During the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 Feng joined the Luanzhou Uprising against the Qing Court and supported the revolutionaries in the South. The uprising was suppressed by the Beiyang Army and Feng was imprisoned by Yuan Shikai. In 1914 he regained military rank and spent the next four years defending Yuan's regime. In July 1914, as a brigade commander, he participated in the suppression of the Bailang Peasant Uprising in Henan and Shaanxi. During the National Protection War of 1915–16 he was sent to Sichuan to fight the Anti-Yuan National Protection Army, but secretly communicated with revolution leader Cai E. In April 1917 he was stripped of his military rank but still led his old troops in the campaign against Zhang Xun and was restored to his rank. In February 1918 he was ordered to suppress the Constitutional Protection Movement, but proclaimed his support for peace talks in Hubei and was stripped of titles but permitted to stay in command of his forces. The capture of Changde in June earned him back his titles. By August 1921 he was promoted to command a division and was based in Shaanxi.
