Zhili clique
In the early 1920s Feng rose to prominence in the Zhili clique of warlords, named so because their base of power was centred around Zhili Province. This Zhili clique defeated the Fengtian clique, headed by Zhang Zuolin, father of Zhang Xueliang, in the First Zhili–Fengtian War in 1922. It was at this time that Feng also began to move closer to the Soviet Union.