"Oh, you're gone. For Chiang Kai-shek, Zhang Xueliang's feelings are very complicated. In his early years, he and Chiang Kai-shek were brothers and sisters, but later they were imprisoned for half their lives, leaving behind a lonely and lonely garden.
Soon, Chiang Ching-kuo sent someone to come, hoping that he could go to mourn, Zhang Xueliang originally wanted to refuse, but after thinking about it, the deceased was the greatest, so he promised to go to mourn three days later.
On April 9, 1975, Zhang Xueliang, accompanied by Zhao Yidi, came to the Shilin Mansion by car. He slowly walked forward, paid his respects to the deceased and his family, and then took out the couplet that he had been meditating on for three days and read it aloud in front of Chiang Ching-kuo and others.
This elegiac couplet, which is only 16 characters, is meaningful in the context of the time. The half-life grievances between Zhang Xueliang and Chiang Kai-shek have been concentrated and summarized in this elegiac couplet.
So, what is the content of Zhang Xueliang's elegy? To understand the feud between him and Chiang Kai-shek, it would take as far back as 50 years ago. Zhang Xueliang's alliance with Chiang Kai-shek was a major historical event in China in the 20s and 30s of the 19th century.
It can even be said that without Zhang Xueliang's surrender, Chiang Kai-shek could only become a warlord at best, and could not become the nominal leader of China. However, on June 4, 1928, Zhang Zuolin, as the leader of the Feng warlords, was killed by a bomb planted by the Japanese when he passed through Huanggutun on a train, and the situation in Northeast China fell into turmoil.
Zhang Xueliang, a young man who was only 27 years old, officially became the ruler of the three eastern provinces. At the same time, the Northern Expedition led by Chiang Kai-shek had ended, the two major warlords Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang had also been defeated, and the Nanjing National** had also been stabilized.
According to the route of the Northern Expedition, Zhang Zuolin should have been the final target. However, Chiang Kai-shek, after his major victory, could not wait to launch a counter-revolutionary coup d'état, broke with the Communists, and there were constant factional struggles within the Kuomintang, so there was no direct military conflict with Zhang Zuolin.
After Zhang Xueliang took over, the Jiang and Zhang families, who were originally incompatible, had a common basis for cooperation. First of all, Zhang Xueliang's view of Chiang Kai-shek was very different from that of his father, Zhang Zuolin; Second, although the Northeast Army was strong, the Japanese forces that had long been entrenched in the Northeast made it difficult for them to deal with it.
Therefore, Zhang Xueliang decided to recognize and submit to the Nanjing Nationals led by Chiang Kai-shek**.
FigZhang Xueliang takes national unification and prosperity as his own responsibility, even if his father is not killed, he will do so. The issue of the disposal of the northeast region made Chiang Kai-shek in a dilemma, but Zhang Xueliang's initiative to announce the change of banner made him extremely happy.
Zhang Xueliang's voluntary surrender declared that the people of Nanjing had become the only legitimate leader in China, and Chiang Kai-shek had naturally become an internationally recognized Chinese leader.
As a token of gratitude, Chiang Kai-shek handed over the military and political power of the three eastern provinces to Zhang Xueliang. Although Zhang Xueliang was nominally given a lot of power, Chiang Kai-shek still took precautions everywhere. What really changed Chiang Kai-shek's opinion of Zhang Xueliang was his performance in the Central Plains War.
The internal contradictions of the Kuomintang have always been an open secret, and the Kuomintang ** founded in Nanjing did not enjoy the broad support of all factions at that time. However, Chiang Kai-shek was very good at winning the hearts and minds of the people, and won the support of the chaebol through his marriage to the Song family, and he was also good at forming righteous brothers, attracting military and political dignitaries who were virtuous and talented or held military power.
At that time, within the Kuomintang, Li Zongren, Feng Yuxiang, Dai Jitao and others were all Chiang Kai-shek's sworn brothers, although they supported Chiang Kai-shek in name, but they also had some small actions in private.
On the one hand, Chiang Kai-shek used his sworn brothers to expand his own power, and on the other hand, he used his own direct cronies to reuse, which gradually heated up the discontent of Li Zongren and Feng Yuxiang.
In March 1930, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren and Zhang Fakui jointly gathered more than 800,000 troops and launched the anti-Chiang War, which is the famous "Central Plains War" in history.
The powerful alliance of Feng Yuxiang, Chiang Kai-shek, and Yan Xishan made Chiang Kai-shek feel intimidated. At that time, his descendants had only 600,000 troops, and the early days of the Central Plains War were extremely difficult.
