In the Republic of China period, the green gang in old Shanghai was definitely a clique of great power, three religions and nine streams, all kinds of characters mixed together, relying on extremely strict gang rules, there was nothing that could not be done in Shanghai Beach.
Since the Qing Gang is mentioned, there must be a big guy, and everyone will definitely think of Jin Rong, Du Yuesheng, Zhang Xiaolin and others.
In fact, these big guys were indeed all influential people in Shanghai Beach at that time.
But when a character stands in front of them, they all have to be honest. This person is Zhang Renkui, the super big guy known as the big guy in the Green Gang.
So, what kind of status did he have that made Jin Rong and Du Yuesheng submit to them like this? After all, these people were all figures with heads and faces at that time.
First of all, there is the problem of generational division. Because the Green Gang has long been a helper, the next generation must respect the previous generation. In fact, Jin Jinrong was Zhang Renkui's apprentice, Du Yuesheng was his apprentice, and Zhang Xiaolin was his nephew.
According to the records, when the Green Gang was just formed, the grandfather set a generational division with twelve words, requiring the Green Gang to pass on generations according to this generation.
However, at that time, this grandfather probably did not think that after his death, the Qing Gang would be passed on for several generations, and he did not want to use up these twelve characters at all.
But I don't want to, the vitality of the Green Gang is very strong, the development is very stable, and it really used up these twelve words, and when it came to Zhang Renkui's generation, there was no word.
Later, four more words were added, and Zhang Renkui was a "big" character who accounted for these four words, and later, the Green Gang was not a pure traditional Green Gang, because there were many branches, so Zhang Renkui was also known as the last big man of the Green Gang.
If you only talk about the generational division of the Green Gang, it may not be enough to explain the two words of the big guy. Then look at how many of his protégés there are.
Starting from the military circles, Lu Yongxiang, the overseer of Zhejiang, Li Chun, who served as the overseer of Jiangxi, and He Fenglin, the defender of Songhu and Yanzhou.
Looking at the political circles, everyone is familiar with Wu Tiecheng, Zheng Jiemin, Qian Dajun, Hu Lancheng, and so on. Not to mention the other gangs, Wang Yaqiao, Gao Shikui, etc., were his disciples.
Judging from the network of relations woven by these people and these people, Zhang Renkui is at the top of these networks, and it is very clear whether those big guys dare to provoke him.
It is not easy for Zhang Renkui to spell out this world.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, China was poor and weak, internal and external troubles, Zhang Renkui's home was in the poor countryside, it was difficult to live, thieves were horizontal, in order to protect themselves, men had to learn two tricks outside, otherwise, the nursing home could not do it. The same is true of Zhang Renkui.
From an early age, his father sent him to a boxer in town to learn basic martial arts.
Not to mention, his understanding is very good, his body is flexible, and later, the county organized a big competition, Zhang Renkui lightly packed, won the first place in the county competition, and became a Wu Zhuangyuan.
After the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance, the Boxers swarmed in various regiments, and Zhang Renkui, who had a good martial art, joined the Boxers.
At that time, Cixi was still very supportive of the Boxers, so the initial development of the Boxers was very good, and Zhang Renkui was also very brave in the battle with the foreigners, and was quickly promoted, all the way to Cixi's escort.
The Eight-Nation Alliance captured Beijing, Cixi and Guangxu fled west in panic, and Zhang Renkui did not remove his armor all the way, never leaving Cixi, and was favored by Cixi, and the whole journey was safe and smooth, which made him a well-known bodyguard in the late Qing Dynasty.
Later, because of his high martial arts, he was taken over by Xu Baoshan, a private pipekeeper from Haimen, Xu Baoshan was originally a big gangster in the Green Gang, and Zhang Renkui naturally had a very high generation after worshiping the master, plus he fought bravely and bravely, and gradually became Xu Baoshan's confidant.
Later, Xu Baoshan was recruited by the Qing government, and Zhang Renkui became an important general under Xu Baoshan, with some people stationed in Zhenjiang. Because of the turbulent revolutionary situation at that time, Zhang Renkui secretly joined the League.
Zhang Renkui was sober-minded, he saw the revolutionary situation clearly, he felt that the Qing Dynasty was already crumbling, and its demise was inevitable, so his ties with the League were even closer.
After the Xinhai Revolution was launched, it received positive responses from all over the world, and Zhang Renkui, as a member of the League, naturally supported Xu Baoshan's anti-Qing.
Soon after, the attack on Nanjing began. At that time, the Qing army stationed in Nanjing was Zhang Xun, and the battle of the Braid Army was still very strong.
Xu Baoshan
However, Zhang Renkui was strong in martial arts, and in battle, he often led people to charge forward, and the large knife in his hand flew up and down, killing the braided army and abandoning its armor.
In particular, he slashed Han Hu, the first fierce general under Zhang Xun, for a time, which made the Braided Army feel frightened, and no general dared to confront him anymore. In this way, Nanjing was restored.
After the restoration of Nanjing, the first thing the revolutionary army did was to welcome Sun Yat-sen to Nanjing as the provisional president. At that time, the smoke of gunfire was thick in various places, and the safety of Sun Yat-sen's visit to Nanjing was put on the agenda.
At this time, Zhang Renkui volunteered to meet Sun Yat-sen. First, he admired Sun Yat-sen for a long time, and second, he had run this part of the journey to Nanjing, and he was still very familiar with the environment.
The revolutionary army finally agreed to let him meet Sun Yat-sen and successfully escort sun Yat-sen to Nanjing.
After Sun Yat-sen became the provisional president, because of the merits of the revolution, Xu Baoshan's troops were upgraded to the Second Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and Zhang Renkui was promoted to brigade commander of the 77th Division.
