Chapter 16 Chapter 2 Martial Arts Conference

If we want to talk about the next twelve years of the Republic of China (1916-1928), we can perfectly summarize and describe it in one word: a mess. This is not surprising at all, because this is the mess left by the previous two "Martial Arts Leaders". It is said that the leader Cixi thought about the safety of the imperial court and ordered the formation of a new army, but the effect was very dismal. Capable ones, such as Yuan Shikai and Zhang Zhidong, did train their soldiers well, but the imperial court could not control these two armies. However, most people are not up to the task.As mentioned earlier, the original plan was to train thirty-six towns, but only Yuan Shikai had trained six towns, Zhang Zhidong had trained one town and one association, and the remaining nearly 300,000 "new troops" were all fake.

After the death of the leader Cixi, those shrewd careerists in the "New Army" took advantage of the situation during the Revolution of 1911, the "Second Revolution", the War to Protect the Country, and the War to Protect the Law that was about to break out. warlord chaos.The so-called heroes in troubled times are nothing more than a group of shrewd careerists. Yuan Shikai, the next martial arts leader after Cixi, died too hastily.Although he has the strength to deter the local provinces, he failed to cultivate a strong successor, leaving a group of younger brothers without a leader.

However, these younger brothers are still very energetic, and they all feel that they can be qualified for the position of leader. But what they fail to notice is that the rules of the game have changed. At that time, the main forces affecting Chinese politics—Russia, the United States, Britain, France, and Germany—were all focused on the European battlefield and could not withdraw. interests, they had no choice but to reluctantly support local powerful figures to protect their own interests. Since it is support, it must provide economic, weapons, technical and even human support, which also contributes to the rapid expansion of local forces.In this way, the former martial arts leader Zhu Yuanzhang's "build walls high, accumulate grain widely, and become king slowly" became obsolete. Now it is popular to "build walls high, accumulate grain quickly, and become king quickly".

Under such circumstances, the situation during the Republic of China suddenly became chaotic. Not only did they not unite to resist foreign aggression, but they also caused conflicts due to mutual distrust, which made the people miserable and made the overall situation even worse. Everyone regards seizing territory and expanding the army as the top priority, and disloyalty, filial piety, benevolence and injustice are all "sharp" weapons to achieve their goals.Facing the fertile soil of the Central Plains, everyone wants to get a piece of the pie, tricks emerge in endlessly, and fouls are repeatedly banned. It depends on who has the best means and the most clever tricks!

The past twelve years have been really chaotic. The leader of Guangwulin (the president and the person who actually controls the Beijing government of the Republic of China) has changed several people. Li Yuanhong, Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang, Xu Shichang, Cao Kun, and Zhang Zuolin have appeared in turn. Under the "Chief Protector" (Cabinet Prime Minister), more than 30 people have been changed, and a strengthened platoon can be organized. After you sing, I will appear on the stage. The actors on the stage have not finished singing, and the audience has not even seen the roles clearly, so they change.In such a mess, how can we divide sects?

Yes, it is really difficult to divide accurately, only simple distinction, the method is as follows: First of all, judge which leading elder brother the governors of each province follow, and then divide the governor and the territory that the governor can control under the leading elder brother, so that a loose sect can be formed. The elder brother who takes the lead is the master, those warlords are the core disciples, and the territory is the sphere of influence.It's just that these disciples are not very steadfast, most of them are scumbags, whoever has milk is a mother, and whoever is strong will follow.

Even so, there are no fewer than a hundred sects that have repeatedly fought in melees. They come together and disperse, facing Qin Muchu, more than succeeding than failing, so two restrictions must be added when screening: 1. The territory of control is limited.It is best to be in the Central Plains. Of course, the southwest, northwest, northeast, and southeast that can determine the general situation of the Central Plains are also under consideration. Second, the strength is limited.The sect must have the strength to control the central government. Lone Rangers with superior strength can also be considered. Gangs or individuals with little influence should not come to make trouble, just be a spectator.

Alright, let's start to introduce the major sects participating in the martial arts conference, and rank them in chronological order. Please note that this time is not very accurate. The three major factions that will appear next are the three major forces that will dominate the Central Plains in the next twelve years, and they are all inextricably linked with Beiyang.Coincidentally, they seemed to have made an agreement, including Leader Yuan, who came to power every four years and took turns to be the leader of the martial arts. The order is as follows: Summarized in this way, the history of the melee of the Beiyang warlords becomes much clearer.

