The city of Shanghai has been a heroic place of the wind and clouds since ancient times, and it has occupied a very important position in modern history. After all, Shanghai is the city with the most concessions, the battlefield of the first major war after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, and an important city in the underground battlefield of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.
Today, the old Shanghai has become a microcosm of history, and the new Shanghai has become China's premier international metropolis. However, underneath this bustling area, there are still countless past events and blood buried. During the revolutionary period, Shanghai was the closest place to the capitalist "paradise" in China, with temples, pavilions, streets and alleys, all of which were rivers and lakes.
It can be said that Shanghai occupies a pivotal position in China's history, whether it is political, military, and cultural. However, after so many years, history has spanned many eras, and when most people think of old Shanghai, the first thing that comes to mind should be a figure who seems to have little to do with politics and military affairs.
Du Yuesheng, King of Shanghai.
It is not an exaggeration to say that his life is the most legendary group of people who experienced the most legendary experience during the Republic of China period. Therefore, in later generations, many directors and screenwriters have taken his story as a model, and even directly put his experience on the big screen. Of course, this is not because Du Yuesheng is a hero who should be remembered, on the contrary, in most people's cognition, he is undoubtedly a sinner of a nation.
But the legendary people also have their own families, chai rice oil and salt, children around the knees, is with ordinary fireworks. Du Yuesheng's life was turbulent, and finally he was exiled to Hong Kong, the scenery was no longer there, and what kind of life did his descendants live later?
In 2001, outside the Du Mansion in Shanghai, stood an old woman dressed in fashionable clothes. Du Mansion is located on Ninghai West Road in Shanghai, with two buildings, a Two-storey Shikumen building in the Chinese style, and a three-storey building in the style of Chinese and Western styles.
Such a building, at that time, few people in Shanghai could live, which also showed the great power of Du Yuesheng in Shanghai. At that time, the Du Mansion was a gathering place for Shanghai celebrities, comparable to the villa in "The Great Gatsby", singing at night and singing, and the lights were red and green. Such a building also represents a microcosm of an era.
With the passage of time, the Du Mansion has become an ordinary building, standing quietly on the streets of Shanghai, extremely deserted. Perhaps Shanghai locals still know the history of this building, but the Shanghai legend represented by Du Mansion has slowly been forgotten. The only person who will always remember this place is the old woman standing in front of the door.
She just stood quietly, silent with the Du Mansion, with mixed feelings in her heart, a thousand words, and she didn't know who to say. After a long time, some tears slipped away before she said to herself: "I am the only one who goes home, and they are all gone." ”
Who is she? Why did you make a special trip back to the Du Mansion and shed tears for this period of history? What is her relationship with Du Yuesheng, and what has she experienced? All this must start from a hairy boy who cuts apples on the streets of Shanghai.
Du Yuesheng was born in 1888 in Chuansha Hall, Jiangsu Province, which is now the boundary of Shanghai and is under the jurisdiction of The Pudong New Area of Shanghai. Although Du Yuesheng later committed many evil deeds, in the Chinese tradition, people like him undoubtedly deserve the title of "Tyrant".
If you want to get ahead on the beach, your heart and ability are not enough, and you absolutely can't do it. Du Yuesheng had already received these exercises when he was very young. Before he was 4 years old, his parents died one after another. Because he was still too young at that time, looking pitiful, Du Yuesheng's stepmother and uncle raised him one after another.
However, Du Yuesheng's stepmother and uncle are not a family of great wealth and nobility, which also means that everything du Yuesheng grows up will rely on his own hands. Therefore, Du Yuesheng, who was a little older and had not yet reached the age of 14, mixed up in the streets of Shanghai and set up a small fruit stall to make a living.
At that time, if you wanted to make a living on the streets of Shanghai, it was impossible not to deal with the Green Gang. Although Du Yuesheng was young, he also understood the sophistication of human feelings early on, and at the age of 14, he found a patron of the Green Gang, that is, Chen Shichang. Du Yuesheng worshiped Chen Shichang as an "old man", that is, a dry father, so that he could do business in peace.
