By the mid-1920s, Green Gang Boss Du Yuesheng had conquered almost all before him — including his own underworld mentor Huang Jinrong. Shanghai’s opium scene, torn open by British gunboats, belonged to him.

But the city was about to become the crucible for a far more bloody showdown: one that would define modern China until today. With Communist Party agitators chipping away at his labor force, Du decided to pledge his allegiance to the city’s nationalist forces. And he would do it in terrible, gangster style.

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