When it comes to Zhang Xueliang, we must not feel unfamiliar. His father was the famous Zhang Zuolin, whom people called the Grand Marshal and the direct leader of the entire Northeast Army. Later, Zhang Zuolin was killed by the Japanese, and Zhang Xueliang, as his son, naturally inherited his father’s legacy and successfully took over the Northeast Army.
Zhang Xueliang actually accomplished two major things in his life, and the first one made him infamous. In 1931, the September 18th Incident broke out, and Japan began to take action against the Northeast region of China. However, when Zhang Xueliang faced the Japanese invasion of Northeast China, he ordered the Northeast army not to resist. Later, someone asked him why he did not resist at that time, and he said that he did not expect the Japanese army to truly occupy Northeast China, which was really ridiculous. From then on, he also had a resounding name called the General of Non Resistance.
The second important thing Zhang Xueliang did was to detain Chiang Kai shek together with Yang Hucheng during the Xi’an Incident, which changed his life. Later, after Chiang Kai shek was released to Nanjing by them, Chiang Kai shek secretly executed Yang Hucheng. Zhang Xueliang was not executed by Chiang Kai shek because he had some friendship with Soong May-ling and Chiang Kai shek, but Chiang Kai shek did not choose to let him go, In this way, Zhang Xueliang was placed under house arrest by Chiang Kai shek.
Since then, Zhang Xueliang’s life has been under the surveillance of Chiang Kai shek, and he has directly transformed from a large general who previously controlled a large number of troops to a prisoner. Zhang Xueliang has been under house arrest by Chiang Kai shek for 54 years. By the time he regains his freedom, he has transformed from a handsome young man to a white haired old man.
Zhang Xueliang has been imprisoned for so many years, so how did he spend the most precious 54 years of his life in captivity?
The place where Zhang Xueliang was imprisoned was not always fixed. At the beginning of his house arrest, Zhang Xueliang was under strict supervision, and his daily range of activities could only be within 10 miles. Moreover, no matter what he did, there would always be people following and monitoring him. Later, Zhang Xueliang was imprisoned by Chiang Kai shek and sent to Xuedou Mountain, which was a beautiful and picturesque place. Chiang Kai shek also built a new house specifically for him, and the facilities in the room were very complete. Zhang Xueliang often went to visit Xuedou Mountain. Later, Miss Zhao and Yu Fengzhi went up the mountain to take care of Zhang Xueliang, and Zhang Xueliang lived a more nourishing life.
After the end of the Liberation War, Chiang Kai shek arrived in Taiwan, and Zhang Xueliang was also imprisoned there. Chiang Kai shek’s supervision of him was no longer as strict as before, and Miss Zhao Si had always been with him. They also raised a lot of chickens, which is the envy of all urban people in rural life nowadays.
So it seems that Zhang Xueliang’s life in captivity, apart from the lack of freedom, everything else seemed pretty good.