Chapter 141 140. Xu Shuzheng Kills Lu Jianzhang

On June 14, 7, Xu Shuzheng suddenly shot Lu Jianzhang to death in Tianjin. Lu Jianzhang arrived in Tianjin from Shanghai on June 13. He was a behind-the-scenes activist of the Peace Sect and had direct and indirect relations with the Beiyang warlords in various provinces. Feng Yuxiang’s peace peace was related to him. dangerous person.This time, the Overseer Group held another meeting in Tianjin. This meeting tended to be unfavorable to the main combat faction. Therefore, Feng Guozhang secretly instructed Lu Jianzhang's eldest son, Lu Chengwu, to call his father to Tianjin. The purpose was to use Lu Jianzhang to persuade Cao Kun to return to Tianjin. Come to Zhili and cooperate with Li Chun to turn the Governor's meeting into a situation that is beneficial to Feng and not conducive to Duan.

After Lu Jianzhang arrived in Tianjin, Xu Shuzheng wrote to ask him to go to the headquarters of Fengjun stationed in Tianjin for a talk.Lu Jianzhang is self-confident that he is the current general and a veteran of the Beiyang faction, so he has no doubt that someone will kill him.He went as promised, and Xu Shuzheng graciously invited him to talk in the secret room of the garden. When he entered the garden, a guard shot him from behind and killed him. Regarding the reason for killing Lu, according to Xu Shuzheng's report to the government: "According to the leading generals of our army, Chen: There are many people who claim to be the generals of the army, secretly collude, and utter incitement and so on. After Shuzheng's strict instructions, do not be moved. Two days ago, this member returned Interviewed the various personnel of the army's headquarters in Tianjin, wantonly playing the drums to confuse the morale of the army. After each member stated everything to Shuzheng, Shuzheng only thought that he might be an unscrupulous party member who deliberately incited the deeds. General Lu may not This is the absurdity. The staff also wrote to Shuzheng, saying that Shuzheng had a phone call and made an appointment to talk with him at his apartment. Checking the time limit mentioned in the letter, Shuzheng has not yet left Beijing, which is deeply surprising. Please reply this afternoon He came to meet. Just sitting down, he was full of curses, all words that undermined the overall situation. Shuzheng tactfully advised, and understood that the country was in danger, and he should be friendly with his comrades, and not fight against his own brother. He said, I have made up my mind The purpose is to disregard the survival of the country. It is not enough to overthrow the current cabinet without uniting the army. Shuzheng then sternly warned that with his military qualifications, he should contribute to the country. Why do he go against the grain? Never for the country Plan, would you rather not plan for your own descendants? Seeing that Shuzheng changed his face and warned each other, he said again: "If so, please listen to the despicable plan, unite the army, support Duan and push Feng, and I will do my best to serve you. I will not Min, there are still more than 20,000 people in the territory of Shandong, Anhui, Shaanxi and Henan. How about ordering them to be restrained by the public? I have heard it for a long time, but now I am blatantly saying it, turning it upside down, and would rather overthrow the country than realize it. It is a thief in the army. There are hidden dangers. In addition to examining the corpse of the officer in the coffin, and burying it properly, waiting for the family to accept the burial, I hereby report, please deprive the officer of his military post, and use the Zhao Law Code. Wait for the verification and implementation."

After killing Lu, Xu Shuzheng asked Fang Shu, secretary-general of the academy, to draft an order from a long-distance call, and asked Feng Guozhang to stamp and publish the full text of the order as follows: "According to Zhang Huaizhi, Ni Sichong, Chen Shufan, Lu Yongxiang, etc., it was reported successively that Lu Jianzhang was in Anhui, Shaanxi and other places, colluding with bandits, inciting the army, and trying to create chaos. Recently, he was colluding with the rebellious party in Shanghai. The State Council should order it. It is hereby forwarded by the Prime Minister, and Xu Shuzheng, the deputy commander of the Fengjun Army, said: Lu Jianzhang traveled from Shanghai to Tianjin, came back to the camp to instigate, and when he was captured, he was shot and executed. As an officer, Lu Jianzhang dared to incite the army everywhere and colluded with bandits. All banditry regulations should be rectified immediately. Now that they have been shot and executed, they will be stripped of their military ranks and medals, so that they can be legally enforced."

