One of the first major things Zhang Rong did was to initiate the establishment of a revolutionary organization. After Lan Tianwei and others left the Northeast, the revolutionaries in the Northeast were leaderless, and the factions were falling apart. Zhang Rong and the revolutionaries Zhang Genren and Liu Danian actively planned to set up a revolutionary organization to organize the scattered revolutionary forces. They established the Mukden United Rapid Advancement Association, which was attended by many people from all walks of life. Their purpose was: "To respond to the south, contain the forces of the northern army, so that the Qing emperor does not dare to return to the east, and Zhao Du does not dare to become independent." Zhang Rong was elected president, Liu Danian and others were elected vice presidents, and an armed uprising was plotted. They sent people to Liaoyang, Haicheng, Hailong, and Xingjing to mobilize the military and police, and organize the people's army, and more than 10,000 people joined the people's army, and even the local officials did not dare to interfere, forming a tremendous revolutionary momentum.

Zhao Erxun saw all Zhang Rong's actions in his eyes and remembered them in his heart. When Zhao Erxun established the Security Association, he also gave Zhang Rong the official position of deputy head of the Senate in name only, so as to confuse Zhang Rong. Zhang Rong is a bright and upright person, and has no defense against Zhao Erxun's insidious cunning. Zhang Rong thought that Yuan Jinkai was his own person and had nothing to say to him, which revealed the secrets within the organization. Yuan Jinkai told Zhao Erxun about the uprising plan of the Rapid Advance Society, and Zhao Erxun assigned Zhang Zuolin the task of eradicating Zhang Rong.

Li Yuxuan knew that this Zhao Erxun was preparing to let Zhang Zuolin's hands be stained with the blood of revolutionaries, so that he would be firmly tied to the side of the royalists, and if he wanted to control the army of Fengtian, he could only obey Zhao Erxun's request, find an opportunity to let go of some revolutionaries, leave a good fate, and avoid too deep a feud.

On the evening of January 23, 1912, Yuan Jinkai instigated Zhang Rong to invite Zhang Zuolin to a banquet in Pingkangli's Proud Building, but Zhang Rong didn't know what the plan was. And so I did. The wine and dinner were about to end, and Yuan Jinkai took Zhang Zuolin away first. Zhang Rong was shot by Yuan Jinkai and killed on the spot. He was 28 years old. That night, Yuan Jinkai transferred troops from Zhang Zuolin to kill Zhang Rong's assistants Baokun and Tian Youheng, and carried out a city-wide search, in which more than 100 revolutionaries were slaughtered, and the White Terror enveloped the entire provincial capital.

Due to Zhang Zuolin's meritorious work in suppressing the revolutionaries, the Qing court appointed Zhang Zuolin as the minister of military training outside the Guan, and he was named after the general soldier. and changed the headquarters to the 24th town, became a division structure, and was given the command (division commander), and concurrently served as the general office of the Fengtian Patrol Defense Battalion. Since then, Zhang Zuolin has successfully grasped the military power of Fengtian Province.

In the open and secret struggle between the royalists and the republicans, Zhang Zuolin secretly contacted Yuan Shikai in the royalist camp. Li Yuxuan vaguely remembered that it was Yuan Shikai for Zhang Zuolin to enter Beijing in history, so he took the initiative to throw an olive branch to Yuan Shikai. Although Zhang Zuolin's royalist argument contradicts Yuan Shikai's pseudo-republican proposition, but. The treacherous and cunning Yuan Shikai has sniffed out that Zhang Zuolin is an eagle dog that can be used from Zhang Zuolin's loyalty telegram. Therefore, Yuan Shikai adopted a strategy of secret contact with Zhang Zuolin and sent messengers. A secret letter was issued, in which it was imperative to explain that Emperor Xuantong abdicated. And induce it to take advantage. After the abdication of the Qing Emperor, he promised to "appoint Qing as the defense supervisor of the three eastern provinces". This is for Li Yuxuan, who urgently needs to take control of the three eastern provinces. It's great news. Since then, this political deal has been used as an opportunity. The two of them were tightly united. Zhang Zuolin understood this, and naturally gave up the royalist theory, changed himself, and became an active supporter of the republican system.

