Zheng Dongguo was born in 1903 in Shimen County, northwest Hunan, Hunan, adjacent to Sangzhi County, the hometown of Marshal He Long. Although my parents are farmers, the family has a small amount of savings and is considered a rich peasant family.

Zheng Dongguo

Hello everyone, I am Lantai.

Today Lantai would like to introduce to you a Kuomintang general Zheng Dongguo who is deeply trusted by Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou.

Zheng Dongguo was born in 1903 in Shimen County, northwest Hunan, Hunan, adjacent to Sangzhi County, the hometown of Marshal He Long.

Although his parents are farmers, the family has little savings and is considered a rich peasant family. He was the youngest among his siblings, and his parents called him "Younger". His mother was already in her forties when she was pregnant with him.

Zheng Dongguo was later admitted to the first batch of Huangpu Military Academy , and was appreciated by the principal Chiang Kai-shek . From then on, his official career was on the fast track; what is embarrassing is that Zheng Dongguo's classmates and friends Wang Erzhuo and Huang Ao But they chose a different path in life from Zheng Dongguo, a path of justice that pursues the liberation of the Chinese people. Unfortunately, neither of them could complete this path of justice and revolution. They sacrificed their lives at a young age and did not know that Zheng Dongguo In your later years, will you feel sad when you think back to these two friends of yours?

Zheng Dongguo Why did two friends who pursued progress choose to follow Chiang Kai-shek?

This has a lot to do with Zheng Dongguo's own character.

Zheng Dongguo has always been known as "loyal, honest, and kind" among the Huangpu generals. Zheng Dongguo himself was born as a rich farmer. He knew that it was not easy for his parents to make money since he was a child. In his opinion, Chiang Kai-shek was not unkind to him, nor did he do it because of him. If you are not from Zhejiang, you should not reuse him. He has truly achieved "reward for merit". When Zheng Dongguo was 24 years old, he was promoted to the commander of the 8th Regiment of the 3rd Division of the 1st Army of the National Revolutionary Army by Chiang Kai-shek. Zheng Dongguo was the first person in the Huangpu Clique to be promoted to the commander of the regiment. One batch is less than three months later than Hu Zongnan , but Hu Zongnan is 7 years older than him.

Faced with Chiang Kai-shek's "favor of knowing someone" and the bright future ahead, it is not surprising that the kind and honest Zheng Dongguo chose to follow Chiang Kai-shek.

So, where does Zheng Dongguo’s kindness and honesty show up?

Zheng Dongguo (middle)

First, Zheng Dongguo was one of the very few generals of the Huangpu clan who did not divorce his first wife.

First of all, I want to make a statement. In modern times, many educated young people have chosen to divorce their first wives. The reason is that their first marriages are often arranged marriages by their parents, and 99% of the wives their parents find for them are They have not received modern education, and many women are even illiterate. Therefore, it is not a moral problem for these educated young people to choose to divorce their wives who have arranged marriages. After all, Mr. Lu Xun also chose to divorce his first wife for two reasons. People really don’t have any common language.

However, although divorcing someone from an arranged marriage is not considered a moral problem, if you still choose to live a good life with someone from an arranged marriage under such circumstances, this can definitely be regarded as a sign of high morality or kindness.

You must know that in the troubled times of the Republic of China, young military officers were very popular in the marriage market. Mr. Lin Changmin, the father of the famous goddess Lin Huiyin of the Republic of China, was choosing a spouse for Lin Huiyin. Almost all the so-called young talents introduced by the introducer at that time were They are young soldiers, which made Lin Changmin, a veteran politician who once served as the chief financial officer of the Beiyang Government, couldn't help complaining: Have all the young talents across the country become soldiers?

The 24-year-old leader was definitely a hot commodity in the marriage market at that time; you must know that Wang Yaowu was just a company commander at the time, and a judge in Fuzhou City married his daughter to Wang Yaowu.

Zheng Dongguo is the leader of the group. If it is revealed that he wants to get married, will the threshold be broken?

However, Zheng Dongguo did not choose to divorce his wife Qin La'e. On the contrary, Zheng Dongguo also had a deep relationship with this rural girl from Xiangxi who was completely illiterate. The two had a daughter and two sons.

Zheng Dongguo and his third wife

Secondly, Zheng Dongguo was one of the few Huangpu generals who had his first wife with him.

To be honest, Zheng Dongguo can really be regarded as one of the role models in Chiang Kai-shek's Huangpu life.

We can compare Sun Liren . Sun Liren's first wife Gong Xitao is well-educated and a lady. However, because he and Gong Xitao had an arranged marriage, Sun Liren always disliked Gong Xitao and did not dare to divorce. After returning to China, he stayed with her all year round. In Shanghai, he asked Gong Xitao to help him take care of the elderly in his hometown in Anhui.

Zheng Dongguo is not like this. He sincerely wants to bring his father and wife to him.

After the end of the Second Northern Expedition in 1928, Zheng Dongguo sent people to take his father, wife and children from his hometown in Hunan to Bengbu for reunion.

