preface
In May 1949, the main force of the Third Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army crossed the Yangtze River and launched the Shanghai Campaign with the goal of eliminating Tang Enbo's main force and liberating Shanghai, and successfully defeated the Kuomintang defenders and liberated Shanghai.
Before the liberation of Shanghai, Huang Yanpei and others got in touch with Du Yuesheng, a well-known figure in greater Shanghai, to explain to him the policies of the Ccp and hoped that he would stay in Shanghai, the place where he had struggled, but after some consideration, Du Yuesheng still refused everyone's invitation and chose to leave his hometown of Shanghai.
Why did Du Yuesheng, who once had a deep relationship with the Communist Party, have to leave so resolutely?
Pictured| Du Yuesheng
Tricked and killed Wang Shouhua
Du Yuesheng was well aware of the debt he owed to the Communists, and he did not want to stay, but had to leave.
One of the things he was most condemned for was deceiving Wang Shouhua.
Wang Shouhua, who joined the Communist Party of China at the age of 22, began in May 1926 as a member of the Shanghai District Committee's Military Special Committee, launched several strike movements of workers in various industries in Shanghai, and participated in leading two armed uprisings of Shanghai workers.
In March 1927, the third armed uprising of the Shanghai workers broke out, during the uprising, led by Wang Shouhua, Zhou Enlai, Zhao Shiyan, Luo Yinong and others, the revolutionary comrades around him saw Wang Shouhua working day and night, and persuaded him to rest, and Wang Shouhua retorted to it, the armed uprising is in a very tense moment, countless brothers are on the battlefield, fierce fighting with the enemy, how can he rest.
Wang Shouhua was worried in the headquarters, always paying close attention to the situation of the workers' pickets.
Pictured| Wang Shouhua
During this period, Chiang Kai-shek cooperated with Jin Jinrong, Zhang Xiaolin, Du Yuesheng and others, asking the disciples of the Qinggang to pretend to be workers' pickets and swindle in various places, while spreading rumors unfavorable to the workers' pickets, while the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions, under the leadership of Wang Shouhua, took a series of countermeasures and counterattacked.
Driven by a firm determination to revolution, Wang Shouhua led the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions to continue to grow in strength, which naturally made the Kuomintang side Chiang Kai-shek dissatisfied, so he instigated Du Yuesheng and others to get rid of the revolutionary leader Wang Shouhua.
Why did Du Yuesheng fall to Chiang Kai-shek's side? First, at that time, Sun Chuanfang's rule was already on the verge of collapse, and there was no longer any possibility of maintaining continued cooperation with the Green Gang; second, the workers' movement led by the Communist Party was in full swing, which was bound to affect the vital interests of Du Yuesheng and others, and the Nationalist government under du Yuesheng and Chiang Kai-shek naturally needed each other and got closer and closer.
Picture | Du Yuesheng took a group photo with everyone
On April 11, 1927, Du Yuesheng sent a post inviting Wang Shouhua to his newly built Du Mansion for tea, and at the same time discussed important matters, when Wang Shouhua received the invitation, Luo Yinong, who was also a Communist Leader, persuaded him not to attend the appointment, and Gu Shunzhang suggested that he bring a platoon of armed forces.
For this matter, Wang Shouhua obviously has his own ideas, Du Yuesheng is a very affectionate person, he officially posted an invitation, and the two are people in the same door, how can they do it? Wang Shouhua also joined the Qing Gang, for the "Tong" character generation, higher than Du Yuesheng's "Enlightenment" generation, according to the generation, Wang Shouhua can also be regarded as Du Yuesheng's uncle, Du Yuesheng this person is very particular about the rules, the two also have a lot of friendship before, so think, this trip should be safe.
In order to better understand the enemy's details, to probe the enemy's strength, and thus to carry out the workers' movement, Wang Shouhua still decided to go to the appointment for the benefit of the party and the working class, even if there is danger ahead.
Out of safety considerations, the organization arranged Wang Shouhua,
Li Bo and the two went together. When the two arrived at the Du Mansion, Wang Shouhua asked Li Bozhi to wait for him nearby, and if there was no news after two hours, he would immediately report it to the organization.
At this time, Wang Shouhua had no idea that Du Yuesheng had already received Chiang Kai-shek's assassination secret order and was going to do something to him.
