Cao Kun

Cao Kun

Cao Kun

(December 12, 1862 - May 17, 1938), Zhongshan, born in Dagukou, Tianjin (Tanggu, Tianjin), was the fifth president of the Republic of China, a general of the National Revolutionary Army, and the leader of the warlords of the Republic of China. Baoding garrison, known as the "king of Baoding.".

In 1890, he graduated from Tianjin military academy and served as a sentry officer of Yijun. In 1919, he was elected as the leader of a direct warlord. In June 1923, Cao Kun expelled Li Yuanhong from Tianjin; on October 5, 1923, he bribed members of Parliament and was elected the fifth president of the Republic of China. He moved to Tianjin in 1927. After the September 18th Incident broke out in 1931, Japan refused to organize a new government.

On May 17, 1938, Cao Kun died of illness in Tianjin. In December 1939, Cao Kun was awarded the rank of first rank General of the army by the national government.

Life of the characters

Early life

In 1862 (the first year of Tongzhi), on October 21 of the lunar calendar, Cao Kun was born in the family of Cao Bensheng, a poor shipbuilder in Dagu, Tianjin. Cao Kun's father, Cao Bensheng, worked as a platoon worker in a boat shop in Dagu. He built wooden boats for many years to support the family of 10. Despite the financial difficulties of the Cao family, Cao Bensheng was straightforward and had a strong personality. He would rather hold his belt by himself than let the children know a few words. As a result, most of Cao Kun's brothers studied in private schools when they were young.

When Cao Kun was 16 years old, his father asked him to learn how to build a wooden boat, but Cao Kun refused. He asked him to learn how to do farm work, but he refused. Cao Bensheng had to let him sell cloth. Because his family was poor and couldn't afford a cart, Cao Kun put cloth on his shoulders and sold it everywhere. When Cao Kun was 17 years old, his parents asked for a matchmaker to marry a girl surnamed Zheng from xidagu. The Zheng family is two years older than Cao Kun. They are plain looking, but they are reasonable. After passing by, they respect their parents in law and care for their uncles and aunts. They are very considerate to Cao Kun. They are harmonious and seldom quarrel with each other.

In anger, he joined the army

One day, Cao Kun went to the gate of Baoding and was stopped by two soldiers guarding the city. Instead of letting him enter the city, he was scolded and ridiculed by them. Cao Kun was humiliated for no reason, and he was full of fire. After all the hardships, he failed to change his fate, so he secretly made up his mind to join the army. In 1882, Cao Kun, 20, enlisted in the army and began his military career. After losing his small business of selling cloth with a cart, Cao Kun first studied in Tianjin military academy. After graduation, he became a sentry officer of Yijun. In 1894, he also went to Korea with the Ministry to fight. The next year, he went to a small station to invest in Yuan Shikai's new army, helping the first battalion of the right wing detachment. He has no background, but also honest, often bullied. But one of his characteristics is simple and honest. His happiness and anger are not in the form of color. His benefits are given to others. He is hardworking and obedient. No matter what he thinks in his heart, he never complains on his face. As time went on, he gradually became familiar with his superiors and even Yuan Shikai knew that there was such a distinctive character.

Cao Kun heard that Yuan Jiasan, Yuan Shikai's great grandfather, had a brother named Cao Kezhong, who was very powerful in the local area and was called "marshal", so he prepared a big gift to pay a visit. As the saying goes, "it's not strange to have too many rites.". Cao Kezhong, also from Tianjin, once served as the commander-in-chief of Guangdong Navy. It seems that he is very happy to meet a little fellow named Cao. Then he checked the genealogy and found that Cao Kun was his own grandson. Naturally, he was even more happy. He officially recognized Cao Kun as his grandson and sent his aunt to Yuan Shikai to accommodate him. Since then, Cao Kun has been led by the gang, led by the gang, and controlled by the leader.

Cao Kun went to Korea to take part in the Sino Japanese war. Later, he was sent to Tianjin Beiyang military preparation school to study and became the backbone of Yuan Shikai's small station training. Since then, he has been increasingly valued by yuan. In 1907, he was appointed as the commander of the third town of the Beiyang army by Yuan Shikai. After the founding of the Republic of China, Cao served as the commander of the third division of the army. During the national defense war, he led the army to Sichuan to fight with the national defense army.

After Yuan Shikai's death, the Northern Warlords split into Zhi Wan two lines, and Cao stepped on two ships in the secret struggle between the two lines. After the death of Feng Guozhang, Cao became the leader of the lineage, and successively won the Zhiwan war and the first Zhifeng war, becoming a powerful figure who dominated the power of the central government.

talent showing itself

From September 1916, when he was the governor of Zhili, to October 1923, when he bribed the election of the president of the Republic of China, Cao Kun was mainly stationed in Baoding, which became the headquarters of the direct warlords. The battle of Zhiwan, the first Zhifeng war and many important political events were all planned and decided in Baoding. Now we choose some of his actions in Baoding to reflect Cao's appearance from the side.

