 In addition to military planning, the Fengtian clique also used political maneuvering by founding an anti-Zhili clique triple alliance with Dr. Sun Yat-sen in Guangdong and Anhui warlord Lu Yongxiang (卢永详) in Zhejiang.Attempts to fracture the Zhili clique from within by convincing Feng Yuxiang to defect also succeeded, as in the spring of 1923 Zhang Xueliang personally wrote a letter to Feng and sent his most trusted lieutenant, Fu Xingpei, to Beijing to secretly meet him.After reaching Beijing, Fu first met Feng's chief of staff Liu Ji (刘骥) at a secluded location on Dajue (大觉) Hutong.