Chapter 159 158. Zhang Zuolin unified the Northeast

After Xu Shuzheng was proud of the Northwest, he was called the King of the Northwest, which made the real King of the Northeast very unhappy.Xu Shuzheng has made a lot of great achievements in the Duan family, but his shortcoming is that he is so big that he always brings a lot of troubles to the Duan family.After Outer Mongolia was abolished, his Northwest frontier affairs were very impressive. People in the Beijing government who didn't like Xiao Xu decided to let him develop in the Northwest, but Zhang Zuolin, the leader of the Feng Dynasty, was not happy. Zhang Zuolin has long been a tour envoy to the three eastern provinces, but in fact he did not unify the three eastern provinces. In October 6, he entered Jilin and wanted to drive away Jilin governor Meng Enyuan. For his sake, when he was thinking about Jilin, Meng Ji united with the direct line to fight against him, and he was forced to withdraw his troops quietly. Now seeing Xu Shuzheng doing whatever he wants in the northwest, of course he feels extremely uncomfortable.So he called the Beijing government to choose one of his subordinates, Wu Junsheng or Sun Liechen, as the frontier envoy to the Northeast, to show that his status was higher than that of the frontier envoy.

In terms of dealing with Jilin Governor Meng Enyuan, he and Xiao Xu have the same interests.Meng Enyuan's son-in-law is Lu Chengwu, and Lu Chengwu's father is Lu Jianzhang, who was killed by Xu Shuzheng on trumped-up charges. Xiao Xu is always on guard against Lu Chengwu to avenge his father. Of course, he is also willing to see Meng Enyuan collapse, not only to eliminate harm for himself, but also to please Zhang Zuolin.Long before he went to Outer Mongolia, he had secretly encouraged Sun Liechen to lead the 27th Division to move to Changchun, where he set up a sub-office for the inspection of the three eastern provinces.The next step is to expel Meng Enyuan and replace him.Of course Zhang Zuolin was in favor of this plan, and he ordered the Jilin gentry He Shouren and others to sue the Beijing government and the three eastern provinces for eight major crimes, including running the army and destroying the people, respectively.Zhang himself also accused the Beijing government of Meng Enyuan's recruitment of troops, which made Jilin's banknotes low and the people's livelihood difficult. He asked to replace Meng Enyuan and be replaced by Sun Liechen.On the other hand, he hinted at Meng Enyuan and asked him to resign himself, and Zhang was willing to recommend Meng as the commander-in-chief of the Northeast Frontier Defense.

At this time, Qian Nengxun was still the Prime Minister, and Xu Shuzheng instructed Gong Xinzhan to raise the question of replacing the Jilin Governor at the State Council. Of course, Meng Enyuan refused to show weakness. He ordered the garrison on the Middle East Road to be transferred back to Changchun and Harbin for defense, and Gao Shibin, the commander of the First Division of the Jilin Army, led his troops back to Changchun for defense. Military officers jointly questioned the Beijing government: Has there been any change in the military governor? On June 18, 8, Chen Guangyuan, a member of the direct lineage, mobilized, led by Cao Kun, Wang Zhanyuan, Li Chun, and Chen Guangyuan jointly sent a telegram to the government, saying that the Jilin Governor's issue was related to diplomacy and national defense, and please do not change hastily.The State Council replied and agreed.

However, Duan Xi wanted to win over Zhang Zuolin, so of course it was inconvenient to refuse Zhang's request. Therefore, the Beijing government invited two elders from Northeast China——Zhao Erxun and Zhang Xiluan, both of whom were mentors of Zhang Zuolin, to mediate outside the customs. Zhang Zuolin expressed that he was very relaxed. It’s just conveying the opinions of Jilin citizens to the central government.” On July 6, 8, the Beijing State Affairs Conference was proposed by Acting Prime Minister Gong Xinzhan, and passed the transfer of Meng Enyuan as General Enwei, Heilongjiang Governor Bao Guiqing as Jilin Governor, and Sun Liechen as Heilongjiang Governor.This kind of personnel transfer is also a painstaking effort by the Beijing government. It turns out that Bao Guiqing is relatively peaceful and has no military power. Transferring him to Jilin can reduce the stimulus and ease the resistance of Jilin soldiers.At the same time, Xue Songnian, the military attache of the Presidential Palace, was sent to Changchun to persuade Meng Enyuan not to resist, and to admit that he would protect his status and property.Zhang Zuolin also sent someone to signal to Gao Shibang that he was willing to accept Gao as a student, so as to show that he would not see outsiders.However, Gao is Meng Enyuan's nephew, and the relationship between uncle and nephew is always close.

The Jilin side seemed to be very tough. Headed by Gao Shibin, all Jilin military officers jointly signed a telegram asking the Beijing government to withdraw the order to reassign the Jilin warlord, and gave the Beijing government a reply within 48 hours. On July 11, Gong Xinzhan replied to Gao Shibin and others in the name of the State Council: "According to the President's metaphor, the diplomacy is urgent. Meng Du has been in the border for a long time, and he has a wealth of experience. He transferred to Beijing for another reason. He did not move from the left. Meng Du is a high-ranking official with relations with the country. The President is well-known. The country has officials. There is no difference in the importance of the inside and the outside, the palm is sealed, and the internal reference is confidential, and it is the same for the country. Please do not cause misunderstandings by Meng Du's transfer."

