Chapter 92 fourth quarter

The "March 18" tragedy contributed to the downfall of Duan Qirui.After leaving the field, Duan Qirui became a vegetarian for life to show his remorse, even if the doctor suggested to prescribe meat to strengthen nutrition, he would not adopt it.Known as the "Prime Minister of the Six Nos", because he "does not smoke, drink, whore, gamble, do not take money" all his life, his financial situation was very difficult after he stepped down, and his servants were dismissed continuously. Inquire in person to squeeze household expenses.Seeing this situation, a group of old subordinates often come to Duanzhai to clean the house on a voluntary basis.

After Japan conspired to instigate the autonomy of the five North China provinces, Duan Qirui was the leader found for the future puppet regime.The Japanese tried their best to win him over, but he refused to submit, and suffered from having no way out.Chiang Kai-shek was deeply afraid that Duan Qirui would be manipulated by Japan, so he contacted Duan Qirui's nephew to arrange for him to leave North China; at this time, news came that Japan was about to hijack Duan Qirui, and Duan Qirui immediately stated: "I am old, and I will not be captured." Yes, if Jieshi thinks that my going south is beneficial to the state affairs, I can go to the Tao at any time."

In the early morning of January 21, 1933, Duan Qirui secretly left Tianjin and arrived in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China.Chiang Kai-shek ordered that all officers above the major general in Nanjing must cross the river to greet them, and he himself greeted them at the Xiaguan Wharf.When the gray-haired Duan Qirui set foot on the south bank of the river surrounded by a large number of generals of the Republic of China, he looked at this once powerful "Tiger of the Northern Ocean" and a giant in the early years of the Republic of China who were known as the "Three Republics". , Chiang Kai-shek, the principal when I was studying in the Baoding Lecture Hall in my early years, was respectful and led the greeters to stand up and salute.

The arrival of Duan Qirui brought a turning point in Li Guojie's fate, because his grandfather was kind to Duan Qirui. Duan Qirui was admitted to the Beiyang Armed Forces Academy in 1885, and he made a big splash in a drill, which impressed Li Hongzhang, who was watching the exercise.Li Hongzhang then learned that Duan Qirui's grandfather and uncles were all generals of the Huai Army, and he was a descendant of his old subordinates, so he paid more attention to him.When Duan Qirui was invited to take the test, Duan Qirui answered fluently. Li Hongzhang was overjoyed and said to him: "He is familiar with military affairs and trained by him. He is a usable talent!"

In 1889, the Qing government sent five people to Germany to study military affairs.When the list came to Li Hongzhang, he found that there were three from Shandong and two from Anhui. He was not very happy, so he crossed out one of them and added Duan Qirui's name.During Duan Qirui's study in Germany, he also wrote two letters to this little fellow himself, encouraging him to "study hard". Li Hongzhang's kindness to Duan Qirui can be imagined.Based on this, as long as possible, he could not sit idly by what happened to Li Guojie, the eldest grandson of Li Hongzhang; and Duan Qirui had a relationship with the Li family: his eldest daughter Duan Shixuan married Li Guoyuan, the grandson of Li Hongzhang and Li Guojie's cousin!Although Duan Shixuan had died of illness and Li Guoyuan was remarried, the love between Weng and his son-in-law was still there.

The Li family, who had no choice but to be sentenced to prison for Li Guojie, learned that Duan Qirui was going south, and Chiang Kai-shek received him with courtesy, as if grabbing a life-saving straw.When Duan Qirui arrived in Nanjing, Li Guoyuan also rushed to meet him; when Duan Qirui visited the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Li Guoyuan accompanied him and asked to rescue Li Guojie. Duan Qirui put aside his old face, and said in a conversation with Chiang Kai-shek: "The matter of Guojie depends on Master Zhongtang's face, forget it!" Chiang Kai-shek hated Li Guojie, and had nothing to do with his grandfather. The long-dead Li Hongzhang did not have any "face" with him; but Duan Qirui was a person he respected, and he was also his old principal. Can not refute.Since Duan Qirui pleaded for mercy, within a few days, Chiang Kai-shek released Li Guojie from prison.

Grandfather Li Hongzhang, who has passed away for 32 years, is still shadowing his descendants.Was Li Guojie lamenting when he was released from prison: He was prominent in the former Qing Dynasty because he had a grandfather;He himself is like a falling leaf, unable to shake in the wind and rain of the new era, unable to control his own destiny. After Li Guojie was released from prison, there is no detailed information on what actions Li Guojie took in the next four years. He must have continued to be his "apartment". Although his power was lost, his family property was still there.When the Anti-Japanese War broke out in 1937, the headquarters of China Merchants Shanghai Steamship Co., Ltd. first moved to Hong Kong, and then moved to Chongqing.Li Guojie did not leave Shanghai.In Shanghai, which fell into the hands of Japan, Li Guojie was killed.