They are invited to make an official appearance. Head: Duan Qirui Head's special hobby: Go Although the head of Duan's Go level is not very good, but he likes it, and he is very addicted to it.So much so that it was swept by many masters, and it was difficult to win.However, Master Duan does not hold grudges. Instead, during his struggle for victory alone, he has dedicated himself to supporting many Go masters, such as "Chess Master" Wu Qingyuan and others, and has contributed a lot to the cause of Go for mankind. In addition to the good quality of chess, Duan Qirui's character is also worth mentioning. The world calls him the "Six No Prime Minister"-no smoking, no drinking, no whoring, no gambling, no greed, and no occupation.But such a self-disciplined official who does not engage in corruption, messes with men and women, and does not take drugs, such an official with morality, an official who is out of vulgar tastes, may not be an official that is beneficial to the people.Because this official has great ambitions: to unify the whole of China by force and to be the fiercest Chinese hero.It doesn't matter whether this ambition is greater than one's own ability and strength.

Full name of the sect: Anhui Warlord Alliance The origin of the sect: After the death of Yuan Shikai, the head of the Beiyang Department, Duan Qirui took the opportunity to pull out a group of brothers from the Beiyang System and set up a faction.Because the eldest brother Duan Qirui is from Anhui, this faction is named after the place where the eldest brother's registered permanent residence is located, called Wanxi. Director of Wulin League: 1916～1920 Core disciples under the sect: Xu Shuzheng, Duan Zhigui, Fu Liangzuo, Lu Yongxiang... Combat effectiveness: Produced by Beiyang, the civil war is pretty good

