preface
On November 8, 2007, under the heavy lead-gray sky, the police waited in a tight line and dispatched two "mobile SNG satellite broadcast vehicles" that cost tens of millions of dollars to continuously monitor every move in various districts of Taiwan and synchronize the latest footage of the Lingtang.
Since 6:00 a.m., Chen Qili's spiritual hall has been pouring into the brothers from all over the hall, all dressed in black suits, wearing small white flowers on their chests, and their expressions are serious. At the time of the public ceremony, the number of mourners exceeded 8,000, and the farewell ceremony venue was crowded.
Outside the farewell ceremony were reporters running around with cameras, scrambling to snap pictures. Unlike this "lively" atmosphere, the corners of the alleys not far away are full of special service officers with MP5 submachine guns hanging on their chests, and they stare around the funeral home without blinking.
In this way, the officers and soldiers and the robbers performed the last scene of the legendary underworld godfather Chen Qili in the wet and cold streets of drizzling rain.
In the farewell ceremony, an 11-minute documentary of "Welcome Home" recorded Chen Qili's 11-year unfinished homecoming road, pinning people's infinite thoughts about him.
"This kind of big scene of Taiwanese gangsters can only be seen in Movies in Hong Kong!" One person interviewed said so.
After the funeral, the media reported Chen Qili's life, but after the article was published, it was criticized by many people. The most "serious" point is that Chen Qili adheres to the "one-China principle." This made some reactionaries hate it to the bone.
But in fact, Chen Qili has never wavered in this idea in his life, he once said: "I would rather be controlled by the Communist Party than let Taiwan be taken away by outsiders."
So, what kind of person is Chen Qili? Why did so many people bid him farewell? Why did he say such a thing?
1. Being provoked, from a student to a gangster boss
In 1943, Chen Qili was born in Jiangsu, mainland China, because the family business was doing well, his father was well-known in the local area, but these were inextricably linked to the National Government.
After Chen Qili was born, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression had come to an end, and the Chinese nation had won a comprehensive victory. Originally, after the war, the country began to recuperate. But no, the Kuomintang unilaterally tore up the Kuomintang-Communist cooperation agreement, and the civil war began.
Because of the business connection with the Nationalist government, Chen Father very much hoped that the Kuomintang would be able to govern and continue to do business smoothly, but unfortunately, it backfired, the Kuomintang was defeated, and old Chiang kai-shek fled back to Taiwan with the remnants of the troops.
In order to survive, Chen Qili's father had to take Chen Qili and his family to move to Taiwan with the Kuomintang, when Chen Qili was only six years old.
Father Chen is a very traditional person, he firmly believes that "filial piety comes out from under the stick", so he is very strict with Chen Qili, and once he makes a mistake, he will either beat or scold. Under the long-term waiting of the stick, Chen Qili was very impressed by the "filial piety" requested by his father, and had a strong sense of national identity since he was a child. Of course, for his father's violence, Chen Qili also seems to agree with the concept that "fighting" can conquer.
Under the condition of strict tutoring, after graduating from junior high school, Chen Qili was admitted to Taipei's "Jianguo Middle School", the first famous school in Taiwan, with excellent results.
Due to the different accents and the "February 8 Incident" at that time (in the early days of the Kuomintang's rule over Taiwan, there was a conflict between Taiwanese nationals and other provinces, which evolved into a major historical event in which the Kuomintang army suppressed the Taiwanese people by force), and Taiwanese people developed a hatred for mainlanders, and Chen Qili was often provoked and fought. But Chen Qili was born not to accept defeat, and resisted fighting, becoming a famous fighting expert in the school.
In order to deal with Taiwanese, foreigners slowly formed gangs, 17-year-old Chen Qili and some teenage teenagers in the village were guided to join the "Zhonghe Gang", and since then the fights have begun to accompany, and the daily conflict situation has gradually improved.
In the long-term fight, Chen Qili came to the fore. In a fight in a Western restaurant, Chen Qili led 8 personnel to beat nearly 100 people on the other side, and became famous for a while. The case also alarmed the whole of Taiwan, and lit up the red light of public security. Chen Qili also established the status of the underworld in this battle.
Because the gang leader who founded the "Zhonghe Gang" killed people and went to prison, the "Zhonghe Gang" was leaderless, and some elders renamed the "Zhonghe Gang" to "Bamboo Gang", and Chen Qili served as the backbone and became the spiritual leader of the Bamboo Gang. Soon after, because he led the Zhulin brothers to occupy the territory of other gangs and expand the power of the gang, the young Chen Qili was pushed to the position of the main hall master.
