Previously, Gao Xiaozhuang and Gao Mo only reported to Gao Jingshi that "the villa is quite big" and "quite impressive", and there were very few other statements. It was not until Gao Jingshi came to the villa in person that he knew what a giant was. The generosity of a rich and powerful family.
The Cherry Spring Villa in West Beijing that Zhang Siwei gave to Gao Pragmatic was said to be Cherry Spring, but it was actually located near the Panlong Resort of the Later Literary and Art Circles. In terms of topography, this place is a peninsula formed by several bends of the Yongding River. The villa's courtyard faces south and is surrounded by mountains and rivers. It is majestic and majestic.
The courtyard itself is built on a medium-sized mountain, rectangular from top to bottom. Not far from the main entrance at the foot of the mountain is the Yongding River. Gao Pragmatic was not sure about the size of this courtyard at the moment, but at a casual estimate, it was at least larger than the Humble Administrator's Garden that he visited when he traveled to Suzhou. Of course, the styles of gardens in northern and southern China are different, so comparing size alone is meaningless.
Northern gardens are mainly distributed in the Gyeonggi area, among which royal gardens are mainly represented. Compared with Jiangnan gardens, they are usually much larger in scale. In the planning and layout of the garden, the central axis and the scenery line are often used, so the style of the garden appears to be more solemn and serious.
Affected by geographical location, compared with gardens in the south of the Yangtze River, there is less rainfall in the north. In addition, there are fewer lakes in North China and there are not as many waterways as there are in the south of the Yangtze River. Water sources and quantities restrict the development direction of gardens in the north.
As far as Gao Pingshi knows, among the gardens near the capital of the Ming Dynasty, most of the ones with better terrain are occupied by the royal family and nobles. The royal gardens are of course the most unique, with a larger water surface, followed by the princes and nobles. Some gardens are even dry gardens without water features.
There are two small ponds in this courtyard that now belongs to Gao Pragmatic. One of them is located at the foot of the mountain, not far from the main entrance and through the screen wall. It is probably slightly larger than a basketball court in later generations. It looks like it should be. It is a resting place used to meet guests and chat; there is also one in the garden on the mountain. From the planning point of view, it should be used by the owner to rest and enjoy himself.
Compared with water, northern gardens prefer the landscaping of mountains. In gardens, mountains are majestic, and their beauty is high and majestic. The taller mountains are symbols of the royal family, and some gardens are even sited on tall and majestic places. Among the natural mountains, it shows the status of the owner of the garden. The nobles usually wait and come down according to their title.
According to Zhang Jin, this villa was built earlier by Wang Zhi, the great eunuch during the Chenghua period. However, Wang Zhi originally did not intend to use it for himself, but planned to donate it to the royal villa. However, due to some reasons, it could not be built. As wished.
In the Hongzhi Dynasty, this courtyard changed several times, and was finally given to Xie Qian, a famous minister at the time and one of the "Three Wise Prime Ministers" by the Hongzhi Emperor. When Xie Qian came back to the villa for the first time, he went to see the nearby Cherry Spring. After returning, he called it the Cherry Spring Villa, also known as the Cherry Orchard.
The garden later changed hands many times, and was finally purchased by Zhang Siwei in the 41st year of Jiajing's reign, before he was appointed co-examiner of the joint examination. He probably felt that calling it Cherry Garden looked a bit like an orchard, so it was generally called "Cherry Spring Villa".
Zhang Jin then introduced to Gao Pingshi that the cherry orchard had been somewhat dilapidated earlier, and Zhang Siwei had renovated it once after buying it. However, the renovation plan was more tailored to local conditions and did not deliberately use stones such as Taihu stone.
Let me explain a little here. When it comes to stone use in northern gardens, Fangshan stone, Taihu stone, bluestone, etc. are mostly used. This is mainly due to regional restrictions: Taihu stone is actually a high-quality stone, but because its origin is in the Jiangnan region, transportation costs are high. It is tall but rarely used or smaller in size; similar to Taihu stone is Fangshan stone, known as North Taihu stone. It was produced in Fangshan District of Beijing in later generations. From mining to transportation, it is more convenient, so it is often used in northern gardens; Bluestone is also similar to Fangshan stone, and its origin is relatively close.