Feng Guozhang was terrified and terrified. He refused to seal it that day, but felt that he was in danger, so he finally sealed it and published it on the 16th. A retired military officer who proclaimed himself deputy commander killed a current general "beheaded first and then played". This was a shocking murder at the time.It is obvious that Lu Jianzhang will definitely not use Fengjun as the object of incitement, especially Xu Shuzheng.After the incident, both Li Chun and Chen Guangyuan sent telegrams to question the Beijing government: Lu Jianzhang was killed without trial, and after his death he was deprived of his honors. Since then, all officers are in danger. How can they get protection?

Duan donated 5,000 yuan to Lu Jianzhang's family to express his old love for Beiyang Paoze.Xu Shuzheng reissued a telegram, fabricating that Lu Jianzhang scolded the president and Governor Cao during the conversation, saying that Lu deserved his death, and it was not a struggle between the main battle and the two factions.The Anhui Clan also worried that Feng Yuxiang was Lu's nephew, so they took Feng Brigade's capture of Changde on the 14th as an excuse and appointed him as the guardian envoy of Xiangxi. Heart.Feng Yuxiang not only never mentioned this matter, but also volunteered to be transferred to Fujian to fight Guangdong.

From the 19th, Feng Guozhang excused his illness and did not see any guests. He was worried that the Anhui Department would pursue further responsibilities, because Lu Chengwu sent a telegram complaining that he had taken a completely irresponsible attitude towards this murder case. The Anhui Department can't have no worries about Cao Kun.In fact, Cao Kun also felt that Xu Shuzheng's methods were too vicious, and he had to be wary.But the Anhui Department quickly cured his heart disease, Xu Shuzheng vowed to promise that the vice president issue would be handled as originally agreed, and there would be no change.Xu Shuzheng also said: In the future, he is not required to go to Hankou to preside over the military. As long as he does not object to the fifth phase of the battle plan and let others fight, the vice president can be secured.After Cao Kun ate this "ecstasy soup", he wavered again.

Lu Jianzhang, courtesy name Langzhai, was born in Mengcheng County, Anhui Province. He was a graduate of the Armed Forces Academy and participated in military training at a small station.He also often invites people to dinner, and shoots them to death from the back when seeing them off. People call his red invitations for invitations "Yan Wang tickets". In March 3rd, he served as the commander of the Seventh Division, in June 3rd, as the governor of Shaanxi, and in May 5th, he was driven away by Chen Shufan.When the news of Lu Jianzhang's detention reached Beijing, Duan Qirui was afraid that he would be killed, so he immediately asked Zeng Yujun to go to Tianjin by car to stop him, but when he arrived, he was already executed.Zeng returned to Beijing the next day and brought a package of documents to Duan to read. After reading it, Duan repeatedly said, "Damn it, damn it!"

The murder of Lu Jianzhang made two people give people a terrible impression at the same time. The first one was of course Xu Shuzheng.He was only 39 years old this year, and he and Lu Jianzhang's son, Lu Chengwu, were classmates of a non-commissioned officer. Lu Chengwu's wife and Xu Shuzheng's wife were also classmates. The two families had a close relationship. It was chilling that Xu Shuzheng would do something like this.The other is Feng Yuxiang. After his uncle Lu Jianzhang was killed, he was appointed as the Xiangxi guard envoy and reinstated brigade commander. Same. During this period, Feng Guozhang was unable to fight openly or secretly with Duan Qirui.But Duan Qirui's life is not easy. On the one hand, there is nationwide anti-Japanese and opposition to borrowing money from Japan;Duan deeply felt that the old Beiyang faction had been torn apart and could not become a situation, so he decided to speed up the establishment of his own direct force, and ordered Xu Shuzheng to set up three mixed brigades of the participating army at the small station, hoping to achieve the purpose of reorganizing the new army.

