In 1947, the situation in the Northeast changed dramatically. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) began to enter the first stage in the second half of the year, and the Kuomintang was in an unfavorable situation, so it had to rely on big cities for defense. Despite this, Chiang Kai-shek remained confident in the outcome of the war, but his attention was no longer focused on the northeast and turned to constitutional issues. In Chiang Kai-shek's view, the introduction of constitutional government was a way to change the tide of the war, because it was the main demand of the United States.
If Chiang Kai-shek wanted to maintain his alliance with the United States and receive more aid, he would have to implement the so-called constitutionalism in accordance with the wishes of the United States. However, Chiang Kai-shek certainly would not give up the power in his hands to implement the so-called return of power to the people. The Kuomintang has a firm grip on power, and it is impossible to hand over power to other democratic parties, all of which is only superficial. Chiang Kai-shek had already made a lot of preparations, convinced that he would get the ** position by **.
Under his facilitation, considerable progress has been made in the preparations for the Constituent National Convention. Chiang Kai-shek thought he was in control of everything, and thought that the National Convention was just a process. However, he did not expect that Li Zongren's candidacy disrupted many of his deployments and added more suspense to the conference. There were serious factional struggles within the Kuomintang, especially the decades-long struggle between Chiang Kai-shek and Li Zongren's Gui faction.
In Chiang Kai-shek's view, Li Zongren's Gui faction was second only to the CCP among the many major domestic troubles, and although the two sides had a common enemy, they had to cooperate. However, since the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek had been trying to suppress the Gui lineage, and Li Zongren had repeatedly lost in the struggle against Chiang Kai-shek.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, in the face of the meritorious Li Zongren, Chiang Kai-shek appointed him as the chairman of the National ** Bei Yuan Director, although this position was prominent, in charge of the five provinces, but in fact Li Zongren did not have much real power, completely excluded by Chiang Kai-shek. Li Zongren repeatedly struggled with Chiang Kai-shek, but repeatedly ended in failure, and his heart was very dissatisfied. As the situation of the war at home changed, Chiang Kai-shek was under pressure to convene a National Convention for elections, and Li Zongren decided to get involved.
He did not completely give up his career, hoping to take this opportunity to try his skills, and did not want Chiang Kai-shek to easily control the National Convention. However, the reality is very cruel, and as soon as Li Zongren's idea of running for election was proposed, it was opposed by the Gui family. Bai Chongxi, the representative of the Gui faction who held real power, and others did not support Li Zongren's candidacy, and they were cooperating with Chiang Kai-shek against the People's Liberation Army, and did not want to damage relations with Chiang Kai-shek at this time. Li Zongren's campaign target is the deputy ** position.
Although he did not need to compete directly with Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Kai-shek had already provided support for strength candidates such as Sun Ke, so the latter had a better chance of winning. Despite this, Li Zongren resolutely decided to participate in the election, and did not think that he had no chance of winning. On March 11, 1948, he officially announced this decision at a press conference at home and abroad. Later, Li Zongren and his family rushed to Nanjing, began to prepare for the election campaign, and canvassed around to win supporters.
Li Zongren's candidacy caused great repercussions at home and abroad, especially angering Chiang Kai-shek. When the two met, Chiang Kai-shek bluntly expressed his hope that Li Zongren would withdraw from the race, saying that the deputy ** was better to be a literati, and the candidate had already been determined to be Sun Ke. However, Li Zongren rejected the offer, which made Chiang Kai-shek even more angry. Chiang Kai-shek even threatened that Li Zongren would not be elected if he did not support it.
Although Chiang Kai-shek had weakened Li Zongren's power, Li Zongren did not give up. In the end, in the National Assembly, with a huge advantage, Li Zongren defeated Sun Ke and was successfully elected as the deputy **. Chiang Kai-shek failed to accurately judge the situation, and Li Zongren's greatest support force naturally came from the Gui faction. At first, the Gui faction did not support Li Zongren, but after deliberation, it was decided that the National Assembly could not do without their representatives. The rise of the Gui faction became Li Zongren's strong backing.
As defense minister, Bai Chongxi did not hesitate to provide a lot of support, which, combined with his wife's influence in the northwest region, won more support for Li Zongren. Guangxi did not hesitate to use the best funds to vigorously fund Li Zongren's campaign funds. In addition, Huang Shaohong, with his connections within the KMT, actively sought support inside and outside the party, and even persuaded other candidates, Cheng Qian, to support Li Zongren. However, it is worth mentioning that the victory of the Gui family is inseparable from the military power in the hands of Bai Chongxi.
Chiang Kai-shek could not take drastic action, and could only inflict a blow on Li Zongren through ** and political pressure. With the full support of the Gui faction, Li Zongren was finally successfully elected as the deputy **, which weakened Chiang Kai-shek's control and brought the Gui faction's power to a new peak. Li Zongren's rise attracted the attention of the United States, who began to consider cooperating with him or even replacing Chiang Kai-shek.
However, although Li Zongren gradually forced Chiang Kai-shek into the wilderness, the elite of the Gui faction was eventually wiped out by the People's Liberation Army, and Li Zongren's plan to replace Chiang Kai-shek also fell through.