Duan Qirui served four terms as prime minister of the Republic of China, four terms as chief of the Republic of China Army, one term as chief of staff, and one term as head of state. He was the first army commander and artillery commander of China's modern army. He served as the general office of Baoding Military Academy, the first modern military school in China. Judging from these appointments, the old duan is really not simple!
At the same time, when the old leader Yuan Shikai deliberately declared himself emperor, he took a firm and clear stand against the imperial system.
He also reclaimed lost ground for the country. After the Xinhai Revolution, Outer Mongolia had in fact separated from China due to the support of Tsarist Russia, and China at that time was unable to confront Tsarist Russia, but Duan Qirui saw that the October Revolution in Russia broke out, and had no time to take care of Outer Mongolia, and sent Xu Shuzheng to recover Outer Mongolia in one fell swoop. The return of Outer Mongolia not only dealt a blow to national separatist forces, but also ensured the territorial integrity and sovereign unity of the Republic of China. Later, Stalin made Outer Mongolia an independent state, which is a later story.
The above briefly introduces Duan Qirui's brilliant political achievements, however, his childhood was very bitter, he was a bitter child in the countryside.
Duan Qirui, zizhiquan, was born in 1863 in Hefei, Anhui. After becoming famous, people called him "Duan Hefei", Duan Qirui's parents were authentic farmers, there were four children in the family, he was the eldest. The only source of income for the whole family is a small piece of barren thin land in the family, the old father faces the loess and back to the sky in the field to plane food for the whole family, completely relying on the sky to eat, in the year of famine, the survival of the whole family has become a big problem, to support these four children is really a difficult thing. Thanks to Duan Qirui's grandfather, who used to be a petty official, accumulated a little gray income and helped them from time to time, otherwise, the whole family would have to sit and wait for starvation. Duan Qirui's life in his childhood could not be said to be very good, but he still had food to eat, and he could barely read books intermittently for several years. Unfortunately, from the time he was 16 years old, bad luck and misfortune came one by one.
In this year, his grandfather died, and Duan Qirui was forced to drop out of school completely. After a year, all the things in the family that could be sold out were sold out, what about a few hungry children? Duan Qirui's parents squatted in the corner of the wall, holding their heads all day and worrying, the eldest Duan Qirui knew a little about things, he and his parents asked him to go out and eat together. So he took all the property that the family could take out, a silver dollar, and went to Weihai, Shandong Province, to join an uncle who was a soldier and find an errand. Weihai? Oh, my God! From Duan Qirui's home to Weihai, there are more than two thousand miles of twists and turns. Duan Qirui had a silver circle on his body and could only walk on two legs. As he hurried along, he begged for food, and the silver dollar was hidden in his body, and he was reluctant to move. Wind and food camping, through the city and over the village, wading through the mountains, begging from house to house, every knock on a door, is an unforgettable test for him, because he often encounters white eyes and ridicule, for Duan Qirui, knocking on that door may mean losing dignity, but not knocking on that door is only starvation, sometimes meet well-meaning people, can eat a hot meal.
Duan Qirui begged along the road, the wind and the sun and the rain, the clothes were ragged, the hair was dirty, and he still had to hold the dog stick tightly in his hand, and the nasty dogs, specially around the begging turn, alas, the dog's eyes looked at people low! Where to rest at night? Just drill the firewood and pile it up, and rely on the soft firewood to keep warm. Duan Qirui finally relied on strong willpower to reach Weihai, a teenager who had never been far away, which was really remarkable. Until many years later, he couldn't believe that decades ago, the ragged, begging self would become the ruler of a great empire. The suffering was not in vain, and the uncle helped Duan Qirui find a job in the military camp. Just when life has improved, misfortune has come and gone. At the age of 19, his father was killed on the way back from visiting him, and not long after, his mother died of excessive grief, leaving only three younger siblings who were still unable to support themselves.
Such a huge misfortune, such a huge pain, made Duan Qirui change from fragile to strong, and he knew that no one could save him, except himself. Since then, Duan Qirui has worked hard to support his younger siblings while squeezing out all available time to study, and finally at the age of 22, he was admitted to the Tianjin Wubei Academy opened by Li Hongzhang. A few years later, Duan Qirui won the opportunity to study in Germany with the first place. After returning from his studies in Germany, Duan Qirui was assigned to a key military school as an instructor, and finally completely solved the problem of food and clothing for the whole family. After three years as an instructor, his teacher at the Tianjin Wubei Academy, Yin Chang, recommended him to Yuan Shikai, who was training at the Tianjin Station. Duan Qirui himself has good knowledge, and has the experience of studying in Germany, and it should be known that Yuan Shikai is now planning to train troops with the German army as a model, so Duan Qirui has been reused at the beginning of the training. Perhaps because of the hardships he had experienced, Duan Qirui had a resolute and resolute personality, fierce means, and a strong desire for power, and was known as the "Tiger of Beiyang" among the high-level cadres under Yuan Shikai.
Later, after Duan Qirui became prime minister, he had the reputation of "six no premiers", that is, he did not embezzle and enrich himself, did not sell official titles, did not smoke big cigarettes, did not drink alcohol, did not prostitute himself, and did not gamble money.
Duan Qirui did not have real estate in his lifetime, which was unique among the warlords and politicians of the Republic of China, and he lived in a rented house until Yuan Shikai gave the Duan family a house in the name of giving his adopted daughter. However, this house was won by Old Yuan playing cards, and there is no deed to the house. As soon as Yuan Shikai died, the owner's son came looking for him with the deed. Seeing that the family had a house deed in their hands, Duan Qirui did not say a word, and immediately moved out with the family and rented another house.
In his later years, Duan Qirui maintained his national integrity and did not cooperate with the Japanese Kou. After the "918" incident, Japan supported Puyi to establish the puppet state of Manchukuo, and the head of the secret service, Kenji Toihara, visited Duan Qirui secretly in Tianjin many times, intending to ask Duan Qirui to go out of the mountains and do things for the Japanese. In order to avoid the threat of the Japanese, Duan Qirui moved his family to Shanghai and publicly expressed his resolute anti-Japanese attitude.
Of course, after Duan Qirui became an official, he also did some bad things, but his personality and national integrity are still commendable.