Baoding Military Academy
After the founding of the Republic of China in 1914 he became an instructor at the Baoding Military Academy, where he soon caught the attention of Adm. Sheng Hung Leih, who appointed him to his staff. He rose to Chief of Staff for the Kuomintang forces in Kirin Province. He participated in the Zhili–Anhui War in 1920 and the First Zhili–Fengtian War of 1923. Together with Yan Yuting, he subsequently became Chief of Staff of the business administration section of the Kuomintang National Revolutionary Army headquarters in Nanjing.