Wu Guozhen was a veteran figure in the Kuomintang and was trusted by Chiang Kai-shek. He also has a very close relationship with Song Meiling, and the two families have frequent contacts. After the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek entrusted him with important tasks and showed his trust in Wu Guozhen.
In 1952, Chiang Kai-shek held a birthday banquet and specially invited Wu Guozhen and his wife to attend. At the banquet, Chiang Kai-shek's warm hospitality to Wu Guozhen made Wu Guozhen feel happy.
After the banquet, Wu Guozhen and his wife left Jiang's house by car. However, when the car was halfway through, Mrs. Wu's sudden internal rush caused them to stop. At this time, they found that the car had been tampered with, and there was a cliff not far ahead.
If it weren't for the sudden stop, they might have crashed and died. Who wants to put Wu Guozhen to death? This is an erudite and high-gun story that tells the story of Wu Guozhen's path to the office.
In 1903, Wu Guozhen was born in Jianshi County, Hubei. Because his father served in the Qing court, he grew up in Beijing. After graduating from Tsinghua University, Wu Guozhen went to the United States for further study, he has a strong patriotic enthusiasm, with patriotic aspirations, majoring in political science and current politics, hoping to bring a positive impact on Chinese society in political life.
In order to gain real talent, he studied hard and devoted himself to studying abroad, and finally obtained a doctorate degree from Princeton University with honors.
In 1927, Wu Guozhen returned to China, with the ideal of using the knowledge he had learned abroad to serve the motherland. During his study in the United States, Wu Guozhen had close relations with some Kuomintang members, especially with Song Ziwen and Song Meiling, which laid the foundation for him to enter the Kuomintang and engage in politics later.
After returning to China, Wu Guozhen became the secretary of Zhang Qun, the mayor of Shanghai, on the recommendation of a friend. With his excellent work ability, he not only served as the secretary and chief of the communication section of the Jiangsu Negotiation Office, but also received Zhang Qun's respect.
In 1928, under the recommendation of Zhang Qun, Wu Guozhen was further promoted to deputy director of the First Division.
Although Wu Guozhen had no interest in diplomatic work, because of his talent in sorting out finances and taxes, he was attracted by the talents who were in urgent need of financial management in the three towns of Wuhan. So he wrote a "Financial and Taxation Plan" and presented it to Li Zongren, chairman of the Wuhan Political Branch, through his father's old friend.
Li Zongren was very interested in this plan, and under the recommendation of everyone, appointed Wu Guozhen as the director of the Hubei Tobacco and Alcohol Tax Bureau. At that time, the nationals were weak and powerless in dealing with foreign affairs, and many foreigners' clubs and commercial establishments did not pay taxes on tobacco and alcohol.
However, after Wu Guozhen took office, he formulated regulations on the payment of taxes on tobacco and alcohol, and strictly supervised their implementation; if he did not pay taxes, he would not only detain tobacco and alcohol, but also impose heavy fines.
Wu Guozhen, with his outstanding ability to rectify taxes, has greatly increased tax revenue in a short period of time, from 200,000 yuan in the past to nearly 900,000 yuan per year.
His outstanding performance was recognized and he was transferred to the Hankou Municipal Finance Bureau as the director. As Hankow became a provincial municipality, he was promoted to Minister of Finance. In 1932, the British Earl led the "League of Nations Investigation Team" to Wuhan, and because Wu Guozhen had studied in the United States for many years and was fluent in English, he was appointed as the head of the reception team.
Wu Guozhen went all out and meticulously arranged all the work, so that the investigation team and the Kuomintang expressed a high degree of satisfaction with his work. Thus, Wu Guozhen won the favor of Chiang Kai-shek.
