Song Zheyuan, the "King of North China", was sitting in the shade of a tree, listening to the shrill chirping of cicadas in the garden, feeling particularly agitated.
Today, Song Zheyuan is a powerful man and holds the three important positions of Chairman of Hebei Province, Director of the Hebei-Cha Appeasement Office, and Chairman of the Hebei-Cha Government Affairs Committee.
Song Zheyuan sent people to collect the main salt taxes and customs duties in North China, which made him extremely rich.
But Song Zheyuan was very unhappy. He had to please the Northeastern clique, win over the old warlords and traitors, resist the central government, deal with the Japanese Kwantung Army, and at the same time make friends with Han Fuju, Yan Xishan and other powerful Northern Expedition factions. But Song Zheyuan was a soldier at heart, and he didn't understand
For him, the complicated situation in North China is like a mess that can never be sorted out.
To be honest, Song Zheyuan didn't know what to do. He couldn't see his own tomorrow.
Chiang Kai-shek would not tolerate him, and neither would Feng Yuxiang. The Japanese wanted to tolerate him, but Song Zheyuan did not dare to accept it. The majestic King of North China was actually trapped in North China at the moment, and if he was not careful, he would be pierced by thousands of arrows.
As a result, Song Zheyuan became an ostrich, hiding all day long and not daring to see anyone, especially the Japanese and people sent from Nanjing.
The guard came to announce: "Chairman, Dr. Yahara is here."
"No, no, the Japanese have no good intentions." Song Zheyuan waved his hands irritably.
"Then shall I block it?" the guard asked.
"etc!"
Song Zheyuan suddenly stopped the guard and said in annoyance: "Damn it, he came four times in a month. If I push him this time, he will come again next time. Let him come in!"
Yahara Kenkichi carried a medicine box on his back and walked to the hospital with a smile: "Chairman Song, I heard that you can't afford to be sick, so I came here specially to diagnose and treat you."
"It's up to you to decide what to do." Song Zheyuan sat up and said.
The Chinese called Song Zheyuan the "King of North China," but the Japanese gave him another nickname: Chairman Song, the Sentimental Chairman.
The origin of this nickname is very interesting. Song Zheyuan's attitude towards the Japanese was "friendly on the surface, perfunctory in reality, and never yielding." His policy towards Japan was "never say harsh words and never do soft things." The Japanese often came to see them.
He negotiated with Song Zheyuan, and Song Zheyuan hid whenever he could. In addition to "going back to his hometown to sweep graves" and "going out on patrol", the most common excuse he used was "his heart was burning and his ears were ringing non-stop".
In one month, Song Zheyuan suffered from "heart disease" for at least half of the month.
Yahara Kenkichi checked with a stethoscope and said in surprise: "Chairman Song, your blood pressure is unstable and your heart rhythm is very disordered. You really need to rest. In this way, I will prescribe you some medicines, which are the most advanced today."
Good medicine.”
Several bottles were taken out from the medicine box, and Yahara Kenkichi told Song Zheyuan how to use them and how to take care of them before leaving respectfully.
Song Zheyuan kicked over the medicine bottles and shouted: "Here comes someone. Throw all these medicines into the pit for me. The little bitch wants to harm me. I'm dreaming!"
The guard left carefully with the medicine in his arms, and the secretary came in immediately: "Chairman, there is news from Tianjin."
Song Zheyuan grabbed the telegraph newspaper, glanced at it, and cursed angrily: "Zhang Zizhong wants to rebel!"
The attendant secretary did not dare to say a word, but kept his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, quietly waiting for instructions.
After being angry for a while, Song Zheyuan finally waved his hand and said: "Forget it, forget it, let it go, do whatever you love."
Song Zheyuan's North China forces were not only surrounded by external enemies, but also faced many internal contradictions.
When Zhang Xueliang recruited Song Zheyuan's troops, the actual commanders were Zhang Zizhong, Feng Zhian, Zhao Dengyu and Liu Ruming. They agreed privately that if the army developed in the future, Song Zheyuan would always be the commander and would follow the orders of Zhang, Feng, Zhao and Liu.
They are promoted in order.
Now that his power is getting bigger and bigger, Song Zheyuan can no longer suppress these four people.
Just two months ago, Zhang Zizhong had a quarrel with Xiao Zhenying, Song Zheyuan's close aide. Song Zheyuan was deeply afraid of Zhang Zizhong, so he had to remove Xiao Zhenying from the post of mayor of Tianjin and appoint Zhang Zizhong as mayor of Tianjin.
Now that Zhang Zizhong has officially taken office, he immediately took action as soon as he arrived in Tianjin and replaced several important officials in the local government, including many of Song Zheyuan's confidants.
Tianjin's position is very important, controlling most of the financial resources in North China.
What Zhang Zizhong is doing now means that Song Zheyuan is beginning to lose control of the army. Not only that, according to their original agreement, after Zhang Zizhong is promoted, Feng Zhi'an, Liu Ruming, and Zhao Dengyu will also be promoted.
It is very possible that the four generals under Song Zheyuan are joining forces to stage a show.
Song Zheyuan calmed down and said to the attendant secretary: "Pass my order to promote Feng Zhi'an to the chairman of Hebei Province and Liu Ruming to the chairman of Chahar Province. Zhao Dengyu... Zhao Dengyu asked him to wait first. There is no suitable senior official to do it for him.
!”
This is to draw territory for four subordinates. Zhang Zizhong wants Tianjin, Feng Zhian wants Hebei, and Liu Ruming wants Chahar.
Song Zheyuan only had so much territory in his hands, and Peiping would definitely not give it to him. It would be controlled by his confidant Qin Dechun. Zhao Dengyu was the weakest, so he could only admit that he was unlucky and continue to station outside Peiping City to drink in the wind.
In the proper old warlord style, the boss eats the meat and the brothers share the soup. If the boss refuses to share the soup, the brothers have to stand up and do something to force the boss to share the soup.
This is also the fundamental reason why Song Zheyuan did not dare to be a traitor. The four generals under him were all "die-hard anti-Japanese faction". As long as Song Zheyuan showed any signs of surrendering to Japan, he would be taught how to behave by his subordinates in minutes.
Zhang Zizhong and Zhao Dengyu were both passionate men who died on the anti-Japanese battlefield.
To be honest, Xiao Zhenying was quite capable. He did a lot of practical things during his tenure as mayor of Tianjin, and he had outstanding political achievements. However, in order to appease Zhang Zizhong, Song Zheyuan could only remove this confidant from his post and send him to travel abroad for inspection.
This is the situation in China at this time. The whole country is in chaos, and various local forces are also in chaos.
The attendant secretary did not leave after receiving the order. Instead, he hesitated and took out a newspaper and said: "Chairman, this is today's Ta Kung Pao. There is an article about you."
"If you don't read it," Song Zheyuan said distractedly, "Ta Kung Pao will stir up trouble. Reading it will give you a headache."
The attendant secretary said: "This is an article written by Zhou Hexuan himself... scolding you."
Hearing Zhou Hexuan's name, Song Zheyuan felt even more headache. He spread his hands and said, "Let me see. Are you calling me a traitor again?"
"That's not true," said the attendant secretary.
Song Zheyuan opened the newspaper and read it carefully. As he read, his face became gloomy. After reading, he said nothing. After a long time, he looked pale and covered his chest and said: "Here... call me a doctor!"
"Chairman, what's wrong with you?" The attendant secretary quickly helped him.
Song Zheyuan said sadly: "My heart is so tight, I can't breathe, and my ears are ringing terribly."