In May 1930, Zheng Dongguo participated in the Central Plains War with the Central Army. Soon after, Tan La'e suddenly contracted typhoid fever. Although he was treated, Tan La'e still died of the illness under the medical conditions at the time. Zheng Dongguo, who was on the front line, fainted on the spot after hearing the news from his brother Zheng Tongguo.

Zheng Dongguo later said in his memory: "When I heard the bad news, my brother's words were like a thunderbolt. My eyes went black and I fainted and fell to the ground. I don't know how long it took, but I gradually woke up and found myself lying on the bed."

It has been three years since Zheng Dongguo got married again. We cannot say that Zheng Dongguo "keeps integrity" for his wife Qin La'e, but at least it can be said that General Zheng Dongguo did treat his first wife very well.

Zheng Dongguo and his eldest son’s family

Thirdly, although he became a general, he insisted on marrying his daughter to a farmer in Shimen County

Zheng Dongguo had two sons and two daughters in his life, born to two wives respectively. The eldest daughter was named Zheng Fengyun, who was married to his first wife Qin La’e. Zheng Fengyun was born in 1921 and grew up in Shimen County. When she was very young, Qin La'e betrothed Zheng Fengyun to her sister's son Chen after asking for Zheng Dongguo's consent.

Although Sister Qin La'e's family is still considered a small and rich farmer in Shimen County, when Zheng Fengyun reached the age of getting married, Zheng Dongguo was already the lieutenant general, deputy commander and honorary commander of the first division of the Kuomintang's ace unit Fifth Army .

Regardless of social status or economic status, the Zheng family and the Chen family are already very different. Even the Chen family does not have the extravagant hope that Zheng Dongguo can still marry his daughter according to the previous agreement; they also asked someone to send a message, which probably means If the Zheng family is unwilling to fulfill the engagement, they understand and hope to get a positive answer. The children are grown, and if the engagement is cancelled, they will look for another wife.

According to what Zheng Dongguo said later, Zheng Fengyun was actually a little reluctant to marry her cousin, but it was not entirely because she disliked poverty and loved wealth. She just felt that the social status gap between the two families was relatively large. She wanted to be a new type of woman like new mother Chen Bilian.

But Zheng Dongguo said no, thinking that this was an engagement made by his wife before her death. How could he regret the engagement? Doesn’t this make people poke themselves in the spine? Moreover, Zheng Dongguo knew his uncle thoroughly and believed that he was a good match for his daughter. In the end, Zheng Dongguo chose to marry his daughter to Chen.

Of course, another deeper reason is that it was during the Anti-Japanese War, and Shimen County was located in western Hunan, which was quite safe. And because of the relationship with Zheng Dongguo, the Zheng family and their relatives would not be harassed when they lived in Shimen County. He was exploited and his life was relatively stable; Zheng Dongguo was on the front line of the Anti-Japanese War at the time, and he might die for his country one day. Therefore, if his daughter married Chen, at least she would not worry that her daughter would be disliked if Zheng Dongguo died in the war.

Speaking of it, I still love my son with all my heart.

In this way, he became the only general among Jiang Ji and Huangpu generals who married his daughter to a peasant.

Of course, General Zheng Dongguo's kindness is not only reflected in these small places. For example, during the Liberation War in Changchun, Zheng Dongguo resolutely resisted his subordinates' suggestion to use chemical weapons; after the founding of the People's Republic of China, his second wife Chen Bilian disliked Zheng Dongguo's low income and divorced her. Despite the difficulties, Zheng Dongguo took the initiative to help his ex-wife arrange work and solve her life difficulties, regardless of past suspicions.

Precisely because General Zheng Dongguo is a rare honest and kind person among the Kuomintang generals, he has been highly valued by Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou since he surrendered in Changchun. Who wouldn't like an honest and kind person?

Zheng Dongguo and Du Yuming's family

That's why Premier Zhou invited Zheng Dongguo to go north to work again and again while Zheng Dongguo was living in Shanghai; Chairman Mao also personally invited Zheng Dongguo to dinner after Zheng Dongguo went north, and Chairman Mao personally gave him a meal at the dinner table Light a cigarette.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zheng Dongguo successively served as counselor of the Ministry of Water Resources, member of the National Defense Commission, member of the 3rd and 4th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, member of the 5th and 6th Standing Committee, vice chairman of the 5th, 6th and 7th Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee, and Huangpu classmate He held positions such as vice president of the association and spared no efforts for the reunification of the motherland and fought until the last breath of his life.

On January 27, 1991, the 88-year-old Zheng Dongguo died of illness in Beijing. On February 26, the farewell ceremony for Zheng Dongguo's body was held in the auditorium of Babaoshan Cemetery in Beijing. Almost at the same time, a memorial ceremony for Zheng Dongguo was also held on the other side of the strait.

Among the hundreds of Huangpu generals, there are not many generals who can be commemorated by both sides of the Taiwan Strait at the same time. Zheng Dongguo is one of them.

Why can Zheng Dongguo get the attention of Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou? Why can it be memorialized by both sides of the Taiwan Strait at the same time?

This has a lot to do with General Zheng Dongguo's honest and kind conduct.

END