Zhang Xueliang killed Yang Yuting, and even at the age of 90, he deeply regretted it. He once said, “The most wrong thing I did was kill Yang Yuting.” However, from another perspective, he felt that this was fate, and Yang Yuting still had to die.
Yang Yuting was an old subordinate of Zhang Zuolin. When assisting Zhang Zuolin, he had outstanding abilities, and more importantly, he was loyal. After the direct Anhui War in 1920, Zhang Zuolin felt that both military and political affairs could not be separated from him, and also helped him establish the Northeast Navy. However, after Zhang Zuolin’s death, the conflict between him and Zhang Xueliang suddenly became prominent and increasingly irreconcilable.
Yang Yuting fought in the army all his life, and can be said to be a person who crawled out of the bloodstream. He strongly opposed the issue of Zhang Xueliang changing his position in Northeast China, which became increasingly divergent from Zhang Xueliang. His proposition is to continue maintaining separatist rule in Northeast China, and he also said to Zhang Xueliang, “I can handle and repay this mess, you can rest assured
This is not the idea of Yang Yuting alone. Many senior members of the Feng faction who followed Zhang Zuolin before were very supportive, and even Zhang Zuolin’s sworn brothers advised him, “Han Qing, you should listen to the uncles.” At this time, Zhang Xueliang felt that he had been directly ignored. He was a Northeast handsome man with no real name, which made him very angry and increasingly dissatisfied with these Feng faction veterans.
Yang Yuting is also a straightforward person, and many people have advised him to restrain himself. However, he felt that he had a clear conscience and said to everyone, “What I did, Yang Yuting, is worthy of the 30 million elders in Northeast China.” Regarding Zhang Xueliang, he repeatedly criticized him for not paying attention to politics and also advised him to quickly detoxify.
After Zhang Zuolin’s death, the most feared person in Japan was Yang Yuting. Afterwards, the Japanese used the strategy of separation to spread various rumors and slanders against Yang Yuting in the streets and alleys of Northeast China, implying that Zhang Xueliang should kill Yang Yuting earlier. For this decision, Zhang Xueliang had always been hesitant. In the end, he came up with a foolish solution, which was to throw a silver dollar into the air, and if it fell, kill it on the front and release it on the back.
He threw the silver yuan more than once, three times before and after, and the results were all positive, which made him unbearable. So he convinced himself to throw it a second time, changing the rules to kill on the back and release it on the front, but the results of two consecutive attempts were all negative. Zhang Xueliang hesitated at this moment, held his breath, and threw it again for the third time. This time, he let Yu Fengzhi see the results, and upon seeing them, Yu Fengzhi cried directly.
This result made Zhang Xueliang determined to kill him. On the evening of January 10, 1929, Zhang Xueliang invited Yang Yuting and Chang Yinhuai to dine in the mansion. Yang Yuting, who was not on any guard against this, was killed by Zhang Xueliang’s guards. This old subordinate of Zhang Zuolin, who did not die on the battlefield, ultimately died in the hands of Zhang Zuolin’s son.
After Yang Yuting was killed, Zhang Xueliang began to regret it. At this time, the Japanese began to act recklessly, but everything had become a foregone conclusion. If Yang Yuting were in charge, the Japanese wouldn’t dare to be arrogant and reckless, but it would be a tragedy for such a seasoned general to ultimately die in the hands of his own people! What do you think?