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In October 2001, the 101-year-old Zhang Xueliang died in Honolulu, USA. Before his death, he donated all his $600 million in bank deposits to the United States!
Zhang Xueliang
Why did Zhang Xueliang, who was regarded as a patriotic warlord, do this? Not donating it to China, or even leaving it to children, he actually dedicated a huge sum of money to Columbia University in the United States!
Some people also wonder, where did Zhang Xueliang, who has been imprisoned for most of his life, get so much money?
Today, I will reveal the secrets of Zhang Xueliang’s later years to you? Three reasons for donating to the United States, and the woman who stood behind Zhang Xueliang and accumulated a lot of wealth for him!
The controversial "patriotic warlord"
1901, Zhang Xueliang was born in Liaoning Province, and his father was the most ruthless man in the Northeast. He was the leader of the Fengtian warlord Zhang Zuolin , ranking one of the three major warlords at that time.
Zhang Zuolin
With such a family background, Zhang Xueliang can be said to be born with a golden spoon in his mouth. Moreover, as the eldest son of the family, Zhang Zuolin has always regarded him as his heir. In the future, he will definitely inherit his father's business and lead the Zhang family's powerful generals.
Therefore, at the age of 16, Zhang Xueliang was arranged by his father to serve in the army, starting from a soldier, experiencing the hardships and hardships of military life, and honing his combat skills and will.
After adulthood, Zhang Xueliang began to teach in the army martial arts halls in the three northeastern provinces to learn overall planning and strategic planning on the battlefield.
Zhang Xueliang, who was carefully cultivated by Zhang Zuolin, quickly showed his military talent. He graduated with the first place in the artillery department and then began to serve as regiment commander and joined the warlord melee. Relying on his military achievements, he climbed to the position of commander of the Third Army of the Fengtian Warlords.
Zhang Xueliang
1928, Zhang Zuolin was killed by explosives buried by the Japanese military. Zhang Xueliang officially took over and became the leader of the Fengtian warlords. In Zhang Xueliang's heart, he has formed a deep feud with the Japanese!
On the other hand, with the outbreak of the biggest warlord dispute in 1930, the Central Plains War , the situation of warlords fighting on their own was broken, and the Fengtian warlords chose to join the camp of Chiang Kai-shek . The young and promising Zhang Xueliang was soon valued by Chiang Kai-shek, and the two even became sworn brothers.
Zhang Xueliang thinks that those who know the current affairs are heroes. He thinks that Chiang Kai-shek is brave and crafty, and he will definitely achieve great achievements and drive away the Japanese invaders. But what he didn't expect was that following Chiang Kai-shek was the most wrong choice in his life.
After the outbreak of September 18th Incident, the Japanese army began to rage on the land of Northeast China. Zhang Xueliang could no longer suppress his killing and wanted to kill all these Japanese to pay tribute to his father in heaven.
Chiang Kai-shek
But Chiang Kai-shek actually sent a telegram, strictly prohibiting Zhang Xueliang from opening fire at the Japanese, which is the so-called " non-resistance policy ".
Chiang Kai-shek believed that Zhang Xueliang's army was far less powerful than Japan, and he could not fight. If he fought hard, he might sign a defeat compensation agreement. It would be better not to fight and let the Japanese army enter from the Northeast.
Such a backbone decision made it difficult for Zhang Xueliang to accept, but he did not dare to disobey Chiang Kai-shek's orders. If you fight hard, you may not get Chiang Kai-shek's assistance, and you will be in a difficult situation at that time. But if he doesn't fight, he will not be able to pass the hurdle in his heart.
Zhang Xueliang's indecision was fully exposed. Under the fierce ideological struggle, he never made a decision. Allow the Japanese to slaughter the people of Northeast China and erode our country's land.
Invading the Japanese army
Therefore, he felt ashamed of his motherland and buried deep guilt in his heart. Until the moment of death, this guilt could not be resolved.