Yuan Shikai became the interim president, but he felt that it was not enough, so he called to support Yuan Shikai as the official president. Telegram Yun: "The national system has been established, the provisional republican government has been established, and it is really appropriate for Wei Wei to elect Yuan Shikai as the president. Zhang Zuolin was afraid of being slower than others, so he took the lead in expressing his position. On many major issues in the future, such as Yuan Shikai's reluctance to leave his hometown in Beijing, Zhang Zuolin followed Yuan Shikai closely and expressed his loyalty. These practices were indeed approved by Yuan Shikai, and Zhang Zuolin also got his due reward as a matter of course, and was appointed as the defense supervisor of the three eastern provinces.

The original patrol battalion was a local security force, which was financed and maintained by the three eastern provinces, and its main task was to assist the army in attack and defense and to cooperate with the patrol police to catch thieves. Army divisions, on the other hand, are responsible for important national defense affairs and are also responsible for local bandits, and are regular troops of the state, which are equipped with funds and equipment by the central government, and are dispatched by the state. The establishment of the 27th Division of the Army has been greatly improved. It was reorganized from a backward unit of a single arm of the horse infantry to an advanced unit composed of multiple arms. It has 5 arms, namely 2 infantry brigades, 1 cavalry regiment, 1 artillery regiment, 1 engineer battalion, and 1 baggage battalion. Relatively speaking, the unit is well-armed and has a new look.

Zhang Zuolin himself was promoted, and his old team was also promoted. Zhang Zuolin appointed Tang Yulin as the commander of the 53rd Brigade, Sun Liechen as the commander of the 54th Brigade, Zhang Jinghui as the commander of the 27th Cavalry Regiment, and Zhang Zuoxiang as the commander of the 27th Artillery Regiment. The rest of the regiment, battalion, and company commanders were also Zhang Zuolin's cronies. Therefore, although the 27th Division of the Army is nominally the army, it is actually Zhang Zuolin's private army. Officials and officials, officers and soldiers, and soldiers are linked by relatives, township parties, allies, and gangs. Linked by gang interests and brotherly righteousness, they formed a strong feudal group. They only obey the command of one person, and this person is their benefactor Zhang Zuolin. The 27th Division of the Army is essentially Zhang Zuolin's personal soldier.

At that time, there were still three troops in the three eastern provinces. The first is Feng Delin's 28th Army Division, which was reorganized from the left flank of the original patrol battalion and organized two brigades. Feng Delin served as the division commander, and Zhang Haipeng and Ji Jinchun served as brigade commanders and were stationed in Beizhen. The military strength was obviously weaker than Zhang Zuolin's division. Wu Jun was promoted to brigade commander, and concurrently served as the commander of the patrol battalion and the guard of Taonan Town, responsible for local security in the northwest of Fengxian Province, stationed in Taonan. The third is that the right side of the patrol battalion has not changed, and it is under the jurisdiction of Ma Longtan, the town guard of the east side road, and is still stationed in Fengcheng.

These three troops, in terms of equipment, numbers, types of troops, and garrisons, cannot be compared with Zhang Zuolin's 27th Army Division, and they are all weak brigades. At that time, Zhang Zuolin occupied the three favorable conditions of time, location, and people. Zhang Zuolin became an important armed force in the three eastern provinces at this time.

