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In 1917, Jiang became a consultant in the office of Li Yuanhong, who had succeeded Yuan Shikai as President of the Republic of China. During this time, he wrote "Common Knowledge About the Military" (軍事常識). In the subsequent years, Jiang spent his time mainly on writing books, editing magazines and involvement in societies for literature and poetry appreciation. In 1918, he followed Liang Qichao on a study tour to Europe and became active in the New Culture Movement after returning to China in 1920. In 1925, he travelled to Hankou, where he became chief-of-staff to the warlord Wu Peifu. He urged Wu Peifu to ally with the Nationalist government in Guangdong Province to fight the warlord Zhang Zuolin, but Wu rejected his suggestion. He left Wu Peifu in 1926 after the latter decided to ally with Zhang Zuolin's Fengtian Clique against Feng Guozhang's Zhili clique. He then travelled to Shanghai to join Sun Chuanfang, but decided to leave after Sun allied with Zhang Zuolin.