On April 22, the 13th year of Tongzhi (1874), Wu Peifu was born in Penglai County, Shandong Province. In the fifth year of Guangxu's reign (1879), he entered a private school. The following year, he was sent to a private school by his father. Despite the hustle and bustle, he still memorized his lessons quietly and was particularly valued by his teachers. The ninth year of Guangxu (1883) started with a fuss. In the twelfth year of Guangxu (1886), he finished reading the Four Books and Five Classics. In the 16th year of Guangxu (1890), his father died of illness. Wu Peifu and his mother were dependent on each other. As their family became increasingly poor, he went to Penglai Naval Camp to serve as a trainee soldier. In the spring of the seventeenth year of Guangxu's reign (1891), he went to Dengzhou Prefecture to study with Li Pisen, a fellow scholar, and his grades were mediocre.
In the 22nd year of Guangxu (1896), Wu Peifu high school became the third scholar in Bingshenke of Prefecture. In the autumn of the 23rd year of Guangxu's reign (1897), Wu Peifu was deprived of his reputation as a scholar due to the uprising against the opium station and accusations that men and women were acting on the same stage. He fled to Beijing in the winter and made a living by writing Spring Festival couplets and divination. In the spring of the 23rd year of Guangxu (1898), Wu Peifu got help from his cousin Wu Liangfu to join the Tianjin Wuwei Left Army Nie Shicheng's unit, and served as Geshiha somewhere in Shen, where he was informed by copywriter Guo Xudong. In February of the 27th year of Guangxu (1901), Wu Peifu was admitted to the infantry class of Kaiping Armed Forces Academy. In September, Yuan Shikai was appointed Governor of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang. He moved the Kaiping Military Preparation School to Baoding and established the "Beiyang Rapid Military Preparation School." Wu Peifu gave up the opportunity to continue studying in the school and joined the Tianjin Army Police as a Zhengmu, and was promoted to an additional junior officer. .
During the Russo-Japanese War in the 30th year of Guangxu (1904), the Japanese Embassy’s Deputy Attaché Aoki Nobujun (formerly an instructor of the Beiyang Army) met with Yuan Shikai to discuss the joint organization of an intelligence agency between Japan and China and the recruitment of "horse thieves" from the Northeast. and other matters, Yuan selected dozens of capable non-commissioned officers from the Beiyang Army and formed a joint detective team with them. Most of these Beiyang officers graduated from the surveying and mapping department of Baoding Army Crash Course, so their work was quite effective. Among them was Wu Peifu, the later leader of the Zhili warlords. Wu Peifu was originally an officer in the staff office of the Beiyang Supervisory Training Office. After participating in the espionage activities of the Japanese army, he went in and out of the Northeast several times. During this period, he was captured by the Russian army, but refused to confess. He was sentenced to death and escaped by jumping out of a car. After the war, he was promoted to the rank of captain. The Japanese army Confer honors in recognition. In the 32nd year of Guangxu (1906), he defected to Cao Kun, who controlled the third town of the Qing army. With his intelligence and flexibility, he was gradually appreciated and reused by Cao Kun, and he began his political career. On February 12, the first year of the Republic of China (1912), Emperor Puyi of the Qing Dynasty abdicated. On the 29th, under Yuan Shikai's instruction, Cao Kun No. 3 Town faked a mutiny and scared away four envoys who were welcoming Yuan Shikai's southward movement. Wu Peifu accompanied him. In September, he was appointed commander of the 3rd Artillery Regiment of the 6th Brigade (Zhang Hongkui) of the 3rd Division of the Central Army (Cao Kun) and was stationed in Nanyuan. On December 12, the third year of the Republic of China (1915), Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor. On the 21st, Yuan Shikai issued a "nobility order" and Cao Kun was awarded the first-class title. Wu Peifu was promoted to major general commander of the Sixth Brigade by Cao Kun.