On July 28, Zhang Zuolin arrived in Tianjin. Zhang Huaizhi also arrived in Tianjin on the 30th. On the 31st, the Overseer Corps held another meeting in Tianjin.A feature of this Tianjin meeting was that Zhang Zuolin personally participated in the meeting of the military governors. Other participants were: Cao Kun, Zhang Huaizhi, Xu Shuzheng, Ni Sichong, Tian Zhongyu, Long Jiguang, etc.The three governors of the Yangtze River have not yet sent representatives to attend.Ni Sichong arrived on the same day after receiving a secret message from Xu Shuzheng. The Tianjin meeting is still discussing the issue of the president and the issue of the Southern Expedition.Zhang Zuolin agreed to elect Xu Shichang as the next president, and suggested that Duan Qirui be elected as vice president.At this time, Zhang Zuolin was no longer willing to be inferior to others, and he himself had the ambition to become the vice president.Ni Sichong was afraid that the meeting would lead to a stalemate, so he suggested that no decision be made on the candidate for the vice president for the time being, and that it be left to those who have made great achievements in the war against the south.This suggestion was proposed by Xu Shuzheng through Ni Si, because Xu Shuzheng had already promised Cao Kun, so he couldn't break his promise, but now that Zhang Zuolin entered the pass in person, he wanted to win over Zhang Zuolin, so as to encourage Zhang Zuolin to transfer all Fengjun troops to the south to fight. On the other hand, he used the vice president as a bait to lure Cao Kun and his direct army to continue fighting in the south.To restore the deadlock in the South.

Cao Kun thought he was the only candidate for vice president, and Xu Shuzheng said at the time that as long as he did not oppose fighting in the south, it was enough, and he did not need to actively march south. How did he know that changes had taken place on the Hunan front, and his general Wu Peifu But he refused to fight, and established an armistice agreement with the southern army, but this time the Tianjin meeting left the vice president to those who had made great contributions to the southern expedition, and Zhang Zuolin was on the sidelines.The Tianjin meeting unanimously decided to persuade Cao Kun to go south to make meritorious service.On the one hand, Cao Kun was reluctant to give up the position of vice president, and on the other hand, he received a secret message from Wu Peifu to prevent him from going south, which made him really in a dilemma.