It is also through Chen Shichang that Du Yuesheng ushered in a turning point in his life.
Because Du Yuesheng is diligent in doing things, has a clever mind, and understands human feelings, he is very loved by Chen Shichang. Chen Shichang also felt that if this son had the opportunity, he would be able to become a great instrument, so he sent him to the mansion of Jin Rong. Since then, Du Yuesheng has had a relationship with Jin Rong, the "King of Shanghai" at that time.
At that time, Jin Jinrong was the Chinese inspector general in Shanghai, and he was also the boss of the Green Gang, and he had the final say in both black and white, which can be said to cover the sky with one hand. Du Yuesheng naturally understood the influence of Jin Rong, so he had always been conscientious around him. Soon after Du Yuesheng arrived at the Golden Rong Mansion, Golden Rong encountered a big problem.
At that time, Jin Rong sent Du Yuesheng to rob opium, and the leader of the operation was named Ah Guang. The process of robbery is very dangerous, not mentioned here, Du Yuesheng later completed the task. The problem was Ah Guang, who secretly took two more packs of opium during the robbery and was discovered by Du Yuesheng.
The mixture of jianghu is human sophistication. Du Yuesheng was not in a hurry to find Ah Guang, but first reported to Jin Rong. As the boss, Jin Jinrong, for various reasons, was not good at coming forward, and the more he threw this matter to Du Yuesheng to deal with. Unexpectedly, Du Yuesheng immediately came up with a way.
Not long after, Du Yuesheng invited Ah Guang to drink, pretended to be drunk, and said this, and expressed how angry Jin Rong was, how difficult his situation was, what would happen to Ah Guang, and so on. Before the wine was finished, Ah Guang was persuaded, raised his axe and cut off one of his little fingers, so that Du Yuesheng could take it back to him.
Since then, Du Yuesheng has become a subordinate of Jin Rong's key training, which is also the real starting point for Du Yuesheng to become a generation of "Shanghai Kings".
Later, Jin Jinrong handed over the casino "Gongxing Club" in the French Concession to Du Yuesheng to operate. On the other hand, Du Yuesheng also helped Jin Rong to do various things, selling opium, operating underground industries, and colluding with various warlord forces at that time... Du Yuesheng did almost everything beautifully.
Therefore, later, Jin Rong simply multiplied with Du Yuesheng on an equal generation, and at this time, Du Yuesheng was already half a "Shanghai King".
Later, Du Yuesheng began to start his own business, founded the "Sanxin Company", served as the chairman of the General Federation of Chambers of Commerce in the French Concession, and secretly, he also monopolized the opium shipment of the entire French Concession. In addition, at that time, Shanghai was still a refuge for many people, but Du Yuesheng had always been kind to these people who had fallen into distress, so he accumulated a lot of resources for him.
Just from these points, we can see how much energy Du Yuesheng did at that time, which could make him have in Shanghai later. By the 1920s, the three bosses of Shanghai, Du Yuesheng, Jin Jinrong, and Zhang Xiaolin, the most powerful and energetic, were already du Yuesheng, the hairy boy of that year.
In 1927, Du Yuesheng ushered in the second nobleman in his life, and also took the most wrong step.
If you want to be a hero in a chaotic world, without a gun, without touching politics, it is obviously not OKAY. After Du Yuesheng almost single-handedly covered the sky in Shanghai, he also chose the bourgeois side he was on, and became the knife under Chiang Kai-shek. In order to gain Chiang Kai-shek's trust, he even massacred communists, workers and peasants in Shanghai.
Wang Shouhua, the worker leader in Shanghai, was buried alive by Du Yuesheng. From that moment on, he embarked on an anti-communist path.
Of course, after doing all this, he naturally also had the support of Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek needed Du Yuesheng's influence among the people in Shanghai, because at that time most of the elite of our party's underground organization were in Shanghai. Du Yuesheng also needs to bet on Chiang Kai-shek and make himself the real "King of Shanghai".
At this time, Du Yuesheng wanted not only to give himself face in the underworld and white roads, but also to be the "emperor" of Shanghai.
