In 1943, a bizarre car accident occurred in Chongqing, the capital city. A car with a government license plate of the Republic of China collided with a truck when it approached the intersection.
The speed of the two cars was not fast when they collided. The occupants of the car seemed to be fine, and they drove away immediately after checking.
But no one thought that the person sitting in the car was not someone else, but Lin Sen , the then chairman of the government of the Republic of China.
What is even more unexpected is that Lin Sen was seriously injured in this small car accident, and passed away more than two months later, which immediately caused a nationwide shock.
1. 12-year Taiping Chairman
Lin Sen is a Kuomintang veteran, born in 1868, from Minhou, Fujian, with the word Zichao . This person is well-deserved as a veteran. He is only two years younger than Sun Yat-sen. He participated in the League as early as 1905, and is much older than Hu Hanmin, Wang Jingwei, Liao Zhongkai, Hu Hanmin, Chiang Kai-shek. It can be said that it is not a generation.
1911 Revolution After the outbreak, Lin Sen became the president of the Nanjing Provisional Government's Senate, rising to the highest level in the political arena. By the time of the Guangzhou government in 1924, Lin Sen was designated by Sun Yat-sen as one of the five-member presidium.
Lin Sen is a humble person, indifferent to fame and fortune, he has no great desire to be an official, and he is not willing to join this faction or that faction. How implicated.
But fate is so strange. The more you devote yourself to fame and fortune, the easier it is to fight and fight for power. The more indifferent and avoided, the easier it is to get unexpected joy.
After Mr. Sun Yat-sen died in 1925,The contradictions between the various factions in the Kuomintang instantly intensified, and the bigwigs began to fight fiercely. The leader of the four major power factions of the Kuomintang at that time, Liao Zhongkai, the leader of the revolutionary-leaning left wing, was assassinated, and Wang Jingwei, who was regarded as a revolutionary faction at that time, was overridden by Chiang Kai-shek. Another big man, Hu Hanmin, always regarded Chiang Kai-shek as his younger brother. He was dissatisfied with Chiang seven, resented eight, and looked down on twelve, thinking that he was just a rude warrior.
Unexpectedly, Chiang Kai-shek suddenly emerged. Although he started the latest among the several powerful factions, he has mastered the military power. Through the construction of Huangpu Military Academy and Northern Expedition, he established a powerful faction force, Wang and Hu were both defeated. Chiang Kai-shek suppressed it. However, Wang Jingwei and Hu Hanmin were not easy to follow, and they continued to attack Chiang Kai-shek with their political prestige.
In December 1931, under the pressure of Wang Jingwei, Hu Hanmin and others, Chiang Kai-shek went out for the second time, but Wang Jingwei, Hu Hanmin and others did not have the strength to organize the government on their own. After several consultations, the two sides decided to follow the presidential system of Germany , choose a person to be the chairman of the National Government. Because he is a virtual king and does not hold real power, the conditions only need to be young and virtuous, with high political prestige, and actual political ability does not matter (in fact, it should not be too high, otherwise it is very likely to be self-defeating after being promoted. This is Jiang, The tacit consensus of Wang, Hu and others). There were four candidates at that time: Sun Ke , Cai Yuanpei, Yu Youren and Lin Sen.
First let's look at Sun Ke . Sun Ke is the son of Mr. Sun Yat-sen, and he is the best candidate to succeed the head of state of the Republic of China. However, once this proposal was put forward, it was firmly opposed by Hu Hanmin. He said, "We can't make a family anymore. The young master Sun Ke has a great temper. If he loses his temper, we can't check and balance him. This person is definitely not suitable. So Sun Ke was rejected.
Yu Youren was not recognized by Wang Jingwei and Hu Hanmin either. Yu Youren is a native of Shaanxi.I don't have any interests mixed in, so I like to speak justice. In 1928, when Chiang Kai-shek stepped down for the first time, he pushed Yu Youren to preside over party affairs, and the two of them cooperated well. Therefore, Wang Jingwei and Hu Hanmin felt that Yu Youren was a confidant of Chiang Kai-shek, so they firmly opposed him to become president.