Inaction is precisely the greatest support for the Japanese army. Zhang Xueliang is becoming more and more anxious as the Japanese army continues to penetrate the heartland of the Central Plains. How much he wanted to make up for his merits and join the War of Resistance Against Japan.
But Chiang Kai-shek's side also said that he would first settle the country when fighting foreign countries, and insisted on fighting civil war first. The Japanese devil kicked over the door and hit Chiang Kai-shek's nostril. He was thinking about how to settle accounts with his brothers, and he looked like he was brain edema and .
Zhang Xueliang could not sit still. In January 1936, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng asked to meet Chiang Kai-shek to discuss the issue of the united front fighting against Japan.
Yang Hucheng
But Chiang Kai-shek obstructed him in every way, but he was unwilling to discuss in detail, and even asked Zhang Xueliang to lead his troops to suppress the students and people who were marching.
is not capable of raising a gun at the Japanese, but he is very skilled in making trouble for his family. Zhang Xueliang can no longer bear to see this ugly face of Chiang Kai-shek. He directly joined Yang Hucheng, led his troops to take Chiang Kai-shek hostage, and forced Chiang Kai-shek to announce that the Kuomintang had joined the War of Resistance Against Japan.
Therefore, the full-scale War of Resistance Against Japan officially began, and Chiang Kai-shek also understood that this was the common will of the whole country and it was hard for him to disobey. Because of this move, Zhang Xueliang was regarded as a "patriotic warlord" by the people of the whole country.
Of course, Zhang Xueliang is also mixed in the eyes of some people. A few years ago, when Japanese soldiers entered the Northeast, Zhang Xueliang could actually watch his enemies pass by without the courage to shoot. Fortunately, it is not too late to make up for the loss of the sheep, which can be regarded as a significant contribution to the national war of resistance.
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek never forgot that Zhang Xueliang threatened himself, and began to fight against Japan on the surface, imprisoning Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng behind their backs.
Yang Hucheng was even assassinated, and Zhang Xueliang escaped because of his special identity, but his life in a prisoner ran through most of his life.
In 1946, Chiang Kai-shek was defeated and fled to Taiwan, and Zhang Xueliang was also transferred to Taiwan. It was not until Chiang Kai-shek's son Jiang Jingguo died that Zhang Xueliang was released. That year was 1990, and he had been imprisoned for 54 years!
54, things changed, and due to political reasons, the mainland has become his hometown that he cannot go back to, and immigrated to the United States in 1995. Logically speaking, Zhang Xueliang should be poor and careless at this time. Where did the wealth he came from to allow him to enjoy his old age? This means that his wife - Yu Fengzhi .
Jiang Jingguo
The woman behind Zhang Xueliang
Yu Fengzhi and Zhang Xueliang were arranged marriages, of course this was very common in that era. Yu Fengzhi's father was a wealthy businessman in Northeast China. Yu Wendou was kind to Zhang Zuolin in his early years, so the two families made a baby marriage for their children.
The two did not get along well at the beginning. Zhang Xueliang has been in the military camp since he was a child. He has his own opinions and looks down on Yu Fengzhi, who is three years older than him. But Yu Fengzhi was very patient and gentle, and took care of Zhang Xueliang meticulously, gradually influenced him.
When he was young, Zhang Xueliang was very romantic and had done many romantic things, but Yu Fengzhi tolerated him every time. Zhang Xueliang also accepted several concubines, but after Zhang Xueliang was imprisoned, only Yu Fengzhi could stay with him.
Yu Fengzhi
Zhang Xueliang handed over all the important assets of the old Zhang family to Fengzhi management after being under house arrest.
The early Zhang Zuolin actually made his fortune by relying on the Japanese. The Japanese supported Zhang Zuolin with a large amount of arms and silver, hoping to treat Zhang Zuolin as his white glove in the Northeast.
Although Zhang Zuolin is a bandit, he also has big troubles. While pretending to obey the Japanese, he actually does not take the Japanese's orders seriously. The attitude towards the Japanese is to only enter and not leave, and the large amount of materials and silver, except for some of the expansion of troops, is left to their own property.