In 1922, the first National Congress of the Chinese Socialist Youth League was held in Guangzhou. Wang Xijiang, a student of Yude middle school, attended the meeting on behalf of Baoding League. After returning to Baoding, Wang Xijiang presided over the work of Baoding Socialist Youth League. In the same year, in a letter to Yang Jingshan, a student of the sixth provincial middle school, Wang Xijiang mailed the articles of association of social problems research, which was seized by the warlord authorities. Because of the "Bolsheviks" involved, Cao Kun ordered the arrest of Wang Xijiang. With the help of headmaster Hao Zhongqing, Wang left for Beijing and later engaged in revolutionary work with Deng Zhongxia. Deng Zhongxia introduced him to join the Communist Party of China and became the first Communist Party member in Baoding.

In May 1923, Kang Youwei went from Luoyang to Yizhou to pay a visit to the Western Mausoleum of the Qing Dynasty, and on his way to Baoding. Cao Kun took the wind and washed the dust for him in Guangyuan, Baoding. Kang Youwei nominated "Laonong villa" for Cao Kun garden under construction. Kang Youwei also made a speech in Hebei University to publicize the anti new culture, which won Cao Kun's favor. One day, in a conversation with Kang Youwei, Cao said that when Wang Senran set up a vernacular course in Baoding No.2 women's normal school (now the predecessor of Baoding University) to promote new literature, Kang Youwei was very angry. He said to Cao Kun, "he was originally a little Tongcheng. I know that he was a rebel of Tongcheng faction, so we can't let him stay in Tongcheng

Stay in Baoding. " Wang Senran wrote two articles denouncing Cao Kun, which had a great influence on all walks of life in Baoding and made Cao Kun very resentful. In the name of preventing "reddening", he sent people to the school on the evening of May 18 to catch Wang Senran. Wang fled to Beijing in disguise when he heard the news in advance. Under the cover of Li Dazhao, Lin Yutang, Hu Shi and other professors, he escaped the arrest.

After Cao Kun was stationed in Baoding, he began to build the base camp. First, he bought land in the eastern suburb of Baoding, built an airport, opened a new road to Xiguan, widened the South Street, and transformed the former Office of the imperial envoy of Zhili in Qing Dynasty into a hotel. Because he admired Qi Jiguang, governor of Jiliao in Ming Dynasty, he named the hotel "Guangyuan". Cao Kun usually worked in the former Zhili governor's office and stayed in Guangyuan. Cao Kun now stands out and has armed forces.

Bribery for president

In the first Zhifeng war in 1922, Zhili won and controlled the Beijing government alone. Since then, Cao Kun first forced president Xu Shichang to resign, welcomed former president Li Yuanhong back to his post, and made Li Yuanhong his puppet. The Beijing government changed the premier six times. At the same time, with the rise of Wu Peifu within the lineal system, the lineal Baoding faction led by Cao Kun and the Luoyang faction led by Wu Peifu formed. Wu Peifu did not approve of Cao Kun as the president. However, Cao Kun was still in a dominant position within the lineal system, and his plan to become president was supported by the United States. Through the work of the US ambassador to China, in June 1923, US President Warren Gamal Harding issued a statement supporting China's reunification (later Harding died in August of the same year).

In June 1923, Cao Kun sent people to intimidate Li Yuanhong and forced him to flee to Tianjin. He also sent Wang Chengbin to detain Li Yuanhong's train at Tianjin Yangcun station until he handed over the president's seal and signed his resignation. Cao Kun used Gao lingfu, the interior minister, and Wu Jinglian, the speaker of the national assembly, to bribe or threaten a large number of members of Congress. On October 6, 1923, Cao Kun was elected president of the Republic of China. He was ridiculed as "piggy president" and "bribery president". Since then, a constitution of the Republic of China was drafted and passed by the bribery Congress, known as "Cao Kun constitution" and "bribery constitution". On October 10, 1923, the constitution was promulgated and implemented by Cao Kun. This constitution is the first one officially promulgated in China.

After Cao Kun took office as president, the real power of the lineage was controlled by Wu Peifu. In October 1924, the second Zhifeng war broke out. Later, Feng Yuxiang and others launched a coup in Beijing, putting Cao Kun under house arrest in Yanqing building, Zhongnanhai. The leading power of Beijing government was changed from the direct system to the Fengxi system. On April 9, 1926, Lu Zhonglin, Feng Yuxiang's subordinate, launched a mutiny and surrounded the provisional government. Duan Qirui fled. At the same time, Lu Zhonglin released Cao Kun who was under house arrest.

Coup

One thing happened in the second Zhifeng war, that is, Feng Yuxiang defected and the Zhijun army was defeated. Cao Kun was driven out of power and put under house arrest.

Before Cao Kun bribed the election, he had to force Li Yuanhong to step down. The army officers surrounded the presidential palace and the State Council every day. Li's departure was mainly due to the fact that he couldn't stand the army's forced palace, and Feng Yuxiang was the main emissary of the army.

Due to Wu Peifu's hatred and exclusion of Feng Yuxiang, Feng Yuxiang was very dissatisfied with CaO and Wu. In addition, Cao Kun's bribery scandal aroused national opposition, which naturally made Feng Yuxiang very disgusted. Besides, Feng Yuxiang had great admiration for Sun Yat Sen, and had the heart to oppose Cao and Wu. The outbreak of the second Zhifeng war finally brought him the opportunity to fight against Cao and Wu.

On the evening of October 23, 1924, Feng Yuxiang led his troops to withdraw from the front line, return to Beijing and send troops to Beijing