The third candidate is Cai Yuanpei. Cai Yuanpei is a unique candidate. Cai Yuanpei is also a veteran figure, who served as the head of education under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen. Later, he had a good relationship with Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek, so when he nominated this time, he was unanimously recommended by Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek. However, Hu Hanmin was firmly opposed. Cai Yuanpei had nothing to do with himself. If he was elected, it might be detrimental to him. Therefore, after excluding it, only Lin Sen is left.
Lin Sen in 1932. On January 1st, he officially became the Chairman of the Republic of China. He served for 12 years until his death in August 1943. During this period, his wife was peaceful and stable, and no one challenged him.
This is not to say that the chairmanship is an empty position and no one is interested. In fact, at the beginning of the campaign, there were still many people who coveted this position, especially Yu Youren, who was similar to Lin Sen in terms of qualifications, age and behavior. Yu Youren is similar to Lin Sen, and both have a long beard. He is also relatively indifferent to fame and fortune, but he cannot say that he has no thoughts about the position of chairman of the government. After Lin Sen was officially elected, Yu Youren said sourly: "If you don't let me do it, then don't let me do it. Lin Zichao can do better." It can be seen that this chairmanship still has a certain appeal . Lin Sen has been able to sit firmly for 12 years, and I can't help but say that he has his advantages.
2. Lin Sen's low-key and forbearance
According to the regulations at the time, the regime was divided into three major systems. In terms of administration, the Executive Yuan is the highest administrative organ of the National Government, and the President has actual administrative responsibility (equivalent to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of Germany). , The Standing Committee of the Kuomintang Central Committee is the highest organ, chaired by the chairman, and is actually the leader of the Kuomintang. At that time, Chiang Kai-shek was called the "chairman" and "the commissioner" was based on this.
As for the Chairman of the National Government, he is not responsible for any practical affairs.
In fact, Mr. Sun Yat-sen's political design is to imitate the US presidential responsibility system, where the chairman of the government is the highest authority. Previously, Wang Jingwei served as the chairman of the Guangzhou government, and Chiang Kai-shek and Hu Hanmin served as the chairman of the Nanjing government. Only the middle Tan Yankai when the chairman is decentralised. In 1931, the factions struggled, and no one obeyed the other. No one was enough to subdue the factions, and no one could hold the position of the real chairman, so he simply took the time out of power, and the chairman became a virtual monarch.
After Lin Sen came to power, he witnessed this trend, knew how he got this position, and what the chairmanship meant, so he continued to play to his strengths and acted as a political symbol with peace of mind , behaved in a very low-key manner, and tried his best to avoid any disputes with Chiang Kai-shek.
Chiang Kai-shek built a "Zichao" building for him, costing 106,952 yuan, the building is 6 stories high, 33.34 meters long and 20 meters wide. The shape is dignified and rich in layers. There are ten white marble steps in front of the door. The number of steps symbolizes the During the Double Tenth Festival of the 1911 Revolution, there are two imported European-style street lamps on both sides, which are extremely elegant and delicate. There are also two towering cedar in front of the building. The saplings were imported from India, and the price is expensive. Viewed from the south, the two cedar trees seem to form a "forest" character, looking up at the facade of the building, it is like a frame structure of the character "forest".
The more Chiang Kai-shek respected Lin Sen, the more low-key Lin Sen became. He lives in a secluded place all the year round, keeps a low profile, and pursues the "three nos" principle of "not fighting for power and profit, not coercing, and not forming a party for profit", and he is absolutely cooperative, absolutely supportive, and absolutely "obedient" to Chiang Kai-shek. Lin Sen also resolutely avoided suspicion when encountering matters that might trigger Chiang Kai-shek's taboo.
Once the Luoyang garrison commander Chen Ji went to Nanjing on business to visit Lin Sen. Lin Sen refused to say: "In the future, military officers will go directly to see Jiang (referring to Chiang Kai-shek), and civil officials will go to see Wang (referring to Wang Jingwei), so there is no need to come to me."He was also the commander of the First Army at the time. This first army is amazing. It was the place where Chiang Kai-shek made his fortune. The significance of Chen's inheritance to Chiang Kai-shek can be imagined. It's not a big deal for Lin Sen to meet a few military attaches and commanders, but Chen Chengji was the only one who could never meet him. How could he dare to surpass Chiang Kai-shek's favorite general.
