What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
"Three thousand guests under the Chunshen Gate, five feet south of Xiaodu City." This is a couplet written by Li Yuanhong's secretary for Du Yuesheng, which has been hung by him in the most conspicuous place in the living room, and Du Yuesheng has also had the nickname of "Contemporary Chunshen Jun". Du Yuesheng is the "godfather" level figure of the old Shanghai, together with Jin Jinrong and Zhang Xiaolin, known as the three tycoons of Shanghai, his life has always been regarded as a legend, in those war-torn years, the three words "Du Yuesheng" is an irreplaceable legend.
As one of the dragons of the Green Gang, although Du Yuesheng only covered the sky with his hands, there were still countless people who wanted to take his life, and in the days when the tip of the knife licked blood, Du Yuesheng naturally could not be defenseless. Although he usually looks like a long robe and a horse coat, he is very thin and slender, but in fact he has a secret weapon in his pocket and has not left his body for many years.
This secret weapon is a "small knife gun", from the appearance point of view, it is just an ordinary single-open fruit knife, but the handle is thicker than the usual. However, if you look closely, you will find that there is a raised button on the back of the knife, which is the trigger of the knife gun - the real identity of this fruit knife is actually a hidden small pistol.
This small knife gun has a caliber of 6.35 mm, is made in Switzerland and can only reload one bullet at a time. Its greatest effect is that in addition to being easy to carry, it can also paralyze the alertness of the enemy, and the lethality is still very strong at close range. Of course, Du Yuesheng didn't have many opportunities to use it, so the small knife and gun was just a backup secret weapon for self-protection.
Legend has it that Du Yuesheng designed the pistol to look like a knife because he went to Shanghai sixteen shops as an apprentice in the fruit shop at the age of 14, where he practiced the skill of peeling fruit with one hand, and was able to continuously cut a complete pear peel, which also had the nickname of "Fruit Yuesheng". After he entered the Golden Rong Mansion and made his mark, the shape of the self-defense weapon borrowed the shape of the pear-cutting knife that he was most familiar with.
When he was an apprentice in the fruit shop, he starved and suffered, not only did he have no salary, but he also had to live according to the eyes of his boss, which should be a painful memory for Du Yuesheng. But he put the knife that proved his suffering next to him, perhaps to remind himself not to forget the suffering he had suffered in the past, so as to encourage himself.
Today, this very confusing knife and gun is stored in the Shanghai Public Security Museum, which is the first national secondary museum in China to collect and exhibit police history and police culture, and it was officially opened to the public in September 1999 before Du Yuesheng's secret weapon was released to the world.
In addition to the collection of Du Yuesheng's small knife and gun, there is also the Browning pistol used by Sun Yat-sen, which is also the treasure of the museum and has been identified as a national first-class cultural relic. Along with the small knife and gun, there is also a three-inch golden gun used by another Green Gang leader, Jin Rong, although it is slightly less concealed than The Du Yuesheng Fruit Knife Pistol, but it is also a weapon that is equally deceptive.
This gun is equipped with a brown leather holster, which looks like a dry cigarette bag commonly used by northerners, and this exquisite golden gun is usually hidden in a small leather case. This golden gun was made in Belgium, also known as the L. Rover revolver, and the caliber was also 6.35 mm, but it could be reloaded with 6 rounds. Mr. Qian Baichun, a firearms expert, once praised: "I have seen thousands of guns, but this is the only one that has been exquisite like this for half a century." ”
Because the handle of this gun is made of 24K gold, it is only the size of an egg when folded up, so it is named the three-inch gold gun. This gun can be disguised, and it looks exquisite and noble on the outside, so it is particularly loved by Jin Rong, and it must be carried everywhere it goes, and it will not leave for a moment.
The history of Jin Rong's origins, that is also bumpy and magical, he came from a humble background, and in his early years he followed the hooligans and did various different jobs. At the age of 32, when he saw the French Concession recruiting Chinese patrols, he signed up, and then was successfully hired by virtue of his strength.
Although he had no culture, Jin Rong's brain was flexible and he was very good at things, so he was quickly promoted. Relying on the power in his hands, Jin Rong gradually made contacts, opened casinos, sold opium, and eventually became a famous tycoon in Shanghai Beach.
Both Jin Jin Rong and Du Yuesheng are well-known figures in the history of Shanghai Beach, but Du Yuesheng's reputation and ending are much better than Jin Rong's, he is a person with a stain but not completely "blackened", and thus has become a legendary role of both good and evil. However, no matter how it looks on the surface to call the wind and rain, only the hand covers the sky, the boss's position is not so easy to sit, and these two small guns that do not leave the body at all times are proof.
Whether it is a "fruit knife" or a "dry tobacco bag", it is a manifestation of the extreme insecurity of the two Shanghai literati, because their life scenery coexists with risks. Whether it is Jin Rong, who is still undergoing labor reform at the age of more than 80 years old, or Du Yuesheng, who had to live in Hong Kong to take refuge, after the end of their era, only historical relics are left.