On January 14, the seventh year of the Republic of China (1918), Wu Peifu attacked Li Cai Cai's Jingguo Army in Xiangyang. On the 24th, Li Cai Cai and Liu Gong were defeated and left Xiangyang to the west. On the 25th, Wu Peifu occupied Xiangyang. He served as the commander-in-chief of the First Army (Commander-in-Chief Cao Kun) and the former enemy to attack Hunan. On February 6, Cao Kun went south from Tianjin to set up a base camp for the Southern Expedition in Xiaogan, Hubei Province, and established the First Route Army Headquarters in Liuyuan, Hankou. He appointed Wu Peifu as the acting division commander of the Third Division and commander-in-chief of the former enemy, and led the army to fight in Hunan. Occupied Changsha on March 27. However, the Beijing government appointed Zhang Jingyao as the military governor and governor of Hunan. However, Cao Kun only received a "First Class Grand Ribbon Baoguang Jiahe Medal", while Wu Peifu received a "Second Class Grand Ribbon Baoguang Jiahe Medal" as an encouragement. There is also news that Duan Qirui plans to replace Cao Kun with Xu Shuzheng as the Zhili military governor. The victory in Hunan did not allow Wu Peifu to become the governor of Hunan. Instead, he had to give up the territory and positions he had gained. Cao Kun was extremely dissatisfied with this. On April 4, he telegraphed his resignation as the Xuanfu envoy of the two lakes and asked for leave to "recuperate from illness." Wu Peifu did not move due to insufficient supply of pay and weapons. In order to divide the Zhili clique, Duan Qirui awarded Wu Peifu the title of "General Fuwei" on June 3 to dismantle Cao Kun. Although Cao Kun took the lead in the battle this time, he was unwilling to take action personally. On June 20, the Beijing government specially appointed Wu Peifu as deputy commander of the Guangdong Army. On August 7, Wu Peifu, with the support of Cao Kun, called Jiangsu Governor Li Chun, denounced "unification by force" and accused the Anfu Congress. On the 21st, he called Feng Guozhang again and asked him to issue a strike order. In coordination with him, Cao Kun continued to demand unpaid wages from the Beijing government. On the 28th, Duan Qirui convened the main combatants to secretly discuss ways to deal with Cao and Wu, and decided to urge the troops of the Fengxi and Anhui cliques to advance to maintain Zhang Jingyao's status as governor of Hunan. After that, Wu Peifu issued a series of ceasefires and power supplies, which won a lot of praise. In order to strengthen the anti-paragraph momentum, on September 26, a telegram drafted by Wu Peifu and signed by the generals of the North and the South was issued, asking Feng Guozhang to issue an armistice order.
In the autumn and winter of the eighth year of the Republic of China (1919), with the help of Cao Kun, the four governors of Hebei, Jiangsu, Hubei, and Jiangxi of the Zhili clique and the three eastern provinces of the Fengcian clique formed an anti-Anhui alliance. On December 28, Feng Guozhang died of illness, and Cao Kun became the direct leader. Because the territory he had conquered was taken away by Zhang Jingyao of the Anhui faction, Wu Peifu decided to call off the war and join hands with the Southern Army. On November 28 of that year, Wu Peifu, Lu Rongting, Mo Rongxin, Tan Haoming, Tan Yankai, etc. organized the so-called "National Salvation Alliance Army" at the Hengyang Conference. On January 17, the ninth year of the Republic of China (1920), Wu Peifu requested to withdraw from defense and return to the north on the grounds that the front line was economically poor and the officers and soldiers wanted to return home. Afterwards, the power was generated several times, and the words became more and more intense. In order to prevent Wu Peifu's army from retreating north, Duan Qirui forcibly replaced the Henan governor Zhao Ti and replaced his wife's brother Wu Guangxin.
