On the evening of January 10, 1929, two piercing gunshots rang out in Zhang Xueliang's mansion in Northeast China, and the bodies of Yang Yuting and Chang Yinhuai in the Tiger Hall were found. Yang Yuting, who is known as "Feng Xiao Zhuge ", still can't understand at the last moment of his life what made Zhang Xueliang so angry when he ordered to shoot himself. To this day, the outside world is still hotly discussing the cause of Yang Yuting's death. After all, at that time, almost everyone realized that Yang Yuting was an indispensable general among the warlords of the Feng family, and even Hu Shi said: "If it weren't for Yang Yuting's death, the Northeast would not have been lost so easily." ”
In his later years, when Zhang Xueliang recalled this incident, his face did not fluctuate much, but he said thoughtfully: "I was never superstitious before killing him, but after killing him, I had to believe that this may be providence." ”
So, why did Zhang Xueliang kill Yang Yuting, and why did he say such a thing?
Yang Yuting, a native of Northeast China, was born in 1885 during the turbulent times, and he saw the salvation of his country as his mission. The Xinhai Revolution was the starting point of his thinking, and it was also his encounter with the northeastern warlord Zhang Zuolin.
Their encounter has interesting twists and turns. During the Xinhai Revolution, Zhang Zuolin assisted the governors of the three eastern provinces in brutally suppressing progressives, among which the sacrifice of Zhang Rong and others was his masterpiece.
There was an aura of fear in Mukden City, and the warlords of the Bong clan did not tolerate these students. As a result, many people find ways to evade military searches or flee the Northeast. Zhang Zuolin's position in the Northeast is unmatched.
In 1912, when Liu Dequan passed through the Northeast, Yang Yuting paid a special visit to this old friend and explained the current situation in Fengtian. However, he never expected that Zhang Zuolin would suddenly appear at this time without saying hello in advance.
This makes them feel a little overwhelmed.
Zhang Zuolin and Yang Yuting knew that Zhang Zuolin was not interested in foreign students, so they said hello to Liu Dequan and left in a hurry. Unexpectedly, as soon as he turned around, he bumped into Zhang Zuolin who entered the door, the two glanced at each other, Yang Yuting pretended to leave calmly, and Zhang Zuolin did not say anything.
After entering the house, Zhang Zuolin asked Liu Dequan: "Isn't this your classmate?" Why are they all gone? Liu Dequan replied helplessly: "They still have something to do." But Zhang Zuolin said loudly: "You tell them, don't go!"
We in the Fengtian Martial Arts Academy need them to teach. What about the education of the army without them? Liu Dequan was surprised, he had always looked down on Zhang Zuolin, but he didn't expect him to have such a deep understanding of military education.
Yang Yuting also slowed down after hearing this, and glanced at Zhang Zuolin a few more times.
They didn't have a deep relationship when they first met, but they were both impressed. When they met again three years later, Yang Yuting rose to prominence in the military with his outstanding personal ability, becoming the director of the Toyota Ordnance Bureau and the director of the Ordnance Factory.
One day, he ordered the guards to go out on a mission, and was seen by Zhang Zuolin, who was on the street. The team was uniform, and Yang Yuting, who walked in the front, was dressed in military uniform, and his instrument was magnificent.
Zhang Zuolin thought it was the Japanese army, but when he asked, he learned that this was a guard trained by Yang Yuting himself. He was impressed by the young man. Zhang Zuolin immediately summoned Yang Yuting, who by this time was already an experienced and proficient military veteran.
When the two talked, Zhang Zuolin felt that it was too late to see each other, even though they had known each other three years ago and had no communication in the past three years. At this time, Zhang Zuolin was worried about how to deal with his political opponent Duan Zhigui.
He specifically asked Yang Yuting's opinion, mainly to test his ability and find the best solution to this problem.
The contradiction between Duan Zhigui and Zhang Zuolin has been going on for a long time, but no solution has been found. However, the appearance of Yang Yuting brought them a turning point. Yang Yuting proposed to let Feng Delin's 28th Division handle the matter, and his suggestion was in line with Zhang Zuolin's requirements, while also avoiding direct conflict with Duan Zhigui.
Zhang Zuolin greatly admired Yang Yuting's wisdom and calmness, so he accepted Yang Yuting's suggestion and promoted him to the chief of staff and chief of staff of the Fengtian Overseer's Office.
Under Yang Yuting's leadership, the strength of the Feng warlords increased rapidly, and they eventually ranked third among the Beiyang warlords. Yang Yuting's talent and wisdom made an important contribution to the rise of the Feng warlords.
When the direct and Anhui warlords in Beiping were fighting openly and secretly, and the situation was sinister, Yang Yuting found his old friend Xu Shuzheng, hoping to do something great together in Qinhuangdao. Xu Shuzheng and Yang Yuting are both the kind of people who are a bit arrogant, they studied together at the Japanese non-commissioned officer school, and there are many similarities in their personalities, so even in terms of non-political interests, they are very closely connected.