Later, Xu Baoshan defected to Yuan Shikai, but was unexpectedly killed by Yuan Shikai's calculations, Zhang Renkui in this unit, always the identity of the second oldest, Xu Baoshan died, he soon took control of this unit.
Soon after, the warlords were in a scuffle. Feng Guozhang, a direct descendant, co-opted Zhang Renkui and appointed him as an envoy to Tonghai Town.
He had both soldiers in his hands, he was also the big man of the Green Gang, and he also had the identity of a revolutionary party, plus there were his disciples everywhere in the Jianghuai area, and he soon became a big man in the Jianghuai area, and the military, political, and business circles all regarded him as a leading figure, and they were vying to visit him, and their influence was getting bigger and bigger, and there were more and more disciples.
After Cao Kun became president, he wanted to unify China by force. Zhang Renkui was once again caught up in a warlord melee. In fact, in the past few years, he has been recuperated in the Jianghuai area and his influence has been expanded. And this time to participate in the warlord melee, he still wanted to take the opportunity to expand a little more and take Shanghai.
Unexpectedly, Lu Yongxiang in Zhejiang was not his opponent at all, and within a month, the territory was all lost, and Zhang Renkui was successfully stationed in Shanghai.
This station is not good, in Shanghai Jin Rong, Du Yuesheng know that the big guys of the Green Gang are coming, they all come to pay their respects, his door is like a city every day, it is difficult to squeeze it up.
It was then that he met Chiang Kai-shek. In that year, Chiang Kai-shek failed to engage in speculation in Shanghai, and in order to survive, he worshiped Jin Rong, who introduced him to Zhang Renkui, and Chiang Kai-shek took a fancy to his position, voted for a post, and became Zhang Renkui's apprentice.
With Zhang Renkui covered, Chiang Kai-shek finally had a glimmer of life. When Zhang Renkui celebrated his 60th birthday, Chiang Kai-shek was still the principal of the Whampoa Military Academy at that time, and specially sent someone to send a picture of the birthday union: "The stars of the military circles, the leader of the gang." It can be seen that Zhang Renkui's position at that time.
Later, Chiang Kai-shek launched the "April 12 counter-revolutionary coup" and completely grasped the Kuomintang's power of life and death, and he was particularly concerned about the fact that he had defected to the Qing gang, afraid that others would find out and talk about it indiscriminately.
Zhang Renkui, self-aware, returned Chiang Kai-shek's post and respectfully called him chairman of the committee.
Not only that, he also officially declared his submission to the National Government, handed over his troops, said that he was in his sixties and could not take it with him, and even resigned from the military.
Here's another interesting thing. Han Fuyu was the uncompromising king of Shandong, and when he stomped on his feet, his subordinates trembled. However, one day a special situation occurred.
Zhang Renkui has lived in Shanghai since then, and usually accepts some disciples. However, his position was not replaced by the Green Gang, but because of the relationship between politics, military circles, and business circles, his power was more stable.
It was not long after Han Fuyu had just taken office as the overseer of Shandong, and now he had the heart to convene a provincial military and political conference. This is in normal times, which one dares to be late?
However, on the day of the meeting, there was an unexpected situation, except for one section chief who arrived on time, and no one else came.
Han Fuyu was furious and inquired why? It turned out that Zhang Renkui was doing a happy event for his son in his hometown in Tengxian County, and all the military and political leaders in Shandong had gone.
Han Fuyu was suddenly startled into a cold sweat, although he had long heard of Zhang Renkui as a person, although he had great supernatural powers, he still did not pay attention to him.
Unexpectedly, he actually did a hundred responses in Shandong, and all the military and political officials went to his house to give gifts, if these people were all taken away by Zhang Renkui, would he still be able to sit firmly in Shandong?
Han Fuyu was not a fool, he immediately decided to cooperate with Zhang Renkui immediately. To this end, he did two things: first, he sent a telegram to Zhang Renkui to congratulate him, and second, he sent a special train to pick up Zhang Renkui to Jinan.
Zhang Renkuiben and Han Fuyu did not intersect, so he came to Jinan with some embarrassment. Who knows, as soon as he entered the government hall, the decoration here was magnificent, and as soon as he sat down, Han Fuyu went forward to bow down and said loudly, "Master, please accept the disciple!" Zhang Renkui was made to cry and laugh, and finally accepted Han Fuyu.
In his later years, Zhang Xiaolin became a traitor, and Chiang Kai-shek wanted to get rid of him and handed the matter over to Dai Kasa. Dai Kasa was intimidated by the forces of the Green Gang and did not dare to act rashly.
To this end, he specially found someone to deliver a letter, visited Zhang Renkui, and tentatively sought Zhang Renkui's opinion.
Although Zhang Renkui is a big man, he still has a patriotic heart, and there are traitors in the gang, and he can't stand it no matter what.
Therefore, he said directly to Dai Kasa, this matter will not bother you, of course, we must clean up the portal inside the gang, and we will solve it ourselves.
Later, in order to be on the safe side, Zhang Renkui sent someone to Hong Kong to contact Du Yuesheng, saying that the matter was entrusted to him. Someone brought a letter from Zhang Renkui.
Du Yuesheng rarely saw Zhang Renkui's letter, the stakes were very high, he did not dare to confirm, so he kept asking whether Zhang Renkui meant it, until he got confirmation, he moved his hands, and finally got rid of Zhang Xiaolin.
During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Japanese captured Shanghai, and Chiang Kai-shek wanted to take him out. However, Zhang Renkui said that he was old and could not afford to toss, so he has been living in the concession.
The Japanese have always wanted to win Zhang Renkui over, but Zhang was unmoved. At the end of December 1944, Zhang Renkui died, ending his legendary life.