Recalling the Republic of China: the legendary life of Cai E, the first person in state funeral.

In an episode of the TV series My Head and My Regiment, the Sichuan Legion came to the China-Myanmar border with the intention of returning to China. However, the garrison on the other side of the Nujiang River didn't trust this group of people of unknown origin. In a dilemma, A Yi took the lead in singing the Song of Sixty Armies written by Xian Xinghai and Mrs. Tian Han An E, hoping to win recognition from the other side of the river. There is a line in the military song: We come from the great place of Yunnan uprising, … Brothers fought for national liberation with their flesh and blood and defended the glory left by Cai Songpo. Cai Songpo here is a great patriot in modern China, a famous politician, strategist, democratic revolutionary, an outstanding military leader in the early years of the Republic of China, and the first person to enjoy state funeral treatment, Cai E.

Let's pay tribute to this legendary hero's short and brilliant life.

First, he was born in poverty, and he joined the army. Since ancient times, the hero has never asked the source.

On December 18th, 1882, Cai E was born in Dongxiang, Shaoyang County, Baoqing Prefecture, Hunan Province (renamed Cai E Township in May 1996), a poor peasant family in Jiangjiachong. Like many poor sons in China's history, Cai E was smart and eager to learn. At the age of 13, he was a scholar. In 1897, he was admitted to the Changsha Current Affairs School with the third place, and studied under the famous scholar Liang Qichao at that time. At that time, he was the youngest of the students, but "he was in the forefront of the monthly exams in class, and all his classmates admired him." Two years later, 17-year-old Cai E went to Japan to study (note: Cai E's study abroad is not a government-run school, and it is said that it was funded by Yuan Shikai, and it is also said that it was funded by his teacher Tang Caichang, which is inconclusive), and he studied at Tokyo Datong College and Yokohama East Asia Business School.

In 19, he briefly returned to China to participate in the uprising of the self-supporting army. After his failure, Cai E had an epiphany. Now the country lacks not weak intellectuals, but excellent soldiers, so he changed his name to "Hua", which means "Blade", which is taken from the famous sentence "Lotus wears a sword, and the autumn moon covers the sword ring" in Six Poems of Washing a Girl with Xiao in the Southern Liang Dynasty by Wu Jun. Later, he went back to Japan, entered Chengcheng School first, and then entered the third phase of the Army NCO School to study riding. During this period, he and his classmates Jiang Fangzhen and Zhang Xiaozhun were both called "the three outstanding officers of China".

Second, Lu Bu, a red rabbit in the middle of the horse, showed his heroic spirit at first.

Cai E graduated and returned to China in 194. At that time, there were few domestic modern officers, especially outstanding officers who returned from studying abroad. As a returnee, Cai E was recommended to be the supervisor of Jiangxi Military Academy, the deputy director of Hunan Coach Department, the general staff officer and head coach of Guangxi New Army, the director of Guangxi Surveying and Mapping, the general manager of Guangxi Army Primary School Hall and the general manager of Guangxi Army Jiangwu Hall. Cai E is young and handsome. Every day, he leaps and bounds, wears boots on his feet, and carries a command knife around his waist. He is awe-inspiring by officers and men and is praised as "Lyu3 bu4 among men and a red rabbit among horses". Later, Li Zongren, the first-class general of the Kuomintang Army and the commander-in-chief of the "Taierzhuang Campaign", was a student of the third phase of the Guangxi Army Primary School. He once said, "We respect him (Cai E) as a god."

in 1911, Li Jingxi, governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, hired him as the 37th Association of the 19th Town of the New Army, which was equivalent to the post of brigade commander. At this time, there were a large number of League members and radical young officers in Yunnan New Army and Jiangwu Hall, who actively planned the revolutionary struggle against the Qing Dynasty. Cai E, who did not participate in the League, but participated in the uprising of the Independent Army, used his military position to give absolute sympathy and assistance to the activities of the revolutionary party. He once assured the members of the alliance that he would give "absolute sympathy and support" in the event of revolution.