As soon as Wang Shouhua entered the door of the Du Mansion, he was immediately hit on the back of the head by a stick, and instantly fainted to the ground, Du Yuesheng said: "Can't do it in my home, otherwise no guests will dare to come to the door in the future." ”
Under Du Yuesheng's door were the "Four Great Kongs": Ye Zhuoshan, Gu Jiarong, Rui Qingrong, and Gao Xinbao, who took matters into their own hands and stuffed Wang Shouhua into sacks and transported them to fenglin bridge in the west of the city to be brutally buried alive.
The young leader of the workers' movement, who gave his life for the revolution, died at the age of 26.
Li Bozhi waited outside for more than two hours, saw no movement, and guessed that there might be an accident with Wang Shouhua, so he quickly rushed back and made a report to Luo Yinong and the party organization.
In the early morning of April 12, parked above the warships in Gaochangmiao, Shanghai, the signal began to rise, and in an instant, hundreds of heavily armed Youth Gangs and agents scattered and attacked the workers' pickets in various areas of Shanghai, and the unprepared workers' pickets rose up to resist, but the 800,000-strong federation of trade unions was leaderless, and the battle situation was very fierce, in just one morning, the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions and the residences of the workers' pickets in various regions were occupied, and more than 1,000 communists and workers were arrested and imprisoned.
After the April 12 coup d'état, the Communist Party and the revolutionary masses were killed more than 300 people, more than 500 people were searched and arrested, and thousands of people disappeared.
Pictured| Chen Yannian
After this incident, Du Yuesheng was praised by Chiang Kai-shek and was named a major general.
And Jin Jinrong saw that Du Yuesheng's heart was fierce, and since then he has retired from the Green Gang, and Du Yuesheng has become the first person in the Green Gang.
Du Yuesheng's patriotic anti-war actions
During the Kuomintang-Communist Civil War, Du Yuesheng became an important helper to the Kuomintang army led by Chiang Kai-shek, and during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Du Yuesheng did make great contributions to the Anti-Japanese Salvation Movement.
After the July 7 Incident in 1937, China officially entered the period of all-out War of Resistance, and many rescue groups appeared in Shanghai, setting off a huge anti-Japanese salvation movement. At the suggestion of his friend Huang Yanpei, Du Yuesheng, the leader of the Shanghai Youth Gang, used his influence in society to initiate the establishment of the Shanghai Municipal Anti-Enemy Support Association after consulting with his disciples, Wu Kaixianmi, member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Party Department and head of the Organization Department of the Kuomintang.
On July 22, with the cooperation of more than 500 groups in Shanghai, including various industry associations, goods organizations from various countries, and various government agencies and schools, the Shanghai Anti-Enemy Support Association from all walks of life was officially established, and under the leadership of Du Yuesheng, Qian Xinzhi, Pan Gongzhan and other members of the presidium, the anti-Japanese support activities were continuously carried out.
Du Yuesheng made many public statements calling on the people to aid the government and jointly resist Japan, in which he said:
"From September 18 to now, it has been seven years in a hurry, and in the middle of these seven years, we have been oppressed by the enemy, and we have often worked hard to encourage ourselves, while also looking forward to the world's public opinion. However, the ambitions of the aggressors have not been weakened for the sake of world public opinion, but have only intensified their aggression, so we must not rely on them to hope for help, and the salvation of the country depends entirely on our own strength."
On August 19, Du Yuesheng issued a notice to collect donations for national salvation and gold and silver items, and soon raised more than 1.5 million yuan. In addition, he also personally and went all out to raise a lot of funds for the War of Resistance.
In September, Du Yuesheng joined the Shanghai Relief Society, moved the office of the Relief Society to the Pudong Hometown Association, set up 12 shelters, and hosted more than 4,000 war refugees, and everyone crowded the entire hall.
On October 3, Du Yuesheng broadcast through the radio to collect cotton vests for the materials needed by the frontline, and served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Pudong Cotton Transport Association, responsible for supporting the frontline. On the 20th, Du Yuesheng took the lead in donating 30,000 cotton vests.
Pictured| Pan Hannian
At the same time, Du Yuesheng also donated 1,000 sets of gas masks imported from the Netherlands to the Eighth Route Army through Pan Hannian, the representative of the Eighth Route Army in Shanghai, expressing his willingness to cooperate with the Communist Party to resist Japan.
