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Cao Kun is a Chinese general, politician, former warlord, influential member of the Zhili Clique, short-time President of China in 1923/24 and, since 1929, Premier of the Qing Empire. An old-guard officer of the Beiyang Army, veteran of the Sino-Japanese War, protege of the late Yuan Shikai and most powerful member of the Zhili Clique between 1919 and 1924, Cao was at the height of his power in the mid-20s, when most of China was under the control of the Zhili Clique; at that time, he became known as the "Bribing president" due to openly bribing the National Assembly into electing him President - this made him lots of enemies, almost caused a Zhili-internal split due to tensions with Wu Peifu and eventually led to Cao's and the Zhili Clique's downfall, when he was betrayed and imprisoned by one of his subordinates, Feng Yuxiang, during the Second Zhili Fengtian War of 1924/25.
In early 1926, during the end stages of the Anti-Fengtian War, Cao was released from house arrest as a deliberate attempt of Feng to find a compromise with the Zhili Clique, but to no avail. The one and a half years of arrest left Cao weak, depressive and alcohol-dependent; in the time between 1925 and 1928, when the Zhili Clique arose from the ashes and reemerged as the most powerful warlord faction in China, Cao played no role at all. His appointment as Premier of China by Wu in 1929 was mostly a symbolic act, most are aware that Cao has been a spent force for quite some time - the true power in Beijing continues to lay in the hands of "Jade Marshal" and Imperial Commissioner Wu Peifu.