"Celebrity Flower" Du, the gangster brother of the Republic of China, lamented that Chiang Kai-shek completely treated me like a urinal

Du Yuesheng was the most legendary figure on the beach in the first half of the 20th century. He went from a small gangster to the biggest gangster in Shanghai. He is gentle, but ruthless. His life is full of exciting legends. His huge bandit kingdom and his unique symbol in China's modern history are still vivid in our minds.

From 1927 to 1937, Du's power reached its peak. When the Anti-Japanese War broke out in 1937, Du first went to Hong Kong, and then left Shanghai for Chongqing. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, Du returned to Shanghai as the undisputed general representative of the folk guilds, but his golden era of coping with everything was gone forever. At this time, he has entered the last six years of his life.

Go back to the beach and hit you over the head.

At the end of August 1945, in the joyous atmosphere of celebrating the victory of China’s Anti-Japanese War, 57-year-old Du Fu returned to Shanghai after an absence of 8 years. Du was full of joys and sorrows on the train.

What pleased Du was that he did not become a traitor like another "tycoon" in Shanghai, but actively participated in various anti-Japanese and national salvation movements. He and his friend Huang Yanpei from Pudong organized an anti-enemy mutual aid meeting in Shanghai and raised a large amount of funds for anti-Japanese activities. He organized the anti-Japanese civilian armed force "Jiangzhe Action Committee Rangers" and cooperated with the regular army many times; he also sent his disciples to help the military system assassinate the pseudo-Shanghai mayor, traitors Fu Xiao'an and Zhang Xiaolin, who turned his brothers into enemies for decades. With such a great contribution, now that the Anti-Japanese War is victorious, he thinks that Chiang Kai-shek should give him a bowl of good food. At that time, there was news in Shanghai that he would be appointed mayor of Shanghai.

His worries were even deeper. He knew very well from his experience that after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Shanghai Concession disappeared and the city government was unified. His underworld organization not only lost a safe corner for survival and reproduction, but also lost its strongest backing - the concession authorities with extraterritorial jurisdiction. He and his team no longer have the value of patrolling the concession; now, the Kuomintang can rule Shanghai with the army, police, spies, etc. This notorious and unruly underworld force, once known as the good old days of turmoil, can no longer be used. This is just a thing of the past.

However, the good times did not last long, and the news of Qian Dajun's appointment as mayor of Shanghai came immediately. Things were worse than expected: before Du arrived in Shanghai, a big slogan appeared at Shanghai North Railway Station: "Down with the evil forces in society!" "Down with Du!" In a panic, Du temporarily decided to change the Get off at South Station.

When Du Yi returned to Shanghai, he knew he had been punched in the head. This is the plan of his favorite disciple Wu Shaoshu.

Wu Shaoshu has been an apprentice for 10 years and is now a reception official holding 6 positions including Shanghai Naval Political Commissioner, Shanghai Vice Mayor, and Chairman of the Kuomintang Shanghai Municipal Party Committee. Wu Shaoshu was well aware of Chiang Kai-shek's inner spirit of "managing the party for the long term". He wanted to break off relations with Du, defeat Du, and establish a powerful force, so he openly betrayed Du.

After Du arrived in Shanghai in embarrassment, he had been waiting for his visit, but he never showed up. Later, Wu Shaoshu finally arrived at the door. Du was overjoyed and received him warmly. Unexpectedly, Wu Shaoshu's attitude was very disdainful, and he left with a few official words. Du's cronies Gu, Ye Zhuoshan and Du Men gritted their teeth and vowed to chop Wu Shaoshu into mincemeat for bullying his master and destroying his ancestors. Du suppressed his anger and stopped them one by one. He knew very well that this was no longer what it used to be.

Then the blows came one after another. His disciple Xie Baosheng was shot for treason and could not be saved; Changmi Bank general manager Wan was declared by the director of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau to be in jail for "smuggling, monopolizing the market, manipulating prices, and defrauding funds." Even Du himself was later detained in disguise. The Kuomintang collected "special donations" in Shanghai to support the civil war, but the fundraising target could not be achieved, so it announced that it would change ties and imprison Du. Du Yuesheng was forced to pay the price for his freedom.

The Shanghai authorities regarded their "close friend" Du as t

In the constant passive beatings, I gradually regained my strength. After all, he has a complete team in Shanghai and a group of capable people who have been carefully cultivated over the years. While adapting to the new situation and keeping a low profile, Du tried to rebuild his honor as a Shanghainese.