Yu Fengzhi held a huge sum of money in his hand, but did not leave Zhang Xueliang behind, which shows the sincerity of this woman. During the house arrest, Yu Fengzhi was willing to follow Zhang Xueliang to become a cage bird, lose his freedom, and take care of her husband wholeheartedly.
Zhang Xueliang and Yu Fengzhi
However, Yu Fengzhi accidentally suffered from breast cancer , and his condition gradually worsened. It was difficult to cure in old China, where medical conditions were limited.
Zhang Xueliang asked Yu Fengzhi to take his children abroad for treatment, and this was also to keep the Zhang family behind to avoid the fact that Chiang Kai-shek pursued the matter later, it would be a bad idea to destroy the Zhang family.
Yu Fengzhi could not resist Zhang Xueliang, so he had to agree to him and took his children on the ship to the United States and took away all his property. The medical conditions in the United States are indeed advanced, but they are also full of risks.
Due to cancer cell lesions, it spread to Yu Feng to the entire left breast in just one year. Under the medical conditions at that time, there was only one solution, that is, to remove the left breast!
Yu Fengzhi was completely unacceptable, and it was not until the cancer cells continued to spread that they had to agree to the treatment plan.
Zhang Xueliang, Yu Fengzhi and four children
removed their left breasts. There was also a postoperative chemotherapy process, which was slow and painful. Yu Fengzhi lost all his hair for this and became more and more haggard and weak. She weighed less than 45 kilograms at one point, and her three children were crying and their eyes were red.
If Yu Fengzhi falls on the hospital bed, then her three children will be left unattended. Therefore, Yu Fengzhi struggled to support her, finally overcome the difficulties and successfully completed the treatment.
She was thinking about curing her illness at that time, so she returned to Zhang Xueliang, but the situation in old China was too chaotic at that time. Yu Fengzhi and Tuo's family took their families. Once they embarked on the road to return home, not to mention whether they could find Zhang Xueliang, they would probably be wiped out by the Japanese army. In the end, I had to stay in the United States.
Although he has a good family background, Yu Fengzhi understands the principle of living a waste. She needs to have a way to make money in the United States in order to give her children a stable family environment.
Yu Fengzhi
After all, Yu Fengzhi has a keen sense of business. After she learned business knowledge by herself, she keenly realized that real estate will be a trend in the future.
She began to devote herself to real estate entrepreneurship, and relied on her identity as Zhang Xueliang's wife to establish contact with many wealthy overseas Chinese businessmen. It seemed that a grand business blueprint was unfolding in front of her.
But things went against my wishes. Yu Fengzhi's business in the early days was always lukewarm, and his children's growth was full of ups and downs. Zhang Xueliang and Yu Fengzhi gave birth to four children, three men and one woman. The second son Zhang Luxun was scared by artillery fire when he was in his hometown. The youngest son Zhang Luqi died of illness when he was very young.
The eldest son Zhang Luxun was considered a successful adult, but when he arrived in the United States, he was hit by a car accident and became a vegetable! Only her daughter Zhang Luying is her only comfort and pride.
Zhang Xueliang and Yu Fengzhi
Zhang Luying is proficient in many languages and has also obtained a doctorate degree from Columbia University in the United States. She has always been with Yu Fengzhi, and she is the caring little cotton-padded jacket when she was frustrated.
Yu Fengzhi finally ushered in good luck in his later years, and the investment projects became more and more successful. Her stock and real estate investment continued to increase value, becoming a famous rich man in the Chinese circle in Los Angeles.
For her, what she needs most is not money or other external things, but the company of her family. She misses Zhang Xueliang from her distant hometown. She specially built a one-to-one villa according to the decoration pattern of her home when she was in Beijing, just waiting for Zhang Xueliang to reunite with her.
It’s a pity that she never waited for Zhang Xueliang’s arrival.
Zhang Xueliang, Yu Fengzhi and Zhang Luying
On January 30, 1990, Yu Fengzhi passed away safely in her sleep. The name she left on the tombstone was Zhang Fengzhi, indicating that she will always be a woman from the Zhang family. Moreover, before her death, she asked to leave a hole for Zhang Xueliang next to her tomb, hoping that she could spend it with him after she died.