After the fall of Shanghai, Du Yuesheng spared no expense to buy many books published by communist organizations, such as "The Complete Works of Lu Xun" and "Journey to the West," and burned the golden characters of "Du Yuesheng's Gift" on the books and sent them to various libraries to carry out anti-Japanese propaganda among the broad masses of the people.
In November, Du Yuesheng, Yu Hongjun, Song Ziwen and others took a boat to Hong Kong to continue the anti-Japanese work.
Figure | The August 13 Incident
Especially since the August 13 Incident, Du Yuesheng has supported the war against Japan with strong patriotic enthusiasm through practical actions such as raising funds, sending support, and resettling refugees.
At the critical juncture of the Japanese invasion, Du Yuesheng put the nation first, threw himself into the anti-Japanese salvation movement, and indeed made positive contributions to the War of Resistance in Shanghai and even the whole country.
Yearning for a heart, following a lack of strength
In 1945, after the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Du Yuesheng's power also began to gradually decline, and in the face of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, Du Yuesheng fell into a "difficult" situation.
Pictured| Chiang Kai-shek and Du Yuesheng
In 1946, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the democratic election of the members of the Shanghai Municipal Senate, in fact, this is just a face project done by Chiang Kai-shek, but Du Yuesheng believed it to be true and was ready to run for the speaker, but Chiang Kai-shek sent a message that he intended to appoint Pan Gongzhan as the speaker, that Pan Gongzhan was Chiang Kai-shek's close confidant, du Yuesheng also saw the situation clearly, after the first round of elections announced that he was elected speaker, he immediately proposed to resign, and in the next second round of elections, Pan Gongzhan was elected as the speaker.
During the Liberation War, Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek invited him to go to Taiwan with him, but Du Yuesheng was afraid that if he refused, he would incur the disaster of killing himself, so he had to claim that the climate was humid and not suitable for his asthma, and he planned to go to Hong Kong for treatment first, and then agreed to Chiang Kai-shek. He knew very well that his value was not great, and following Chiang Kai-shek would certainly not be reused, but only sent to the fence.
Pictured| Huang Yanpei
On the communist side, his friends Huang Yanpei, Zhang Shizhao and others invited him to stay in Shanghai to help maintain social order in Shanghai, and the past things can no longer be considered, Qiao Guanhua, Pan Hannian and others also contacted Du Yuesheng several times to persuade him to stay, and said that the people's government will properly arrange his work and life, but Du Yuesheng understood in his heart that what he had done was not a trivial matter, and the "debt" he owed was enough to make him uneasy.
After some thought, Du Yuesheng said: "Yearning for a heart, following a lack of strength." ”
He did not go to Taiwan or Shanghai, he was determined to go to Hong Kong, and he also specially returned to Shanghai with a letter of mouth, asking his protégés in Shanghai to obey the laws and regulations of the people's government, remember to keep peace and keep to themselves, and serve the country.
In 1949, the Kuomintang army in Shanghai was defeated and left the city in a hurry, and the Chinese People's Liberation Army successfully liberated Shanghai, and Shanghai finally returned to the hands of the people.
When the whole of Shanghai was immersed in the joy of victory in battle, Du Yuesheng, a once-famous Shanghai tycoon, took his wife and concubines, children, retinue and other people to leave his hometown of Shanghai by boat and went to Hong Kong.
Compared with the palatial Du Mansion in Shanghai, Du Yuesheng who came to Hong Kong could only live in the three bedrooms and one hall that the protégé helped rent, and soon after arriving in Hong Kong, Du Yuesheng's asthma recurred again, he lived at home all day, staying at home, and the embarrassing appearance was simply different from the storm on the beach that day.
Du Yuesheng, who is in Hong Kong, is more worried about the past being brought up again, but the more afraid he is, the faster he will come.
In 1949, 22 years after the murder of Wang Shouhua, Rui Qingrong and Gao Xinbao, one of the four King Kongs, had already died one after another, Gu Jiatang fled to Hong Kong, while Ye Zhuoshan remained in Shanghai because of his family's belongings, and was arrested after May.
In 1950, the remains of revolutionary martyr Wang Shouhua were found, and his blood clothes were exhibited at the Shanghai Workers' Cultural Center.
