The gushing river is endless, the majestic green mountains exist for eternity, Yuan Shikai is also a figure who has been a sensation in history, and in his old age, he still wants to restore the imperial system, but unfortunately, his idea goes against the trend of history, so when he has not yet fully realized his wish, he has already been opposed by everyone. By June 16, 1916, Yuan Shikai died of illness, and not long after his death, the Beiyang government at that time had already set up a funeral preparation office.
After Yuan Shikai's death, he was buried in the mansion that had been prepared for him on the banks of the Huanshui River. This place is the treasure in Yuan Shikai's heart, and he has said more than once that he will be buried here after death. This stems from the story that Yuan Shikai heard when he was a child that Yi Yin, the famous minister of the Shang Dynasty, was personally welcomed by the Shang King after living here for three years, and the memory of his childhood was the best, and his wishes were also the most true, so Yuan Shikai had a special feeling for here.
Yuan Lin's construction took two years, the scale was so large, it cost nearly 700,000 silver dollars at that time, the Beiyang government came out of 500,000 taels, and the rest of the money came from Yuan Shikai's old department, which was supervised by the governor of Henan Province at that time. This cemetery not only costs a lot of money, even the design is looking for German engineers, the architectural characteristics are similar to the Ming Dynasty mausoleums, the architectural style is the same, but why not the mausoleum but the forest?
Yuan Shikai's eldest son, Yuan Keding, believed that Yuan Shikai had become president and emperor before his death, and should give his father's tomb the title of "Yuan Ling". For this reason, he found Xu Shichang and hoped that Xu Shichang could write the word "Yuan Ling". Xu Shichang said to Yuan Keding: "Ling" is the tomb of the emperor, Ling Zun was called emperor before his death, and he has canceled the "HongXian" era name on his own, so it is not appropriate to call "Yuan Ling" an emperor, and if he insists on going his own way, it will definitely cause opposition from the people of the whole country.
Later, Xu Shichang proposed to replace the word "Ling" with "Lin", which is similar in pronunciation, and there is also a clear note in China's ancient book "Explanation of Words", saying that the words "Lin" and "Ling" can be used with each other. Therefore, the name "Yuan Lin" not only avoids the custom of "mausoleum", but also has the meaning of "mausoleum", which perfectly solves the contradiction between the people of the whole country and Yuan Keding, the son of Yuan Shikai. When Yuan Keding heard this, he was very happy and accepted Xu Shichang's proposal, and the people readily agreed.
In this way, Xu Shichang only changed one word, which made everyone get a satisfactory result. I have to say that there are still many wise strategists among Yuan Shikai's subordinates, and Xu Shichang is one of them. If it were not for Xu Shichang's perfect proposal, Yuan Shikai's son would most likely have turned against the people and then committed an extreme act, which can be said that Xu Shichang's move was wonderful. This incident also confirms the saying that a leader who is respected by the people is a really good leader, and it is obvious that Yuan Shikai does not belong to this category.
I have to say that Xu Shichang does have two brushes, and he has changed it like this, and no one has objected to it anymore. It is worth mentioning that Yuan Lin has been preserved intact so far, and even in the special period of that year, it has not been destroyed. Although Yuan Shikai has been dead for more than a hundred years, his evaluation is still inconclusive.