Zhang Jin also introduced that in terms of trees in this villa, Zhang Siwei once explained that only pine, cypress, poplar, elm and other tree species were retained in the garden. Originally, there were some locust trees and willows that he ordered to be removed. . The shrubs in the courtyard are mostly lilacs, crabapples, peonies, peonies, lotus, etc. Affected by the climate, the plant scenery varies greatly in the four seasons: in spring, everything revives and the trees turn green. But now that it is winter, there are no flowers to see.
Gao pragmatic laughed after hearing this: "I quite like plum blossoms, and I also love snow scenes. If you have time, please show me where the locust trees and willow trees that were removed previously were. If appropriate, I would like to plant some plum blossom trees." ." His words were not random nonsense. Gao Pingshi had always liked the poem "The edge of a sword comes from sharpening, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold." Therefore, he also has a special love for plum blossoms.
Zhang Jin agreed with a smile. Anyway, Zhang Siwei had told him before he came that he would be responsible for serving as a tour guide for Gao pragmatically and help him understand the situation of this villa.
Gao Pragmatic took another look at the architectural style in the garden and found that compared with some of the Jiangnan and Lingnan buildings he had seen in his previous life, northern buildings like the Cherry Orchard appeared thicker. This may be due to the influence of the climate and the need to withstand the cold climate. , windproof and warm. At the same time, the roof style must not only be able to drain water, but also take into account snow accumulation in winter. Therefore, the beam frame is larger, so it looks majestic.
Of course, it is also possible that Wang Zhi built this garden with the intention of giving it to the emperor, so the style was a little more majestic.
Zhang Jin continued: "Actually, this courtyard has a main entrance from the bottom of the mountain and is built all the way up the mountain, so it is planned into a three-story staircase, and each floor has a different function."
Gao pragmatic pointed to the top and said with a smile: "My residence is probably on the top floor?"
"Young Master Biao has a view of thousands of miles." Zhang Jin explained: "The top floor is your daily residence. It has an area of about thirty acres, including the north room (the master's bedroom), the wing room, the study room, the tea room, It is fully equipped with a library, pavilion, etc., and there are about twenty maids and healthy women taking care of daily life."
Gao pragmatically said: "I need to arrange for twenty people to serve me alone?" Oh, this was supposed to be Zhang Siwei's ostentation. I can withdraw when the time comes and I can't afford it. I should be able to withdraw at least part of it, leaving only a few people to cook and do laundry... Starting a business is difficult, so save when you can.
Zhang Jin didn't pay attention to Gao's pragmatic expression and continued to explain: "The middle floor is about fifty acres in area. The east side is mainly guest rooms and warehouses, the west side is the guards' wing rooms and various warehouses, and the east side guest rooms can be There are more than ten distinguished guests and nearly a hundred ordinary guests. The guard wing in the west can accommodate about 200 guards, which is enough to accommodate 300 servants. As for the warehouse, it occupies a larger area anyway. How many items can be placed in the small one? I didn’t understand it carefully.”
Gao Pragmatic secretly smacked his lips: If I could bring this garden back to modern times, I would be prosperous. The first-floor super villa where I live covers an area of 20,000 square meters, and the yard left for guests and guards on the lower floor is nearly 40,000 square meters. , and it’s still within the scope of Beijing... How much is this worth? I don’t dare to count, I don’t dare to count!
Zhang Jin continued: "In addition to the wide corridor in the middle leading to the upper two floors on the bottom floor, on the left and right sides are the residences of some peripheral servants, long-term and short-term workers, and poor tenants under the name of the other courtyard. There are about eight It is ten acres in size, and about five hundred people currently live there.”
Gao Pangshi was stunned when he heard this: This is not a villa. If this place is slightly renovated, it will become a town! Eunuch Wang was indeed a man of big things back then... Well, but then again, my uncle was really rich! You bought such a large manor, but you didn't even come to live there for a few days. Are you wasting it?
