In 2009, when Mr. Chen Luan, the son of the late Kuomintang boss Chen Cheng, went to the mainland for a trip, he talked to people about the bitterness of his father and a thought-provoking joke.

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In 2009, when Mr. Chen Luan, the son of the late Kuomintang boss Chen Cheng, went to the mainland to visit, he talked to people about the bitterness of his father and a thoughtful joke.

It was in 1963. One day, Chen Cheng chatted with his family and said that he had two nightmares last night. He dreamed that he led the Kuomintang army to counterattack the mainland. After landing, he fought fiercely northward, but was surrounded by the People's Liberation Army, and fought to the death and could not escape. He was frightened. Another dream was that he led the Kuomintang army to attack the cities and villages, winning consecutive battles, but was surrounded by a large group of ordinary people and asked him for things. He reached into his pocket and wanted to pay, but he had nothing in his pocket...

The family was depressed and didn't say anything more. Unexpectedly, after a while, this matter was unknown how it reached Mr. Jiang's ears. During that time, Jiang said without naming that some important officials were not enterprising and privately released air against the great cause of restoration. This was really disappointing.

The so-called great cause of restoration is Jiang Nian's unforgettable "counterattack on the mainland". Chen Cheng knew that Jiang was scolding him, and he did not make too much excuses. He was just very surprised. Who told him about such a private incident that only told his family?

Mr. Chen Luan recalled that it was probably because of a few children who accidentally chatted with their classmates at school. Chen Cheng was on the stove at that time, and his movements and stillness were watched, so someone would stare at the words of a dream.

This brings to the topic of this article. As the most trusted confidant of Chiang Kai-shek , why did Chen Cheng suspect each other to this point in his later years?

1. Chen Cheng was suspicious when he first entered Taiwan

Chen Cheng's military career ended at the end of 1948. He served as the director of the Northeast Headquarters as the Chief of Staff, replacing Du Yuming and Xiong Shihui . He grabbed the military and political power of the Northeast in his hands. However, he was hit by the East Wild one after another and had to regret to return to the south. He hid in Shanghai in the name of treating stomach problems and dared not see anyone.

In January 1949, Chiang Kai-shek suddenly ordered Chen Cheng, who was sick, to hurry up and operate the rear base on Taiwan. Many people do not support this news. Especially Chiang Kai-shek was a member of the Huangpu who was Great Wall . For example, the Guan Linzheng in the first phase of Huangpu , Hu Zongnan , etc., all opposed Chen Cheng's visit to Taiwan. Chiang Kai-shek opposed the opposition and sent Chen Cheng, who was so thin that he was disgraced, to Taiwan.

After Chen Cheng arrived in Taiwan, he did play a role in calming himself, quickly stabilizing the situation on the island, laying the foundation for the later retreat of Jiang Group. But it was from then on that time that Jiang had distrust of some of Chen's actions.

For example, Chen Cheng needs to supply military rations to Fujian. At that time, Fujian was still under the control of the national army, and Chiang Kai-shek asked Chen Cheng to transport food to the Fujian army with all his might to support the final resistance. Unexpectedly, Chen Cheng called to object, because Fujian had no possibility of defending it, so he should do his best to defend Tai Island.

Chiang Kai-shek was very unhappy. According to his previous personality, it was about to happen, but at very high moments he did not dare to scold Chen Cheng easily. Chiang also ordered the establishment of the Southeast Military and Political Office to unify the command of Fujian's coastal warfare affairs, and ordered Chen Cheng to take up this position. Chen Cheng wrote another letter saying that he was unwilling to take office. Chiang Kai-shek was so angry that he asked Chen Cheng about his plan, but Chen Cheng refused to be weak and overwhelmed his heavy responsibility.

Then something even more serious happened. As the land war situation gradually bottomed out, the national army had no chance of support. Chiang Kai-shek flew back and forth between Guangzhou, Fuzhou and Taiwan. At this time, news that it was unfavorable to Chiang was suddenly reported by the United States. Previously, the United States supported Li Zongren and had made Chiang Kai-shek very angry. When Chiang was about to return to Taiwan, he suddenly heard that the United States wanted to support another powerful faction to replace Chiang Kai-shek. At this time, who can be more powerful than Chen Cheng?

Lao Jiang suddenly felt dangerous. His landline was going to fly directly to Taipei, so he hurriedly changed directions to Kaohsiung . Chen Cheng also felt something was wrong and rushed to Kaohsiung to meet Lao Jiang. Lao Jiang was so shameless throughout the whole process that he asked Chen Cheng whether I was safe here.How could Chen Cheng not understand the meaning? He stated on the spot that his safety in Chiang was not a problem, and further stated that the situation on the island was stable and he respectfully asked the president to take the matter.