This honest man who was born as a cloth dealer also had his hand. He figured out a way to deal with the dilemma. On the one hand, he agreed to go south, and on the other hand, he proposed three conditions: (1) the central government pre-raised military expenses; (2) stipulated that the four provinces (3) Arms are temporarily borrowed from Fengtian, and the management rights of the three arsenals in Dezhou, Shanghai, and Hanyang must be obtained.Cao Kun expected that the Beijing government would find it difficult to accept these three conditions, so he could use excuses to postpone the date of going south.He deeply felt that he was deceived, because if he really went south, Zhang Zuolin would definitely take the opportunity to penetrate into the Beijing regime. Zhang Zuolin was his biggest threat, he had the ambition to become the vice president, and he was also the only candidate other than him. Duan Qirui sent a float to take Cao Kun to Beijing for a detailed discussion, but Cao refused. When discussing the war against the south at the Tianjin meeting, there were differences of opinion on who should be the first and who should be the last. Since Zhang Zuolin appeared as a "fighter", the warlords of the provinces advocated that the Feng army should be the main force in the front instead of standing still on the front line. military.But of course Zhang Zuolin refused to do so. He suggested that the Fengjun should be used as the general reserve force on all fronts to help the front at any time. Of course, this was opposed by other warlords. , everyone is not a fool, who is willing to do this?Therefore, this issue is delayed by everyone, and you push me to rely on it. At the Tianjin meeting, everyone unanimously called for the great unity of the Beiyang faction. First of all, representatives of the provinces that did not attend the meeting were required to attend as non-voting delegates.This refers to the three provinces directly related to the Yangtze River. They did not participate in the Tianjin Conference, nor did they send representatives to attend.So the Tianjin Conference called all the members to ask for their opinions on the "Southern Expedition Issue"?Asking them to reply quickly, they replied: no objection, only willing to protect the environment and the people. Therefore, although Zhang Zuolin personally participated in this Tianjin meeting, there was still no result.During this period, the only thing that the warlords of the provinces agreed on was to demand military pay from the Beijing government, and the amount they offered was 15 million yuan. Of course, one cannot fight without money, so Cabinet Duan was busy using his brains on "money".Finance Minister Cao Rulin proposed to issue 240 million yuan of gold coin certificates, and borrow 80 million yuan from the Bank of North Korea as one-third of the reserve fund. , and set up a trading company to operate distribution and international remittance business.Duan adopted this suggestion and proposed to ask Feng to promulgate and implement the regulations on the issuance of gold coin coupons.And Feng once again refused to affix the seal. However, on August 9, Feng finally convened a meeting with the heads of various ministries and the heads of China Communications and Communications Bank in the government office to discuss the issue of issuing gold coin coupons.Cao Rulin reported at the meeting that the issuance of gold coin coupons was a reform of the currency system and a preparatory step for the adoption of the gold standard. On August 10, Feng announced in the name of the president the formulation of the gold coin certificate regulations and the official regulations of the Currency Bureau. Western countries expressed their opposition to this measure of the Beijing government. They believed that China should first discuss the reform of the currency system with the five-nation banking group and should not act alone. This is against the common interests of the West. Therefore, they jointly protested against China. Towards the end, the big powers began to pay attention to China again, not as relaxed as they were during the emergency period of the European War. Therefore, they could not tolerate various collusion between the Japanese government and the Duan Qirui government, and still wanted to control China through the five-nation bank group. Prevented Japan's monopoly on borrowing from China. In view of the strong pressure from Western countries, the Japanese government did not want to incur excessive dislike from Western countries, so it recalled Nishihara, the personal representative of the Prime Minister who stayed in China, and temporarily did not consider the matter of borrowing gold coins. The collusion between Duan Qirui's government and Japan did not gain much, because the supply of arms only made Fengjun cheaper, and the Japanese arms were robbed by Fengjun twice. The Tianjin meeting started on July 31 and ended on August 9 with no results.Zhang Huaizhi and Ni Sichong both left Tianjin and returned to defense.Only Zhang Zuolin remained in Tianjin, and he was already interested in Beijing's political arena. When Zhang Zuolin was in Tianjin, a major incident occurred. He discovered that since Duan Qirui formed a cabinet for the third time on March 25, Xu Shuzheng had received a total of 5.5 million yuan in military expenses from Fengjun, but Fengjun had only received more than 1.8 million yuan.He further inquired and found that Xu Shuzheng used other money to train the army and organize the election of the new Congress. It turned out that Xu was playing with "fake reimbursement". Since Zhang Zuolin entered the Customs, in his contacts with all parties, he heard all about how domineering Xu Shuzheng was, how rampant he was, and how he used Duan Qirui to bully the Beiyang armies.Therefore, he was already dissatisfied with Xiao Xu in his heart, and now he found out that he had misused Fengjun's military expenditures for other purposes and bullied others on his own head, so he was not angry, so he immediately ordered Xu Shuzheng's deputy Fengjun to be dismissed without consulting with the Beijing government. Commander, and wants to settle accounts with Xiao Xu. When Duan Qirui heard that Zhang Zuolin had turned his back on him, he was afraid of causing other troubles, so he quickly asked Xu Shuzheng to see Zhang to apologize, and admitted that he would return the money in a short time. On August 24, Beijing announced that Zhang Jinghui was the commander of the first division of Fengjun.