In 1927, after Chiang Kai-shek betrayed the revolution and established the Nanjing government, du Yuesheng was appointed as an adviser to the commander-in-chief of the army, navy and air force. This position has no real power, but it also announces one thing to the world: to move Du Yuesheng is to oppose Chiang Kai-shek. After all, Chiang Kai-shek has an army, which force among the people can provoke him?
Since then, Du Yuesheng has reached the peak of his power and began to rule Shanghai. It was then that the Du Mansion became a place where Shanghai celebrities rushed to. After all, Du Yuesheng started by relying on human feelings and sophistication, and naturally opened the door to welcome, so the Du Mansion can also be said to be the power center of Shanghai at that time.
Zhumen wine smells of flesh, and there are frozen bones on the road. It is most appropriate to describe that turbulent era. In the streets of Shanghai, many working people who could not afford to eat died of hunger and war.
Of course, Du Yuesheng can see all this, but after all, he is a member of the capitalist class, and he will not have any pity, but he is very bad for these working people. At that time, Du Yuesheng no longer needed to climb up, and his biggest hobby was to go to the theater garden to listen to the play. In the Shanghai Opera Garden, there is a famous "mother-daughter combination".
Mother and daughter three, the mother sings Lao Dan, the eldest daughter sings Su Sheng, the second daughter sings Wu Sheng, the coordination is excellent, the play is very wonderful, but it is not this that attracts Du Yuesheng's attention. Those two daughters, in their youth, were good-looking. Therefore, Du Yuesheng took the initiative to approach, greeted the mother and daughter three, and took good care of them.
The mother naturally understood his intentions, so she fell into a deep embarrassment: she did not want her daughter to commit herself to such a villain, but they had been targeted, and with Du Yuesheng's power, they might not be able to run away.
It turned out that the mother's idea was indeed right. After Du Yuesheng approached the mother and daughter, he began to poison the two daughters, and the eldest daughter, Yao Yuying, even chose to commit suicide because of humiliation. The second daughter, Yao Yulan, became Du Yuesheng's fourth wife and gave birth to two men and two daughters.
The old woman mentioned at the beginning of the article is the daughter of Du Yuesheng and Yao Yulan, named Du Meiru.
In Shanghai, the working people who were oppressed by Du Yuesheng were far more than that. But as a tyrant, can be called "male", naturally not a person full of evil. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Du Yuesheng also played a considerable role in Shanghai, donating money, donating people and materials.
In last year's explosive movie Eight Hundred, the anti-Japanese soldiers stuck to the Sihang warehouse and needed to contact the outside world, and a gangster boss sent a group of his men to brave the rain of bullets and bullets to deliver, and then also relied on a street to send to the bottom of the Sihang warehouse, and sacrificed. The prototype of this gang boss is Du Yuesheng.
However, after the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Du Yuesheng still chose to support Chiang Kai-shek and went farther and farther down the wrong road.
At the end of the liberation battlefield, the general trend of the Kuomintang was gone, and Du Yuesheng had no effect on Chiang Kai-shek. Of course, the shrewd Du Yuesheng knew in his heart that once the National Government fell, he and the Green Gang would be doomed. After all, he had served as a leg of Chiang Kai-shek, killed Communists, and persecuted working people, and if he stayed in Shanghai, he would definitely be punished by the People's Liberation Army.
Even if he didn't think about this, Du Yuesheng was worried about the safety of his family, especially his daughters. There is a saying that although Du Yuesheng has married several wives, he is very much like a man in the family, and the education of his children is also very good, and his children have not become big bad guys like him, but they have all embarked on the right path.
Therefore, before the liberation of Shanghai, Du Yuesheng fled to Hong Kong with his family, and Du Meiru also came to Hong Kong at this time, and has been away from his hometown for half a century.
Du Yuesheng, who fled, left Shanghai, and naturally did not have the glory of the past. Because of his old age, his career collapsed, and under the torture of both body and spirit, Du Yuesheng's body was worse than a day. He didn't get much money, just a bunch of IOUs, and the family's livelihood was only financed by friends.