Yuan Shikai carefully considered this change. Zhang Xiluan is his veteran brother and is very reliable. Moreover, Zhang Xiluan originally served as the general office of the Fengtian Patrol Battalion in Fengtian, and Zhang Zuolin was the commander of the Qianlu Patrol Battalion at that time. Feng Delin served as the commander of the rear road patrol battalion, and both of them were Zhang Xiluan's old subordinates. This time the old boss came. They have to save face. This is Yuan Shikai's wishful thinking. But that's no longer the case. Today's Zhang Zuolin is no longer yesterday's Zhang Zuolin. Zhang Xiluan was born in 1843. In 1914 he was 71 years old. In the face of the aggressive Zhang Zuolin, he felt powerless.

But this is a move by Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai is not at ease with Zhang Zuolin. He adopted a strategy of both exploitation and restriction against Zhang Zuolin. And Li Yuxuan was not given in vain, he was very aware of Yuan Shikai's tricks, so he adopted a strategy of both welcoming and resisting. On March 20, 1913, Yuan Shikai launched an attack on the revolutionaries in the south after plotting to assassinate the revolutionary Song Jiaoren.

In order to have a stable rear, Yuan Shikai summoned Zhang Zuolin for the first time in Beijing. Yuan Shikai said to Zhang Zuolin: "The situation in the three eastern provinces is dangerous, and the whole army is deterred, so we can have today's peace." After that, we should still refresh our spirits. Seek happiness for the people of the three eastern provinces. President Ben has high hopes. Yuan Shikai made Zhang Zuolin feel that his promotion was promising and his future was immeasurable. Zhang Zuolin immediately expressed his stance and resolutely complied.

Zhang Zuolin didn't take Zhang Xiluan in his eyes, and greeted Zhang Xiluan on the surface and secretly excluded him. Although Zhang Zuolin was only a division commander, he held military power in his hands, and the officers and men of this division were only under his command. In addition, he was specially summoned by Yuan Shikai, so all walks of life in the province looked at Zhang Zuolin differently.

1915 year. Zhang Zuolin went to Beijing twice to "secretly accept important government officials in an attempt to succeed him as General Mukden." This was reported in the "Shengjing Times" at the time, and it was no secret. to this kind of coverage. Zhang Zuolin did not stop it, he was willing to have this kind of public opinion. The purpose was to create a kind of pressure on Zhang Xiluan in order to force Zhang Xiluan to automatically ask for a transfer.

In this case. Zhang Xiluan felt embarrassed, coupled with old age and decrepitude. submitted his resignation to Yuan Shikai. In August 1915, Zhang Xiluan was transferred. He was appointed as a general in Hubei. Zhang Zuolin's goal of squeezing out Zhang Xiluan was achieved, but the position of General Fengtian was not given to him, but to Duan Zhigui, a close confidant of Yuan Shikai. Zhang Zuolin still has to wait.

This Duan Zhigui has a lot of background. Duan Zhigui, whose name is Xiangyan, was born in Hefei, Anhui Province in 1869. Born in the Beiyang Military Academy, he later studied in Japan. He used to be an instructor of Yuan Shikai's new army martial arts hall. In 1912, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Armed Guards. In 1913, he was awarded the rank of General and Commander of the First Army of the Army. In 1914, he was awarded the title of General Zhangwu and acted in charge of Hubei military affairs. This time, he was in tune with Zhang Xiluan. In August 1915, he was awarded the title of General Zhenwu, controlled the military affairs of Fengtian, Jilin and Heilongjiang, and was also appointed as the envoy of Fengtianxun, and was awarded the title of first-class duke. At this time, he was only 46 years old, and he can be said to be in the prime of life, rich in experience, with many titles, and brilliant tops.

The most terrifying thing is that he has a strong backstage. Moreover, he is a military man himself. Duan Zhigui is not only Yuan Shikai's confidant, he also has a friendship with Zhang Zuolin. It turned out that when Zhang Zuolin was being cared for, Duan Zhigui's father had made a contribution. To a certain extent, Duan Zhigui is kind to Zhang Zuolin. It can be seen that Yuan Shikai's arrangement is painstaking.