Lin Sen has a secretary who wants to use the title of secretary to the chairman to attend the banquets of some high-ranking government officials and dignitaries. After learning about it, Lin Sen reprimanded him and said, "Just be a good secretary. What do you do when you know those important people?" He therefore set a few rules for his subordinates: don't express opinions, don't attend banquets, and don't write notes. It made his subordinates scolded and boring. Although the Chairman's Mansion that he entered and exited was also the No. 1 yamen in the sky, he was usually ignored by no one, and he couldn't even get oil and water.
This style of life makes it very cold. Many people in the Kuomintang don't pay attention to Lin Sen's "respect of a country", and even bluntly say that he is just "the government looks at India". Once discussing the newly appointed officials in a certain province, Lin Sen suggested on a whim that a certain person in this province was quite capable in education and could make him the head of education. Unexpectedly, the provincial chairman did not respect Lin Sen's proposal at all and nominated another person on the spot. The head of education officially appointed later was the one recommended by the provincial chairman. It is rare for a lower-level official to overrule a government chairman's recommendation. Although Lin Sen felt uncomfortable, he did not trouble the provincial chairman. In fact, he knew very well that if he really went to trouble, Chiang Kai-shek might give him a face, but then what? If you drop the handle on Jiang, you will lose more than you gain.
There are more amazing things.
Although the chairman of the government is in vain, the government decree needs to be stamped and issued by the chairman before it can be implemented. Chiang Kai-shek deliberately maintained respect for Lin Sen, and all major matters decided by the Executive Yuan or the Military Commission meeting were sent to Lin Sen for comments. Lin Sen often swipes the pen and agrees to stamp them all. Therefore, at that time, many people satirized Lin Sen, saying that he was like the "Fu Bao Lang" in the feudal dynasty, and he was the chairman of the seal.
After hearing this, Lin Sen was not angry at all. Later, he simply handed the seal of the chairman to his chief civil servant Wei Huai and asked him to take care of it. Wei Huai is also a sensible person. Before stamping the seal, he asked whether the matter had been reviewed by Chairman Jiang, and after he got a positive answer, he stamped it without even showing it to Lin Sen. If it is a major event that Chiang Kai-shek pays special attention to,Wei Huaicai presented the document to Lin Sen for a look. So there was an ironic thing that happened at that time. Once Lin Sen went abroad for a visit, but the chairman's order was issued as usual in China. It seemed that Lin Sen could clone himself.
Lin Sen gradually lost his interest in politics in his later years, and devoted himself to tending flowers and collecting antiques. This beautiful bearded man can often be found in the antique market of Confucius Temple. In his home, the Baibao Grid displayed a variety of antiques, which were dazzling, but most of them were worthless fakes, and the general price was around three or five yuan.
Therefore, such a gentle and humble chairman, accepted by all parties, had a bizarre car accident and died quickly, which naturally attracted the attention of all parties.
's focus is naturally assassination.
Since the beginning of the Republic of China, major political assassination cases have emerged one after another. When Wang Jingwei assassinated the former Qing regent Zaifeng , it became famous for a while. The big men of the Republic Song Jiaoren , Liao Zhongkai, Chen Qimei, Tao Chengzhang all died of assassination. After Chiang Kai-shek took power, the wind of political assassination still existed, especially after Chiang Kai-shek established revival society (the predecessor of military command ), assassination became a professional force, which made many politicians shudder.
During the Anti-Japanese War, the National Government of Chiang Kai-shek and the puppet regime of Wang fought a spy war, and the spies of the military system stabbed Tang Shaoyi , Chen Lu , Zhang Xiaolin and others in Shanghai, all of which made people look at the spies. Therefore, once there are cases of dead people that are not well understood in society, they will naturally explain the assassination of secret agents. So, is there any conspiracy behind Lin Sen's death?
3. Chiang Kai-shek was taken aback
Let's first review the process of Lin Sen's car accident.
On the morning of May 12, 1943, Lin Sen, Chairman of the Nationalist Government, was going to the National Government Building in Chongqing to attend the ceremony of the presentation of the credentials by the new Canadian Minister to China, Mr. In the early morning, Lin Sen finished washing up, and after breakfast, he started to change clothes. Lin Sen put on an 80% new blue shilin robe and jacket, shoes, a red silk sash sloping over his shoulders, and a blue sky and white sun medal. Once everything is sorted out, get in the car immediately.