Under the leadership of Chen Qili, the "Bamboo Forest Gang" began to invest in various special businesses, casinos, and even meddle in the film industry to earn huge sums of money. Therefore, at this time, the "Bamboo Forest Gang" is not just a gang, it has successfully transformed and operated like a company.
In 1968, with the increase of the scale of the "Bamboo Forest Gang", in order to standardize management, Chen Qili held a reorganization meeting, using six colors of red, white, black, yellow, blue, and gray to set up a church with the names of tigers, leopards, dragons, lions, wolves, bears, phoenixes, birds and other animals, and established a new hall system, each church set up the positions of hall master, deputy hall master, protector, etc., Chen Qili continued to serve as the main hall master. At this time, the "Bamboo Forest Gang" has gained the reputation of "the first gang in the world".
2. Being used, from the underworld to the official entanglement
In 1970, due to the phenomenon of stealing "gang money" to escape from the gang, Chen Qili instructed the killer to assassinate the thief, and was accused of being a black hand behind the scenes and arrested.
In 1976, after Chen Qili was released from prison, he reorganized the Bamboo Gang and tried his best to expand the gang's strength. At that time, some people estimated the members of the "Bamboo Gang" that there were at least tens of thousands of people, but in fact, the real number could not even be determined by the police station. Anyway, at that time, the forces of the Bamboo Forest Gang basically controlled the whole of Taiwan, including important departments such as the government, personnel, public security, and even the intelligence bureau. The influence even expanded overseas, affecting the Chinese community around the world.
In addition, the "Bamboo Gang" has also developed quite rapidly abroad, not only engaged in some legitimate business, but also engaged in a large number of illegal acts. Among them, the Bamboo Forest Gang set up a "transit station" on an island in the Philippines, and transported a large number of modern weapons into Taiwan and from Taiwan to the rest of the world.
Doing something that violates the law so blatantly, perhaps many people are very confused, Chen Qili seems to have reached the sky with one hand. What everyone does not know is that in fact, with the expansion of Chen Qili's influence, the Taiwan authorities have long taken a fancy to the "Bamboo Gang." With the secret support of the Taiwan authorities, Chen Qili began to move closer to politics and became a secret intelligence officer of the Taiwan Intelligence Bureau. And it was only with the investigation of the "Jiangnan case" that Chen Qili's collusion with the Taiwan authorities was exposed.
Jiangnan, whose original name was Liu Yiliang, followed Chiang Ching-kuo to Taiwan at the age of 17, studied at Taipei Normal University, and was a political worker vigorously trained by Chiang Ching-kuo. After graduation, Gangnam worked as a reporter for The Taiwan Daily. Later, Jiangnan began to study the life of Chiang Ching-kuo, and in 1984 he officially published the Biography of Chiang Ching-kuo.
As soon as the biography of Chiang Ching-kuo was published, it sold tens of millions of copies. The book exposed the bad deeds of Chiang Kai-shek's father and son, which aroused the extreme dissatisfaction of the Taiwan authorities, who considered Jiangnan "rebellious." Therefore, the Taiwan authorities did not hesitate to use a heavy amount of 250,000 US dollars to hire Chen Qili and others to assassinate Jiangnan in San Francisco.
In the face of a strong military and high remuneration, Chen Qili decisively accepted the task of assassinating the famous Jiangnan, and on October 15, 1984, he shot the unsuspecting Jiangnan three times in a row.
In addition to assassinating Jiangnan, the Taiwan authorities also attached some conditions with ulterior motives: that is, they ordered Chen Qili to control the entire underworld in the name of the "Bamboo Gang." They conspired sinisterly and cunningly: vigorously developing tangkou in Hong Kong and the United States, using the United States as a springboard and Hong Kong as a base, infiltrating the "Bamboo Gang" forces into the Chinese mainland, controlling the mainland, subverting the current regime of the Communist Party, and achieving the "political goal" of "anti-communist restoration."
Therefore, at that time, the Bamboo Forest Gang also desperately fulfilled the tasks of the authorities, and in addition to making all-out efforts to make friends with the children of high-ranking cadres on the mainland, they also tried to get close to important departments of the mainland and try to expand to the mainland.
In fact, at this time, the Bamboo Forest Gang, on a par with the notoriety of the Japanese "Yamaguchi Group", has been active in various political circles for a long time, doing no evil, and huge cases are emerging one after another.
I thought that Jiangnan was killed unconsciously, but I did not think that under the full investigation of the US federal police, the "Jiangnan Murder Case" soon shocked the world. Under pressure, the Taiwan authorities launched the largest anti-gang crime campaign in history, and Chen Qili naturally became the scapegoat of the "shedding pawn to protect the marshal."
