1928, Ji Ze of the Japanese embassy met Zhang and wanted to talk about mining. Zhang directly hung Ji Ze in the living room and refused to meet him. In the other room, he vowed never to be a traitor. In the same way, the Japanese decided to get rid of him completely in case he broke their business, so the gendarmerie headquarters at that time sent Japanese troops to guard it and prohibited pedestrians. In order to fool the Japanese, Zhang Yuan planned to leave on June 1, but he didn't leave until June 2.
On the evening of June 2, before Zhang left, Sun, Sun, Sun and other dignitaries and foreign ambassadors came to see him off and returned to Fengtian by train with many important officials. When the train passed Tianjin, Japanese ambassadors Machino and jin got off the train. It is said that several people got off the train in a hurry because they received an urgent telegram from the Japanese consulate, but this did not arouse Zhang's suspicion.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, the train arrived at Shanhaiguan. The chef on the train carefully prepared six dishes and one soup for him and his fifth wife. Zhang also said that he couldn't eat well and sleep well on the train, but he would go home tomorrow. But no one expected that this would be his last dinner. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the train passed Shanhaiguan safely.
At five o'clock in the morning, there was a sudden explosion at the railway intersection, which blew up Zhang's carriage. Zhang was seriously injured and was quickly carried into the car and sent home. Before he died, he told his fifth wife to let Zhang Xueliang go home, put the country first and not avenge him. They concealed Zhang's death until Zhang Xueliang returned to Fengtian and announced Zhang's death.