Ma Xiangsheng and Ye Zhuoshan were tried by tens of thousands of people, and they were executed by firing squad at the Maple Leaf Bridge where Wang Shouhua was killed. Revolutionary martyr Wang Shouhua's "great vengeance has finally been repaid."
After Du Yuesheng, who was far away in Hong Kong, knew about this, he was very worried and could not afford to be sick.
Pictured| Premier Zhou Enlai
According to her daughter Du Meiru's recollection, when Du Yuesheng was seriously ill, Premier Zhou Enlai also entrusted someone to send a message and invite him to return to the mainland, but for various reasons, Du Yuesheng never returned. One of the important reasons is a photo of Jin Rong.
In 1951, Jin Jinrong, who had been known as the "Three Tycoons of Shanghai" with Du Yuesheng and Zhang Xiaolin, published a letter of repentance in Shanghai's "News Daily", "Wen Wei Po" and other publications, in which Jin Jinrong briefly described his past and counted the mistakes he had made before, and claimed to make meritorious atonement for his sins.
"After liberation, I saw that the Communist Party was all right, and the people's government was truly a government for the people. I am eighty-four years old this year, and I have not been born for more than twenty years, but after this earth-shaking change, I feel very painful to see the great power of the people and then review all my actions before I was sixty years old. On the one hand, I express my deep shame and gratitude to the people's government for its leniency toward me; on the other hand, I am willing to confess my repentance to the people, earnestly review my historical mistakes, and ask for permission to make meritorious atonement for my sins. ”
——Excerpt from "Confessions of Golden Glory"
In addition, Jin Jinrong was also escorted to the street, at the age of 80, to do things to clean the street.
In desperation, Jin Rong's daughter-in-law Li Zhiqing brought his letter of help and sought Du Yuesheng's help, and before Du Yuesheng could think of a way, he got the news that Jin Jinrong had not previously attacked the Communists, and his life was in danger.
A letter of repentance from Jin Rong made Du Yuesheng frightened, and he no longer had the idea of returning to Shanghai, and the old acquaintances of the past had reached an advanced age and were forced to clean the streets, which also made Du Yuesheng somewhat secretly glad that he did not stay in Shanghai at the beginning.
Pictured| Jin Rong's letter of repentance
But even though he was terminally ill, Du Yuesheng kept his head clear and made rational decisions.
One day, he asked his daughter Du Meiru to go to the bank deliberately, take out a safe, after opening, the cabinet is full of IOUs, the borrowers on these IOUs are undoubtedly big people, there are business tycoons, there are also big people in the political circles, borrowing from gold bars to dollars, the amount varies, it is easy to guess that this is a huge amount of money.
At that time, Du Yuesheng and his family lived in a small house in Hong Kong, life was not as glamorous as before, and there was only a small amount of property left to provide for the family's life, if these huge debts could be collected, the economic situation could naturally be alleviated.
But Du Yuesheng did not do this, but took out the IOUs to look at one by one, and then tore them off one after another.
For the children's puzzlement and surprise, Du Yuesheng explained:
"What looks like money is actually friendship. Those who are grateful will always remember the goodness of the Du family, and those who are not grateful, if you go to it, you will bring you the disaster of killing yourself. I don't want my family to be in trouble when I die. ”
The current situation is no longer the glory of the past in Shanghai Beach, without the strength of the previous time in the Green Gang, in the sick bed, Du Yuesheng tried his best to protect the life safety of his family.
Picture | Du Yuesheng and his family
On August 16, 1951, Du Yuesheng died of illness in Hong Kong, this big man who was famous in Shanghai Beach for a while, his extraordinary life finally came to an end, and finally did not return to his hometown Shanghai, which finally became his regret.
Regarding Du Yuesheng, Wang Chaoguang, director of the Research Office of the History of the Republic of China of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, once said: "Du Yuesheng is a complex historical figure, he started in a gang, there is a black or evil side, but he also supported the anti-Japanese resistance, and there is also a white or positive side." Historical evaluation should seek truth from facts, negate it when it should be denied, and affirm it when it should be affirmed. ”
Later generations of people have different judgments on his merits and demerits, some people think that he has made unforgivable mistakes and should not be forgiven, and some people think that during the War of Resistance, he did make great contributions, but the merits and demerits are offset. He is a frightening underworld boss, but also a patriot who stepped forward during the War of Resistance, no matter what, this legendary figure has left us countless wonderful stories, and let us look at it objectively and rationally!