Chiang Kai-shek barely dispelled his suspicion.

2. The threat to Xiao Jiang became a heart disease in old Jiang

When Chen Cheng was in mainland China, there were checks and balances in the Guizhou clan outside the Chiang clan. Within the Chiang clan, there are also He Yingqin , Gu Zhutong , Er Chen, Kong Song and others to restrain him. Although Chen Cheng has a high position and is still in power, he is not yet the only one.

But after resigning from Taiwan, his status suddenly rose, and both the opposition within the Guangxi clan and the Chiang clan were completely uprooted. The Guangxi military strength was lost in the mainland and had no right to speak ever since. He Yingqin, Gu Zhutong and the big guys such as Yan Xishan who fled to Taiwan have also become political mascots and are raised up and no longer held any actual positions. Including Er Chen and Kong Song, they also handed over power under the deliberate pressure of Chiang Kai-shek.

Only Chen Cheng's real power has increased instead of being reduced. From the "Chairman" of Taiwan Province to the pseudo-"President of the Executive Yuan", although he handed over his military position, his administrative position has been unprecedentedly promoted. In early 1950, he became the second-ranked figure of the Chiang Group. In addition, Chen Cheng implemented practices such as 357 rent reduction and stable currency system on the island, which stabilized the economic situation on the island, and his public voice was also very high.

Facing the fact that both Jiang and Chen have changed their mentality. Chen Cheng's confidence in speaking to Jiang became stronger and stronger, so Jiang's suspicion of Chen became longer. As we all know, since the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang has been cultivating his eldest son, , Chiang Ching-kuo, and he will definitely pass on his country to his son in the future. If Chen Cheng continues to do this, how can Jingguo take over? How can he fight against this Chen Cixiu , who has been good at political affairs and has been in charge for many years.

Sure enough, Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng had a conflict not long after. In early 1950, Chiang Kai-shek suddenly convened a group of civil and military officials and held an inexplicable political work research association. The theme was to quickly establish an effective political work system to strengthen control within the party and eliminate the ills of corruption and corruption in the mainland period.

Chen Cheng suddenly said at the meeting, I do not oppose the political work system, but when this storm is in turmoil, the most important thing is to stabilize the military, political and economic situation on the island. The political work system is not an urgent task, so why do you spend so much energy to study this?

Chiang Kai-shek's face changed immediately, and the meeting ended unhappily. After the meeting, Wang Shijie was hinted by Chiang Kai-shek and hurried to find Chen Cheng, saying how he could argue with the president like this. Chen Cheng was unmoved and insisted that what he said was right. He had never been interested in the so-called political work system and was unwilling to learn from the CCP. Wang Shijie advised you that if you continue like this, it will be difficult for the president to do it. Chen Cheng had no choice but to surrender and say that I will no longer publicly object to it in the future.

Actually, Jiang and Chen both understood in their hearts. Why should we raise the political work system at this moment? It's all for Xiao Jiang. Xiao Jiang was very interested in the political work system during his time in mainland China, which has a lot to do with his years of traveling among the army of the great northern powers. He subconsciously believed that this was good. Therefore, after returning to China, I tried it when I was practicing in Gannan . After arriving in Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek focused on paving the way for Chiang Kai-shek to succeed, and the implementation of the administrative work system was a good entry point. Throughout the 1950s, with the support of his father, Xiao Jiang continued to infiltrate into the army and promote his set. Chiang Kai-shek obeyed his son's wishes and established a new pseudo-"General Political Department of the Ministry of National Defense" with Chiang Kai-shek as the director of the General Political Department of and promoting the administrative work system in the army.

Although Chen Cheng has left the military, there are still many old disciples in the military. Under his instructions, it is not smooth to implement this system in the military. Including the Sun Liren , which is gradually drifting away from Chen Cheng, he also stands on the same position as Chen Cheng in this matter, openly opposing the political work system of learning the Communist Army, and especially hates the organization of heart-to-heart talks in the military. Sun Liren was later placed under house arrest for the so-called mutiny case, and was not released until the death of Xiao Jiang in the 1980s. He was the second only to the time of house arrest among the Kuomintang, Zhang Xueliang and .

