A Chronicle of the Anti-Organized Crime Campaign in Hebei

The boss, whom we'll call Zhang Jiaqiang, was orphaned at a young age and scraped by on the streets with his younger brother, Zhang Jiaren. He rose from running a small freight depot to becoming a crime boss who ruled the local underworld.

In 2000, Zhang Jiaqiang and the core members of his gang were rounded up by police. In 2003, he was executed at the age of forty-one after being convicted of multiple crimes, including organizing and leading a criminal organization, intentional homicide, and intentional assault.

But the story didn't end there. After Zhang Jiaqiang was brought to justice, his younger brother Zhang Jiaren did not back down. Instead, he took over the family business, gathered their old associates, recruited new men, and built an even larger criminal organization that continued terrorizing Shijiazhuang for years. In 2009, the court issued its final verdict in the major gang case against Zhang Jiaren and 97 others: ten were sentenced to death, four received suspended death sentences, and 84 were sentenced to life imprisonment or fixed prison terms. It was the largest case involving a criminal organization ever handled by a court in Hebei.

The two brothers followed one another down a path of no return. Using a documentary style, this book presents the full story of the Zhang brothers' criminal empire, from its beginnings and rise to its total collapse. It also reveals in detail the thrilling battle of wits between Hebei's police and the criminal underworld, and the forceful crackdown that brought it down.

This is no underworld legend. It is a true account of an anti-crime campaign, written in blood and tears, and a powerful warning in the name of the law.