In the blink of an eye, the high-spirited young marshal of the Northeast Army turned into a decrepit old man under the ravages of time. Zhang Xueliang accepted an interview after his release, during which a reporter asked him who the person he admired most in his life was.

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In 1990, Zhang Xueliang, who had been imprisoned by the National Government for 54 years, was finally able to see the light of day again. In the blink of an eye, the high-spirited young marshal of the Northeast Army turned into a decrepit old man under the ravages of time.

Zhang Xueliang accepted an interview after his release. During this period, a reporter asked him who the person he admired most in his life was. Hearing this, Zhang Xueliang's cloudy eyes flashed with some clarity, and he told the reporter the names of the three people.

So, who is the person Zhang Xueliang admires most? Why does he have such high praise and admiration for these people?

" Northeast King " Zhang Zuolin

The first name in Zhang Xueliang's mouth is Zhang Zuolin, which is his father, the "Northeast King". In fact, no matter what the occasion, Zhang Xueliang always mentioned his father Zhang Zuolin without hesitation in praise or criticism.

It is through Zhang Xueliang's unique perspective that the world has a more three-dimensional and distinct understanding of this troubled hero.

Zhang Zuolin came from a poor family at a young age. In his early years, he worked as a veterinarian and wandered around the world. Later, he formed his own armed force and joined the military to maintain security. He rose all the way through the hail of bullets and became the commander-in-chief of hundreds of thousands of Northeastern troops.

Such an origin and experience destined Zhang Zuolin to have some bad habits that are difficult to hide, such as a bad temper . Zhang Xueliang recalled:

"No one can offend my father when he loses his temper. He will shoot people when he gets angry. I don't dare to be stubborn." Zhang Zuolin also had a bad temper towards the Japanese who were entrenched in the three eastern provinces of China at that time, and had several disputes with the Japanese invaders.

When talking about Zhang Zuolin's tragic death by the Japanese bombing, Zhang Xueliang believed that this had something to do with his violent temper.

Zhang Zuolin’s second problem is his addiction to gambling on and . Zhang Zuolin, who has been in casinos since he was a child, is quite proficient in various gambling skills and especially loves playing mahjong.

Zhang Zuolin

"My father is very good at playing mahjong, and he can remember the cards." Zhang Xueliang mentioned Zhang Zuolin's hobby in front of outsiders more than once.

After Zhang Zuolin took over the Northeast, he once set up a mahjong game in the Zhang Mansion. He liked to invite people to play mahjong here when he had nothing to do.

Zhang Zuolin would not ask anyone who came to visit Zhang's residence, but would first take them to the mahjong table and play a few rounds.

Zhang Zuolin's bets were huge, costing tens of thousands of dollars. There was once a businessman named Li Luge who lost 500,000 dollars to him. Afterwards, Zhang Zuolin was very happy and gave the other party a large yard on the outskirts of Beijing.

In addition to these shortcomings, Zhang Zuolin is also very superstitious about . There is a very famous fortune teller in Fengtian City named "Blind Bao".

Zhang Zuolin has always regarded him as a distinguished guest. Whenever he makes a major decision or has an uncertain question, he will ask the other party to divine fortune to predict the bad luck.

Blind Bao won the trust of Zhang Zuolin and could enter and leave the commander's house freely. He was also hired as Zhang Zuolin's personal consultant, with a monthly salary of 200 oceans.

Later Yuan Shikai wanted to proclaim himself emperor. In order to win over him, Zhang Zuolin specially recommended Bao Xiazi to him. After returning from Beijing, Blind Bao told Zhang Zuolin: "Yuan Shikai must fail!"

Regardless of whether Blind Bao was effective or not, at least his calculations on Yuan Shikai were extremely accurate.

Yuan Shikai

Irritability, gambling, and superstition, these shortcomings were clearly exposed in front of Zhang Xueliang, but this did not delay Zhang Xueliang's admiration for his father.

Zhang Zuolin has a lot of things to criticize, but these shortcomings seem to be completely worth mentioning given his advantages.

First of all, Zhang Zuolin is a general with strong ability to lead troops and outstanding personal military qualities.

In his long military career, Zhang Zuolin has never been a general who was separated from the army and bossed around. He gradually rose to the position of king of the Northeast by fighting with his soldiers in a hail of bullets.

