Yuan Shikai still looted some assets while he was an official. In Ji County, Hui County, Jun County and Zhangde (now Anyang City) in northern Henan, a lot of fields, mountains and forests were purchased, and some houses were built.

After being expelled, he did not return to his hometown Xiangcheng, and took his two aunts and wives to temporarily settle down in the house he had purchased in advance in Ji County.

Yuan Shikai was reluctant to return to his hometown Xiangcheng because he had a deep conflict with his eldest brother Yuan Shichang. The cause was the burial of Yuan Shikai's biological mother after her death. As mentioned earlier, Yuan Shikai has six brothers, only the eldest brother Yuan Shichang was born to his father Yuan Baozhong's main room Liu, and the rest of the five brothers were all born to Yuan Shikai's biological mother Liu.

In other words, Yuan Shikai's biological mother, Liu, is just a concubine for Yuan Shichang's son.

In October 1902, when Yuan Shikai returned to his ancestral hometown of Xiangcheng from the post of governor of Zhili and buried his biological mother Liu, he had a fierce quarrel with his eldest brother who adhered to feudal ethics over the place of burial.

Yuan Shichang determined that Yuan Shikai's biological mother was a concubine, and she could not be buried in the main hole of the Yuan family's ancestral grave, but only allowed to be buried in the corner of the cemetery. No matter how Yuan Shikai argued, his eldest brother Yuan Shichang just didn't agree.

Yuan Shikai, who is already the minister of Beiyang, the governor of Zhili, can be described as a high power outside. But at home, in the ancestral hall of the Yuan family, he still has to obey his eldest brother, that is, the parent.

This is feudal ethics, this is the Gangchang hierarchy, and in a certain sense, it is to provide order for this hierarchical society.

Yuan Shikai, a filial son, had no choice but to buy another cemetery and bury his biological mother. Since then, he has formed a deep grudge with this eldest brother.

After Yuan Shikai left Beijing with his fifth and seventh aunts, his other family members living in Beijing's Xila Hutong were also particularly afraid. Except for a few family members to guard, they all fled to Tianjin and temporarily lived in the house of Liang Baosheng, a very wealthy family.

Ji County is Yuan Shikai's temporary place of residence, and he wants to settle his home near Zhangde.

Zhangde was called Xiang, Yin, Ye, Yecheng, Yedu, Yejun, Xiangzhou, etc., referred to as Yin or Ye. It is located in the north-central part of China, the northernmost part of Henan Province, at the junction of Henan, Shanxi and Hebei provinces. It is bordered by Puyang in the east, Changzhi in the west, Hebi and Xinxiang in the south, and Handan in the north.

Zhangde is one of the eight ancient capitals of China, the hometown of oracle bone inscriptions, the birthplace of Zhou Yi, and a famous historical and cultural city.

Historically, there have been Shang Dynasty, Cao Wei, Later Zhao, Ran Wei, Qianyan, Eastern Wei, Northern Qi and other capitals in Zhangde, known as the "ancient capital of the Seven Dynasties". Pan Geng Qianyin, Wu Ding Zhongxing, Slave Fu Said to Worship the Prime Minister, Female General Wife is Good, King Wen Detention and Acting in "Zhou Yi", Ximen Leopard Cast Witch to Rule Yedi, Lin Xiangru was born in Guxiang Village, Xinling Jun stole talismans to save Zhao, Xiang Yu broke the cauldron and sunk the boat, Cao Cao Yecheng made a fortune, Han Qi, the prime minister of the Three Dynasties, and Yue Fei, a famous anti-gold general, and other celebrity anecdotes emerge in endlessly.