Third, the great chivalrous man is for the country and the people, first creating * * * and then protecting the Republic of China

On October 1, 1911, Wuchang Uprising broke out, and all the provinces in Han Dynasty responded. After the news of the success of the uprising reached Yunnan, Cai E made a secret appointment with Tang Jiyao and other plans to respond. Unexpectedly, the incident leaked, and Governor Yungui planned to order the dissolution of the new army. At this critical juncture, on the night of October 3, Cai E decided to uprising ahead of schedule, and Li Genyuan led Jiangwutang students to attack the city from the northwest, and he led a part of the 37th Association to attack the southeast gate. At noon the next day, the insurgents successfully captured the Yungui Governor's Office. On November 1st, the Governor's Office of Dazhong Huayun South Army was established, and Cai E was elected as the Governor. A few days later, the whole province recovered, which was called "Double Ninth Uprising" in history.

at this time, Cai E saw that "the British spy on Tibet, while the French spy on Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Guangdong" was pressing, and there were many borders, so the crisis had already fallen. If the screen is not solid, the country will not be a country. " From May to July, 1913, Cai E convened military representatives from five southwestern provinces, held a joint military meeting of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces in Kunming, and personally served as editor-in-chief and compiled the Draft Frontier Defense Plan of Five Provinces. Cai E proposed that the north mainly faces Germany, Japan and Russia, and the three northeastern provinces, Zhili, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi and Gansu should unite to deal with it; The middle defense and coastline are Britain, France, Germany and Japan, and Huguang, Liangjiang, Zhili, Shandong, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong should jointly deal with them; The southwest is threatened by Britain and France, which can be dealt with jointly by Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces. Later, during the Anti-Japanese War, many opinions and propositions of Southwest Joint Defense, such as judging the national defense status of Southwest, strengthening inter-provincial military cooperation, building southwest traffic lines, and even some specific tactical arrangements, coincided with the Draft and Cai E.

Yuan Shikai is very optimistic about Cai E. He once commented on Cai E: "Cai E is far above Huang Xing and all the people's parties, and this person's toughness is even beyond Song Jiaoren's reach." However, Cai E, who was not a member of Beiyang, sat with military and political power at a young age, guarding Yunnan, a treasure-house where mountains are high and emperors are far away. Yuan Shikai was not at ease. In October, 1913, Yuan Shikai transferred Cai E to Beijing under the name of "being allowed to take sick leave for three months and being called to Beijing for recuperation", and served as the supervisor of the National Bureau of Economic and Social Affairs. In fact, he was deprived of his military power and was closely monitored. Yuan Shikai's activities of restoring monarchy made Cai E very angry. He was determined to "fight for the personality of 4 million people" by force. In order to avoid arousing Yuan Shikai's suspicion, on the surface, Cai E pretended not to care about politics, refuted Liang Qichao who opposed the imperial system in public, and made a positive statement that he was "in favor of the imperial system". At the same time, he often "fooled around" in eight hutongs and became close friends with the famous prostitute Fengxian Xiao.

in November, 1915, Cai E secretly left Beijing, traveled to Japan in the name of treating diseases, and then passed through Taiwan Province, Hongkong and Vietnam, and arrived in Kunming on December 19th. On December 12, 1915, Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor. Although Yuan Shikai was reviled by Chinese people at that time, there were not many people who had mastered the Beiyang Army, and no one dared to use force. Cai E was the first to step forward and just arrived in Kunming, that is, on December 25, he declared Yunnan independence, organized a national defense army, launched a national defense war, and formed three national defense troops, respectively from Sichuan.