Chiang Kai-shek set up the "Suppression of Bandits" headquarters in order to exterminate the Red Army and served as the commander-in-chief, he came to Wuhan to preside over the fourth "encirclement and suppression", and needed a secretary, so someone recommended Wu Guozhen, who was then the provincial finance director, Wu Guozhen did his duty, so that Chiang Kai-shek satisfied and appreciated his talent, and finally Chiang Kai-shek personally appointed him as the mayor of Hankou.
In the flames of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the people moved to Chongqing, and Chiang Kai-shek appointed Wu Guozhen as mayor. After taking office, Wu Guozhen immediately set about improving Chongqing's urban construction.
After several years of unremitting efforts, Chongqing has taken on a completely new look. Chongqing, as the accompanying capital, became the target of the Japanese army's bombing, and the newly built buildings were also destroyed in the bombing, and countless innocent people were killed and injured.
Therefore, during Wu Guozhen's tenure, civil defense management and the construction of air-raid shelters became his most important tasks. After each bombing by enemy planes, Wu Guozhen would personally go to the scene to learn more about the disaster.
At the end of August 1945, Chiang Kai-shek appointed Wu Guozhen as the Minister of Propaganda of the People's Republic of China. He was a staunch opponent of civil war and advocated peaceful democracy. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he fully supported the peace negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party representatives in Chongqing, and actively participated in them, making many contributions to the success of the peace talks.
After the surrender of Japan, the Nationalists took over Shanghai. Chiang Kai-shek named Wu Guozhen as the mayor of Shanghai. At that time, Shanghai had a large population, complex forces from all sides, and problems such as inflation and the black market for food emerged one after another, coupled with the anti-civil war movement launched by workers and patriotic students, which made it twice more difficult to govern Shanghai.
As the new mayor, Wu Guozhen felt a great responsibility, but it also reflected Chiang Kai-shek's trust in him. Faced with such a complicated situation, Wu Guozhen was not afraid, he thought deeply, racked his brains, and tried to find a solution to the problem.
The challenge of governing Shanghai was not an easy task for him, but he never gave up.
Chiang Ching-kuo arrived in Shanghai in August 1948 as an economic supervisor and used an iron fist in the hope of suppressing inflation and restoring social order. However, his high-pressure policies have sparked huge controversy and even touched on the "Four Families".
Kong Jiyang's subsidiary was seized, and the matter was finally resolved with the intervention of Lao Jiang and Song Meiling. Chiang Ching-kuo's trip to Shanghai did not achieve the desired results, but became a laughing stock among the citizens.
Eventually, he had to leave Shanghai. This incident deepened the rift between him and Chiang Kai-shek.
In 1949, Shanghai was about to be liberated. At this critical moment, Wu Guozhen and his wife boarded a plane fleeing to Taiwan. After arriving in Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek entrusted Wu Guozhen with the important task of replacing Chen Cheng as the "chairman of Taiwan Province".
Chiang Kai-shek's move was not out of trust in Wu Guozhen, but because he valued his experience of studying in the United States, and hoped that he would do his best to win assistance from the United States and prepare for the mainland.
However, Wu Guozhen was ostracized within the Kuomintang. Since Chen Cheng was forced to cede the chairmanship to Wu Guozhen, many high-level leaders who were hostile to him united and isolated him.
However, despite this, Chiang Kai-shek pretended to comfort Wu Guozhen and expressed his support for him, standing on the same side with him and confronting Chen Cheng.
Wu Guozhen was moved by Chiang Kai-shek's "trust" and served the Chiang dynasty wholeheartedly, and put forward his views without reservation. Little did he know, however, that he was being pushed into a dangerous abyss by Chiang Kai-shek.
At a banquet, Mr. Wu abruptly suggested that Mr. Chiang should let party members raise their own party funds instead of allocating funds from state funds, and at the same time support the formation of an opposition party to establish a two-party system.
However, when Mr. Jiang heard this, his face became gloomy.
The change in Lao Chiang's view of Wu Guozhen was only due to differences in concepts at first, but as the contradiction between Wu Guozhen and Chiang Ching-kuo escalated, in order to protect the interests of the crown prince, Lao Chiang decided to get rid of Wu Guozhen.