Japan recruited traitors in Shanghai's Chinese circles and established a "Maintenance Council". Some former Qing bureaucrats were later drawn into this puppet regime. On March 28, 1938, under the control of Japan, the "Reformation Government of the Republic of China" headed by the traitor Liang Hongzhi was established in Nanjing, which governed the Japanese-occupied areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui provinces and the two special cities of Nanjing and Shanghai. Afterwards, the Kuomintang secret service received information that Li Guojie, the grandson of Li Hongzhang, had been recruited and was about to join the reform government as the leader of the puppet regime; there were even clear rumors that his position was Minister of Transportation.

Li Guojie and the Kuomintang have always been at odds. He hates the Kuomintang for taking away his Shanghai Shipping Merchants Bureau, while the Kuomintang is annoyed that he has colluded with hardcore anti-Chiang people like Wang Yaqiao.Although he was imprisoned for the big economic case of selling docks and warehouses to foreign countries, he was rescued by Duan Qirui soon after. Now that there are such rumors, the Kuomintang has another opportunity to attack. Whether Li Guojie fell into the water and became a traitor is still a mystery today.But at that time, the Kuomintang did not think about it, and immediately deployed military special agents to "eliminate traitors." On February 19, 1939, which was the first day of the Lunar New Year, Li Guojie walked out of the alley entrance of Qinyuan Village, Xinzha Road, where he lived. A gunshot fired, and the 58-year-old Li Guojie fell to the ground.

The family hurriedly sent Li Guojie, who was unconscious, to the hospital for treatment. Unexpectedly, the hospital was notified in advance, claiming that he was a traitor, and refused to rescue him.In the confusion of his family, the dying Li Guojie struggled to utter a question: "What did they beat me for?" After a while, a generation of "Hou Ye" Li Guojie died unexpectedly. There are two strange signs of Li Guojie's death.When the family had a New Year's Eve dinner on the 30th night before, his wife's chopsticks snapped in two when she was picking up fans. Those were ivory chopsticks!Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, and someone said cautiously, whether this is a bad omen, you should be more careful in the New Year.Li Guojie laughed it off at the time.

Li Guojie's adopted nephew, Li Jiajin, was on his way to pay New Year's greetings with his wife when the incident happened. Hearing the bad news on the way, the two rushed to the hospital.When he arrived, Li Guojie had died.Li Jiajin's wife saw her father-in-law lying upright on the bed, and when she looked closely, she yelled in horror—it turned out that this bed was exactly the one Zhao Tieqiao was lying on when he was sent to rescue after being stabbed! The fate of the "traitor suspect" Li Guojie, who was assassinated by military special agents for no apparent reason, was not as good as that of an authentic traitor—that is, Cai Pei, the director of the Aviation Administration Department of the Ministry of Communications, who first cooperated with him to steal and sell the docks, and then turned his face and refused to accept the account to escape punishment.Cai Pei defected to the enemy during the Anti-Japanese War. After the Anti-Japanese War, in July 1946, he was sentenced to death for "conspiring against the enemy's country and plotting against his own country", but it was later changed to life imprisonment. Golden branches in the late Qing Dynasty, fallen leaves in the Republic of China; lush grass under the shade of a big tree, dead vines after the tree fell.This is the fate of Li Guojie, the eldest grandson of Li Hongzhang. In another world, would Li Hongzhang know that his eldest grandson died under the gun of the military commander? Li Guojie, a dude, couldn't hold on to the Shanghai Merchants Bureau that his grandfather had worked so hard to build, and all his grandfather's relics were lost in his hands.His father Li Jingshu died early, and died in 1901 with his grandfather Li Hongzhang.Li Jingshu packed dozens of large boxes with items used by Li Hongzhang during his lifetime, such as court clothes, imperial yellow jackets, three-eyed flower feathers, hand-approved ancient books, seal boxes, etc., and passed them to Li Guojie for preservation.And Li Guojie wandered around first Belgium, then Shanghai, then Beijing and then Shanghai again, and this heirloom was almost lost; when these boxes were passed to Li Guojie's son Li Jiajin, only one remained. Of course, it is impossible for Li Guojie to pass on the title of "Marquis" to his son after his death, but his step-son Li Jiajin inherited his reputation of "luxury and wealth", which caused disasters again and again.The kidnappers in Shanghai kidnapped him many times, and a considerable part of the ancestral money was used as ransom.Later, Shanghai couldn't stay there any longer and took refuge in Suzhou.In Suzhou for a few years, I lived by being a seller. When I went, I brought dozens of boxes of gold and silver. When I came back, everything was sold out, leaving a lot of boxes and keys. After 1949, descendants of the Li family filled in the column of "family background" as "feudal bureaucrat". In 1957, Li Guojie's eldest adoptive son Li Jiajin passed away, and the only box containing Li Hongzhang's relics was handed over to his wife and six sons.During the Cultural Revolution, before the Red Guards came to ransack the house, they hurriedly destroyed all the items in the box, leaving only the 6 gold-plated buttons on the yellow mandarin jacket that was bestowed by the emperor, mixed in the sewing basket, to keep the eminent man. Memorial of the ancestors...