Wu Peifu called to object. Regardless of whether the Beijing government approved it or not, he sent people to send more than 700 family members of the Zhili Army back to the north in early March, and called Zhang Jingyao to take over the Zhili Army's defense lines. On May 25, Wu Peifu led all his troops to withdraw northward, arriving in Hankou on the 31st. On June 7, Wu Peifu arrived in Zhengzhou and deployed the main force of his troops along the Beijing-Hankou Railway. On the 13th, Wu Peifu sent another telegram to the eight-province governors of Anhui Province, suggesting that a National Assembly should be convened to resolve all problems. In order to support the Zhijun army, Fengjun also sent troops into the pass sporadically.
On April 14, the 10th year of the Republic of China (1921), Henan Chengshen and Sun Huiyou rose up against Zhao Ti in Zhangde. Wu Peifu originally supported the overthrow of Zhao, but Zhao Ti colluded with Zhang Zuolin, and Zhang Zuolin forced Cao Kun. , Wu had no choice but to send troops, and the Zhangde incident was put down on the 18th. On April 27, Cao Kun, Zhang Zuolin, Wu Peifu and other Beiyang generals jointly sent a telegram to oppose the presidential election in Guangzhou. In July, Wang Zhanyuan, the governor of Hubei, was only looking for personal gain, which triggered a mutiny. Hunan and Sichuan sent troops to conquer. On the 29th, the Hunan-Hubei war began. The Hubei troops were retreating steadily. Wang Zhanyuan asked Wu Peifu for help. Wu ordered Xiao Yaonan, commander of the 25th Division, to serve as The "Commander-in-Chief of Assistance to Hubei" arrived in Hankou on the 30th and stood guard at Liujiamiao, watching Wang Zhanyuan's defeat. By the end of the 10th year of the Republic of China (1921), after more than a year of military expansion and training, Wu Peifu had more than 100,000 troops. In the same year, the Beiyang Military Government appointed Wu Peifu as the patrol envoy to the two lakes, and led the army south to quell the war between the two lakes. At this time, Wu Peifu's official position was equivalent to that of Cao Kun, and his power was growing day by day. During this period, the struggle between the Zhizhi and Fengxi factions for central power and sphere of influence became increasingly fierce. The Zhili clique warlords first occupied the Shandong and Henan areas and seized territory in Jiangsu and Shaanxi. Later, Wu Peifu captured the two lakes. The Zhili clique obviously occupied half of China's rivers and mountains. After the Zhi-Anhui War, Zhang Zuolin's power outside the customs developed rapidly. On January 2, the 11th year of the Republic of China (1922), Wu Peifu called Beijing to ask for salary, but Liang Shiyi failed to respond. The first Zhili-Fengtian War broke out from the end of April to early June. 48-year-old Wu Peifu was appointed commander-in-chief of the Zhili Army, which defeated Zhang Zuolin's 120,000-man Fengjun outside Shanhaiguan. Wu Peifu's illustrious martial arts skills made Wu Peifu famous. This Zhili warlord with "a short red beard, a long face, a high forehead, and a good nose" was regarded as "the strongest man in China." On September 8, the 13th year of the Republic of China (1924), he became the first Chinese to appear on the cover of the American "Time" magazine. At that time, Wu Peifu controlled the largest number of troops in the Zhili Clan, with hundreds of thousands of troops. He was in Luoyang, and his power affected most of China. People are generally optimistic about Wu Peifu's future. American John Powell, editor-in-chief of the Shanghai English magazine "Miller Review", even believes that he is "more likely to unify China than anyone else."
