico was changed to a minister in the United States. In this way, the resume is much richer.
In early August 1915, Gu Weijun and his wife Tang Baoyue set out from Beijing, not to Mexico, but to San Francisco. Why didn't he go to Mexico? The destination of this trip is not Mexico, and in order to avoid the embarrassment of being transferred just after taking office, Gu Weijun does not plan to go to Mexico. Therefore, Mr. and Mrs. Gu Weijun first went to San Francisco, where they made the necessary visits, and then traveled from San Francisco to England. In mid-October, Yuan Shikai changed Gu Weijun to minister in the United States according to the plan, and Gu Weijun returned to the United States from Britain and went to Washington to take up his post. This year, Gu Weijun was only 27 years old, and he was the youngest Chinese envoy to a foreign country at that time.
In 1918, the First World War ended and the Paris Peace Conference was about to take place. Gu Weijun was appointed as one of China's plenipotentiaries to the Paris Peace Conference. However, just before his departure, his wife, Tang Baoyue, contracted the Spanish flu. At that time, the Spanish flu was raging around the world, infecting about 500 million people and killing 40 million people worldwide. Tang Baoyue is one of these 40 million people. After Gu Weijun and Tang Baoyue got married, their relationship has been very good. The two of them had a son and a daughter, the son named Gu Dechang, and the daughter named Gu Juzhen.
The death of his wife was a great blow to Gu Weijun, who once wanted to give up his membership as a representative of the peace conference. After being persuaded, he insisted on going to his post.
In Paris, Gu Weijun met the third woman in her life, Huang Huilan.
Speaking of the acquaintance process of Gu Weijun and Huang Huilan, it is quite romantic.
While in Paris, Gu Weijun visited the home of his friend Jian Chonghan. In the living room, he saw a bust of a girl, and he asked Jian Chonghan, who is this girl? Jian Chonghan told him that this was his little sister. Gu Weijun smiled and said he wanted to meet her.
Jian Chonghan's wife Huang Chunlan is Huang Huilan's sister, and with this relationship, Gu Weijun successfully met Miss Huang.
At that time, Miss Huang was only 19 years old.
This Miss Huang is not small. Her grandfather, Huang Zhixin, was a businessman in Indonesia and was the richest overseas Chinese in the area. His father, Huang Zhonghan, inherited the family business and was rich enough to rival the country. Huang Zhonghan has 18 wives, each of whom is as beautiful as a heavenly immortal. Miss Huang's mother, Wei Mingniang, was the number one beauty in Java's Chinatown at that time. After her birth, Miss Huang lived a life of fine clothes and food, traveled in Europe and the United States for a long time, and could speak six foreign languages.
After Gu Weijun met Miss Huang, he launched an offensive against her. How can a little girl withstand the charm of her uncle? Moreover, Gu Weijun had the blessing of power on his body, and Huang Huilan soon fell.
Although Huang Huilan's father strongly opposed this family affair, Miss Huang did not care about this, she was already in love with Gu Weijun. His talent and his power made Huang Huilan, who was 20 years old, want to stop.
On October 2, 1920, Gu Weijun and Huang Huilan held a grand wedding at the Chinese Embassy in Brussels, and the two were officially married.
After marriage, Huang Huilan, "holding on to the wealth of her loving father and relying on the dignity of her son-in-law", is active in international diplomatic magnates and "living an exciting life".
Huang Huilan and Gu Weijun had two sons, named Gu Yuchang and Gu Fuchang. Neither of the children liked politics or diplomacy, but had a soft spot for business with their grandfathers. As adults, they refused their father's request to engage in diplomacy and chose to pursue a career in business.
After Huang Huilan married Gu Weijun, Gu Weijun's career was even smoother. He served as the chief of foreign affairs for a long time, twice as the chief of finance and the prime minister of the cabinet, and was a tumbler in the official field of the Republic of China. Huang Huilan also enjoys great glory.
However, due to the different ideas and concepts of Huang Huilan and Gu Weijun, the difference in personality is also relatively large, and with the passage of time, the two gradually become estranged. Eventually, the two divorced by agreement in 1956. Gu Weijun's third marriage ended in such a gloomy way.
When she divorced Huang Huilan, Gu Weijun was 68 years old. If it is an ordinary person, such an age has already teased the grandchildren and enjoyed the old age in peace. However, Gu Weijun ushered in his fourth marriage.
Gu Weijun's fourth wife was named Yan Youyun.
Yan Youyun was born in Tianjin in 1905 and his ancestral home is Ningbo. In 1929, the young Yan Youyun married Yang Guangxuan, a diplomat of the Republic of China. After marriage, they had three daughters. In 1938, Yang Guangxing became the Consul General of China in Manila. In 1942, the Japanese army launched a major attack on Manila, and on April 17, Yang Guangxing and seven diplomats who remained at the Consulate General were tragically killed. Since then, Yan Youyun has raised her three daughters alone.
In 1945, Yan Youyun took her three daughters to New York to serve as a United Nations protocol officer. In this position, she has been working for 15 years. During this time, she became acquainted with Hou Gu Weijun, and the two developed a good feeling. In October 1959, Yan Youyun retired, and soon after, she and Gu Weijun married.
At this time, Gu Weijun and Yan Youyun had both entered old age. The combination of the two of them is more of a mutual correlation in life and psychological comfort. After getting married, Yan Youyun undertook the heavy responsibility of taking care of Gu Weijun, and was Gu Weijun's "good housekeeper, good nurse, and good secretary".
On November 14, 1985, Gu Weijun died in New York, USA, at the age of 98. His 26-year marriage with Yan Youyun ended successfully.
Gu Weijun's last two wives were very old. After Huang Huilan and Gu Weijun divorced, they moved to New York and lived until december 1993, when they died at the age of 100. Yan Youyun did not die until May 24, 2017, at the age of 112.
In some of the articles I read, some authors said that Gu Weijun was a scumbag. At first, I also thought that after four marriages in my life, I was indeed suspected of scumbags. However, when I read enough information and finished writing this article, I realized that Gu Weijun was not a scumbag. He himself was a good man, and his four wives were all excellent girls. The first paragraph of Gu Weijun's marriage is completely a tragedy of the times, and the second paragraph is a tragedy of personal fate. The third stage is free love, the two are happy every day together, and separation is also the woman's active choice. In their later years, Gu Weijun and Yan Youyun were in love with each other, supporting each other, and did not abandon each other for more than 20 years, which was even more precious.