Duan Zhigui took office and took a regiment of guards with him, but stayed in the area of Luandong in Gyeonggi and only brought a few people to serve. When he arrived in Mukden, he stayed at the headquarters of Zhang Zuolin's 27th Division to show his trust in Zhang Zuolin. Zhang Zuolin knows Duan Zhigui's origin very well, and knows that he can't touch it hard, he must keep his head in the dark and stand by. Therefore, he did his best to welcome Duan Zhigui, and even searched for precious antiques from time to time to give them to Duan's father to buy his favor.

In the key activities of Yuan Shikai's claim to be emperor, Zhang Zuolin gave an explicit performance. He actively supported Duan Zhigui. When the National Congress was held in Mukden to vote on the issue of the national system, Zhang Zuolin led a large group of people, loaded with guns and ammunition, to monitor the vote, and all of them voted in favor of the monarchy. When Duan Zhigui united with Guangdong Long Jiguang and other generals of 24 provinces, and secretly presented Yuan Shikai to the throne quickly, Zhang Zuolin was also unwilling, and secretly telegraphed Yuan Shikai to persuade him. He also said: "If the imperial system is not successful, there will be no rebirth after death." Zhang Zuolin is like this, supporting Yuan Shikai's restoration of the imperial system with rare and numb actions.

On December 12, 1915, Yuan Shikai risked the condemnation of the world and proclaimed himself emperor, which was immediately opposed by the whole country. In the same year, at the end of December, Cai Yi, who escaped from Beijing, organized the **** in Yunnan and first raised the banner of anti-Yuan. After that, the provinces successively declared their independence, raised troops against Yuan, and unanimously demanded the abolition of the imperial system. When he was embattled, Yuan Shikai thought of Zhang Zuolin, who was loyal to him. He asked Zhang Zuolin to send troops to Hunan, and promised that he could be crowned a prince and a marquis in the future. This is Yuan Shikai's last straw.

Zhang Zuolin saw that Yuan Shikai was gone. He was determined to oppose Yuan. However, he still said that he would listen to Yuan's dispatch. in order to defraud the salary. After the equipment was in hand, he suddenly changed his face, made a 180-degree turn, and put forward the slogan of "Fengren governs Feng", indicating that he could not leave Fengtian.

At this time, the nationwide opposition to the imperial system was extremely strong, and Yuan Shikai had to announce the abolition of the imperial system on March 23, 1916. But he still usurped the throne of the president of the Republic of China in an attempt to suppress the opposition.

At this time. Zhang Zuolin, commander of the 27th Division, and Feng Delin, commander of the 28th Division, met secretly. Feng Delin gave Zhang Zuolin an idea: "Duan Zhigui is the scum of officials in the late Qing Dynasty, and his bad deeds in history are well known, and now he is the culprit of the imperial system in the three eastern provinces, and he is still above the people of Fengtian, my generation is not reconciled, and he should be expelled." Zhang Zuolin asked what method to use.

Feng Delin said confidently: "This is not difficult. Our 28th Division will play blackface and clash with him head-on. The 27th Division played a white face and used scare tricks to force him to flee in fear of crime. Wouldn't it be wonderful to act out a burlesque like this without spending a penny! ”

Zhang Zuolin applauded and agreed: "Let people from all walks of life know that Fengtian people are not easy to mess with!" ”

Zhang Zuolin deeply felt that he was in harmony with me. The two hit it off and got into action. Zhang Zuolin arranged for the army to shoot one night, and then pretended to report to Duan Zhigui, saying that Feng Delin was going to lead the 28th Division into the city. Punish Duan Zhigui, the culprit of the imperial system. Zhang Zuolin said he couldn't stop it. After hearing this, Duan Zhigui was very nervous. Zhang Zuolin took the opportunity to persuade Duan Zhigui to avoid it, and Duan Zhigui felt that this was a good way. Request approval from the central government by telegram. Duan Zhigui took the opportunity to grab a huge amount of official money and some arms, and took a special train to Tianjin.

