Mention the famous Shanghai beach gangsters of the last century, I think many people will think of Du Yuesheng. This small trader, who started by selling pears, with his own ingenuity, flourished in the mixed Shanghai Beach. He came from the underworld, sold opium, opened casinos, and as long as it was a profitable business, he was involved in everything. However, at the same time, in the face of the great national righteousness, he gave up his family to go to the country to suffer hardships, and made great contributions to the anti-Japanese resistance. His knowledge of how to behave in the world is still studied by future generations.
Du Yuesheng came from the bottom of society, began to mix society at the age of 14, and worshiped Chen Shichang as an old man. Relying on Chen Shichang's connections, Du Yuesheng was able to enter the famous "Yellow Mansion". Later, he gained the trust of Jin Rong, began to take charge of Jin Rong's casino in the French Concession, and colluded with warlords to start selling opium. With the addition of Zhang Xiaolin, Du Yuesheng officially sat on an equal footing with Jin Rong and became one of the "Three Tycoons".
With the improvement of wealth and power, Du Yuesheng also began to value his reputation and prestige. In addition to the gangsters, he began to make friends with politicians and cultural circles. When the former president Li Yuanhong stepped down, many people respected him and let him taste the warmth and coldness of human feelings. But Du Yuesheng took Li Yuanhong to Shanghai and gave him his villa to live in. In order to protect Li Yuanhong's safety, Du Yuesheng also arranged for the Qinggang disciples to stay outside the door 24 hours a day. Du Yuesheng's "righteous deeds" made Li Yuanhong extremely moved, and when he returned, he asked the secretary-general to write a couplet: "Three thousand guests under the Chunshen Gate, five feet south of Du Cheng."
In this way, Du Yuesheng was touted by this group of politicians and literati as the "contemporary Chunshen Jun", and even the university scholar Zhang Taiyan, the famous scholar Yang Du, and the famous lawyer Qin Liankui also became his guests. And Du Yuesheng is relying on this high emotional intelligence, black and white eat all. But there is always a reward for their efforts, others work so hard to promote Du Yuesheng's name, when they encounter difficulties, how can Du Yuesheng stand idly by? In addition, at that time, many of Du Yuesheng's business belonged to the "fishing for the wrong door", and the money came quickly, so he borrowed a lot of money for others. It is said that there is a whole box of IOUs that others have typed.
On the eve of the founding of New China, Du Yuesheng fled to Hong Kong with several wives. But they were accustomed to a life of luxury, so the money brought to Hong Kong soon diminished at a speed that was visible to the naked eye. On the eve of Du Yuesheng's death, the savings in his hand were only more than 100,000 US dollars. This money is not small in the eyes of many people. But in the eyes of Du Yuesheng, the former shanghai beach tycoon, it was a dime a dozen. What made the family even more incomprehensible was that Du Yuesheng actually wanted to burn the whole box of IOUs.
In this regard, Du Yuesheng's family is opposed, believing that this will be the foundation for the Du family to stand in the future. Hearing this idea from his family, Du Yuesheng roared angrily, "I am saving your lives!" Later, Du Yuesheng explained: "These people who owe money were not rich or expensive in the past. Now some are wandering to the end of the world, and some do not know whether they are alive or dead. When I die, you will take the IOU to collect the debt, and you will destroy this friendship. If I burn it, others may look at me and help you in times of trouble. Just as the so-called great grace is like a great vendetta, if you are aggressive in order to collect debts. I'm afraid I'll bring myself to death!" After Du Yuesheng's death, the descendants of the Du family gave up debt collection and also won the respect of insiders.