Gu Junshan (Chinese: 谷俊山; pinyin: Gǔ Jùnshān; born October 1956[note 2]) is a former lieutenant general in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China who was sentenced to prison for corruption.

Prior to that, he served as the chief of the barracks and housing division of the GLD, in charge of upgrades to the facilities and residences of army personnel.

In 2015, Gu was tried and convicted on charges of bribery, embezzlement, illegally moving public funds, and abuse of power by a military court, and sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve.

[4] Gu was widely recognized in his division, however, for his adept ability to earn the trust and patronage of higher-ranked officers, sometimes through doing favours or giving gifts.

The elder Zhang was initially reluctant about the pairing, even going as far as transferring Gu into a different town to take up a job training new soldiers in order to avoid further liaisons with his daughter.

Gu was transferred back to work in his hometown of Puyang, Henan province, and remained in the military with the help of his father-in-law, Zhang Longhai.

By this point, Gu had earned the rank of major (shaoxiao), and soon rose to become one of the people in charge of the office running the joint military-business operations in the area.

The Caixin investigation into Gu concluded that he took approximately 6% of proceeds from the sale of a piece of land in Shanghai worth some 2 billion yuan (~$326.8 million).

It also alleged that Gu owned numerous massive condominium properties in the 2nd Ring Road area of Beijing, where real estate is known to fetch astronomical prices.

This made Gu only one step away from becoming one of the directors of the PLA's "big national departments", and potentially achieving a full General (shangjiang) rank.

Gu's meteoric rise was linked to Central Military Commission Vice Chairman and Politburo member Xu Caihou.

In addition, Caixin reported that Gu San, who was the local village chief for nearly ten years, also built a real estate 'empire' in the area near the Gus old family home.

[9] When villagers attempted to complain about the abusive practices, such as through public petitioning to the authorities, they were often met with resistance from officials with whom Gu maintained good relationships.

In 2012, bypassing military authorities, Hu asked the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s own internal control agency, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, to intervene in the case.

[7] Gu remained in his position as deputy director of logistics until February 2012, when his name was removed from the Ministry of National Defence and related military websites.

The family also built a Forbidden City-style 'imperial palace' compound in Puyang, which fell into disrepair shortly after the Gu Junshan corruption case was opened.

After Gu's ascension to top posts in Beijing, he commissioned an author to write what was widely regarded as a hagiography of his father titled Struggle for Life and Death (生死记忆) as a testament to his own revolutionary heritage.