The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Du Yuesheng's Du Mansion is located on Huagebian Road (later Ninghai West Road).

This afternoon, Du Yuesheng was sitting in the living room drinking tea, listening to "The Legend of Yue Fei" attentively with a folding fan in his hand.

"On the fourth day of the seventh lunar month, all the necessary things for the meeting were prepared. Yue Lei gathered the soldiers who entered the mountain together, and told them not to be careless. At five o'clock the next day, Yue Lei led people After setting off, Zhuge Jing and Second Lord Niu Gao led the crowd to send them ten li away back to the company camp. When they got to the main road, everyone shook their reins, threw bridles at random, and went straight to the Panlong Mountain Pass..."

This storyteller was hired by Du Yuesheng from the north with a lot of money, and he came to Du's mansion regularly to tell stories for him.

Du Yuesheng listened to storytelling not for entertainment, but to learn knowledge and strategy. He has been out of school since he was a child and has never read any books. Now that he is in a "high position", he naturally has to improve his cultural level.

Du Yuesheng often listened to such big books as "Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin", "Yue Zhuan" and "Seven Heroes and Five Righteousnesses", hoping to learn historical knowledge, the tolerance and tactics of the ancients from them.

Not only that, Du Yuesheng also let people read newspapers every day to understand current political news and domestic situation. He even insisted on practicing brush calligraphy. After a few years, although he didn't practice decent calligraphy, he could write his name well, and he was able to sign people everywhere.

"If you have enough food and clothing, you should be polite and righteous. You can't let people hate and fear you when you see it." This is what Du Yuesheng often said to the people around him.

Among the three big bosses of the Shanghai Youth Gang, Huang Jinrong and Zhang Xiaolin are too small. Only Du Yuesheng is the most motivated. He is not satisfied with just being a gang figure, but actively seeks social status.

In the past few years, Du Yuesheng has been involved in the labor movement, mediating disputes, and even raising funds for disaster relief, all he wants is to be recognized by the society and the government. Two years ago, Zhejiang was hit by a typhoon, and 33 counties and one city were affected. Shanghai raised a total of 40,578 yuan, of which Du Yuesheng alone donated 11,235 yuan.

It's a pity that Du Yuesheng was congenitally deficient and came from a gang. Although he worked hard to do good deeds, he was still notorious. The only thing he could do was to sell opium.

"Papa papa!"

After finishing an episode of storytelling, Du Yuesheng clapped his hands: "Well said, I will give you a reward!"

The storyteller received the reward, cupped his hands neither humble nor overbearing, and said, "Boss Xie Du rewarded me, and I will leave."

After the storyteller left, Du Yuesheng turned around and asked Tian Hongnian: "Tell me, what difficulties did you encounter?"

Tian Hongnian swallowed his saliva, and said with difficulty: "Master Du, at the bank... I lost more than 500,000 yuan. Tian is responsible for Master Du's entrustment, and I am not capable enough. I am here to resign today. As for the bank's loss of money , I will try to make up for it.”

"How can you lose more than 500,000 yuan?" Du Yuesheng said in surprise, no matter how rich he is, more than 500,000 yuan is not a small amount.

Tian Hongnian explained: "I embezzled bank deposits and used them to speculate in the stock exchange. As you know, due to the Central Plains War, the price of the Shanghai Stock Exchange has plummeted all the way..."

Du Yuesheng opened a bank last year, and Tian Hongnian and Su Jiashan were in charge of the specific business, earning a lot of money. But some time ago, Su Jiashan was seriously ill, and Tian Hongnian controlled the bank alone. He thought that the Central Army could easily win, so he wanted to use the Central Plains War to play financial speculation. The result can be imagined.

After understanding the reason, Du Yuesheng wished to kill Tian Hongnian. But Tian Hongnian and Su Jiashan are his right-hand men, good at earning money and doing business. Now that Su Jiashan is dying of illness, Du Yuesheng really cannot do without Tian Hongnian for the time being.

"Oh, that's all," Du Yuesheng sighed, "Take good care of the bank and don't think too much about it. If you resign, where can I find someone to be the general manager?"

"Then I'll take care of the bank first, and I'll make amends and resign when Master Du finds a suitable candidate." Tian Hongnian said awkwardly. He is doomed not to stay in the bank for doing such a thing, even if Du Yuesheng forgives him, other shareholders will jump out and drive him away.

Du Yuesheng thought for a while and said: "When you resign from the bank, I will send you to the Chamber of Commerce in the French Concession, and you will take care of it for me."

"Hongnian is terrified." Tian Hongnian breathed a sigh of relief, it seems that Du Yuesheng did not really abandon him.

While the two were talking, a servant suddenly came to guard the door and stood there silently not daring to disturb.

Seeing this, Du Yuesheng asked, "What's the matter?"

Then the servant came in and said, "Master, there is a business card outside."

Du Yuesheng took a look at the business card, he only knew the word "Zhou" on it, and then handed it to Tian Hongnian and asked, "Which Zhou is looking for me?"

Tian Hongnian said with a smile, "Congratulations, Mr. Du. It's the famous Mr. Zhou Hexuan."

"Is that the guy from Tianjin who invented the new apron and subsidized overseas students?" Du Yuesheng asked.

"It's him," Tian Hongnian is a scholar, and he praised Zhou Hexuan greatly, "Mr. Zhou is not simple. He is well-known in the United States and in Europe, and he is the number one celebrity in China today. They all like to read, and I heard that Commander-in-Chief Chiang recently wrote a preface to his book, which will be printed and distributed to government officials at all levels."

Du Yuesheng suddenly became a little proud: "It seems that I still have a bit of face, even the first celebrity in China has come to pay a visit." He happily said to the servant, "Hurry up and write back to the person who sent the business card, it means that I will be grand at noon tomorrow. Hospitality, welcome Mr. Zhou!"

Du Yuesheng was overjoyed. He felt that he had too much face. This was a recognition of his social status. Although he often dealt with literati such as Zhang Jingjiang, it was an exchange of interests, which was different from the visits of great scholars like Zhou Hexuan.

After pacing back and forth in the living room for a long time, Du Yuesheng asked his servants to invite Huang Jinrong and Zhang Xiaolin. He wanted to pretend to be aggressive in front of his two friends and rivals.

In the morning of the next day, the cooks of the Du mansion got busy early, preparing dozens of dishes of all kinds of delicacies from mountains and seas.

Huang Jinrong was the first to come, and he asked with a smile: "Yuesheng, what kind of tricks are you going to do this time, invite me to dinner for no reason."

"Get close," Du Yuesheng said with a smile, "I also invited a distinguished guest today, you will definitely not be able to guess who it is."

"Could it be the French envoy?" Huang Jinrong asked.

Du Yuesheng laughed loudly: "How can I have that face, Master Rong, you are joking."

Huang Jinrong sat down with a golden knife, ate the fruit with his belly upright, and said, "I want to see who the hell it is."

Not long after, Zhang Xiaolin also came.

"Brother Huang, Ah Sheng!" Zhang Xiaolin clasped his fists in salute, with a faint smile on his face, but it was a pity that he didn't smile.

Hearing Zhang Xiaolin's name, Huang Jinrong and Du Yuesheng were very upset.

Huang Jinrong was a generation ahead of Zhang Xiaolin in the Green Gang, so he disdained to call him a brother. Although Du Yuesheng was a generation younger than Zhang Xiaolin, he was already more powerful than Zhang Xiaolin, and he was unwilling to be his junior.

Among the three members of the Shanghai Youth Gang, Zhang Xiaolin was the one with the least brains and the only one who was a traitor.