Another incident happened in 1958 that made both Chiang Kai-shek and his son feel cold on their backs.Chen Cheng was ordered to form a new cabinet for the pseudo-Executive Yuan, and Chen Cheng nominated to make Huang Shaogu the pseudo-especial director. Huang Shaogu was grateful to Chen Cheng for his kindness and said that he was willing to go through fire and water for Duke Ci. Chen Cheng hinted Huang Shaogu and asked him to act as an intermediary to persuade Chiang Ching-kuo, asking him not to be impatient, and to serve as a president after Chen Cheng took over, and help him make a transition. At that time, the throne would naturally be passed on to him. Jiang's father and son were all furious when they heard about it. Chiang Kai-shek scolded Huang Shaogu at the Kuomintang Central Committee meeting and was very dissatisfied with Chen Cheng. In his diary, he said: "The way of speech and demeanor is uncorrectable, which is disheartening. Huang Shaogu's selfishness and politician style are unquestionable."

Chen Cheng secretly obstructed the implementation of the country, and the conflicts between the two people frequently arose. If it were not for the so-called decency of the party and the country, he would have had a open quarrel like the mainland. Chiang Kai-shek once summoned Chen Cheng and Chiang Ching-kuo to the Shilin official residence and advised them: "You are all our revolutionary comrades, and they are the two closest to me. Now that we have retreated to Taiwan for more than ten years, the country has not yet been restored, and our compatriots are still hanging upside down. If you two still distinguish between each other and fight openly and secretly, what hope does our party and country have?" Although Chiang Kai-shek's mediation temporarily eased the conflict between Chen Cheng and Chiang Ching-kuo, it could not be completely resolved.

It can be seen from the naked eye that Chiang Kai-shek's trust in Chen Cheng has dropped a lot. Chen Cheng's resentment towards Chiang Kai-shek gradually increased.

The climax of the contradiction is Caoshan quarrel.

3. Jiang Chen lost trust in the quarrel

When Chen Cheng first entered Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek gave him 6 meaningful advice. The first three articles of

are all about paying attention to calming people's hearts, so they will not be expanded one by one. The last three are very strange, and they all point to Chen Cheng’s life and life. Let’s take a look:

…

4. Be steady in dealing with things, be kind to your subordinates, and you must not be impatient or obedient. Don’t ask for quick results, and don’t make too many plans. You always do things with your down-to-earth and solid strength without making any comments.

5. Pay special attention to the establishment of various systems every day, pay attention to the management methods and inspection standards, and do not rely on enthusiasm and personal subjectivity.

6. Diligently seeking one's own mistakes and helping others. This is to remedy the major mistakes of our past impetuousness and arrogance, which led to our failure today. I hope we will encourage each other.

in and out of the question, which means that Chen Cheng sometimes works too much and is too impatient.

In the past, Chiang Kai-shek liked Chen Cheng's glorious shortcomings. This kind of personality could be used as a gun for him to subdue those dissidents. However, Chiang Kai-shek did not expect that even though the gun was sharp, he would turn his head and stab him one day.

In early 1961, Chiang Kai-shek suddenly had a whim and formulated a "Tianma Plan" to counterattack the mainland, requiring Chen Cheng to immediately carry out all comprehensive preparations.

Counterattack on the mainland is the consistent goal of Jiang’s group. Jiang has always believed that even if there are thousands of conflicts within, no one will have any other ideas on this basic issue. Unexpectedly, the Executive Yuan has not made any major moves four or five months after the plan was introduced. After Chiang Kai-shek's investigation, he found that the root of the disease was Chen Cheng. Chen Cheng was very negative about this matter and had no arrangements at all. He just asked about it without any pain. All the human, material and financial preparations were almost not started.

Chiang Kai-shek was furious and interviewed Chen Cheng in Caoshan (which is today's Yangmingshan ). The two of them had their own opinions and could not speak the same tone. This is something that Jiang and Chen Ji had never seen in more than 30 years. Jiang felt offended and scolded Chen Cheng for his rebellion. Chen Cheng has always been unyielding and said he would not be afraid of death in battle, but there is no way now.

The diaries of Jiang and Chen both record this matter. Chiang Kai-shek did not write in detail about the content of his argument with Chen Cheng for face, but Chen Cheng recorded it in detail. Let's take a look:

Yi was so angry that he thought I suspected that the three armies could not fight, undermining the prestige of the commander and obstructing his counterattack. I told Yi Yi that this is because I doubt my personality. Not only can I do things, but I can't be a human being. Although our counterattack cannot be determined, we must never fight in a vain and at the very least we can fight to the death.How to make the three armies sacrifice their lives? In terms of transportation, if the Ministry of Transport does not give a considerable time, how can the ships be concentrated? There is no need to say anything else. When the argument was so big, the lady came out to be a peacemaker. In the future, Yi was also calm and said that he had to prepare actively... (I am referring to Jiang, author's note)

Chen Cheng expressed his opinion on the spot: Once the horn of the counterattack sounded, he would still ask for his order to go out, but he did not agree to counterattack rashly.

