What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
In Shanghai in the first half of the last century, in addition to the foreign forces that sought their own interests and the two parties of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, which were fiercely struggling, there were also gangs that were moving sideways. And the worst of them are the three giants of the Green Gang, Jin Jinrong, Zhang Xiaolin and Du Yuesheng.
However, with the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the liberation of Shanghai by the People's Liberation Army, Du Yuesheng, the boss of the Green Gang who used to call the wind and rain in Shanghai, also reached a turning point in his life. He rushed to Hong Kong, where he died of illness and was eventually buried in Taiwan. It seems that he does not approve of The Golden Rong's choice to take sides, but stands against us, and even never returns to his hometown?
The reason for Du Yuesheng's visit to Hong Kong
In the fourteenth year of Guangxu (1888), Du Yuesheng was born in Gaoqiao, Chuansha, Jiangsu (now Pudong New Area, Shanghai). Because his parents died early, he was raised by his stepmother and uncle. It's just that such a growth environment can only teach Du Yuesheng into a street "little cripple three".
Therefore, at the age of fourteen, Du Yuesheng entered the Qing Gang, worshiped Chen Shichang as an old man, and later entered Jin Rong's mansion as an entourage.
Du Yuesheng had a brilliant mind, so he quickly got the weight of Lin Guisheng, the original wife of Golden Rong, and was promoted to the leader of the "Eight Shares Party". Subsequently, Du Yuesheng used this as a cornerstone to quickly gain a foothold in the torrent of stocks in Shanghai. By 1921, he had become the brother of Zhang Xiaolin and Jin Jinrong.
And starting from the Green Gang, Du Yuesheng was destined to be overwhelmed. He sold opium, opened casinos, colluded with the French consul general in Shanghai, carried countless lives, and earned one sum after another. Therefore, later Du Yuesheng also consciously "whitewashed" himself and began to get involved in banking, industry and commerce, shipping, and even the film industry, journalism and other legitimate industries.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, because of his friendship with Dai Kasa, Du Yuesheng also contributed a lot to the united front. He also used his connections and disciples to eliminate traitors such as Zhang Xiaolin. Although he also took advantage of the chaos to make the country rich, he also donated a lot.
Chiang Kai-shek and Du Yuesheng had a good relationship, and on the eve of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Du Yuesheng also accepted the rank of major general awarded by Chiang Kai-shek. Although Du Yuesheng and Chiang Kai-shek later fell out over the position of mayor of Shanghai, and Du Yuesheng's son and Chiang Kai-shek's son still formed a vendetta, Du Yuesheng was still worried that his entanglement with the Chiang family would cause the mainland authorities to be jealous. Therefore, on the eve of the end of the Liberation War, Du Yuesheng, who was worried that he would be turned over by the people, hurriedly left Shanghai with his family and Meng Xiaodong, a famous Peking opera singer, to Go to Hong Kong.
Du Yuesheng agreed to return to Shanghai
In fact, before leaving Shanghai, Chiang Kai-shek had thrown an olive branch to Du Yuesheng to go to Taiwan together, but Du Yuesheng refused. And Du Yuesheng wanted to invite Jin Jinrong to go to Hong Kong with him, but he declined Du Yuesheng's kindness and stayed in Shanghai disheartened. Therefore, Du Yuesheng himself was reluctant to go to Hong Kong, after all, his past was related to Shanghai.
In 1950, when Du Yuesheng learned that Lin Gui, who had brought him up, was seriously ill, he hastily sent his eldest son, Du Weifan, to visit him as the manager of Shenhui Bank, and incidentally tested the attitude of the mainland authorities toward him. During this trip, Du Weifan brought back good news for Du Yuesheng that the mainland authorities wanted him to return to Shanghai. And Pan Hannian, who was the vice mayor of Shanghai at the time, also promised Du Yuesheng on behalf of the country that as long as he was honest and did what was beneficial to the people, not only would we not treat him harshly, but the people would forgive him.
Du Yuesheng soon ordered Du Weifan to write back to Pan Hannian, saying that he had decided to support New China. Soon after, the Hong Kong Merchants Bureau and several steamships revolted and announced their support for New China, and Dong Huaming and others went to Hong Kong on the orders of Zhou Enlai to support the movement, and Du Yuesheng directly met with Dong Huaming. This meeting not only finalized Du Yuesheng's return to Shanghai, but also allowed Du Yuesheng to prove his determination to support New China with actions. He cared for his disciples in Hong Kong not to obstruct the uprising, and also refused the solicitation of Hong Lanyou, Yu Hongjun and other high-ranking Kuomintang officials.
Du Yuesheng became a "tool" of the party struggle, and his will was violated
However, at this juncture, an accident occurred. Shortly after rejecting the Kuomintang lobbyists, Du Yuesheng received a handwritten letter from the chairman.
In his letter, the chairman mentioned that he was willing to treat each other sincerely and sincerely invited Du Yuesheng to lay down his burdens and return to Shanghai to discuss the country and develop a new China.
Du Yuesheng, who was nostalgic for his hometown, invited Qian Yongming, editor-in-chief of the "News Daily," to write a reply letter to the chairman the day after receiving the letter, saying that he no longer hesitated and would return to Shanghai at a later date. As a result, Because Qian Yongming drank too much, he mistakenly sent the letter that should be sent to the chairman to Chiang Kai-shek. At this moment, old Jiang was furious and decided to force Du Yuesheng to go to Taiwan at the same time.
With Chiang Kai-shek's compulsion, Du Yuesheng directly became "cannon fodder" for the confrontation between the Kuomintang and the Communists.
In order to stir up Du Yuesheng's plan to return to Shanghai, on March 11, 1951, Taiwan's "Central Daily" forwarded a special telegram from The China News Agency Hong Kong the day before, saying that Du Yuesheng, Qian Yongming, and others were ready to go to Taiwan.
In April, Kuomintang agents in Hong Kong revealed to Du Yuesheng that the mainland authorities were trying to negotiate with the British authorities in Hong Kong and extradite him back to Shanghai for criticism. If the extradition is unsuccessful, then shoot him directly in Hong Kong...
Whether Chiang Kai-shek's operation deceived the country or not we do not know, but at least it frightened Du Yuesheng.
Already suffering from heart disease and asthma, he quickly collapsed, suffered a stroke and was paralyzed by a stroke in May, and was unable to enter the water in August. Du Yuesheng, who knew that he might not be able to wait for the day of his return to Shanghai, had to call Lu Jingshi, Qian Xinzhi and others to make a will for him, and asked that his body be brought back to Shanghai and buried in Gaoqiao.
However, when Du Yuesheng died of illness on August 16, 1951, Chiang Kai-shek still did not intend to let him go.
Taiwan's "JoongAng Daily" published a sinister obituary, claiming that Du Yuesheng firmly supported Taipei. Later, Chiang Kai-shek and others forged Du Yuesheng's will, and coupled with the continuous persuasion of Lu Jingshi and Hong Lanyou and other Kuomintang high-ranking officials, the Du family confusedly transported Du Yuesheng's coffin to Taiwan to "return to the land."
Therefore, although Du Yuesheng has done a lot of bad things in his life, he actually made the right choice at the end of his life. It was just that his status was too special, and the Kuomintang and the Communist Party hoped to pull him into their own camp, so he became a victim of the political struggle.
"Farewell, my hometown Takahashi!" Unfortunately, this farewell became a farewell under the intervention of Chiang Kai-shek.