On October 10, the 11th year of the Republic of China (1922), he was promoted to Army General. On the 16th, Wu Peifu sent a telegram to Wang Zhengting to cater to Japanese wishes and postpone the acceptance of the Lu case. On October 18, Xu Shuzheng electrified Fuzhou and established official positions based on his book "The True Interpretation of the Founding of the People's Republic of China", and appointed Wang Yongquan as the governor of Fujian in the name of Zhizhifu. Sun Chuanfang was the "Commander-in-Chief of the Assistance to Fujian Army" and cooperated with other troops to defeat Xu Shuzheng. On November 18, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Wu Jinglian and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Zhang Bolie secretly reported to Li Yuanhong in the name of the House of Representatives that Finance Minister Luo Wenqian had taken bribes in signing the "Austria Loan Extension Contract". Li immediately ordered Luo Wenqian to be arrested and transferred to the District Prosecutor's Office for custody. On the 20th, Wu Peifu Telegraph Li Yuanhong, responsible for the illegal arrest of Luo Wenqian. On November 23, Cao Kun found out that the military expenditure allocated to Luoyang by the Cabinet Minister of Communications Gao Enhong in the past six months was more than twice that of Baoding, so he ordered the Zhili clique and its subordinate warlords from various provinces, Anhui clique, and some warlords from Luoyang clique to electrify and attack Finance Minister Luo Wenqian has lost power, humiliated the country, accepted bribes and dereliction of duty. He advocated thorough investigation and used it to attack Wu Peifu. On the 24th, Wu Peifu sent a message saying "I will always obey Ambassador Cao and always support the head of state" and "will no longer comment on Luo's case." On the 30th, Cao Kun stated in a telegram that he and Wang Chonghui , Luo Wenqian is a stranger. On December 9, Cao Kun's sixty-first birthday (lunar calendar), members of Congress went to Baoding. Wu Peifu did not arrive, so Xiao Yaonan was sent as a representative. The direct generals had deserted. On December 27, the Second Minister of the Japanese General Staff Headquarters, Matsuo Itami, came to Luoyang and offered to help Wu Peifu train troops, but Wu refused. On December 31, he was awarded the title "General Fuwei". On January 8, the twelfth year of the Republic of China (1923), Xiao Yaonan, Zhang Fulai, Sun Chuanfang and other direct generals followed Wu Peifu's wishes and advised Cao Kun not to make presidential movements for the time being. On January 31, Wu Peifu summoned representatives of Beijing-Hankow Railway workers from Zhengzhou to Luoyang and declared that the meeting was prohibited. On February 7, with the support of imperialism, a large number of military and police were mobilized to suppress the general strike of Beijing-Hankou Railway workers that began on February 4, and a bloody massacre of striking workers was carried out, creating the famous "February 7th Massacre" that shocked China and the world. After the tragedy, the Communist Party of China immediately issued a "Letter to the Working Class and the People for Wu Peifu's Massacre of the Jinghan Road Worker". The Secretariat of the China Labor Federation issued a "Letter to Workers Nationwide" and a "Letter to the People" to expose Wu Peifu. The mask of "labor protection" and the crime of massacre of workers called on workers and people across the country to unite and overthrow the warlords. The National Railway Trade Union Preparatory Committee and the Central Committee of the Youth League also issued a message and declaration, condemning the Zhili clique warlord Wu Peifu for carrying out bloody massacres of striking workers at Hankou Jiang'an, Zhengzhou, Changxindian and other stations with the support of imperialism.
In the twelfth year of the Republic of China (1924), Wu Peifu was at the peak of his life. On September 8, Wu Peifu became the first Chinese to appear on the cover of the American "Time" magazine as "China's Strongest Man".
On January 1, the fourteenth year of the Republic of China (1925), Wu Peifu arrived in Hankou. Wu Peifu refused to enter the concession, and Xiao Yaonan did not want him to stay in Hubei. On January 3, he boarded the "Juechuan" ship and went to Huangzhou. On March 11, the 15th year of the Republic of China (1926), Tang Shengzhi of Hunan expelled Zhao Hengti. On the 30th, Tang Shengzhi's army entered Yuezhou. Ye Kaixin retreated to Hubei. Wu Peifu sent heavy troops to guard southern Hubei. On April 19, Wu Peifu appointed Ye Kaixin to join the coalition forces against the thieves. The commander-in-chief of the Hunan Army, Peng Shouxin, supervised the Hunan-Hunan border defense and attacked Yuezhou from the Hunan-Hunan border (Zhang Qiquan and Jiang Fangzhen refused to listen to their advice to Wu not to use troops against Hunan).