Sichuan battlefield is an important battlefield in the war to protect the country. In March 1916, it fought fiercely with the superior Yuan Jun in Naxi and Luzhou, Sichuan. In the battle, Cai E made the right-wing Zhao Youxin the main attack; In the middle of Gu Pinzhen, a frontal feint, Zhu De (yes, the marshal of our country) and Zhang Xu made a detour from the flank, and Liu Cunhou on the left covered the main force. Several armies were victorious in Lien Chan, and the enemy's main force, "the Seventh Division, suffered all the casualties of the school, and the soldiers lost more than half, so they had no ability to fight again." In the case of short of money and ammunition and intermittent support from the rear, the national defense army fought against the so-called elite Beiyang Army for several months, successfully containing the main enemy force and promoting the development and growth of the national anti-imperialist movement. On March 22, 1916, Yuan Shikai was forced to announce the abolition of the monarchy.

Fourth, the genius envied him, and he died young. China took many detours.

The mission of protecting the country was declared complete. However, the illness of Cai E, the first hero who rebuilt the Republic of China, became more and more serious. In fact, as early as when Beijing was under house arrest, Cai E was suffering from tuberculosis and throat tuberculosis, and it was recorded in history that "he felt a sharp pain in his throat when he was caught in a high wind" (Yuan Shikai would never be allowed to leave Beijing for treatment if he was not really sick). Cai E fought back his illness and went to Yunnan to lead the anti-Yuan uprising. Due to the long-distance bumps and travel-stained, his throat disease was aggravated. During the war to protect the country, the army worked hard and was hectic, not only with hoarse voice, but also with sore throat, eating difficulties and getting worse. Liang Qichao learned that Cai E's illness was getting worse, and specially called Amis, a German doctor in Chongqing, to make a diagnosis and treatment in Luzhou. Unfortunately, Amis made a wrong diagnosis, used Mei-expelling therapy, and gave Cai E a shot of Springfield, which caused her condition to deteriorate sharply.

on July 6th, the Beijing government officially appointed Cai as the governor of Sichuan. Since then, Cai E's condition has deteriorated rapidly, and he is too weak to walk for two or three steps, and his voice is weak. On September 9th, Cai E sailed to Japan and was admitted to the affiliated hospital of Fukuoka Medical University for treatment. At this time, it was extremely difficult for Cai E to speak. After the doctor's diagnosis and treatment, he thought that Cai E's throat disease was caused by the infiltration of tuberculosis bacteria into the throat. At that time, there was no specific medicine for treating tuberculosis, and Cai E was too weak to perform laryngectomy, so he could only use drugs to control and recuperate. On November 7th, Cai E's spirit was greatly improved, but it was just a blip before his time came. In the evening, the illness turned sharply and entered a state of dying. At 4: a.m on November 8th, a generation of famous Cai E passed away forever with his infinite attachment to the motherland and people and great achievements in his life, at the age of 35.

Cai E wrote in his will: "I commanded the first army of Yunnan's national defense army who died and contributed in the Sichuan War, and sincerely asked Luo Peijin and others to verify the petition for a compassionate award to show fairness; He was short-lived and failed to do his best for the Republic of China. It should be a thin burial. " Although Cai E didn't want a heavy burial, the Beiyang government "didn't meet his request". On April 12th, 1917, Cai E returned to his hometown, and the Beiyang government held a state funeral in Yuelu Mountain, Changsha, and Cai E became the first person in the state funeral. Sun Yat-sen's elegy: all the generous classes in his life are protected; Ma Fubo in Wan Li. Liang Qichao wrote elegiac couplet: knowing evil is worse than the dead; It's not my wife's fault, but who does?

in his short life, Cai E did many important things that could change the historical process of the Republic of China, and occupied an important position in modern history. Later historical experts once commented: "If Cai E had not died young, I am afraid that the history of the Republic of China would have been completely rewritten."

heroes are worth remembering forever! Salute General Cai E!

References: "1" Officers' Corps "The illness has gone from bad to worse, how far is Cai E's revolutionary road?

"2" Bai Yijun's Brief Introduction to Cai E's Draft Frontier Defense Plan of Five Provinces.