It's all there. are all in the hands of Zhang Zuolin and Feng Delin. But they pretended not to know, and specially sent Brigade Commander Sun of the 54th Brigade to lead a battalion of soldiers to escort them. They then arranged for a regiment of the 28th Division's Jijinchun Brigade to intercept the train at the Goubangzi station. The head of the regiment, Qiu Enrong, got into the car. In the name of the military and people of Fengtian, he handed over two telegrams, which said: "The outgoing general Duan Zhigui is the culprit of the imperial system, and the people of Fengtian are about to punish the punishment they deserve, but they dare to carry a huge amount of provincial official money of 2 million and a large amount of arms, and they absconded in fear of the crime. Moreover, the soldiers crowded to the platform, and their swords were tense, and they were on the verge of exploding.

Duan Zhigui showed the telegram to Brigade Commander Sun, and after reading it, Brigade Commander Sun said loudly and dissatisfiedly: "How can this be reasonable, wait for me to ask." "That is, get out of the car and go to the box office to talk to Head Qiu. Duan Zhigui panicked when he saw that Brigade Commander Sun had not returned for a long time, and immediately ordered the official funds and arms to be unloaded and piled on the platform. After getting into the car, Brigade Commander Sun reported: "People from all walks of life in Shenyang are in turmoil, and they must intercept the special car and escort it back to Shenyang. Duan Zhigui hurriedly nodded in approval and ordered it to be counted and brought back by Head Qiu.

Duan Zhigui was hit hard by this, and he was still in the dark, always thinking that Feng Delin was against him. When he came to Beijing to restore his life, he naturally said a lot of bad things about Feng Delin to Yuan Shikai. But he had a good impression of Zhang Zuolin, thinking that Zhang Zuolin saved his life. Because when Duan Zhigui left Feng, Zhang Zuolin also went to the station to bid farewell and gave Duan's father and son a large number of gifts. This is Zhang Zuolin's shrewdness. When Duan Zhigui left Feng, he asked Zhang Zuolin to temporarily take his place.

Duan Zhigui was expelled and could not come back. Yuan Shikai thought that if he sent another provincial official to supervise him, he would definitely not end well. At this time, Yuan Jinkai, chief senator of the Fengtian Security Council, and others had already drafted the "Constitution of the Fengtian Security Council" and instigated the chairman and vice chairman of the provincial assembly and others to advocate the establishment of an autonomous association, so as to create public opinion, propagate the slogan of "serving people to govern Feng", and unmistakably oppose the central government's sending people from other provinces to govern Feng.

Yuan Shikai was forced to have no choice but to choose someone in Feng Province. Under the circumstances, only Zhang Zuolin and Feng Delin could be considered. Yuan Shikai solicited Duan Zhigui's opinion, and Duan Zhigui hated Feng Delin to the bone and admired Zhang Zuolin. Yuan Shikai also has this view. Finally, Yuan Shikai issued an order on April 22, 1916, ordering Zhang Zuolin to be the general of Fengtian Shengwu to supervise Fengtian's military affairs and Fengtian's patrol envoy. In this way, after several years of power struggle, Zhang Zuolin pleased Yuan Shikai, squeezed out Zhang Xiluan, expelled Duan Zhigui, and finally ascended to the throne of the overseer of Fengtian Province.

Yuan Shikai died of illness on June 6, 1916 amid a nationwide condemnation of the military and civilians. In accordance with the provisions of the "Provisional Constitution," former Vice President Le Yuanhong was inaugurated as President on 7 June. Li Yuanhong announced the restoration of the National Assembly, carried out the reform of the local bureaucratic system, changed the general to the overseer, and changed the governor to the provincial governor. Therefore, Zhang Zuolin was reappointed as the overseer of Fengtian and the governor of Fengtian Province on July 6.

While Li Yuxuan has been intriguing with these historical clowns in the past few years, he is also making his own preparations as Zhang Zuolin. (To be continued.) )