On June 28, the fifteenth year of the Republic of China (1926), Zhang Zuolin and Wu Peifu met in Beijing and joined forces to form the Beijing government. After Zhili and Fengtian jointly captured the south entrance of Beijing, Wu Peifu attacked Guangdong to the south; Zhang Zuolin attacked the Nationalist Army in the north. Both sides attempted to unite the north and the south to divide the world. On July 1, the Guangdong National Government launched the Northern Expedition. The Northern Expeditionary Army was in turmoil and won successive victories. On October 10, Wuchang City was captured. Wu Peifu fled to Xinyang, Henan. On April 19, 1927, the Wuhan National Government launched the Second Northern Expedition in Wuchang. Wu Peifu was completely defeated by the Nationalist Army and the Northern Expeditionary Army, and fled with his remaining troops to Sichuan to take refuge with Yang Sen. At the beginning of the seventeenth year of the Republic of China (1928), Wu Peifu fled to Lizhu Temple in Yunwu Mountain. In May, Luo Zezhou, the division commander under Deng Xihou, surrounded Lizhu Temple, and Wu Peifu's remaining troops were disarmed. On December 21, civil war broke out again in Sichuan. Yang Sen, Luo Zezhou, Li Jiayu, and Huang Yin jointly attacked Liu Xiang. On the 31st, Wu Peifu sent a telegram from Suiding, Sichuan, stating that he was fighting against the Sichuan rebellion. Nothing to do. Later, due to Chiang Kai-shek's pursuit, he left Sichuan under the "protection" of Liu Xiang on May 22, 1931, and arrived in Peiping at the end of the year.
On January 31, the 21st year of the Republic of China (1932), Wu Peifu settled in Peiping. Wu Peifu received preferential treatment from Zhang Xueliang and spent his later years growing flowers, raising birds, writing books, and studying Buddhism. However, his friendship with Cao Kun was weak. , he advocated the establishment of the "New Church of Salvation", appointed himself as the church leader, and Jiang Chaozong was appointed as the deputy church leader. He secretly gathered the forces of the Beiyang direct line and took advantage of the turbulent times to attempt to revive the church in the name of "anti-Japanese". This move was criticized by Chiang Kai-shek. On January 18, the 22nd year of the Republic of China (1933), various groups in Shanghai warned Duan Qirui and Wu Peifu not to be exploited by the Japanese. Duan Qirui went south at the invitation of Chiang Kai-shek, but Wu Peifu was still stranded in Peiping. On November 2, the 23rd year of the Republic of China (1934), Wu Peifu and Chiang Kai-shek met at a banquet in Huangyun, Peking.
On December 20, the twenty-fourth year of the Republic of China (1935), in order to split China, the Japanese invaders launched the "Autonomy of the Five Provinces of North China" and invited Wu Peifu to come to power as a puppet. The Hebei-Cha Government Affairs Committee appointed Wu Peifu as a senior official. consultant. He firmly refused. On December 4, the twenty-eighth year of the Republic of China (1939), his gums were injured by bone chips while eating dumplings, and he was admitted to a Japanese hospital for treatment. Under the instruction of Japanese spy Kenji Doihara, a Japanese dentist killed him. On January 21, the 29th year of the Republic of China (1940), the Nationalist Government held a memorial meeting for General Wu Peifu on the day when Wu Peifu passed away. Chiang Kai-shek personally paid tribute and sent an elegiac couplet: "Seeing the lonely city at sunset, I will never come back after a hundred setbacks." Ambition; strong winds miss the warriors, but all the odds are stacked against him." On December 16, the 35th year of the Republic of China (1946), the Nationalist Government held a state funeral for Wu Peifu, who was buried at Yuquan Mountain in Beiping. Li Zongren, director of the Military Commission's Peking Camp, officiated. , nearly ten thousand people including military and political dignitaries of the Republic of China participated.