Around 1,300 B.C., the Shang king Pangeng also moved the capital to the alluvial fan edge of the Zhanghe River and Huanhe River at the foot of the Taihang Mountains. Shang king Pangeng moved his capital here, and after eight dynasties and twelve kings for two hundred and fifty-five years, he created a glorious Chinese Yin Shang civilization. The oracle bone inscription found in Yinxu is the ancestor of Chinese writing, which is in the same vein as modern Chinese characters, and is also one of the three ancient scripts in the world, which has made great contributions to the development of Chinese civilization and even world civilization

The terrain of the whole territory of Zhangde is high in the west and low in the east, and it is distributed in a stepped shape. the western part is the Taihang Mountain; Central and Eastern Plains. The highest point is in Linzhou Sifangyuan, with an altitude of 1,632 meters; The lowest point is Neihuang, only 50 meters above sea level. Mountains, hills, plains, and depressions are a variety of landform types, constituting complex surface forms.

There are many places of interest and historic sites in Zhangde, including Yinxu, Taihang Grand Canyon, Yili City, Yue Fei Temple, Huanghua Divine Garden, Tianping Mountain, Taihang Roof, Wanquan Lake, Honggu Mountain, Bian Que Temple; Tianning Temple, Pearl Spring, Xiaonanhai, Duli Zhanghe Bay, Linzhou Wulong Cave and Zhangdefu City God Temple, etc.

Outside the north gate of Zhangde City, there is a Huanshang Village.

Huanshui is also known as Anyang River, originates in the Lin Consideration Mountain in the northwest of Linxian County, Henan, there are mountain springs pouring into the Shanying Mountain in Zhangde, the water flow is gradually larger, meandering and flowing from west to east, Huanshang Village gets the name of this village because it faces Huanshui.

In the village, there was a villa surnamed He in Tianjin, with a total area of more than 200 acres.

Yuan Shikai previously "loved Qilang's openness and tranquility, the front of Huanshui, the right side of the Taihang Mountain, the soil veins Huazi, suitable for farming, and the purchase of residence". This is a secluded place chosen by Yuan Shikai, and he first sent his eldest son Yuan Keding to play the front station and preside over the renovation.

A few months later, the whole family moved in, and Yuan Shikai began a rare rural life in Huanshang, which was rare in his life.

After living in Yuan's house in Huanshui, Yuan Shikai built a large number of buildings and built tall courtyard walls and turrets around Yuan's house.

People like Yuan Shikai, even if they live a civilian life, the place where he lives belongs to the government. The government is important.

The local government sent two battalions of troops to protect Yuan's house, which looked like a castle from the outside.

A garden was built in the courtyard, and Yuan Shikai was given the word "longevity" by the Empress Dowager Cixi in his early years, so this garden was named the longevity garden.

There are three main buildings in Yangjuyuan, and Yangjutang is the largest building in the garden.

The hall has a couplet: "Jun Enyan said to the fisherman that his life experience is as good as slaughtering and fishing." ”

There is a Qianyi Hall in the south of Yangshouyuan, and the word "Qianyi" was given by Cixi in 1902. Yuan Shikai named it after this word, which means "to make people look up and use self-discipline".

This couplet is personally drafted by Yuan Shikai: "Shengming rewards the children, and the mother-in-law of Fengyue makes the old husband." ”

There are also five willow thatched cottages, Lejing Building, Red Leaf Pavilion, Cool Hall, Chengtan Pavilion, Kwai Xin Pavilion, Waiting for Spring Pavilion, Yaobo Pavilion, Epsom Pavilion, Tianxiu Peak, Bifeng Cave, Shifeng Cave, Sanzhu Cliff, Confluence Pool, Jianying Pond, Wobo Bridge, etc.

Yuan Shikai introduced Huanshui into the park and built an artificial lake covering an area of more than ten acres.

The lake is rippling with blue waves, the pavilions and pavilions are reflected in the water, and there is a pavilion in the middle of the lake called Shuixin Pavilion, which can only be reached by boat.

There are boats in the lake, boating on the lake, feasting and admiring the moon in the Shuixin Pavilion, which is the place where Yuan Shikai and a group of wives and concubines often come.

There is a secretary of Yangshou Garden: "The whole garden is full of famous flowers, the fragrance floats in the four seasons, the dense forest cultivates bamboo, the dripping cui, the high stone laxative spring, the waterfall scatters the pearl jade, the Zhu block is half hidden, the winding path is quiet, it is indeed a place with excellent scenery, quiet and quiet, suitable for the days of recuperation. ”

There are lotus flowers and water chestnuts growing in the lake, fish, shrimp and crabs are farmed, and fishing by the lake is a great pleasure for Yuan Shikai and his family.