Lin Sen's car is a black Buick car, which was presented by the US President Roosevelt . The glass and steel plate of the car have strong bulletproof function.
It is more than 30 kilometers from Linsen's Shuangheqiao official residence to the National Government in the urban area. In order to hurry, the driver drove the car a little faster. When the car drove to the three-way intersection in Xiaolongkeng and was about to turn, suddenly a large truck came at high speed. Lin Sen's Buick immediately evaded, but fortunately it was only a minor collision. But when the driver turned the steering wheel sharply to the right, it hit a tree hard and bounced back. Lin Sen sat in the back row and was shaken from his seat. When the car vibrated, a guard in the front row hurriedly turned around, only to see Lin Sen got up and sat back to his seat, even saying that he was fine.
If it's all right, let's go. As a result, when they got there, the guards saw that the door was broken, and Lin Sen had fallen over, slurred his speech, and could not stand up.
doctor to diagnose, this is the onset of brain hemorrhage caused by the collision of the vehicle. After all, Lin Sen was 75 years old at the time, and his cardiovascular and cerebrovascular system began to suffer from common diseases of the elderly. This collision directly led to the deterioration of his condition.
Lin Sen's collision made Chiang Kai-shek's heart skip a beat. He immediately asked Dai Li to ask, did you arrange for your agents to do it? Dai Li firmly clarified that there was no such thing.
At this time, the difficulties of the Anti-Japanese War were looming. Chiang Kai-shek dealt with the Japanese with one hand, and caused his subordinates to carry out friction against the CCP with one hand. The pressure was very high, especially in terms of politics.Otherwise, it is very easy to lose political credibility.
4. Lin Sen and Chiang Kai-shek's contradictions
Although Lin Sen and Chiang Kai-shek have cooperated well on the surface over the past 12 years, they are not completely free of any differences.
Chiang Kai-shek and Lin Sen are very polite on the surface, but the politeness is a little too much, which makes people feel very unnatural. Every time Lin Sen left Nanjing to inspect other places, he always sent a very polite telegram to Chiang Kai-shek. And Chiang Kai-shek did the same to Lin Sen. During Lin Sen's outing, telegrams continued to greet him. In fact, there is no need for this at all. Chiang Kai-shek and his confidants have never been so polite. This shows that the two are wary of each other deep in their hearts and dare not communicate with each other.
There is indeed some intriguing suspicion between the two. Once, the Kuomintang Central Committee held a more important meeting. The content involves the dispute between Chiang Kai-shek and Hu Hanmin. Lin Sen, as the president of the state and a veteran of the Kuomintang, will definitely attend the meeting. But after the meeting started, Chiang Kai-shek found that Lin Sen was not there. I asked the relevant department and said that Lin Sen had a high fever and asked for sick leave. Chiang Kai-shek changed his face on the spot. He thought that Lin Sen and Hu Hanmin had reached an agreement behind the scenes, so he did not dare to attend the meeting. After the meeting that day, Chiang Kai-shek went directly to Lin Sen's house by car, and said to the attendants at Lin Sen's official residence, "I'm here to visit Chairman Lin's condition, and you don't need to report it." He opened the door, went directly into Lin Sen's bedroom, and came to the hospital bed. Chiang Kai-shek changed his face when he saw that Lin Sen was indeed blushing because of a fever, and that he was seriously ill. After pretending to take care of his condition, he walked away. This made Lin Sen very embarrassed.
There are things that are even more taboo to Chiang Kai-shek.
After the Southern Anhui Incident, the Kuomintang reactionaries cheered, but Lin Sen deeply disagreed. The war of resistance against the Japanese army prospered, and the people suffered together. He couldn't bear to watch his compatriots kill each other. However, his status was sensitive, and he could neither publicly support the New Fourth Army nor criticize Chiang Kai-shek. However, inner political anxiety tormented him, forcing him to react.