The evil forces behind it: Japan Rough distribution of forces: Anhui, Zhejiang, Shandong, Fujian, Shaanxi Decline event: In 1920, the Zhiwan War broke out, and Duan Qirui was defeated by the Zhili and Fengli Head: Feng Guozhang Head character traits: typical phoenix man.When he was young, his family was poor, and the cruelty and hardship of life left a deep imprint on his soul, causing him to attach great importance to money and be very stingy after success. Full name of the sect: Zhili Warlord Alliance The origin of the sect: The origin of this sect is similar to that of the Anhui sect, except that the leading elder brother has become another Beiyang leader, Feng Guozhang.Feng Guozhang was from Hebei, and Hebei still belonged to the big circle of Zhili at that time, so this faction was called Zhili. Director of Wulin League: 1920～1924 Core disciples: Cao Kun, Wu Peifu, Sun Chuanfang... Combat effectiveness: Produced by Beiyang, the civil war is pretty good The evil forces behind it: Britain, the United States The general distribution of forces: Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hubei, Zhili (most of today's Hebei, small parts of Henan and Shandong) Decline event: In 1926, Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expedition destroyed it Head: Zhang Zuolin, nicknamed "Northeast King" Full name of the sect: Fengshi Warlord Alliance History of the sect: The leadership team is mainly composed of Zhang Zuolin's friends when he started, and many of them are grassroots like green forest heroes.Later, Zhang Zuolin got the establishment and equipment from Yuan Shikai, and thus met the rigid conditions for expanding the army. As for the source of soldiers needed for the expansion, it is best to solve: there are people everywhere, catch them.Zhang Zuolin is from Fengtian (now Shenyang), so this faction is called Fengxi. Director of Wulin League: 1924～1928 Core disciples under the sect: Zhang Xueliang, Yang Yuting, Guo Songling, Zhang Zongchang, Jiang Dengxuan... Combat power: The equipment is relatively good, but the level of ideological and moral construction cannot keep up, and the will to fight is mediocre, resulting in the low level of combat power most of the time. The evil forces behind it: Japan Rough distribution of forces: Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Jilin Declining event: In 1928, Chiang Kai-shek’s second Northern Expedition, Zhang Xueliang surrendered, known in history as "Northeast Change of Banner" The factions to be introduced next belong to the lone swordsmen. Compared with the above three factions, they are much smaller in terms of momentum and power. However, their energy should not be underestimated, and they belong to the second echelon. Head: Tang Jiyao, self-proclaimed "Master of the East Asian Continent" The head's special hobbies: planting poppies, making opium, and selling opium to make money. Full name of sect: Dian Warlords The origin of the school: Tang Jiyao was a member of the Tongmenghui in his early years, and later studied in the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer Academy, where he and Cai E were brothers.After returning to China, he followed his elder brother Cai E to participate in the Revolution of 1911. In the "Second Revolution", he stood on the side of Yuan Shikai, accumulated considerable credit by suppressing Sun Yat-sen, and took over the position of Yunnan Governor from Cai E. In the National Defense Movement, he and Cai E were the principals with equal identities, but one went out and the other stayed behind.But at that time, the two people who had cooperated sincerely had already had differences in their ideological lines that were difficult to bridge.The differences mainly come from ambition. Cai E is indifferent to power, while Tang Jiyao is a power careerist with plans. After the end of the War to Protect the Nation, with the death of Cai E, Tang Jiyao secured his position as the top leader in Yunnan.After that, he expanded his army and began to establish his own small kingdom in the Yunnan-Guizhou area. Since Tang Jiyao was from Yunnan, and most of his brothers were also from Yunnan, his faction was called the Yunnan Clan. Status: Can only affect the southwest area Core disciples under the sect: Long Yun, Lu Han... Combat: pretty good Rough distribution of forces: Yunnan, Guizhou Declining events: Invasion of Guangdong and Guangxi failed in 1925; Infighting broke out in 1927, Tang Jiyao was overthrown by Long Yun, Lu Han and others; War of Liberation Heads: Lu Rongting (1916～1925) in the first generation, Li Zongren (1925～1949) in the second generation Full name of the sect: Gui Clan Warlords The origin of the sect: Because the accounts of the two leaders of the sect are both in Guangxi, they are called Guixi.The Gui family has one more head than other sects, which shows the complexity of its origins. Let me talk about the first generation head Lu Rongting first.Lu Rongting is the eldest brother of the "Three O'Clock Club" branch of the Tiandihui. His entrepreneurial methods are still the old green forest methods-robbing and murdering, and selling private salt. French.Lu Rongting was able to lead well, and quickly turned a small workshop with dozens of people into a group company with nearly a thousand people. The change in scale attracted the attention of the court, and finally Lu Rongting was peacefully recruited. As for his fame, he has to thank Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing. Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing used to rely on the party to launch many uprisings in Guangxi. At that time, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Cen Chunxuan, sent Lu Rongting, the eldest brother of Guangxi Lulin, to suppress the uprising. Cen Chunxuan and Lu Rongting forged a strong friendship.Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing's green forest heroes were in front of Brother Lu, but they couldn't beat them with their hands, and they couldn't win with their mouths (you had to give face). Therefore, the uprising troops were often divided and disintegrated by Lu Rongting, and the uprising was easily suppressed. With these credits and his personal relationship with Cen Chunxuan, Lu Rongting gradually took control of the military power in Guangxi.Lu Rongting has no new army under his command, but he has a special resource-bandits hidden in the Shiwan Dashan in Guangxi.Lu Rongting took advantage of his past relationships to recruit many green forest heroes who were forced to go to Liangshan or took the initiative to go to Liangshan, and became the most powerful faction in Guangxi. Later, Lu Rongting declared his recovery during the Revolution of 1911, and he became the emperor of Guangxi, the governor of Guangxi, with the hardest fist.Later, Lu Rongting declared independence in the War to Protect the Nation, detained Long Jinguang, and then expanded his power to Guangdong, winning the position of Governor of Guangdong.Since then, he has ruled the roost of Guangdong and Guangxi.Lu Rongting was one of the very few people who relied on his party status to secure a firm position. He did not die under the guns of the Revolutionary Party, the Constitutionalists and Yuan Shikai, which shows that this person did have some real skills. But Lu Rongting's prosperity did not last long, because someone couldn't wait to take over. This person is Li Zongren.Li