Reasons for Zhang Xueliang to donate his inheritance to the United States
1990, Zhang Xueliang was finally released by the Kuomintang authorities, but the scope of Zhang Xueliang's activities is still limited and cannot exceed Taiwan, especially if he cannot return to the mainland!
Zhang Xueliang is also well aware of the particularity of his identity. Once he returns to the mainland, he is very likely to have an uncontrollable political impact. Moreover, as time goes by, apart from the inextricable homesickness, I have no relatives on the mainland, and going back is just sad and nostalgic.
Zhang Xueliang
After ending his imprisonment, the Taiwanese authorities would also issue some subsidies every month so that Zhang Xueliang could live his old age.
But later, the Taiwanese authorities found that Zhang Xueliang had no use value, and gradually began to neglect him, and even lost subsidies. For this reason, Zhang Xueliang had to sell some of his collections in exchange for living expenses.
From 1995, the Taiwanese authorities relaxed restrictions on Zhang Xueliang and allowed him to go to the United States to reunite with his family.
Zhang Xueliang went to the United States in a low-key manner, but it still attracted a lot of attention in the public opinion circle. After all, he was once a sensational figure of the times. In the minds of many people, his image is difficult to erase. In the eyes of some younger generations, Zhang Xueliang is a figure in history books!
At that time, many American institutions, scholars and media wanted to invite Zhang Xueliang to tell him about the history of that year. Anyone with a discerning eye can see what kind of abacus Americans are making, and it is likely that they will interfere with it to put pressure on the mainland.
Jiang Shiyun
Zhang Xueliang is very smart. He refused all interviews and was unwilling to meet some overseas Chinese who came here. In addition to meeting family, I just meet my friends Jiang Shiyun and Lu Zhengcao to visit the customs and customs in the United States.
Later, under the recommendation of his daughter and Jiang Shiyun, Zhang Xueliang met with Chinese history researchers at Columbia University , but he only talked about some historical memories briefly and clicked on it.
Later, Zhang Xueliang went to Hawaii, a holy place for retirement, and he decided to spend the rest of his life in this place. At the beginning, he lived at the home of his younger brother Zhang Xuesen .
However, he later obtained Yu Fengzhi's large inheritance and had the capital to buy a house business. With a wave of his hand, he bought a sea view house by the sea in Hawaii.
Zhang Xueliang
In addition, Zhang Xueliang also took out many calligraphy and paintings he collected when he was young. He commissioned an auction house in the United States to auction calligraphy and paintings, as well as some other scattered collections. According to statistics, the number of these collections is as high as more than 700 pieces. Although the quality of them is uneven, it also brought Zhang Xueliang hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue!
He had a happy old age, but unfortunately the god of death soon came to him. In 2001, Zhang Xueliang suddenly suffered from pneumonia and was sent to the hospital for treatment. He passed away on October 14. Before his death, he donated all the $600 million in his assets to Columbia University in the United States. This surprised outsiders very much, because in their opinion, this patriotic general should be given to mainland China or Taiwan, so why was it given to the United States?
Columbia University
There are actually three reasons. First, after he arrived in the United States, he became more and more closely related to Chinese historians at Columbia University. He set up an archive in this university called "Yidi Study", which preserves many historical materials he described in person. He hopes that Columbia University can preserve these historical materials well.
Secondly, he could not donate it to Taiwan. After all, Taiwan can be regarded as a sad and spent many painful years in that place.
Finally, he was determined to donate his assets to his hometown. After all, he always thought that he was ashamed of his motherland, but he did not have a suitable donation partner.
Moreover, his gift is likely to be politically shaped by later generations, and even a big essay is really unnecessary.
Zhang Xueliang
Premier Zhou once commented on Zhang Xueliang as a "national hero and a hero for all of us". The death of such a hero is worthy of the common remembrance of all of us.