Afterwards, Soong Mei-ling also went to Chen's house to find Tan Xiang (Madam Chen Cheng), and advised him and his wife not to think too much, and finally comforted Chen Cheng.

But Chen Cheng's intention was hard to calm down. He wrote down his feelings at that time in his small book:

I am in my sixties, and I have worked hard and slandered for decades. Why? If I have a little selfish thought, I will never do it so stupidly - I will ignore praise and criticism and physical behavior.

or above diaries and feelings are all from "Mr. Chen Cheng's Memoirs: Sixty Self-Reports", which is true. Chen Cheng's so-called "drying regardless of his body" probably means that he had already discovered liver discomfort at that time, and later died of liver cancer .

Chen Cheng was discouraged from then on, and knew Chiang Kai-shek's true intentions and would never want to have any conflict with him again. The nightmare thing happened not long after that. Chen Cheng was shocked to find that Chiang Kai-shek seemed to be focusing on surveillance on him, and his mind became even more unbearable and he became depressed overnight.

It is said that one year Chen Cheng celebrated his birthday and invited Hu Shi , Jiang Menglin , Mei Yiqi , and Wang Shijie to travel south to celebrate. Hong Kong media exaggerated this matter as the modern " Han Huidi and Shangshan Four Hao ". This allusion tells the story of Emperor Gao of Han who was the intention of making a crown prince easy to establish. Empress Lu asked Zhang Liang to come up with an idea. Zhang Liang invited the four wise men to assist the crown prince. Emperor Gao saw that these four people belonged to the crown prince, and from then on made up his mind to pass on the country to the crown prince.

Chen Cheng is bound to become a few well-known people in the Kuomintang at this time, and it is inevitable that he will be suspected of being under the plum blossoms. Chiang Kai-shek had a knot in his heart, and Chen Cheng had no intention of this. He was promoted by all walks of life and was frightened and determined to resign from his position as the pseudo-"Premiere". Seeing that Chen Cheng was like this, Chiang Kai-shek knew that he was no longer an obstacle to his son, so he continued to use him. It was not until the end of 1963 that Chiang Kai-shek agreed to Chen Cheng's retreat.

On March 5, 1965, Chen Cheng died of illness. Before his death, he left his last words: First, he hopes that comrades will be united in one's heart and one virtue, and under the leadership of the "President", he will complete the great cause of the national revolution. Second, don’t be negative. The land does not distinguish between east, west, south, and people does not distinguish between men, women, young and old. The military and civilians of the "nation" will share this hardship. Third, the Party survives and strives for internal unity, and has great potential for future.

There are no words such as "anti-communist" and "counterattack" in it. Chen Cheng's attitude showed his mood in his later years, which was not consistent with Chiang Kai-shek's so-called resurrection. It is rumored that someone figured out Chiang Kai-shek's thoughts and found the Chen family, hoping to modify the last words before publicly publishing them. Tan Xiang said sadly that the person was dead, so he should not mess with him anymore. She personally found Chiang Kai-shek and pleaded not to modify them. Chiang Kai-shek agreed.

Chen Cheng is eleven years younger than Chiang Kai-shek, but he left before Chiang. Chiang's mood was very complicated, and there was some helplessness and reluctance in his sorrow. The two worked together for more than forty years. In terms of loyalty, Chen Chengzhen deserves his reputation.

Chiang Kai-shek finally gave him a fair evaluation. He wrote a couplet to Chen Cheng himself:

The Resurrection Day has reached the last juncture of struggle, so how can I silence this national sorrow?

The revolutionary cause is still in the stage of completion together, and I have to endure the robbery of my Yuanfu. Isn’t it lawless?

also issued the four words "Essence of the Party and the Country".

can be said to be a comment.

However, no one knows whether Lao Jiangxin’s knot is opened. When Wei Zhi finally mourned and said goodbye to the body, something very interesting happened.

On March 6, Chiang Kai-shek chose to inspect the funeral home when the yang energy was at its peak at noon. When he went to Chen Cheng's place of peace, he accidentally found that the body had been moved into the refrigerator room. Chiang Kai-shek went back without looking at it. What is the meaning of this? Do readers know it?