Xu Shuzheng

Hsu Seu-Cheng or Xu Shuzheng (11 November 1880 – 29 December 1925), was a Chinese warlord in Republican China. A subordinate and right-hand man of Duan Qirui, he was a prominent member of the Anhui Clique.

Xu was born in Jiangsu with a scholar family background. He was one of the youngest persons ever to pass the Imperial examinations.

In 1905, he was accepted into the Japanese School of Land Army Officials, and returned to China in 1910.

From 1911 to 1917, he served in the First Army with various positions in the general staff, such as chief of Logistics Department, deputy chief of land forces, chief of land forces, etc.

In 1914 he founded a middle school called Cheng Da Middle School, which is the predecessor of today’s Affiliated High School of the Capital Normal College.

In 1918, Xu founded the Anfu Club, the political arm of the Anhui Clique, which then won three-fourths of the seats in the National Assembly. Later that year, Xu executed Lu Jianzhang after discovering that Lu was trying to persuade Feng Yuxiang, Lu's nephew, to fight against the Anhui Clique. This would lead to Xu's own assassination in 1925.

In 1919, Xu assumed command of the Northwest Frontier Defense Army, which invaded newly independent Outer Mongolia in October. On November 17, he forced Outer Mongolia to withdraw its declaration of autonomy, thus temporarily bringing Mongolia back under Chinese control.

In 1920, after Duan fell from power, Xu lost his position, and moved his forces back to confront his enemies. He was replaced in Mongolia by Chen Yi, and Mongolia became independent again in 1921.

Xu's forces were defeated in the subsequent Zhili–Anhui War, and he was forced to take shelter in the Japanese embassy.

In the early 1920s, Xu was sent to Italy as part of a Chinese diplomatic mission; a secondary purpose was to get him out of the country.

In 1924, he returned to China after Duan's return as chief executive.

In December 1925, while traveling from Beijing for Shanghai by train, Xu was hijacked by Zhang Zhijiang, a member of Feng Yuxiang's forces. He was assassinated at dawn the next day by Feng as revenge for the killing of Lu Jianzhang. This also deprived Feng's rival Duan of a powerful supporter. Xu was 45 years old.

Xu had one wife and four concubines.

Xu's wife, Xia Hongjun (夏红筠, also named Xia Xuan (夏萱)), died in Suzhou, Jiangxu Province in 1955. They had 4 sons and 2 daughters. The first son, Hsu Shen-chiao (徐審交 Xu Shenjiao), and third son, Hsu Dau-lin (徐道鄰, Xu Daolin), were active in Republic of China politics. Hsu Dau-lin, wrote a biography, published in Chinese in 1962, entitled The Life of General Hsu Shu-tseng. The older daughter, Hsu Ying Li (徐樱 Xu Ying, also named Xu Yinghuan (徐樱环)), wrote a biography of her mother and married the linguist Fang-Kuei Li. The other three died in childhood.

The four concubines were Shen Dinglan (沈定兰)，Shen Shupei(沈淑佩, younger sister of Shen Dinglan)，Wang Huicheng(王慧珵), and Ping Fangchun(平芳春). Xu had 2 daughters (Xu Pei (徐佩) and Xu Lan (徐兰)) with Shen Shupei, and 2 daughters (Xu Mei (徐美) and Xu Hui (徐慧)) with Wang Huicheng.