Especially in the early days of conquering the world, Zhang Zuolin always took the lead and charged at the forefront of the battlefield regardless of life and death. This is also a major reason why the majority of the Northeast Army was willing to follow Zhang Zuolin to conquer the world.

Years of war experience have also allowed Zhang Zuolin to develop good marksmanship. He does not even need to aim at a target 100 meters away. He just picks up the gun and loads it, raises the gun, and pulls the trigger.

The bullseye in the distance was hit in response. This set of movements was smooth and smooth without any obstruction. In the Northeast Army, Zhang Zuolin's marksmanship was famous for his ability to pierce an enemy with a hundred steps.

Zhang Zuolin not only treats his subordinates well, he also treats the people of the northeastern region with all his heart.

Zhang Zuolin, who was born in poverty, even though he later became famous and became extremely wealthy, he did not forget the people who were still struggling on the poverty line. Zhang Xueliang commented:

"I admire my father as a person. He has never forgotten the poor in his heart. He has deep sympathy for such people."

This is indeed the case. In 1924, Zhang Zuolin donated 150,000 yuan when the three eastern provinces raised funds; in 1920, when a flood occurred in Shandong, Zhang Zuolin donated 300,000 yuan.

When the Beijing Red Cross encountered difficulties in 1926, Zhang Zuolin also donated thousands of kilograms of food... Whenever he heard about a disaster somewhere in China, Zhang Zuolin would always do his part.

Once Zhang Xueliang demolished several ordinary people's houses in preparation for war. Zhang Zuolin rarely reprimanded him after hearing the news. Zhang Zuolin's care for the people can be seen from this.

In addition to these, what Zhang Xueliang admires most about his father is his strong dominance. Zhang Xueliang sighed:

"My father attended a private school for half a year since he was born, and did not receive any systematic Western education. However, during his jurisdiction, the Northeast region achieved breakthroughs in the development of politics, economy, military, and education in various fields. His ability to rule is Naturally, I admire him for this the most."

Indeed, Zhang Zuolin is the youngest among the warlords , and his qualifications are not deep, but has always been able to maintain his position as the leader, and no one is dissatisfied or disloyal to , which is enough to show his strong personal ability to rule.

Later, when Zhang Xueliang took over the leadership, he realized how difficult this position was, and his admiration for his father grew to a higher level.

Zhang Zuolin's train was bombed

Zhang Xueliang's life-long regret: not seeing Chairman Mao

Zhang Xueliang spent most of his life under the surveillance and house arrest of the Kuomintang . This also left him with many regrets, and not being able to see Chairman Mao in his life was one of them, because Chairman Mao was also the person he admired most .

Zhang Xueliang has always admired Chairman Mao since the 1930s. It is worth mentioning that Zhang Xueliang had helped Chairman Mao once before the Xi'an Incident.

In the spring of 1936, several young Chinese wanted to go to the Soviet Union for further study, but lacked funds.

This news reached Zhang Xueliang's ears through a priest, so he took out a sum of money and gave it to Northeastern General Li Du and asked him to send several people to the Soviet Union and subsidize their tuition.

Among these teenagers were Chairman Mao's sons Mao Anying and Mao Anying, but Zhang Xueliang did not know about this.

It was not until 1994, when a Northeastern historian told Zhang Xueliang, who settled in Hawaii, about this past event that Zhang Xueliang knew that he had already had contact with Chairman Mao.

Zhang Xueliang's good impression of Chairman Mao originated from his awe of the Chairman and the help of a foreign friend.

In 1930, an American reporter named Snow came to Northeast China and became friends with Zhang Xueliang. This person came to northern Shaanxi with the help of Zhang Xueliang and met the famous Chairman Mao. After returning, Snow told Zhang Xueliang:

"Mao Zedong is completely different from what the Central News Agency promoted. He is a person who can bring hope to China. , you'd better go and see him, he may be able to tell you how to help your father get revenge."

Snow's words gave Zhang Xueliang a strong desire to meet Chairman Mao. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhang Xueliang went to northern Shaanxi on Snow's recommendation, planning to meet Chairman Mao.

Unfortunately, when Zhang Xueliang's plane landed at Luochuan Airport on April 9, 1936, a telegram from Yan'an was delivered to him.

This is a joint telegram from Chairman Mao, Peng Dehuai and others. The telegram stated that Premier Zhou had come to Luochuan on behalf of Chairman Mao to discuss with him the matter of joining hands in the fight against Japan on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Although Zhang Xueliang failed to meet Chairman Mao during this trip, he gained a close friend like Premier Zhou.

