Zhang Zuolin, who was possessed by Li Yuxuan, was not satisfied with the fact that he only held the military and political power in Fengtian Province at present. The immediate goal was to seize military and political power in the three eastern provinces, so the spearhead was first aimed at Heilongjiang Province. The general of Heilongjiang Province at that time was Zhu Qinglan. Zhu Qinglan, Ziziqiao, a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang. Born in 1875. He once served in the Patrol Police Bureau of the Fengtian Supervision and Training Office, and the 17th Town Commander. In 1912, he served as chief of staff of the Heilongjiang Governor's Office. In 1914, he was awarded the rank of General of the Army. In the same year, he was reappointed as a patrol envoy and promoted to general of Heilongjiang Province. When Zhu Qinglan was in Fengtian, he looked down on Zhang Zuolin very much, and the two had a grudge. Zhu Qinglan would not listen to Zhang Zuolin's command, and Zhang Zuolin wanted to squeeze him away.

But Yuan Shikai trusts Zhu Qinglan very much, and it is not easy to squeeze Zhu away. At this time, the first division of the army was stationed in Heilongjiang, and the division commander was Xu Lanzhou. Xu Lanzhou, the word Zhitian, is a native of Nangong, Hebei. Born in 1872. Graduated from Hunan Army Academy. When Yuan Shikai was training at the small station, he was trusted by Yuan Shikai because Xu Lanzhou knew martial arts and served in Yuan Shikai's guard. In 1908, he served as the commander of the second road of the Heilongjiang Patrol Battalion. In 1914, he served as the commander of the first provisional division of the Heilongjiang Provincial Army.

Zhang Zuolin detected that Xu Lanzhou coveted the high position of the Heilongjiang overseer, so he intended to use Xu Lanzhou to squeeze out Zhu Qinglan. and promised that after the matter was completed, Xu Lanzhou would be promoted to this position. In order to achieve this goal, Xu Lanzhou deliberately created an incident in order to profit from it. On the evening of March 17, 1916, a small number of bannermen in Qiqihar, the provincial capital of Jiang Province, instigated by Xu Lanzhou, distributed leaflets everywhere, informing all bannermen to hold a meeting at the Baqi Factory to discuss the livelihood of the bannermen. By the rule, the meeting had to be approved by the police in advance, and they did not ask for instructions.

The police saw leaflets all over the place, and they didn't know why. The police station sent people to the vicinity of the factory to guard the situation and then deal with it. In the early morning of the next day, the flag men came to the factory gate one after another. Seeing that there were police officers on guard, he thought that the police were interfering in the meeting, so he ran to Xu Lanzhou's division headquarters and hid. This provided Xu Lanzhou with an opportunity to oppose Zhu Qinglan.

On the one hand, Xu Lanzhou pretended to mediate, and on the other hand, he instigated the representatives of the banner people to jointly send a telegram to the Beijing government, attacking the eight people around Zhu Qinglan and exposing their various crimes. This is essentially an attack on Zhu Qinglan. The telegraph office in Qiqihar was controlled by Xu Lanzhou's army. Zhu Qinglan sent people to Harbin and telegraphed Yuan Shikai and Xu Lanzhou of conspiring to incite the bannermen to make trouble. After Yuan received the call, he immediately telegraphed Xu Lanzhou not to come randomly, saying that if Zhu Qinglan had an accident, the division commander would ask.

Xu Lanzhou didn't dare to disobey the order, but the two sides held each other for more than a week. Yuan Shikai was unable to do so, so he transferred Zhu Qinglan to Beijing, and in 1917 the Beijing government appointed him as the governor of Guangdong Province. His remains are temporarily cared for by Xu Lanzhou. However, Yuan Shikai knew that Xu Lanzhou was not the material to serve as a frontier official, so he transferred Bi Guifang to serve as a general and patrol envoy in Heilongjiang in June 1916. In July, it was renamed Overseer. Bi Guifang, a native of Daxing, Hebei, was born in 1865. After graduating from Beijing Tongwenguan, he went to Russia to study, and served as an attaché at the Legation of Country E. He was a senior diplomatic adviser to the Presidency. He was sent to Heilongjiang Province for a very clear purpose, that is, to handle diplomatic relations with country E.

Xu Lanzhou's goal was not achieved. still wants Zhang Zuolin to protect him. Zhang Zuolin felt that Xu Lanzhou was not reliable, so he played a two-faced trick on him. Later, he abandoned Xu Baobao. This Bao is Bao Guiqing. Bao Guiqing, the word Tingjiu, is a native of Fengtian Haicheng. In 1914, he served as the commander of the 3rd Mixed Brigade of the Army. In 1915, he served as the head of the Army Lecture Hall. He was later promoted to lieutenant general. He is Zhang Zuolin's sons and daughters. They are both fellow countrymen and relatives. So, Zhang Zuolin promoted Bao Guiqing. In July 1917, the Beijing government appointed Bao Guiqing as the overseer of Heilongjiang and temporarily served as the acting governor. Plus the rank of General.

In order to maintain the stability of Jiang Province, Xu Lanzhou's first division was transferred to Fengtian Province and placed under the encirclement of Zhang Zuolin's 27th and 28th divisions. Li Yuxuan indirectly controlled Heilongjiang Province through Bao Guiqing.