Zongren's succession method is quite different. It is not a traditional peaceful handover. Instead, before the old head Lu Rongting died normally, he, as the chief disciple of the new generation, united with some restless veterans (such as Shen Hongying) to launch an armed coup and drive away the boss. Lu Rongting annexed Boss Lu's territory and influence. Boss Li is different from Boss Lu. He graduated from a formal military academy with a professional background. His ideology and military quality are far more advanced than Lu Rongting's. Therefore, we call the Guangxi Clan in Li Zongren's era the New Gui Clan, and the Gui Clan in Lu Rongting's era It is called the old Guangxi system. Status: The old Guangxi system can only affect the southwest area, and the new Guangxi system can already affect the general trend of the Central Plains Combat power: Lu Rongting was very poor in his era, but he was very strong after being upgraded by Li Zongren The general distribution of forces: Guangdong, Guangxi Declining events: Guangdong-Guangxi War; Civil strife; Central Plains War in 1930; War of Liberation Head: Yan Xishan, known as "Yan Laoxier" by people in the Jianghu Full name of the sect: Yan's Shanxi Army History of the sect: Yan Xishan was originally the 86th standard commander (regiment leader) of the 43rd Mixed Association of the Shanxi New Army.Later, on the basis of submitting to Yuan Shikai, Yan Xishan merged with some Beiyang forces and created Yan Jiaban, which ruled Shanxi for 38 years. Yan Xishan can be regarded as the number one representative of surviving in the cracks. Relying on his unique skill of "seeing the wind and making the rudder", he has fought against the central government and various experts for 38 years with a single effort.Yan Xishan's ability to practice adapting to the wind to such an outstanding level is related to his experience when he was young. He dropped out of school when he was a teenager, and then went to his father's money shop to help lend money and collect interest to make money.Doing business was risky, and it was not in the mood to buy insurance against the risk back then, so unfortunately his father's money shop went bankrupt.Later, in order to make a living, he worked as a cook and a shop assistant. If he hadn't been admitted to a military academy later, he would have suffered even more.This kind of arduous experience made Yan Xishan comprehend the rules of survival in troubled times in his eyes: self-improvement, self-reliance, and selfishness.Mind you, there is no self respect. Of course, Yan Xishan also has positive things worth mentioning.Standing on the shoulders of the wealthiest Shanxi merchants, he made the construction of new countryside booming. In terms of democratic management and wealth, he was at the top level in China at that time.It is precisely because Yan Xishan knows how to hide wealth from the people, and because he is very stingy, Yan Jiaban is very rich, and he is regarded as the biggest local tyrant among the local warlords. Status: Reluctantly self-protected The core disciple under the sect: Fu Zuoyi... Combat power: medium Approximate distribution of forces: Shanxi Decline event: Central Plains War in 1930; War of Liberation Head: Feng Yuxiang, nicknamed "General with Thousand Faces" in Jianghu The head's special hobby: writing doggerel.The head of Feng created "Qiu Bati" by himself, and left more than 1,400 "masterpieces" in his life, which is as many as Lu You.A special poem is selected for appreciation: Apart from his fondness for writing poems, Head Feng is also an advanced worker in environmental protection.As written in his poems, he is particularly fond of planting trees. Life insights: In the face of interests, it is very difficult to maintain loyalty and faith. Full name of the sect: Feng's Northwest Army History of the sect: Feng Yuxiang, native of Cangzhou, Hebei, joined Yuan Shikai at the age of 20 and became a glorious Beiyang new army.This man has a good figure, a tall macho with big arms and round waist.In the army, the hunk's consistent performance broke the habitual thinking of the officer Lu Jianzhang - the hunk is a man with well-developed limbs and a simple mind.Because Feng Yuxiang not only has well-developed limbs - he is good at hard work, but also has a well-developed head - flexible thinking and excellent eloquence, so Lu Jianzhang thinks highly of him, not only promoted him from a small soldier to the leader of a battalion, but also brought him up by himself His grown-up niece married him.This marriage is an important cornerstone of his future success. During the Revolution of 1911, Feng Yuxiang was taken down by the imperial court because he participated in the "Luanzhou Military Remonstrance".Fortunately, the old superior Lu Jianzhang was a member of the veteran training team of Tianjin Xiaozhan, and he could speak in front of Yuan Shikai, so Feng Yuxiang was promoted (brigadier commander) instead of being jailed. After that, Feng Yuxiang followed Lu Jianzhang to suppress the bandit White Wolf.After the White Wolf was settled, Lu Jianzhang became the governor of Shaanxi, and Feng Yuxiang also took charge of the army.During his stay in Shaanxi, Feng Yuxiang made actual investigations on the geography, customs and customs of Shaanxi and its surrounding areas, laying a solid foundation for his future expansion into the Northwest with Shaanxi as his base. Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long, and Lu Jianzhang was killed by Xu Shuzheng.Afterwards, Feng Yuxiang, who had no cover of a boss, worked in the five major companies of the Zhili, Anhui, Fengzhi, Kuomintang, and the Soviet Union.However, his frequent job-hopping experience is not in line with professional ethics, because he mostly relies on selling the old boss to the new boss to get career promotion, so he has a resounding nickname: "Rebel General". The frequency of defection up to nine times is unconvincing. In the process of tossing back and forth, Feng Yuxiang used the Beiyang Army inherited from Lu Jianzhang as the core team, and mixed in elements of local miscellaneous militias to build the Northwest Army and rule the Northwest. Status: The straw that broke the game or broke the camel's back Core disciples under the sect: Song Zheyuan, Zhang Zizhong, Yang Hucheng... Combat power: average and low, weapons and equipment can't keep up, and there are still many soldiers who can only cut people with big knives. Fortunately, General Feng asked martial arts master Ma Fengtu to customize a set of martial arts for these soldiers with knives to enhance their combat power.This is a set of knife techniques called "Breaking Front and Eight Swords". The general distribution of forces: a part of Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai Decline Event: The Central Plains War in 1930 ※※※ Other figures such as the Guangdong warlord Chen Jiongming, the "Tomb Raider General" Sun Dianying who roamed around, the "Five Poison General" Zhang Zongchang with countless savage deeds, and the Sichuan warlord Liu Xiang will not be introduced for the time being.Although they are also very famous, most of them can't even control a province, and they are always attached to other big warlords to dawdle, so these characters should wait for the big drama to play for them before inviting them to appear. The contestants finally arrived, and the official competition began.