Not long after, Du Yuesheng died in Hong Kong.
At that time, Chiang Kai-shek had already retreated to Taiwan. Perhaps it was the same "fallen man in the end of the world", or maybe he was kind, remembering Du Yuesheng and his own ups and downs, seeing that after his death, his family was desolate, so he asked Song Meiling to write a letter to Yao Yulan, inviting their family to settle in Taiwan.
Yao Yulan followed Du Yuesheng for many years, and naturally understood in her heart that with Du Yuesheng's influence before his death, if they went to Taiwan, they would have political help to the Kuomintang, and they might not be able to return to their hometown for a lifetime. But on the other hand, Du Yuesheng had many enemies in his lifetime, and he died, and the safety of their orphans and widows could not be protected by her.
After thinking about it, Yao Yulan found that she had no choice but to take her children to Taiwan.
Du Meiru was not happy in Taiwan, and the only gain was to meet her later husband, Ku Songmao. A lieutenant colonel pilot, the two were married for a few years, and he was sent to work at the "Jordanian Embassy", and Du Meiru simply accompanied him. When the two arrived in Jordan, they found that the locals were very interested in China, so they found a new direction.
Soon after, Du Meiru and Mr. and Mrs. Ku Songmao opened a Chinese restaurant in Jordan, and Du Meiru also transformed herself from a rich lady to an ordinary person who had to wash dishes and serve dishes herself. However, Du Meiru still remembers Du Yuesheng's education for herself, never called bitter, but was full of enthusiasm with her husband, and did it for decades.
When Du Yuesheng was alive, he still had many IOUs in his hands, the amount was very large, and the 500 gold bars owed were a small amount. One day, he called the children together and threw the IOUs into the brazier in person, just so that they would eat with their own hands later.
Therefore, not only Du Meiru, But also Du Yuesheng's children live on their own, some of them are businessmen, some are officials, some are intellectuals. These achievements have little to do with Du Yuesheng, and at most they are stained with the light of his father's influence.
Du Meiru, who opened a restaurant, has since rooted in Jordan, a foreign country, for 37 years.
However, for Du Meiru, neither Hong Kong, Taiwan nor Jordan is his home. His real home is still shanghai where he grew up. Therefore, in the nearly half century of leaving Shanghai, it is Du Meiru's greatest wish to return to Shanghai to have a look.
When Du Meiru grew up, she just happened to encounter the whole family fleeing, and later she relied on herself, so she had no shelf and regarded herself as an ordinary person. It wasn't until 2000 that the elderly Du Meiru decided to retire and handed over the restaurant to someone else. Du Meiru, who finally had a spare time, did the first thing he did was to wait to return to China.
In 2001, 87-year-old Du Meiru stood at Shanghai's Pudong Airport. Along the way, she saw Shanghai, which was completely different from before, and her heart was full of mixed feelings. Finally arrived at the Du Mansion, only to see the stone stele in front of the mansion read "Bamboo Bud Songmao", Du Meiru suddenly did not hold back the emotions in her heart, and shed tears.
These four words were inscribed by her father, Du Yuesheng.
Du Meiru's husband, Ku Songmao, also wished to go home in his life, of course, not to Taiwan, but to his hometown of Anhui. After seeing the Du Mansion, Du Meiru accompanied Ku Songmao back to Anhui. The home of the two old men who had been separated for half a century had changed, and although they were both eighty or ninety years old, they were like children who were homesick at that time.
After this trip, Du Meiru and Ku Songmao, who had some wilted spirits, suddenly got better.
At that time, our party originally invited Du Yuesheng to return to China, after all, he also made a lot of merit during the anti-Japanese period. When Du Yuesheng was in Hong Kong, he also carefully considered it, and finally chose to return to China, which was the only way he chose the right path, but unfortunately, he died in Hong Kong before he returned.
History and Shanghai are full of ups and downs, the wind and clouds, Du Yuesheng legend I, in the end is still drowned by the waves of time. If he had not chosen Chiang Kai-shek, but had sided with the working people and helped the revolution, the results of history would have been very different.