After a meeting, Lin Sen took the initiative to tell Chiang Kai-shek and other high-ranking officials that he planned to write a few words and wanted to give them to them soon. As we all know, Lin Sen is a master of calligraphy.His calligraphy was usually unrequested, but today he took the initiative to offer it, and everyone was overjoyed. Not long after Chiang Kai-shek returned to the mansion, Lin Sen personally came to deliver the calligraphy. Chiang Kai-shek opened it and saw that the calligraphy gifted by Lin Sen was a running script "Book of Songs Xiaoya Changdi".
The key word of this poem is obviously "Brothers are bound by the wall, and outside defends their insults". Could Chiang Kai-shek not understand what Lin Sen meant? He said to Lin Sen solemnly: "Mr.'s good intentions, Zhongzheng understands it." Lin Sen saw that Chiang Kai-shek had already said this, so he did not beat Jiang Zuo further. A few days later, after careful consideration, Chiang Kai-shek said in front of Lin Sen and the relevant officials of the Central Committee that Chairman Lin had originally proposed to send everyone a calligraphy treasure. Zhongzheng thought that Chairman Lin was busy with his state affairs and had little rest. Begging for calligraphy, lest Chairman Lin be detrimental to his health due to overwork.
On the surface, the two of them were peaceful, but in fact they had a real fight. Lin Sen showed his political confidence to Chiang Kai-shek: This old man is used to you, but when it comes to serious things, I still have the qualifications to disagree with you and even challenge you.
5. There seems to be no conspiracy behind it
From all aspects, Chiang Kai-shek in 1943 has no need to continue to respect Lin Sen.
On the one hand, Lin Sen gradually revealed his political confidence as mentioned in the previous section. In the end, the thin dead camel was bigger than the horse. There were not many veterans left at the beginning of the Republic of China, and Lin Sen was one of the best. If he continues to maintain his prestige, will it challenge Chiang Kai-shek's authority?
On the other hand, Lin Sen's role as a banner figure to maintain various factions no longer exists. In the Kuomintang at that time, Chiang Kai-shek was already in control of the party, government and army, and no one could challenge his authority. Therefore, finding a suitable excuse to take away Lin Sen's chairmanship was indeed the meaning of the title at the time. After Lin Sen's accidental death, Chiang Kai-shek became the chairman of the government again, and he did achieve the goal of reunification of power and dictatorship by one person.
From these two aspects, Lin Sen has indeed become an obstacle to Chiang Kai-shek's domination of the country. Chiang Kai-shek wanted to kill Lin Sen, and he did have his motive.
But only subjective judgments, without solid evidence,It is also impossible to injustice Chiang Kai-shek for this. After all, the conflict between the two is far from intensified to the point of physical extinction. So Chiang Kai-shek would ask Dai Li if he killed him by mistake.
On August 1, 1943, Lin Sen's cerebral hemorrhage worsened and he died at the age of 75.
The Kuomintang held a grand state funeral for Lin Sen. After Chongqing citizens heard the sad news of Lin Sen's death, all government agencies and shops flew their flags at half-mast, and the city stopped entertainment and banquets. The embassies of various countries in China also flew their flags at half-mast to show their respect.
Chiang Kai-shek's attention to Lin Sen's funeral and his high evaluation after the event can all show his attitude towards Lin Sen. He had some suspicions about Lin Sen, but he would never kill him. He seeks to dominate, and he is not in a hurry. After all, Lin Sen is also an old man, and he will retire in a few years. Killing people at the expense of political credibility is really worth the loss.
After liberation, scholars studying the history of KMT spy agents rummaged through the materials of the year, and contemporary scholars can dig out the details of the assassination case to the precision of what gun was used and where it was shot, and they have not found any military commander or central commander_ Evidence of the assassination of Lin Sen by agents span2span.
So basically it can be concluded that Lin Sen's car accident was a pure accident, not a conspiracy.
Actually, isn't it a good thing for Lin Sen politically? If he really survived until the end of the Anti-Japanese War, or escaped to Frog Island with Chiang Kai-shek, his crown of chairman would definitely become an obstacle to Chiang Kai-shek's pursuit of dictatorship, and it would not be impossible for him to be assassinated by a secret agent. Life is like this, just right. Both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party gave Lin Sen a very high evaluation, and Zi Chaogong can also rest his eyes.
.
