He did well in the early stages of the imperial examination system, but China's defeat in the Boxer Rebellion motivated him to become a soldier.

During this period, he was influenced by early Chinese nationalists Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren, and joined Sun Yat-sen's Tongmenghui the year it was founded.

[5] In 1911, the Sichuan Railway Protection Movement broke out on the eve of the Wuchang Uprising, and Governor Zhao Erfeng was forced to step down.

In 1912 Jiang served as an instructor at the Baoding Military Academy, and the next year was made chief of staff for the 1st Division of the Guizhou Army.

In May 1914, Yuan Shikai loyalist Xu Lanzhou used his superior military force to make Zhu resign, and Jiang followed suit.

The close-quarters combat was brutal and the Zhili forces slowly began to push the Fengtian Army back on the 18th and 19 October.

It was only Zhang Xueliang's speedy intervention which soothed Guo and convinced him to return to the front before the Zhili forces could discover the opening.

[11] After the end of the war, Jiang and Guo both agreed that the warlord armies should be disarmed in order to bring peace to China.

[6] He was attacked by the Zhili-aligned warlord Sun Chuanfang and retreated to Shandong, where he joined forces with Zhang Zongchang.