Japan forced itself to fulfill its traitorous treaty. Zhang Zuolin urgently contacted reporters: Let the people call me a traitor.

In 1925, Fengtian general Guo Songling suddenly defected and occupied Xinmintun, and Fengtian was about to fall. When he was desperate, the hero Zhang Zuolin thought of running away. He even packed his bags, settled down with his concubine, and prepared to go to Lushun to live in an apartment. At this critical moment, the Japanese extended an olive branch.

The commander of the Japanese Kwantung Army, Shirakawa Yoshinori, told Zhang Zuolin that as long as he agreed to sign a traitorous treaty and let Japanese forces penetrate deep into the Northeast, the Kwantung Army could help him defeat Guo Songling. In desperation, Zhang Zuolin could only tremble and owe the so-called "Manchuria-Mongolia New Treaty" and agree to Japan's control of land rights in Northeast China.

In the end, with the support of the Japanese, Zhang Zuolin defeated Guo Songling and regained his position as the king of Northeast China. However, Zhang Zuolin knew that Japan's help was by no means free. In 1927, Shirakawa Yoshinori sent Chief of Staff Saito as his representative to contact Zhang Zuolin and proposed that the relevant provisions of the "Manchu-Mongolian New Treaty" must be implemented immediately.

Although Zhang Zuolin was a great warlord, he knew that he was Chinese. If he really fulfilled the "Manchu-Mongolian New Covenant", he would really become a traitor. In order not to fulfill the treaty, Zhang Zuolin came up with a bitter trick.

First of all, he asked people to invite celebrities from Shenyang's business and newspaper circles - Li Mohan, Zu Xianting and others to the Marshal's Mansion, explained to them the reasons why Japan forced him to sign the contract, and asked them to mobilize public support. he. Li Mohan and Zu Xianting naturally agreed to the Marshal's request: "This must not be difficult!"

However, Zhang Zuolin's subsequent request surprised Li and Zu. At that time, Zhang Zuolin asked: "How do you plan to support him?"

The two of them answered in unison: "It is up to the two of us to mobilize various agencies and groups to support the patriotic stance of the commander-in-chief." < /p>

Zhang Zuolin laughed and said: "This is not possible! Not only can you not praise me, but you must mobilize the masses to scold me as much as you want, the harder the better!" Regarding Zhang Zuolin's request, the two looked at each other: "Insult." Marshal, you can’t even give us a hundred courages!”

Zhang Zuolin patted them on the shoulders and said:

“Don’t think that I am the marshal, you can’t scold me. If you scold me, I will never settle a score with you in the future. When you go back, you must mobilize more people to scold me, go on strike, protest, put up slogans, shout slogans, call for downing Zhang Zuolin, oppose the signing of a treaty that loses power and humiliates the country, and so on. The more vicious the better, nothing good can be accomplished without scolding, understand?"

With this assurance, Li Mohan and Zu Xianting immediately wrote editorials in newspapers and periodicals, exposing Zhang Zuolin's "treasonous crimes." After that, they mobilized the masses to hold a mass demonstration to denounce Zhang Zuolin's "traitor behavior" of "betraying the country's national security and surrendering to the Japanese."

After that, the Japanese came to Zhang Zuolin to "force debt" again. Zhang Zuolin took the newspaper and said bitterly: "I also want to fulfill the contract! But the people won't allow it!" In this way, the Japanese Zhang Zuolin's bitter plan has been unable to enter Manchuria and Mongolia, and he is as anxious as an ant on a hot pot.

Later, the Japanese Kwantung Army sent Toyoji Eto to the Northeast with the "Manchuria-Mongolia Railway Plan" formulated by the Eastern Conference, and intimidated Zhang Zuolin into signing the document. In response, Zhang Zuolin only wrote the word "read" on the signing and did not sign his name. This was preparation for later tearing up the agreement.

It is true that as a warlord, Zhang Zuolin did many bad things. In the process of getting rich, he also relied on Japan and betrayed the country's government. But in terms of Zhang Zuolin's personal emotions, Zhang Zuolin is Chinese after all, and his heart is still influenced by traditional Chinese thought - national integrity. Although Zhang Zuolin's series of actions were to safeguard the self-interests of the Feng clique warlords, to a certain extent they also reflected an attempt to defend national interests and national independence. Especially in the face of major issues of right and wrong, Zhang Zuolin did show a certain degree of national integrity.

Zhang Zuolin's resolute refusal to cooperate eventually angered the Kwantung Army. However, due to Zhang Zuolin's existence, they could not directly use force. After all, under Zhang Zuolin's rule, the 200,000-strong Northeastern Army was not a paper tiger, and was far from comparable to the Northeastern Army during the September 18th Incident. In the end, the Japanese authorities created the Huanggutun Incident and killed Zhang Zuolin.

Although Zhang Zuolin cannot be said to be a pure nationalist, his behavior in safeguarding the interests of the Chinese nation and the ideology of Northeast China is worthy of appreciation.