Chapter 102 first quarter

It has been more than half a century since Du Yuesheng, "the first member of the gang in three hundred years", passed away. The huge gang kingdom he established and the unique imprint he carved in modern Chinese history are still talked about. The annotation of "Cambridge History of China" says : "Du Yuesheng is the most difficult to know in Shanghai but the most powerful Chinese." From 1927 to 1937, Du Yuesheng's power reached its peak; when the Anti-Japanese War broke out in 1937, he left Shanghai, first went to Hong Kong and then went to Chongqing; He returned to Shanghai as the undisputed general representative of the folk gang, and at this time, he had entered the last six years of his life.

Back to Shanghai, the golden age is gone forever At the end of August 1945, in the joyful atmosphere of celebrating the victory of the Anti-Japanese War throughout the country, Du Yuesheng, 57, returned to Shanghai, where he had been away for 8 years.Du Yuesheng on the train was full of joys and worries. Du Yuesheng was happy that he not only did not fall into the water and become a traitor like Zhang Xiaolin, another "tycoon" in Shanghai, but also actively participated in various anti-Japanese and national salvation movements during the Anti-Japanese War.He, Huang Yanpei and others organized the anti-enemy support associations from all walks of life in Shanghai, and raised a lot of money for the anti-Japanese activities; he organized the anti-Japanese civil armed "Jiangsu and Zhejiang Action Committee Rangers", and cooperated with the regular army many times; he also deployed disciples to assist the military. Assassinated Fu Xiaoan, the pseudo-mayor of Shanghai, a big traitor, and Zhang Xiaolin, his brother who had defected to the enemy for decades.With such a lot of credit, Du Yuesheng thought that Chiang Kai-shek should give him a bowl of good food now that the Anti-Japanese War was victorious. At that time, there were indeed rumors in Shanghai that he was about to be appointed as the mayor of Shanghai.

His worries were deeper.Sophisticated, he understands very well that after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Shanghai’s concessions disappeared and the municipal administration was unified. His underworld organization not only lost the dead corner of law and order on which to survive and multiply, but also lost the most powerful Austrian aid—imperialism. The group no longer has the value of colluding with imperialism as a medium and the special forces of the concession; the Kuomintang can now use the army, police, secret agents, etc. to rule Shanghai, and it is impossible to make use of this notorious and difficult to control underworld force. The good times of calling the wind and calling the rain and swaying all over the world are afraid that they will become a thing of the past.

However, the good thing did not happen, and there was news immediately that the mayor of Shanghai had been taken up by Qian Dajun; the bad thing was worse than imagined: before Du Yuesheng arrived in Shanghai, a large-character slogan appeared at Shanghai North Railway Station: "Down with social evils." Forces!" "Du Yuesheng is the representative of evil forces!" "Down with Du Yuesheng!" Panicked, Du Yuesheng temporarily decided to get off at South Station instead.When I got off the car, it was deserted and there was no dignitary to greet me. Du Yuesheng learned that it was his protégé Wu Shaoshu who caused him to be hit in the face as soon as he returned to Shanghai.Wu Shaoshu, who had been his apprentice for 10 years, is now a member of the reception staff with six positions including Shanghai Political and Military Special Commissioner, Shanghai Deputy Mayor, and Chairman of the Shanghai Party Committee of the Kuomintang.Wu Shaoshu knew Chiang Kai-shek's internal spirit of "the long-term policy for gangs is to eliminate them". He wanted to break away from Du Yuesheng, but also wanted to overthrow Du Yuesheng to gain prestige, so he openly set up a rebellion against Du Yuesheng.After Du Yuesheng arrived in Shanghai in embarrassment, he waited for his visit, but there was no one there. Later, Wu Shaoshu finally came to the door. Du Yuesheng was overjoyed and warmly received him even though he was ill.Du Yuesheng's confidantes Gu Jiatang, Ye Zhuoshan and others in Du's family gritted their teeth and vowed to chop up Wu Shaoshu, who "deceived his master and exterminated his ancestors", into a meat paste. Du Yuesheng suppressed his anger and persuaded them one by one.He knows very well that today is not what it used to be.

Then came the blows.His disciple Xie Baosheng was shot for traitor, and he could not save him; his chief butler, Wan Molin, the owner of Wanchang Rice Shop, was thrown into prison by Shanghai Police Chief Xuan Tiewu on charges of "running smuggling and monopolizing the market". , manipulating prices, and cheating on funds”; even Du Yuesheng himself was later detained in disguise.The Kuomintang collected "special relief donations" in Shanghai to support the civil war, but the fundraising goal could not be achieved. Xuan Tiewu imprisoned Du Yuesheng for 8 hours in disguise, and Du Yuesheng was forced to pay money to redeem his freedom.The Shanghai authorities have made Du Yuesheng, the "close friend" of the year, a key target of suppression, and the room for expansion of Du Yuesheng and his group has been greatly reduced.He saw sadly that the golden age of being able to respond to all sources and responding to all sources in the past is indeed gone forever.