After graduating the Baoding Military Academy and the Imperial Japanese Army Academy with a government scholarship, he returned to China and joined the army as a minor commander. He became a brigadier general, head of the Board of Military Academy of the Department of Army in 1916, and a commander at Xia Nan. In 1918, he became a lieutenant general and principal of the Baoding Military Academy. In November 1925, he became assistant secretary of the Department of Army, and soon was promoted to Secretary of Army and commander of the national guard.
On February 15, 1926, he was temporarily appointed to Premier of the Republic of China after his predecessor, Xu Shiying, resigned. On March 4 of the same year, the government underwent reorganization and he was officially given the position. Two days after the March 18 Massacre's weakening of warlord control over China, Deyao tried to resign, but his request was not accepted. On April 20, following a successful resignation, he left Beijing with former president Duan Qirui. The two exiled themselves in Tianjin, Deyao withdrawing himself completely from public life. He died in 1940 of natural causes.
References
Lai Xinxia (来新夏), ed. (2000). The History of Beiyang Warlords (北洋军阀史). Press of Nankai University (Nankai Daxue Chubanshe; 南开大学出版社). ISBN7-310-01517-7.
Xu Youchun (徐友春), ed. (2007). Unabridged Biographical Dictionary of the Republic, Revised and Enlarged Version (民国人物大辞典 增订版). Hebei People's Press (Hebei Renmin Chubanshe; 河北人民出版社). ISBN978-7-202-03014-1.
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