The marriage between Yu Fengzhi and Zhang Xueliang was brokered by Zhang Zuolin. However, Zhang Xueliang was extremely dissatisfied with the marriage decided by Zhang Zuolin and disagreed life and death. Zhang Zuolin had no choice but to give Zhang Xueliang a promise, so Zhang Xueliang agreed. So, what promise did Zhang Zuolin make to Zhang Xueliang? Let’s first talk about why Zhang Zuolin forced Zhang Xueliang to marry Yu Fengzhi.
Yu Fengzhi was born into a wealthy businessman's family. Her father Yu Wendou founded "Fengjudang" bank (later renamed "Fengjuchang") in his early years. Due to his good management, the business was very prosperous. Later, he got involved in grain stores, oil mills, wineries, cloth shops, tea houses, groceries and other industries, all of which made huge profits. Therefore, the Yu family with a rich family fortune can be regarded as a wealthy businessman. However, Zhang Zuolin's insistence on Zhang Xueliang to marry Yu Fengzhi was not because of the Yu family's wealth, but for other reasons. It turned out that Yu Wendou was upright and loyal, and had an excellent reputation in the local area. Later, he was elected as the president of the county's chamber of commerce, and he was considered a prominent figure in the county.
In 1907, the Qing government established provinces in the three eastern provinces, with Xu Shichang serving as governor. Zhang Zuolin, who had been promoted to the front commander of the Fengtian Patrol Camp, was sent to the Zhengjiatun area where Yu Wendou was located to be responsible for suppressing bandits due to his outstanding ability in suppressing bandits. Yu Wendou tried his best to make friends with this strong bandit suppressor. Not only did he use Jufengchang to garrison him in the military camp, but he also provided money and effort to do logistical work for him. Due to the complex terrain in the Zhengjiatun area and the close proximity to the grasslands, the cunning Mongolian bandits are often elusive and elusive, which brought many difficulties to Zhang Zuolin's suppression of the bandits. Zhang Zuolin was very able to endure hardships in suppressing bandits. He took the lead and was extremely brave when fighting the Mongolian bandits.
At the same time, he also pays attention to strategy and is not reckless, so Yu Wendou admires him very much. Once, Zhang Zuolin had a fierce battle with the Mongolian bandits, and his life was about to be in danger. Yu Wendou happened to arrive with Wu Junsheng and his insurance team, and Zhang Zuolin was able to avert the danger. It turned out that when Yu Wendou saw that it was getting dark and Zhang Zuolin had not returned yet, he knew that the situation was not good, so he immediately took Wu Junsheng and the insurance team to respond. Since then, Zhang Zuolin, Yu Wendou, and Wu Junsheng have become close friends of life and death.
By chance, Zhang Zuolin heard that Yu Wendou's daughter, Yu Fengzhi, "has great fortune and wealth, which is the destiny of a phoenix." This made Zhang Zuolin think about it. In his view, the "tiger son" and the "fengming daughter" are naturally a match made in heaven. Besides, "Feng Ming" means "Queen". If he could marry Yu Fengzhi, Zhang Xueliang would be the "Emperor". So Zhang Zuolin looked for an opportunity to have someone tell Yu Fengzhi and Zhang Xueliang's horoscopes. The result is that he will be rich and prosperous, and have good fortune. Therefore, Zhang Zuolin asked Wu Junsheng to act as a matchmaker and settled the marriage between his son and daughter with Yu Wendou. Before the marriage, Zhang Xueliang wanted to visit Yu Fengzhi.
But Yu Fengzhi believed that this was against etiquette, so he politely refused and did not meet with him. Zhang Xueliang, who was influenced by Western culture, arbitrarily believed that Yu Fengzhi was an old-style woman. In addition, he was influenced by his habits and was very resistant to arranged marriages, so he refused to agree to this marriage. Zhang Zuolin did not talk about democracy, but directly stated that he had the final say in this marriage, and it must be concluded or not. However, in order to ease his relationship with Zhang Xueliang, Zhang Zuolin added that as long as he married Yu Fengzhi, he would not care if Zhang Xueliang found other women outside after marriage. It was with this promise that Zhang Xueliang agreed to the marriage. In 1915, Zhang Zuolin held a grand wedding for Yu Fengzhi and Zhang Xueliang.
Although Yu Fengzhi is handsome, gentle, intelligent, sophisticated and talented. But I have to say that Zhang Xueliang has always respected but not loved her. Since she entered the Zhang family, Zhang Xueliang has always called her "eldest sister" because she is 3 years older. Yu Fengzhi is a very sophisticated person, and she is very considerate in dealing with people, so she has won everyone's trust and praise. Zhang Zuolin also valued Yu Fengzhi very much. On the one hand, he wanted to repay Yu Wendou for saving his life, and on the other hand, he was indeed very satisfied with Yu Fengzhi as his daughter-in-law. When I thought about my promise to Zhang Xueliang to allow him to find women outside after marriage, I felt that I was sorry for Yu Fengzhi, so I valued her particularly.
When Zhang Zuolin lost his temper, no one in the house dared to breathe, and even Zhang Xueliang hid away. Only Yu Fengzhi dared to step forward to persuade him, not to mention that it was particularly effective. As long as she persuaded him, it would definitely work. Slowly, Yu Fengzhi began to assist Mrs. Shou in handling family affairs. Because she is fair and approachable, everyone likes to discuss anything with her. Although there were many talkative people in the house, no one said anything wrong about her. In 1928, when Zhang Zuolin was returning to Fengtian by special train, he was seriously injured by explosives planted by the Japanese in Huanggutun.
After the incident, Yu Fengzhi endured his grief and worked with Mrs. Shou to hide the news of Zhang Zuolin's death, and cleverly dealt with the Japanese to hide the truth. He also assisted Zhang Xueliang in secretly returning to Fengtian to help him make suggestions and overcome difficulties. Just imagine, with such a daughter-in-law, even if Zhang Zuolin does not have an old relationship with Yu Wendou, even if Yu Fengzhi is not "Fengming". Zhang Zuolin, who knows countless people, will also respect her character, and it is difficult not to think highly of her. It's a pity that Zhang Xueliang was not blessed with the beauty's kindness and failed to live up to Yu Fengzhi's deep friendship.
(Reference historical materials: "Beauty and Sorrow - A Real Yu Fengzhi" and "The Biography of Zhang Zuolin, the Hero of Troubled Times")