Bo Jiangchun

**Bo Jiangchun** (Zheng: 博姜春; Wade-Giles: Po Chiangchun) is the President of Zheng between 1952 to 1976 after taking over during the 1952 Zheng coup d'etat. He has been hailed as a national hero as he was responsible for the creation of the Zheng 1956 Constitution and brought democracy and modernisation to Zheng under his rule. His party, The Nationalist Party, remains an influencial political force in Zheng. His political ideology was known as the Five Pillars of the Republic and was the fundamental politcal ideology of the Zheng state with most political parties in Zheng abiding by his ideologies and ideals. He was a main advocate for Pan-Hezranaism and Hezranan Unity and founded the East Hezranan Confederation. Despite being regarded as a dictator during his rule, he did receive widespread popular support and his rule was characterised as a 'benevolent dictator'.

## Biography

Born in 1899 in the Eastern city of Zhoutai, Bo Jiangchun was the son of a an employee of the local Shaoliang Bank. His father saw the crumbling collapse of the Chu Dynasty and, according to Bo, told him “to work hard and to save the people of our country.” His family was too poor to afford school and he took up odd jobs to help his family’s get by. However, as his father was literate, he was able to learn how to read and write which would prove to be useful later.

When he was 15, his mother passed away from illness. Later when he was 16, he decided to join the military has they have a stable salary. As a literate person and his commanders saw that he was also fairly smart, they decided to send him abroad together with 9 others to study military tactics in Ninhundland when they were 18. At Ninhundland, he saw much Chu was falling back compared to the rest of the world. At his final year in Ninhundland in 1922, the Tangxian Revolution took place. He returned to the country hoping to see his country that had been reinvigorated. However, old problems of poverty and corruption had persisted and even grown. He joined a group of other students who studied abroad in the military known as the Zheng Rebirth Study Group who wanted to help modernise the country through pressure or through force. The members of this group continued to rise within their ranks. With the government still continuing with their corrupt way of governance, the group wanted to overthrow the government. However, their plans were hindered by the Aishan Invasion.

He displayed his leadership skills during the war and led his troops to victory in several battles but ultimately had to fall back more and more due to Aisha having a better military. For his efforts, he rose to the rank of general in 1946. He often made speeches at towns where the troops were taken to tell the people not to loose hope. By the end of the war in 1949, Bo was a popular military general who have amassed an enormous pool of medals.

In 1952, the government held their first election since war ended and was plagued with bribery and election fraud which was a common characteristic of election at that time. However, it was the largest extent it has ever seen. The study group decided to strike. General Bo led his military to the Presidential Office and demanded their resignation announced on radio that he was going to establish a government of Rule of Law. The military coup was bloodless but right after taking over, there were already attempts to assassinate him.

To gain public support, he had also formed an alliance with the Communist Party and promised to bring true democracy to Zheng. In late 1952, an alliance of regional warlords and leaders attempted a coup d'etat against Bo but was stopped by the central government's military. Bo declared a "War of Pacification" on the regional leaders which continued for 4 years up until 1956. He declared that the Great Zheng had been truly united.

In the following years up until his retirement from politics in 1976, he had introduced a new constitution, reconstructed the war battered Zheng and significantly improved the standard of living for Zheng citizens. After retiring in 1976, he retreated to his hometown in Zhoutai eventually dying of lung cancer in 1979.