Later, the two sides planned to meet in Yan'an, but before the trip could take place, Zhang Xueliang had already launched a military campaign against Chiang Kai-shek .

On December 12, 1936, Zhang Xueliang forced Chiang Kai-shek into the palace in Lintong and asked him to put down his attack on the Communist Party and unite to fight against Japan.

At the same time, Zhang Xueliang told Chairman Mao, Zhou Enlai and others the news as soon as he launched the mutiny.

After the news of the Xi'an Incident came, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China attached great importance to it. On the one hand, it sent Premier Zhou and others to Xi'an to assist Zhang Xueliang in properly resolving the matter, and tried to promote the goal of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party to jointly resist Japan.

On the other side, Chairman Mao sent a telegram to him on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, preliminary conveying to him matters related to the peaceful settlement of the Xi'an Incident.

During the process of solving the problem, the telegram communication between Chairman Mao and Zhang Xueliang was never interrupted.

Later, with the assistance of Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou, the mutiny was finally resolved peacefully, and the idea of ​​joint resistance against Japan was agreed by Chiang Kai-shek. General Zhang Xueliang thus became known as a patriotic general through the ages.

In fact, long before Zhang Xueliang launched his military remonstrance, Chairman Mao had sent him a letter. It was the only personal letter the Chairman had given him. The chairman said in the letter:

General Zhang is the leader of the Northeast Army and bears important responsibilities in this war to protect the homeland and the country. If the general can take into account the current tense external situation, he hopes to immediately turn his guns towards the Japanese invaders and convey our opinions to the Nationalist Government, so that the two sides can send representatives to each other to discuss the specific matters of armistice and anti-Japanese aggression.

Chairman Mao, proceeding from the interests of his family and country, hoped that Zhang Xueliang would become the intermediary between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and promote the end of the civil war and the unified resistance to Japan.

But Chairman Mao did not know at this time that Zhang Xueliang had already lost the opportunity to communicate head-on with Chiang Kai-shek.

After getting the letter, Zhang Xueliang wanted to convey the CCP's intentions to Chiang Kai-shek, but before he could say it, Chiang Kai-shek loudly reprimanded within the party: "Anyone found to be colluding with the Communists will be shot!"

Zhang Xueliang could only restrain his eagerness to hand in the letter.

Although Zhang Xueliang could not meet the Chairman in his life, Chairman Mao's various deeds have always deeply influenced Zhang Xueliang, whether it was the war years or the period of peaceful construction of the motherland, making him admire this great man from the bottom of his heart.

If it is a regret not to be able to meet Chairman Mao, then becoming a close friend with Premier Zhou may be the best compensation for Zhang Xueliang.

Close friend Premier Zhou

Among the people Zhang Xueliang admires the most, Premier Zhou also occupies a seat.

Premier Zhou and Zhang Xueliang met for the first time in June 1936, but they had a friendship as classmates before that.

Premier Zhou once studied in Northeast China and became a disciple of Mr. Zhang Boling, a famous Chinese educator. Zhang Xueliang also became a disciple of Zhang Boling because Zhang Boling helped him quit smoking. Therefore, Premier Zhou and Zhang Xueliang still have a relationship of senior brothers.

htmlWhen they met in Luochuan in June, the two hit it off. Zhang Xueliang was quickly impressed by Premier Zhou's knowledge and conversation.

More importantly, Premier Zhou's proposal of uniting to resist Japan and revolution to save the nation won Zhang Xueliang's approval, and the friendship between the two was forged.

After the Xi'an Incident, Premier Zhou came to negotiate on behalf of the Communist Party, and the two worked together to resolve the military remonstrance issue peacefully.

However, the two had differences over the issue of sending Chiang Kai-shek back to Nanjing. Zhang Xueliang felt guilty and wanted to personally send Chiang Kai-shek back to Nanjing in order to avoid the incident.

This proposal was unanimously opposed by the Northeast Army. Premier Zhou also repeatedly reminded him of the dangers of the trip to Nanjing, but Zhang Xueliang still got on the plane bound for Nanjing.

Afterwards, Zhang Xueliang was put under house arrest by Chiang Kai-shek as expected. He said to his wife sadly and angrily:

"I have never done anything worthy of regret in my life. This time I have learned the taste of regret. My brothers advised me, and Vice Chairman Zhou of the Communist Party also hinted at the danger of giving me away, but it is a pity that I did not listen.