At the same time, Gong Xinzhan sent a telegram to Meng Enyuan, saying: "The head of state has always cared for you, and you should borrow it when you arrive in Beijing." These are all in official language, so Meng Enyuan also replied in official language. If you want to go, you can’t do it. Please ask for instructions.” He publicly said in a transfer talk: “If I leave Jilin, the Jilin Sixty Battalion Army will not agree. I have to worry about this. If there is half a lie, he will die under the gunfire in the future!" Of course, the Beijing government was unwilling to let the Jilin issue lead to war. In order to ease the situation, it ordered Bao Guiqing to suspend his term of office, and sent Guo Zongxi, governor of Jilin Province, as the regent. Send the seal to Governor Guo and accept it, when will it be done?"

Zhang Zuolin believed that the Beijing government was too weak, so he was so angry that he wanted to transfer the Fengjun who had been transferred to the customs to deal with Lao Meng. Bao Guiqing came up with a compromise solution, suggesting that the Beijing government transfer Meng Enyuan to lead the First Division of the Gao Shibin and the First Brigade of the Jilin Army to enter the customs, temporarily stationed at the border of Zhilu, and take Meng Enyuan as the commander-in-chief to be responsible for suppressing bandits.This can also be regarded as a two-pronged proposition. Although the territory has become Zhang Zuolin's territory, the army is still Meng Enyuan's capital.Although this method was a middle-of-the-road method, Zhang Zuolin refused to give way to Gaoshi when he entered the customs. At the same time, Cao Kun's Zhili refused to draw up a defense zone and did not welcome it.

Therefore, Bao Guiqing's method will not work. Since Gao Shibin didn’t send Zhang Zuolin’s protégé post, Zhang Zuolin certainly regarded him as a thorn in his side, unless Gao couldn’t achieve it and forced Meng to step down, so he reported to the Beijing government, “Gao Shibing organized a law-protecting government, which is in line with the Southwest, and the government is requested to order a crusade!” Since Zhang Zuolin turned his back on him, he had to work hard to the end, so he decided to use force. He appointed Sun Liechen, commander of the 27th Division, as the commander-in-chief of the South Road in the three eastern provinces, and Wu Jun, the commander of the 29th Division, as the commander-in-chief of the North Road. .Sun Liechen set up a headquarters in Kaiyuan, and his forward arrived at Huaide, only 30 miles away from the Ji army defending the two cities.Wu Junsheng's troops also advanced south from Daben, about a hundred miles away from the Ji army defending Nong'an.At this time, Jilin also deployed resistance. Gao Shibin claimed to be the commander-in-chief of the bandit army in Nong'an, and issued a call to action against Zhang Zuolin.Zhang Zuolin repeatedly urged the Beijing government to order the crusade against Meng Enyuan.

Everyone knows that the Northeast issue is already in the clutches of Japan. The Japanese regard the Northeast as their forbidden fruit. They conspire to support a power and regard Zhang Zuolin as a good target, so they sided with Zhang Zuolin in the dispute between Zhang and Meng. The two armies of Fengji and Jiji were at war, and the war was about to break out. The Japanese army suddenly came forward to prevent the Jijun army from confiscating vehicles in Kuanchengzi, which caused a conflict.The Japanese army transferred the fifth battalion to Jilin from the Sino-Korean border, and put forward three requirements: (1) The Chinese army withdrew from Changchun for 30 miles; (2) Yilan and Kaiyuan were turned into commercial ports. (3) The Japanese have the exclusive right to run tap water in Iran.

On July 21, the Japanese envoy to Beijing went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to warn Chen Lu about the Jilin issue.Internal affairs involved diplomacy, so the Beijing government decided to get rid of Meng Enyuan, and issued two orders in a row: (1) condemn Meng Enyuan for disobeying orders and calling in the army, which caused foreign interference. , Immediately dismissed and investigated. Chengming, the commander of Gaobu's first brigade, surrendered without a fight. Before the battle of Fengji, the Ji army had already failed. Gao Shibin led his troops to retreat to Nong'an.Under such circumstances, Meng Enyuan had no choice but to soften. On July 28, Meng Enyuan went to Changchun and made a long-distance call with Zhang Zuolin. He said: "I'm 60 years old. I don't care about fame and fortune. I see too much. Gao Shibang has been persuaded.” On the 29th, he telegraphed, “Brother Ting Jiu (Bao Guiqing’s name) come to Changchun to take up the post as soon as possible, and I am responsible for making Gao Shibang handle the account.”

On August 3, Bao Guiqing was summoned to Changchun and negotiated with Meng Enyuan to protect Meng Enyuan's safe departure from the country, ignore Gao Shibin's past, and not return the military expenditure of 1.2 million yuan raised by the Kyrgyz army. On the 5th, Meng and Bao went to Jilin City to hold a handover ceremony. Jilin thus fell into the hands of Zhang Zuolin.Soldiers in Jilin jointly sent a telegram saying that the previous anti-Zhangist declaration was forged by traitors. On August 9, Gao Shiben wrote to Zhang Zuolin to plead guilty, with the sentence "Meng Du was the one who gave birth to me, and Meng Du was the one who destroyed me".Zhang Fuhan called Gao a "promising young man".The Beijing government ordered Zhang to investigate and prosecute Gao. Zhang dismissed the case in an understated tone: "Scholar Gao deserves the blame, and if he can still repent, he should be exempted from discussion, and all the brigade heads of his department will be dismissed." When Meng Enyuan passed by Fengtian, Zhang Zuolin hosted a banquet to shock him. Meng arrived in Tianjin on the 13th, and the Jilin issue was completely resolved. On August 14, Zhang Zuolin recommended Zhang Zuoxiang, commander of the 54th Brigade of the 27th Division, as commander of the 27th Division, and Zhang Huanxiang was promoted to commander of the 19th Mixed Brigade.