Soon, a photo of Yuan Shikai wearing a lily coat and fishing on the boat was published in the local newspaper.

Obviously, Yuan Shikai is sending such a message to the outside world: he has no intention of political affairs and has no quarrel with the world.

He put so much effort into building his own comfortable house. Maybe he really wants to live for a long time, or maybe he is telling the world, especially those who are always paying attention to him, that he Yuan Shikai is "happy".

People are always like this, when life is threatened, the first priority is to save it.

In the early days, Yuan Shikai should have really been indifferent to fame and fortune, leisurely in the lake and mountains. He has seen through the red dust and is single-mindedly hidden.

There is his poem as proof:

"Back Guo Yuancheng has a different day, a plate of food and wine.

"Move mountains around the shore to cover the moss path, draw water from the pond and release fishing boats.

"The garden is full of flowers and windy days, and the trees of ten years are blowing clouds.

"Persuade the gentleman not to bear the good spring, and take the drunk building to sleep with the moon."

"Heng tea eaves sit down, bamboo shadow pressure fine house.

"If you don't go to the grass in front of the window, you don't have fun reading."

Yuan Shikai's daughter, Ms. Yuan Xuemei, wrote in her book "Another Yuan Shikai in the Eyes of My Daughter":

"In this 'stockade', some 'group houses' were built, and some of the male servants' families lived in them. In addition, various gardens such as vegetable gardens, melon gardens, fruit orchards, and mulberry gardens have been opened, and domestic animals and poultry such as pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks are raised for the whole family to eat.

"Our house has a lot of courtyard houses, and they are surrounded by a wall. He renovated a garden and named it 'Yangshou Garden'. He hired people to stack stones into mountains in the longevity garden, and planted a lot of flowers and plants and fruit trees such as peaches, apricots, and oaks; He also introduced the water into the garden, dug a large pool, planted some lotus, water rhombus and the like, and raised a lot of live fish.

"My father's favorite smoked fish was my second aunt's specialty, and she used to use the live fish in the pond for him to eat. I remember that every autumn, he also took us to raise crabs in the pond, and everyone fed their crabs with sorghum rice and sesame seeds. When the crabs are fattened in late autumn, everyone happily catches them and eats them themselves.

"There is also a water pavilion in the pond, and you have to take a boat to reach the pavilion. Every summer or when the moon is full, my father would row there with the whole family to eat and admire the moon. He sometimes went on a boat with my birth mother, Mrs. Third Aunt, to admire the moon. My mother could play the lyre, and at this time, he was very happy to listen to the melodious sound of the piano in the bright moonlight.

Sometimes they play Go while admiring the moon, and occasionally they disagree, and they will also get angry. Once, my mother was so angry that she threw the chessboard and chess pieces into the water.

"My family had a large population at the time. In order to raise the daily necessities of so many people, my father had already bought a lot of land in Zhangdezhi, so food was not a problem. At that time, livestock, poultry, and live fish were raised in the garden, so there was no shortage of non-staple food.

"The melons and fruits in the garden can also be sold in the market for money. He even invited some silkworm girls and spinners in the south (these people lived in the group houses outside the house) to raise silkworms and reel silk. The reeled silk was sent to the spinning mill he ran in Zhangde to be woven into silk and sold.

He often took his family to watch them feed silkworms and reel silk. At the same time, let each house feed its own silkworms and reel silk by itself, and the silk price obtained will be at the disposal of each house.

"The family also uses a person surnamed Ge to buy, and he has to go into the city to buy once a day. Every two or three months, I have to make a special trip to Tianjin and Shanghai to buy things that Zhangde can't buy for food, clothing, and use.

"Before Ge went to Tianjin and Shanghai, he always asked each house one by one what he needed to buy. At this time, each room made a list and handed it over to him. All the required items are paid by the bookkeeper. ”