If I had listened more to Mr. Zhou How could he end up in such a situation? "

During Yu Fengzhi

Zhang Xueliang not only regretted not listening to Premier Zhou's words, but also kept trying to find ways to write to the Prime Minister to express his longing and admiration for him.

When he was sent to the military court , Chiang Kai-shek always wanted to force him to admit that he was ordered by the Communist Party and manipulated by Zhou Enlai.

But Zhang Xueliang said nothing and was unwilling to betray Premier Zhou. He insisted on his principle and said: "Everything is my own idea."

In the face of loyalty and freedom, Zhang Xueliang showed his feelings for his friends with actions.

In 1976, the Prime Minister died of illness in Beijing. Zhang Xueliang was extremely sad after learning the news. Unfortunately, he could not even send a message of condolences, so he could only send his condolences to the Prime Minister from afar across the vast strait.

Zhang Xueliang's sincerity towards the Prime Minister is eye-catching, and Premier Zhou also cherishes this good friend.

Since Zhang Xueliang was detained, Premier Zhou has never stopped rescuing him.

During the Seventh National People’s Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1945, Premier Zhou made a speech condemning Chiang Kai-shek’s detention of Zhang Xueliang and strongly demanded that the Nationalist Government release him.

During the Chongqing negotiations in 1946, Premier Zhou bluntly pointed out:

"We can sit here to negotiate today, and there is one person who has made the greatest contribution. He is General Zhang Xueliang, who helped stop the civil war and unite against Japan. We sincerely hope that he can gain freedom as soon as possible."

At a tea party in Chongqing's cultural circles in the same year, a person from the Northeast said with emotion: "I only pity the man who has been imprisoned for more than ten years. I'm afraid his life has been difficult these years."

Chongqing Negotiations

These words aroused everyone's sentiments, and a trace of sad tears flashed across Premier Zhou's serious face.

On November 11, 1956, a symposium on the 20th anniversary of the Xi'an Incident was held in Beijing. Premier Zhou pointed out:

"Generals Zhang and Yang are the eternal heroes of this incident. Since General Zhang was detained, he sent me two letters. He is worthy of memory and respect. In the future, he can It is good to regain freedom, but no matter what, he is already an immortal figure."

In 1961, Premier Zhou tried to ask someone to bring a letter to Zhang Xueliang. The letter had no addressee and no signature. It had only sixteen words: Treasure the country, be kind to yourself, have a promising future, and see you later.

Unfortunately, Premier Zhou's wish to meet Zhang Xueliang again did not come true after all.

On January 8, 1976, Premier Zhou passed away in Beijing. Until his death, the Prime Minister still reminded him never to forget: "Don't forget that there is an old friend in Taiwan."

In 1990, after being imprisoned for 54 years, Zhang Xueliang finally regained his freedom. Japan Broadcasting Association TV station conducted an interview with him. When referring to Premier Zhou, Zhang Xueliang commented:

"We can understand each other. He is a great person."

In April of the following year, Zhang Xueliang went to the United States to visit relatives. During this period, Zhang Xueliang talked about Premier Zhou again. He said: "Zhou Mr. Enlai is a person I admire very much. He is an excellent politician and diplomat. The relationship between the two of us is very good."

In his later years, Zhang Xueliang and his wife

In May of the same year, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to send personnel to visit Zhang Xueliang in the United States. Our personnel brought him a letter from Deng Yingchao, the widow of Premier Zhou Enlai.

After Zhang Xueliang got the letter, he put the letter paper almost to his face and read every word carefully. He said in a trembling voice: "I am familiar with Zhou Enlai. We are very good. Please say hello to Ms. Deng for me."

At this time, Zhang Xueliang was over 90 years old. After so many years of ups and downs, he still missed his close friend. This pure and sincere friendship made people moved.

Conclusion

After being imprisoned for 54 years, General Zhang Xueliang finally regained his freedom. This is a blessing among misfortunes.

What's even more commendable is that 's decades of disasters have not made Zhang Xueliang lose his nature. He is still able to stick to his principles and his feelings for his friends.

Faced with the oppression of Chiang Kai-shek, he did not violate his conscience to smear and slander the Communist Party. Instead, he bluntly expressed his admiration for Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou.

Such magnanimity and courage have not diminished even after half a century, just like when he launched the Xi'an Incident.