Zhang Xueliang in the northeast remained neutral at first in the face of a complex situation. However, under the strong co-optation of both sides, he gradually leaned towards Chiang Kai-shek. Therefore, Zhang Xueliang ordered 300,000 Northeast Army to go to Guannai to aid Chiang Kai-shek in the name of "mediation".
After the war, in order to thank Zhang Xueliang for his support, Chiang Kai-shek appointed him as the deputy commander of the Chinese Army, Navy and Air Force, and actually became an important military and political figure second only to himself.
At the same time, the four provinces of Chahar, Suiyuan, Hebei and Shanxi under the jurisdiction of Zhang Xueliang, as well as the three cities of Ping, Tianjin and Qingdao were also assigned to his name, and even formed a pattern of "Southern Jiang and Northern Zhang" for a time.
When the dust settled, Chiang Kai-shek warmly invited Zhang Xueliang to Nanjing to meet him, and Zhang Xueliang gladly accepted. At this meeting, Chiang Kai-shek undoubtedly gave Zhang Xueliang enough face.
He not only arranged heavy escorts along the way, but also arranged a welcoming team at each stop of Zhang Xueliang, and held high the words "Warm welcome to promote unification."
1. Consolidate border defense, work hard, and form a banner slogan to support Deputy Commander Zhang.
When Zhang Xueliang and his entourage arrived in Nanjing, Chiang Kai-shek personally led a greeting procession of several hundred people to warmly welcome Zhang Xueliang and his wife Yu Fengzhi. Jiang Zhang met for the first time, and Chiang Kai-shek said excitedly: "Brother Xian, I finally look forward to you!"
You are the great hero of China! In Nanjing, Zhang Xueliang was also treated with a very high standard of hospitality, and there were banquets almost every day, which made Zhang Xueliang feel flattered.
During this time, Zhang Xueliang and Chiang Kai-shek not only became brothers, but even Zhang Xueliang's wife Yu Fengzhi was accepted as a goddaughter by Chiang Kai-shek's mother-in-law Ni Guizhen.
Zhang Xueliang's brilliance complemented Chiang Kai-shek's enthusiasm. At the time of separation, Zhang Xueliang said with gratitude: "When I went to the national government this time, I was warmly welcomed by Chairman Jiang, and the standard was beyond my imagination. ”
After that, Chiang Kai-shek always referred to Zhang Xueliang as "Han Qing" or "virtuous brother" in his correspondence with Zhang Xueliang. Zhang Xueliang gained control of North China and moved the Northeast Army Headquarters and elite troops to Beiping.
This is precisely the reason why Japan dared to launch the September 18 incident. However, Jiang and Zhang, who were originally like brothers, gradually became estranged from each other from the September 18 Incident, and finally parted ways.
The soldiers admonished Xi'an, which led to Zhang Xueliang's imprisonment for half his life. After the September 18 Incident, Zhang Xueliang pursued Chiang Kai-shek's "policy of non-resistance" and ordered all units of the Northeast Army stationed outside the pass to withdraw to the pass in an orderly manner.
Although Zhang Xueliang acted on orders, the society now pointed the finger at him, which confused him. Deep down, he held a grudge against the Japanese. Three years ago, Zhang Zuolin was killed by the Japanese, and the Northeast was tragically occupied by the Japanese.
However, Chiang Kai-shek advised him in his correspondence to put the overall situation first, not to rush into war with Japan, and to wait patiently for the mediation of the League of Nations. In order to let him put aside his hatred for a while, Chiang Kai-shek constantly put him in the actual position of exterminating the Communist Party and let the Northeast Army serve as the main force.
First in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui region, after the Red Army arrived in Yan'an at the end of the Long March, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Northwest Suppression, and his station was in Xi'an. After several battles with the Red Army, his thinking also shifted.
The CCP seized the opportunity to send underground party members to get in touch with him, focusing on publicizing to him the CCP's anti-Japanese and national salvation proposition, and he deeply agreed with this. Under the contact of the underground party of the Communist Party of China, in April 1936, he flew to Yan'an in the name of supervising the war and held secret talks with Li Kenong and others.
On the issue of resisting Japan, he took the lead in expressing his position: "I agree with the joint anti-Japanese resistance you advocate, and I look forward to this day coming as soon as possible." Subsequently, he further agreed with *** on the issue of the relationship between the Red Army in northern Shaanxi and the Northeast Army, and finally determined the general policy of mutual non-aggression between the Red Army and the Northeast Army, and even engaged in military friendship and other activities.
After secret talks with ***, he continued to persuade Chiang Kai-shek to actively resist Japan. However, Chiang Kai-shek always put the suppression of the Communist Party in the first place in his heart, and severely refuted his advice.