First, he began to rectify Wu Shaoshu through Dai Li, the most reliable close friend of the upper echelon of the Kuomintang. Dai Li seized the opportunity of Wu Shaoshu to release Wang Puppet Manchu and Shanghai Taxation Bureau Director Shao privately, and reported the conclusive evidence of money to Chiang Kai-shek on the charge of "exposing traitors and engulfing rebels".

Shortly after the central government issued the order, Wu Shaoshu was removed from his post as deputy mayor and later removed from his post as director of the Shanghai Municipal Social Security Bureau, and was replaced by Wu Kaixian, a member of the Central Committee with close ties to Du. From then on, Wu Shaoshu failed to recover, and Du was saved after being humiliated by his disciples. He is totally guilty.

Beginning in August 1948, in order to save the crisis of his rule, Chiang Kai-shek took Chiang Ching-kuo as a special correspondent to Shanghai to implement financial emergency measures to crack down on big businessmen, rich people, and big bureaucrats. This activity is called "Tiger Hunting". Knowing that he was considered to be the total source of the complex chaos in Shanghai society, Du bore the brunt this time and immediately asked his eldest son Du to close the paddock and go to Peking to escape.

However, his third son Du Weiping was caught by Chiang Ching-kuo and was sentenced to jail for selling 2,800 shares of Yongan Cotton Mill stock outside the market. Du, who was cornered, publicly launched an attack at a meeting of industrial, commercial and financial giants in Shanghai. He said, "I am a bad person, but the president has always treated me as a good person since he took office. I have never done anything bad." He hopes that the authorities will investigate and verify my son's case and handle it fairly. I fully obey the government. But the prince committed crimes against ordinary people who broke the law. He also hopes that the members of the special committee will treat everyone equally and make the verification public to convince the people. If you can’t find the company warehouse, you can send someone as a guide! With that, he claimed he was "sick" and left.

The "company" Du refers to is the Yangzi Construction Company owned by the eldest son and the second lady. At that time, the company's stockpile of supplies was second to none in Shanghai. His words made a deep impression on many people. When Chiang Kai-shek heard that he had beaten a relative, he immediately rushed to Shanghai and ordered Chiang Ching-kuo not to fight forcefully. Du Weiping was also released.

Under this situation, he tried his best to maintain the dignity of Du's "top leader", and his resentment against the Kuomintang grew day by day. He once said to his close friend Fan Shao: "There is no justice in Shanghai in the autumn, and there is no justice after victory." He also said: "In the past, when the imperialists ruled the concession, some buildings were in better order. After the Kuomintang came, they only wanted money. , plundering the people's fat, ten times more than imperialism." He even said that Chiang Kai-shek used him as a chamber pot and threw him under the bed after drinking.

After several struggles, he saw through the despicable corruption of the Kuomintang regime. Although he has been awarded more than 70 titles, including President of the National Flour Industry Association, President of the National Cotton Textile Industry Association, President of the National Shipbuilding Industry Association, Vice President of the Red Cross Society of China, and President of the Shanghai Local Association, he has no regard for those who People with severe asthma feel powerless.

Old habits die hard

In 1949, the Kuomintang had their final decisive battle. Du surveyed the situation and knew he had to make another important choice.

Du Fu, who made his fortune as a "good man", believed in the life creed of "no more doing one thing, only two things". Over the years, he actively helped Chiang Kai-shek's anti-Japanese movement, and at the same time formed an "innocent love" with the Communist Party.

In 1947, at the request of the Communist Party of China, Du accepted Jin Shan, a Communist Party member and actor who went to Shanghai to participate in activities, as a "disciple of Guanshanmen" and helped him with his work. He also interviewed Zhou Enlai's cousin Zhou Enzhen. By the spring of 1949, the KMT's collapse on the mainland was a foregone conclusion. The struggle between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party for social power is intensifying, and Du can no longer please both sides. After the People's Liberation Army arrived in Jiangnan, Du had frequent contacts with celebrities such as Huang Yanpei, Zhang, Shi Liang, and Zhang Lan to discuss the current situation. Huang Yanpei persuaded him to stay. According to Du, I also wanted to arrange an interview with him through Huang Yanpei. Huang is another "tycoon" on the beach in Shanghai. His ancestors were above Du. He has done a lot of work within the Communist Party of China. At the age of 80, he was unwilling to live overseas. He decided to stay in Shanghai and welcome the new era. In this case, Du also considered staying.

