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His most trusted lieutenant is Chen Ming-shu, but he is with-
out any soldiers.
4. Chiang's resignation is not necessarily to the best interests of China at this juncture. His idea was not to push Chang Tso-lin out of Peking, back into his own Three Provinces, but merely to get his own troops to as far as Hsuchow, Shantung, and then halt them there. He wanted peace. On the 15th or 16th
of July, 1927, he sent representatives to Chang Tseung-chang at Tsinan, Shantung, to arrange for an armistice. Apparently he did not consult his colleagues in Nanking beforehand, and
they afterwards asked him why he wanted to "join hands" with Chang Tso-lin. Chiang replied that what he did was not to join hands with Chang, but to arrange for an armistice: there was a substantial difference between an armistice and a part-
nership.
5. When Chiang retired, he did not first consult the Nanking Committee. The relations subsisting between him and the Committee had never been very cordial. Chiang is not
"broken" as, for instance, Wu Pei-fu is. He may one day re-
འ
appear in the political scene as an active and important parti-
cipant.
Feng Yu-hsiang.
6. The present situation would depend much on the atti- tude of Feng Yu-hsiang. Feng has in the past received money
and arms from Russia. He is well-disposed towards Russia, though Russia does not quite trust him. This can be borne
out by certain documents discovered at the Russian Embassy
when it was searched by the Peking Government some months ago.
Feng is at present at Kaifeng, Honan. If he were permitted to
come south of the Yangtze, there would be serious trouble for
South China. He is untrustworthy, avaricious and wicked. An
incident in his official career will prove this estimate of
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