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 .