There were two major disturbances at the Baoding Military Academy which seriously affected the quality of teaching. The first was in 1916, when Yuan Shikai failed to claim the throne and the Model Regiment was disbanded and inserted into the sixth class of the military school after it had been disbanded as a henchman of the restoration of the imperial system. Because the regiment had accumulated a lot of grievances, it aroused the opposition of the cadets in the fifth semester of the school, resulting in martial arts fights between the two sides. At first, they fought with fists, bricks and wooden sticks, and then with knives and guns, resulting in casualties. Although the school tried to deter, but to no avail. Later, the Beijing government sent the Ministry of War General Yinchang to Baoding, subdued both sides, only to calm the conflict.
The second time was in the summer of the ninth year of the Republic of China (A.D. 1920), when the war broke out between the Anhui Province and the Anhui Province, and the commander-in-chief of the Anhui Province, Mr. Qu Tongfeng (the former principal of the military academy) was captured in Songlin Store, and the 15 divisions of the Anhui Province army surrendered to the Anhui Province army. During the summer vacation, the military school was used as a temporary shelter. Because the 15th division had been in arrears for several months, causing dissatisfaction of the lower officers, mutiny, the military school was looted, and set fire to the house, the military school had to be closed. Military school is a barbaric forced education, some section chiefs are always punching and kicking students, such as the engineering section chief Yu Kejun all day long with a horsewhip to supervise the students, and even chased and beat the students everywhere; Cavalry section chief so-and-so in the closing drill, but also forced the students to train again at one o'clock or half an o'clock; the principal or the education director from time to time to gather the whole school in the school square lecture, the students stand at attention and not to move, standing up for a few bells at least, there are weak and unable to withstand and fainted on the ground. The school's headmaster or headmistress would gather all the students from time to time to give lectures in the square of the school.
When training in the field, the weather is cold, but also to gather the whole school students, from the principal to the head of the section one by one to comment on the time-consuming a few hours, to the students on the head of the sweat of the ice is not allowed to disperse or rest. This kind of forced education is the so-called spiritual education that they have learned from Japan and Germany. Some students couldn't stand this kind of forced education, so they went crazy. For example, Han Mingzhang, a student from Guangxi Province, suffered from neurosis. In terms of diet, the students were required to go to eat without washing their faces with dusty heads after the closing exercises. The rice they ate was not only rough, but also mixed with sand. Once from Hunan procurement of military rice is not only bad quality, but also mixed with a lot of sand, aroused the public anger of the students competed to set fire to the warehouse, although not a disaster, can also be seen at that time the students on the food dissatisfaction. This is, of course, the school contractor food procurement personnel fraud. Administrators scolding students, responsible for military education instructors, teaching assistants and company platoon commanders are too poorly educated, and the corruption and fraud of the staff of the common services, so that the discontent of the students is growing. During this period, the principal Zhao Litai did not pay attention to the school affairs, so the whole school students launched a big wave of anti-Zhao. At the beginning of the storm, the school authorities mobilized the New Army's Bao Guiqing Brigade, which was stationed in Baoding at the time, and surrounded the school on all sides, threatening to point machine guns and artillery at the school and forbidding the students to move.
The school authorities called the students one by one for interrogation and pressured them to sign and repent. But everyone unanimously refused to show an attitude. The interrogators then moved the interrogated student to the ground for confinement and discharged a gun near the interrogation place, indicating that the student would be shot to terrorize the other students. However, the students were stubborn and would not give in, and elected a representative, Liu Wendao (a native of Hubei), to go to Beijing to petition the president and vice president. At that time, the whole school was surrounded by the army and could not go out, so he sneaked out of the toilet and ran to Beijing to present the situation in the school and ask for assistance. At this time, the Ministry of War, the school authorities and the brigade commander Bao Guiqing, who was stationed at the school, saw that the students could not be subdued, and reported to the army chief Duan Qirui for approval to disband the whole school. The students, like birds out of a cage, took the train northward to the representatives of the provinces in Beijing to petition Yuan Shikai and Li Yuanhong for a solution.
