Factions could be important (e.g., Red 4th Army Front veterans). But in case of Xi Zhongxun, the leader of the would-be faction - Liu Zhidan, Xi Zhongxun's mentor and second father, had died too early (and there was far too much infighting among the Northwestern veterans).
The fact that the Northwestern people were too busy constantly stabbing each other in the back to form a faction (though Xi Zhongxun and Liu Zhidan weren't the villains in all this), is exceptional even by the standards of thousands of years of Chinese imperial history.
Great book and great review.
Factions could be important (e.g., Red 4th Army Front veterans). But in case of Xi Zhongxun, the leader of the would-be faction - Liu Zhidan, Xi Zhongxun's mentor and second father, had died too early (and there was far too much infighting among the Northwestern veterans).
Thank you, and a very good point.
The fact that the Northwestern people were too busy constantly stabbing each other in the back to form a faction (though Xi Zhongxun and Liu Zhidan weren't the villains in all this), is exceptional even by the standards of thousands of years of Chinese imperial history.