Xu Shuzheng has always admired Yang Yuting's talent very much, starting from his time in the War Department. "Qinhuangdao Interception Case"It provides them with a rare opportunity to cooperate.
Because of their like-mindedness and decisiveness, they joined forces to change the overall situation of the entire warlord confrontation. During the fierce struggle between the direct and Anhui families for the supreme power in Beiping, Feng Guozhang purchased a large amount of ordnance through Japanese companies.
However, the amount of this batch of goods far exceeded Xu Shuzheng's expectations, so he found Yang Yuting and worked together to annex this batch of materials to enhance his strength.
In order to win the support of Yang Yuting and Zhang Zuolin, he put forward a very ** condition: as long as Duan Qirui can achieve reunification, Zhang Zuolin will be appointed as a deputy**.
This condition is the best of both worlds for Zhang Zuolin, who can obtain both armaments and power, which is difficult for anyone to resist. Therefore, Yang Yuting and Zhang Zuolin quickly reached a consensus.
On February 23 of the following year, Zhang Zuolin secretly sent two battalions of soldiers into Qinhuangdao. In just two days, Yang Yuting led his troops to successfully attack Feng Guozhang's ordnance department and quickly transferred all ordnance to Guanwai.
Feng Guozhang could only silently bear this loss. Zhang Zuolin was very pleased with Yang Yuting's ability and praised him as a person who "does great things". It is undeniable that Yang Yuting's ruthless methods have indeed strengthened the strength of the Feng warlords, making them the third largest force among the Beiyang warlords.
In 1922, the First Zhibong War broke out. Zhang Zuolin's troops were unable to do their job despite the lack of systematic training. In the face of the retreating army, Zhang Zuolin was anxious and seemed to lose all his advantages.
However, he remains convinced that Yang is the only one who can turn the tide of battle. As the brains of the warlords, Yang Yuting, with his outstanding military skills and outstanding leadership, quickly corrected the atmosphere of the army.
He overrode public opinion, adopted some generals with real military experience, and transferred most of the original officers. Although this decision caused some dissatisfaction, there is no doubt that it gave the army a new look and a great increase in strength.
Soon, Feng's army broke through Shanhaiguan and Shimen Pass, and the direct warlord troops had to flee back to Wuhan in embarrassment. This victory allowed Zhang Zuolin to directly occupy half of China, and also made Yang Yuting the core figure of the Feng warlords.
He managed to keep the factories and economy of the Northeast in order, and was hailed as the backbone of the warlords. However, there is a crisis hidden behind Yang Yuting's scenery. His resolute and arrogant personality in the army made him offend many generals in the army.
Especially after Zhang Zuolin was killed, Yang Yuting's situation began to deteriorate.
Although Yang Yuting took the lead in supporting Zhang Xueliang out of loyalty to the old master after the old proposition Zuolin was killed, Zhang Xueliang did not appreciate it. After all, it was his father and not him who were "brotherly".
To make matters worse, after the victory of the Second Zhifeng War, Zhang Zuolin directly gave Yang Yuting the highest position of Jiangsu overseer, instead of his teacher Guo Songling, who he had always respected, causing Guo Songling to openly defect and claim to kill Yang Yuting, an incident that became a thorn in Zhang Xue's conscience.
In the early days of becoming the leader of the Feng warlords, Zhang Xueliang also knew how to avoid conflict for the time being, and knew to rely on Yang Yuting's power to manage the army. He also tried to marry Yang Yuting as a brother in exchange for a post, but was directly rejected by Yang Yuting on the grounds of incompatibility, which made Zhang Xueliang feel like he was in his throat and thought that Yang Yuting was putting on a show.
At this time, there were some people who disagreed with Yang Yuting's political views and instigated Zhang Xueliang's side, which made his head hot and made an important decision, he must find a way to get rid of Yang Yuting.
If the coin is up, I will kill you, and if it is down, I will spare you. The coin was tossed three times in a row, all face up, and Yang Yuting and Chang Yinhuai fell in the Tiger Hall of the Shuaifu, ending their magnificent lives.
Zhang Xueliang has always remained silent on the killing of Yang Yuting and has not responded positively, and the outside world cannot determine the specific reason, which may be due to Yang Yuting's style of acting is not acceptable to Zhang Xueliang.
In his later years, when Zhang Xueliang recalled this incident, he did not disclose the specific reason, but said with remorse: "I didn't believe in fate, but after that time, I had to believe it, maybe this is fate." ”
After all, the "918 Incident" three years later caused the Northeast to lose a large amount of land, and Zhang Xueliang was also imprisoned for decades after the Xi'an Incident, which may also be a fate for him.