At that time, Duan Qirui attempted to completely disband the students and return them to their places of origin. Later, Liang Qichao presented his views to Yuan, thinking that the dissolution of the students is tantamount to letting the tiger return to the mountain, and if the Kuomintang is used to make trouble everywhere, it is not easy to clean up, so it would be better to try to reconcile the students back to the school, and then strictly manage them to make them tame, and this is the best policy. Yuan Shikai considered again and again, was adopted by Liang Qichao's views, and Duan Qirui agreed to promise the students demand, replace the principal and all levels of poorer instructors and officers, and asked the military representatives of the provincial offices in Beijing to mediate with the students, and sent to the Sichuan capital of 10 yuan, by the government to send a special car, the military band to welcome the students back to the Baoding Military Academy. The students were victorious and all were happy. After Zhao Litai was expelled, Yuan Shikai authorized Duan Qirui to send Chiang Fangzhen (also known as Baili) to take over the post of principal of the Baoding Military Academy. Chiang was a graduate of the Japanese and German military schools, rich in military science, at that time in China can be regarded as a military talent. After he came to the school, was greatly organized, the students think bad instructors and the company cadres, eliminated, improve school affairs and student life. The principal personally to each company to supervise the review, see the company platoon cadres have training command bad, that is, on the spot reproach.
Jiang Fangzhen came to the school, this and Yuan Shikai agreed to two months later, such as his organization is not good, resignation; if you think there is a way, then continue to do. After two months of organizing, he said to Yuan willing to do, and to the whole school students, he said, if he can not run this school, willing to kill himself to thank the world. The students were touched and were willing to study hard. Unexpectedly, the Ministry of War under Duan Qirui was dissatisfied with Chiang's action, and made it difficult for Chiang to run the school. Chiang for the practice of the preamble, one day focused on all the students training, encouragement. Speech up to a few hours long, he calmly walked into the principal's office to kill himself. After the gunshot, we are still not for, he still walked out in front of the students to stand, and then saw him bleeding all over the ground and fell down. The entire school cried in pain at the sight of this situation.
He was fortunate not to die, but by the time of the Zhang education director reported by telephone to the President of Beijing, the same day by the Yuan sent a senior adviser to lead the medical staff by special car to the school rescue, but fortunately saved his life. He was treated in school for a period of time, students took turns to guard. Later, he gradually recovered, only to leave the school to Tianjin, Beijing, all over the medical recuperation to go. Later, the Ministry of War sent another Qu Tongfeng to be the principal. The eighth military school students for the early opening of the school, organized a reunion of the school, appealing to the rich and powerful. Zhang Zhaoguang, a student of engineering and military science, dressed in the uniform of an officer of the military academy, was soliciting for customers by pulling a foreign cart on the streets of Beijing. Newspapers immediately published this news with the headline "Officers and students pulling foreign cars". Beijing newspapers all over the publication of this news, and greatly exaggerated. Also published Zhang Zhaoguang's talk to reporters and Zhang's self-reporting, as the front page headline news published.
Zhang's self-explanatory statement to the effect that: I studied at the Baoding Officers' School, aiming to serve the country, because the military school was robbed by the soldiers to destroy, nowhere to live, came to Beijing, living without, pawned all their belongings, leaving only a uniform can not bear to give up, in order to make ends meet, so I have to pull the car across the day, self-reliance, in public and private, open and aboveboard, temporarily tolerate the difficulties, waiting for the opening of the school, if the school does not open, I still continue to pull the car. This action is also a great mockery of the Beijing warlord government. It was only after appealing from all sides that the school was opened in October of the 10th year of the Republic of China (1921 AD). The ninth class of cadets (the last batch of students recruited by the Preparatory Military School in 1917) also entered the school at the same time. At this time, some of the instructors had already left the school to seek other means of livelihood, and when the principal changed his post, he owed the staff several months' salary, which caused a wave of salary demands and made the instructors feel uneasy about teaching. The eighth and ninth students barely graduated.