The History of the Beiyang Warlords: A Book You Can't Put Down (3 Volumes)

After the fall of the Qing dynasty and before the Ninghan merger, China was effectively ruled by the Beiyang warlords. The Beiyang warlords did not refer to just one person or a handful of people, but to the Beiyang New Army system established by Yuan Shikai when he trained troops at Xiaozhan in Tianjin.

The history of the Beiyang warlords bears out the old saying: “The world bustles for profit; the world rushes after gain.” These men of war, born in the old era, relied on its ways of thinking and methods to uphold the political order of a new age. And so we see telegrams flying everywhere, farcical battles between the government and the presidential palace, a dust-choked Beijing, and the solemn grandeur of the presidential palace. It was like one theatrical performance after another: the warriors swept into Beijing in a blaze of glory, then slunk away in disgrace, their rifles raised high. This era began amid clamor and ended with a thunderous crash.