Because Taiwan's security and intelligence work are all in charge of Chiang Ching-kuo, they all have the illusion of returning to the mainland, and they need to cultivate a group of elite spies, which requires a lot of financial support.
Although Chiang Ching-kuo repeatedly applied to Wu Guozhen for funding, he was not satisfied.
Chiang Ching-kuo and Lao Chiang hated Wu Guozhen, believing that he was deliberately embarrassing and obstructing them in disguise. Wu Guozhen's friend Wang Zhefu was imprisoned by Chiang Ching-kuo on the charge of "** spy", and he went to Chiang Ching-kuo's dignitaries, but Chiang Ching-kuo ignored them.
In desperation, Wu Guozhen went to find Lao Jiang, but Lao Jiang supported his son Xiao Jiang's approach and could not let him go. Wu Guozhen was very angry and thought that Chiang Ching-kuo should not be put in charge of the intelligence system.
Later, Wu Guozhen's car was passive and almost killed Huangquan.
The hatred of Wu Guozhen by the Chiang family and his son escalated, and when Wu Guozhen was disappointed in the Kuomintang, he offered his resignation to Chiang Kai-shek. However, Chiang Kai-shek did not approve it, because he was reluctant to allow Wu Guozhen to be a capable general, and at the same time, Wu Guozhen knew many inside secrets, which made Chiang Kai-shek feel uneasy.
Although Wu Guozhen was determined to leave, Chiang Kai-shek eventually decided to get rid of him.
In October 1952, Chiang Kai-shek held a grand banquet on the grass hill in Taipei and invited Wu Guozhen and his wife to attend. In order to show respect and importance to Wu Guozhen, Chiang Kai-shek even sent a special car to pick them up.
This courtesy surprised and flattered Wu Guozhen, who thought that Chiang Kai-shek had changed his opinion of him and had a deeper understanding of his loyalty.
After the banquet, Chiang Kai-shek enthusiastically put Wu Guozhen and his wife in the car and watched the car leave, and Wu Guozhen was deeply moved by this. However, halfway through the car, Wu Guozhen's wife suddenly felt unwell, so they stopped the car to let her breathe.
Accompanied by Wu Guozhen, his wife gradually recovered her spirits.
Wu Guozhen found that the wheels of the car were maliciously damaged at the critical moment, and the bend of the cliff was in front of him, which made him break out in a cold sweat, and at the same time realized the malice of the Jiang family's father and son.
He tried to resign on the grounds that he was going abroad for medical treatment, but was not approved. Fortunately, through the maneuvering of Soong Meiling, a friend of Wu Guozhen's wife, he managed to escape Chiang Kai-shek's control and came to the United States.
Although he lived a quiet life in the United States, he rarely mentioned anything related to the Kuomintang in public.
He longed to spend the rest of his life in peace, away from political strife. However, Chiang Kai-shek gradually forgot Wu Guozhen's dedication and contributions, and began to maliciously slander him, slander his image, and even accuse him of absconding with money, which had a serious impact on his reputation and life.
Wu Guozhen couldn't bear it anymore and decided to fight back. In 1954, he exposed the scandal of the Kuomintang in the United States and fiercely criticized Chiang Kai-shek's ***.
The incident lasted for many years, and it was not until the war between the two sides gradually subsided. In short, history cannot be discredited, and the truth will eventually be revealed.
Wu Guozhen's life was full of talent and deep love for the country. He returned from studying abroad, full of enthusiasm, and only wanted to dedicate himself to the suffering country. However, his ideals were not realized by the Ming Lord, but because of his blind loyalty to the Chiang dynasty, his fate became more and more difficult.
Eventually, when he saw Chiang Kai-shek's true face, everything was irreparable. However, when he had a new understanding of New China, he decided to return to China to participate in the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, but he suddenly died of illness before returning to China, leaving a deep regret.