However, Jiang is still old and spicy, and Chen Qili, an old jianghu, in order to avoid being brutally poisoned, secretly recorded the sound when he accepted the order of the Taiwan Intelligence Bureau to assassinate Jiangnan. So after Chen Qili's arrest, the tape quickly fell into the hands of the FBI. The Taiwan authorities never dreamed that the praying mantis catching cicadas and yellow finches was behind. Because of this, Chen Qili was able to save his life and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
In order to cover up the truth, the Taiwan authorities' anti-gang activities continued to deepen, and began to arrest gang members on a large scale, and a large number of triad elements were arrested one after another, including hundreds of important members of the "Bamboo Gang." At this point, the Taiwan gangsters fell into a low tide.
In 1991, Chen Qili was released from prison on parole. After his release from prison, Chen Qili still presided over the affairs of the Bamboo Gang. And as other gangsters have been released from prison, Taiwanese gangsters have begun to look up slightly. In fact, in prison, they had already established the first cross-island triad organization in the province, the "Heavenly Dao Alliance", and they were waiting for the day to emerge.
Looking at the gangs that began to emerge, the Taiwan authorities could not sit still. In order to combat the resurgence of triad forces, the authorities launched an island-wide manhunt in 1996 code-named "A10", and Chen Qili had to flee abroad with other underworld figures.
In 1997, Chen Qili fled to Cambodia and began an 11-year exile until his death, when he did not return to Taiwan, cambodia became the final destination of his life.
3. Hunted down, from Taiwan to Cambodia, embarked on the road of no return
For himself to be used and used as a scapegoat, Chen Qili had already clearly seen the authorities' self-deception, and he couldn't help but feel very cold.
Therefore, when the Taiwan authorities issued another arrest warrant against him, Chen Qili could only flee, because it was impossible for the authorities he had served to mitigate his crimes because of his meritorious service.
After escaping to Cambodia, Chen Qili has been living a low-key semi-hidden life, and in addition to real estate, he is most often concerned about current affairs in Taiwan.
Once, in an interview with the media, Chen Qili proudly said: "I am a Chinese, and Taiwan Province and the mainland will never be separated." Not long after, Chen Qili spoke to the people of Taiwan through television: "Compatriots whose blood is thicker than water, we are Chinese, in my heart, I would rather be managed by the Communist Party than let Taiwan be taken away by outsiders!" ”
Because of the voice of the Chinese people, Chen Qili established a high prestige in the Chinese circle. At that time, many Taiwanese Chinese who fled overseas tried their best to contact Chen Qili, hoping to better cooperate and communicate with him.
In addition, Chen Qili has repeatedly expressed his support and desire for the reunification of the motherland in public, insisting in every interview that Taiwan is China's.
In addition to his firm support for the reunification of China, Chen Qili has also contributed to cambodia's friendly relations with the mainland. As Chen Qili's business grew bigger and bigger, his assets and properties drove the local economy, and Chen Qili was awarded the title of "Wang Ye".
In 2000, Chen Qili suddenly suffered a stroke, and on the way to Thailand for treatment, he was almost caught by the Taiwan authorities, and in desperation, he had to transfer to Hong Kong. After improving slightly, Chen Qili went to Beijing. Looking at the great rivers and mountains of the motherland, he was full of emotions, and he hoped to see the five-star red flag of the 2008 Olympic Games rise, but unfortunately his life was frozen in October 2007.
After Chen Qili's death, in order to fulfill his desire to return to his roots, his family applied with relevant departments to take him back to Taiwan for burial. After obtaining permission from the relevant authorities, Chen Qili's body returned to the island of Taiwan, which he loved and hated.
epilogue
Chen Qili has always been mixed in the underworld, in the eyes of the world, he may not be a good person, quite controversial, but his heart has always been bright.
As the leader of the gang, Chen Qili must have carried too many unpleasant things on his back, but his firm belief in the reunification of the motherland and the reunification of China has never changed.
Since he was a child, Chen Qili has been treated differently as a provincial element, and he is very hateful to the Taiwan independence forces in his heart and always looks forward to the early realization of reunification, so chen Qili in his later years often nagged: "Let the mainland rule better than Taiwan independence."
In fact, people's views have a lot to do with their own experiences, and Chen Qili is the same, he has experienced from the mainland to Taipei, and then to a foreign country, and the feelings he exudes in his heart are the most sincere, that is, to defend his territory and not allow others to infringe.