But he carries a heavy historical baggage: on the evening of April 11, 1927, he buried Wang Shouhua, a member of the Communist Party of China and chairman of the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions, alive in the Longhua wilderness; The next day? In the massacre on December 12, he deployed his followers to kill more than 300 communists and workers and fell into a pool of blood. Du did not believe that the city committee ignored such hatred. If the situation continues, the future is really difficult to predict. At the same time, the Kuomintang did not want Du to become a "united front" in the past, and strengthened its coercion on him. On April 10, 1949, Chiang Kai-shek summoned Du and asked him to go to Taiwan immediately. After repeated weighing, I decided to stay away from Du's political whirlpool, not in Shanghai or Taiwan Province, but in Hong Kong.

On May 1, 1949, Du left Huang, boarded the crowded Dutch passenger ship "Treasure", and sailed to Hong Kong. The ship passed the Huangpu River and arrived at Wusongkou. Gaoqiao, Pudong, Du's birthplace, is nearby. Forty-seven years ago, a country boy wearing patched clothes came to Shanghai from here to conquer the world with his bare hands. Now everything has been blown away by the wind and rain. The old, weak, sick and disabled Du stood at the bow and cried.

A generation of heroes died in the Xiangjiang River

Du came to Hong Kong and lived at No. 18 Kennedy Town. This was Du’s last residence and was chosen for him by his friends. .

At this time, Du's asthma became more and more serious, and his treatment required both Chinese and Western medicine. There are 4 Chinese medicine doctors and 3 Western medicine doctors who check his pulse regularly. They are all famous doctors in Hong Kong. The more the doctor asked, the more medicine he used, but Du's health never improved. A few months later, he laughed at himself and said: "Now I use medicine as food and rice as medicine!"

The sick Du Fu has been paying attention to the situation on the mainland, and the Chinese Communist Party is also preparing for his return. The efforts have had a great impact on Shanghai's economy and society. Zhang's old friend was entrusted to stay in Du's house in Hong Kong for many days and preached the party's policies to him many times. Du was still worried. He saw that he had indeed fulfilled his promise to "not kill or arrest" Huang who stayed in Shanghai. Huang Ba still lived his usual life, taking baths and smoking; later, he learned that Huang had responded to the call for "reform" and started cleaning the streets. When Huang stood in front of the garbage truck with a broom and a dusty photo appeared in the newspaper, Du was glad that he had not left.

Du Yin handled the affairs of the French Concession and had good relations with France for many years. He wanted to move to France and get away from politics altogether. In addition to the servants, Du's family and Gu Wan who followed him needed 27 passports to go to France. Du applied to the defeated Nationalist Government of Taiwan Province. As a result, Taiwan Province charged a "passport fee" of US$150,000. All of Du's properties remain in the mainland, except for a real estate transaction of US$300,000 that was transferred to Hong Kong to provide huge consumption for dozens of people. Du couldn't bear it anymore! Move methods are blocked here.

The only happiness I had in Hong Kong in my later years was marrying the famous Peking Opera actor Meng Xiaodong. At first, Du Dui respected him; after Du fell ill, he was grateful for his kindness and continued to serve him. Du's fifth and last wife.

In the summer of 1951, Du became seriously ill. It was time to make a will to dispose of his estate. Everyone is curious about how much property the tycoon left to his family. He has 97 servants, and at peak times he only serves one person. As a result, Du reported the payment: 110,000. The money was originally US$100,000, which had been deposited with Song Ziliang, his brother, Song Ziwen. Song Ziliang invested it, with a slight surplus. Now, the $110,000 is Du's entire inheritance, and he used to spend money like water.

His daughter Du Meiru recalled that the distribution was roughly as follows: each wife received 10,000 pounds, the eldest son received 10,000 pounds, the unmarried daughter received 6,000 pounds, and the married daughter received 4,000 pounds. Before that, Du destroyed all the IOUs written to him over the years. He said to his children: "I don't want you to go around collecting debts after my death."

After distributing the inheritance, Du gave everything to his favorite disciples and made up his mind to die. On the afternoon of August 16, 1951, 63-year-old Du breathed his last. His ashes were buried in Taiwan Province, and his last wish was to be buried in Gaoqiao, Pudong, Shanghai, which has not yet been fulfilled.