The next target is Jilin Province. At that time, the overseer of Jilin was Meng Enyuan. Meng Enyuan, whose name is Shuchun, was born in Tianjin in 1859. In Tianjin, the new army was built. In 1912, he served as the commander of the 23rd Division of the Army. In 1907, he served as the wing commander and named commander of the Jilin Patrol Battalion, and supervised the suppression and defense matters in Jilin. In 1914, he was promoted to General Zhen'anzuo to supervise the military affairs of Jilin. In July 1916, he was reappointed as the overseer of Jilin. When Zhang Xun was restored, he was appointed governor of Jilin in July 1917. It can be said that he is an old Jilin. It has been operating in Jilin for many years and is deeply rooted. Of course, he is not Zhang Zuolin's descendant, and Zhang Zuolin wants to replace him.

Originally, Zhang Zuolin thought that it would be easy to get rid of Meng Enyuan, but it was not so simple if he didn't admit it. Zhang Zuolin made a slight trick and told the Beijing government that Meng Enyuan had been appointed as governor when Zhang Xun was restored, and he had an affair with the restoration, and he was incompetent as governor. On October 18, 1917, the Beijing government ordered the transfer of Meng Enyuan, the overseer of Jilin, as the general of Chengwei, and the appointment of Tian Zhongyu as the overseer of Jilin. General was an empty title in name only at the time.

Duan Qirui didn't have a good impression of Zhang Zuolin, but he had to use him. Since you Zhang Zuolin have a secret report, I will take the opportunity to send one of my own people to replace Meng. But Meng Enyuan also has his network. Meng's nephew, Gao Shifu, was the chief of staff of the Jilin Governor's Office and the division commander. Son-in-law Lu Chengwu's father is Lu Jianzhang, a direct behind-the-scenes activist. In this case, Meng Enyuan decided not to hand over power. Zhang Zuolin wanted to solve it by force. However, under the intervention of President Li Yuanhong and the direct warlords, Zhang Zuolin did not dare to take action, and the matter was temporarily shelved.

On September 7, 1918, Zhang Zuolin was appointed by President Xu Shichang, who was only on the third day of his tenure, as the tour envoy of the three eastern provinces. Prior to this, when Feng Guozhang was president and Duan Qirui was prime minister, they appointed Cao Kun as the economic envoy of Sichuan, Guangdong, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces on June 20, 1918, and specially cast a silver lion button seal for Cao Kun, weighing more than 2 catties, which was much larger than the seal of the special official. This is a hint that Cao Kun is above all the Overseers and is likely to become vice president in the future, which Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui use to entrap Cao Kun.

The patrol envoy of the three eastern provinces is one level higher than the provincial governor, similar to the governor of the three eastern provinces of the former Qing Dynasty, but has greater real power than the governor. This gave Zhang Zuolin the right to suggest that the central authorities arrange candidates for the three eastern provinces. In June 1919, Zhang Zuolin believed that the time was ripe for the expulsion of Meng Enyuan. So, Zhang Zuolin telegraphed Xu Shichang to transfer Meng Enyuan to him and succeed him with Bao Guiqing, the overseer of Heilongjiang. The Heilongjiang overseer was served by his descendant Sun Liechen.

Zhang Zuolin's request was approved by Xu Shichang. On July 6, 1919, the Beijing government transferred Meng Enyuan to General Huiwei. At this time, Meng Enyuan was already a 60-year-old man, and he had been searching in Jilin for many years, and he was already full of fat. But he was not very reconciled, especially his subordinates were dissatisfied. Two of his men were the most opposed. One is Gao Shiwei, chief of staff and division commander, and the other is Gao Shucheng, brigade commander. These two highs instigated Meng Enyuan to start a war with Zhang Zuolin and refused to be transferred.

After receiving this news, Zhang Zuolin immediately sent Sun Liechen as the commander-in-chief of the Jilin Crusade Army and transferred troops to Jilin. The soldiers pressed the border, and Meng Enyuan knew that he was not Zhang Zuolin's opponent. Ignoring the opposition of the second high, he telegraphed Zhang Zuolin to agree to hand over the power of Jilin Overseer, but to ensure the safety of his life and property. Zhang Zuolin immediately called back, as long as he handed over the power of Jilin overseer, he would ensure that you returned to Tianjin safely. On August 5, Bao Guiqing and Meng Enyuan went to Jilin City together and handed over the Great Seal of the Overseer. In this way, Meng Enyuan returned to Tianjin with a large amount of property and went to live as a public servant. Ergao did not dare to resist, gave up the troops, and made a detour to Vladivostok in civilian clothes to sneak back to Tianjin by boat.

The obstacle is removed. Zhang Zuolin ordered Bao Guiqing to be transferred to Jilin and served as the overseer of Jilin. At the same time, Sun Liechen was transferred to supervise the Heilongjiang army. In August, he was awarded the rank of army general and concurrently served as the governor of Heilongjiang Province. Sun Liechen has always been Zhang Zuolin's subordinate, loyal to Zhang Zuolin, and worthy of trust. Therefore, Zhang Zuolin handed over the military and political power of Heilongjiang Province to him. Li Yuxuan finally breathed a sigh of relief, completed Zhang Zuolin's complete control of the three eastern provinces, and finally could go all out to build a special operations force, a modern navy, land and air force, as well as a large-scale ordnance factory, and a military science and technology research and development base. (To be continued.) )