In October 1936, Chiang Kai-shek arrived in Xi'an in the name of supervising the war, and he repeatedly advised Chiang Kai-shek to resist the Japanese, but Chiang Kai-shek still severely reprimanded him. At this point, he can only take the last path.
In the early morning of December 12 of the same year, he and Yang Hucheng launched an army to detain Chiang Kai-shek and force Chiang Kai-shek to resist Japan. Now Chiang Kai-shek has recognized the reality and said to him: "Han Qing, you and I are righteous brothers, why did you come to this point? ”
He replied with a straight face: "I dare not forget the hatred of the country and the family, and I also ask the chairman to call on the anti-Japanese army!"
After negotiations between the Kuomintang, Zhang Xueliang, and the Communists, Chiang Kai-shek was forced to agree to join forces with the Communists to resist Japan. Zhang Xueliang was very pleased with this result, and when Chiang Kai-shek wanted to return to Nanjing, Zhang Xueliang insisted on personally escorting him, despite some opposition.
However, when the plane landed, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the arrest of Zhang Xueliang, removed him from all his duties, and handed over to a military court and sentenced to ten years in prison. What Zhang Xueliang may not have foreseen, however, was that Chiang Kai-shek had not given up his revenge even after the ten-year sentence had passed.
The feud between the two is revealed in the couplet. After the start of the full-scale war of resistance, Zhang Xueliang suffered greatly under house arrest, and he eagerly hoped to participate in the war of resistance and lead the Northeast Army to recover the three eastern provinces.
Especially when he heard that Chiang Kai-shek had lost one after another on the frontal battlefield, he was even more anxious. In 1943, Zhang Xueliang made a request to the spies guarding him: fishing, and asked Chiang Kai-shek to personally give him a fishing rod.
Dai Li conveyed his wishes to Chiang Kai-shek, who immediately realized Zhang Xueliang's intentions and did not hesitate to use them as his political tool.
Chiang Kai-shek's anger did not subside, so he directly sent someone to send a telescopic fishing rod imported from the United States to Zhang Xueliang, suggesting that he could bend and stretch and continue to be locked up in this small place.
Zhang Xueliang was so angry when he received the gift that he broke his fishing rod to show that he would not compromise with Chiang Kai-shek. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the voice of Zhang Xueliang from all walks of life became increasingly loud, and even some well-known politicians joined the ranks of the appeal.
However, Chiang Kai-shek turned a deaf ear to this, and after changing the place of house arrest several times, he sent Zhang Xueliang to Taiwan in 1946. Soon, the Kuomintang was also defeated in Taiwan.
In 1958, at Zhang Xueliang's request, Chiang Kai-shek agreed to meet with him, which was the first meeting with Chiang Kai-shek in 21 years. However, Chiang Kai-shek was still lukewarm in his attitude, and only expressed concern for Zhang Xueliang in language.
During his house arrest, Zhang Xueliang was strictly forbidden to leave his residence, although Chiang Ching-kuo had enlisted a liberal policy that allowed him to freely choose his place of residence and receive visitors. However, even in the face of such restrictions, Zhang Xueliang still insisted on fighting for freedom, and even once gave Chiang Kai-shek a precious bird, but used a very small cage to express his dissatisfaction and desire for freedom.
Chiang Kai-shek gave back a large cage and told Zhang Xueliang that although there were not many good birds, there were cages. Although Chiang Kai-shek still did not intend to release Zhang Xueliang before his death, he warned Chiang Ching-kuo that Zhang Xueliang was a fierce tiger and should not be released into the mountains and forests.
Out of filial piety, Chiang Ching-kuo strictly abided by Chiang Kai-shek's instructions and did not let Zhang Xueliang be released from house arrest. Eventually, Zhang Xueliang spent more than 30 years under house arrest until Chiang Kai-shek's death of a heart attack on April 5, 1975.
Zhang Xueliang took out a pair of 16-character couplets at the funeral, looking back on his lifelong grievances with Chiang Kai-shek. This couplet vividly sums up their friendship and political dispute: "Caring for Yin, love is the same flesh and blood; The dispute over political views is like enmity. ”
Jiang and Zhang once became brothers and worked together, but at the juncture of the nation's peril, they chose different paths, which led to the centrifugal departure from Germany in the second half of their lives.
Zhang Xueliang's attitude towards Chiang Kai-shek has always been complicated, and the years of house arrest have smoothed his edges and corners, but it is difficult to eliminate Chiang Kai-shek's hostility towards him.
These 16 words condense the joys and sorrows of their lives.