In the splendid architectural history of our country, Suzhou gardens are undoubtedly the leaders of Chinese garden culture. Looking around the world, Suzhou garden art is unique.
Anyone who has been to Suzhou gardens will be deeply moved by the step-by-step design here. Taking a leisurely stroll to enjoy the beautiful scenery and creating a world within a short distance is the most appropriate description .
However, not all private gardens are as exquisite as the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou. There is still a dilapidated garden on the side of the Second Ring Road in Hefei, Anhui.
This garden is the "Mohe Garden" that attracted thousands of people's attention back then. But the most regrettable thing is that this luxurious garden that cost 250 million yuan ended up in ruins.
The ambitions of wealthy Anhui businessmen
In 2002, a well-mannered Anhui businessman followed his friends to Suzhou. Under the introduction of a fellow traveler, they walked into the picturesque Suzhou gardens together.
Jiangnan gardens are the best in the world, and Suzhou gardens are the best in Jiangnan. In the hazy scenery of mist and rain, this wealthy businessman saw the unique charm of Suzhou gardens, and it completely changed the trajectory of his life.
After returning to Hefei, Anhui, this wealthy businessman could no longer suppress his inner excitement . His many years of experience in the business world allowed him to see a huge business opportunity.
The wealthy businessman who was deeply interested in Suzhou gardens was none other than Liu Chuansheng, who was famous in Hefei, Anhui.
Liu Chuansheng was born in 1962. At that time, my country had not yet begun reform and opening up, and his family was not considered wealthy.
But since he was a child, Liu Chuansheng has shown cleverness and courage that other children do not have. No matter what he does, he can always find a solution that is different from others.
As the spring breeze of reform and opening up swept across the land of China, Liu Chuansheng also followed the trend of the times and began his own entrepreneurial journey .
In the initial period of time, Liu Chuansheng's business scope was nothing more than buying low-priced goods from the south at low prices and selling them locally, which was similar to other merchants going overseas.
But as funds gradually accumulated, Liu Chuansheng began to show his extraordinary business talent. In addition to his previous business, he also invested in more business fields.
Over the past few decades, Liu Chuansheng has gradually transformed from an unknown person to a wealthy businessman . In the local chamber of commerce, his name is very valuable.
Liu Chuansheng, who has reached middle age, has accumulated enough wealth at this time, but his ambition to develop his own business empire has not stopped.
Especially after an accidental trip, he saw the unique charm of Suzhou gardens and the huge commercial income brought by Suzhou gardens.
As a landmark tourist attraction here, Suzhou Gardens attracts an endless stream of tourists every year, which in turn drives the development of surrounding areas such as catering and services.
Liu Chuansheng, who lives in Anhui, is well aware of the value this industry can bring, so a bold idea began to sprout in his mind.
In Liu Chuansheng's vision, he planned to use Suzhou gardens as a blueprint, build a more beautiful and exquisite private garden in Hefei, Anhui, and at the same time have his own style .
The style Liu Chuansheng wants is: big! He wants to build the largest private garden in the country, so large that the area exceeds the combined area of the top ten gardens in Suzhou.
When he told his friends about his idea, they were all extremely surprised and tried their best to dissuade him from giving up.
But Liu Chuansheng is born with a stubborn personality. As long as it is something he is serious about, it is almost impossible for others to change his mind.
So, after a short period of thinking, Liu Chuansheng began to prepare for this huge project, and gave it an elegant name - Moheyuan .
The huge impact of the financial crisis
The Mohe Garden designed by Liu Chuansheng is located at the intersection of the West Second Ring Road and the North Second Ring Road in Hefei City. At that time, it was still located in a relatively remote place.
However, even if the location is far away, Mohe Garden covers an area of more than 12 hectares, and still requires a certain amount of capital expenditure .
In order to promote the project smoothly, Liu Chuansheng took the initiative to find the local government department, hoping to obtain land use rights.
For Anhui Province, if a landmark building like Mohe Garden can be successfully completed, it will naturally be a good thing. It will not only increase the income of local people, but also promote the development of the service industry.
After a comprehensive inspection of Liu Chuansheng’s business qualifications and asset status, the architectural planning plan of Moheyuan was approved by the local government department.
solved the problem of construction site, and Liu Chuansheng officially began to vigorously promote the construction process, investing a large amount of funds in everything from garden drawing design to the purchase of building materials.
Because Liu Chuansheng has accumulated a good reputation in the local area over the years, therefore, suppliers who cooperate with him in development have also come one after another.
Watching the construction workers begin to enter the site, Liu Chuansheng's mind had already imagined the beautiful scene of flowing water and weeping willows in the Mohe Garden a few years later.
Different from the low-key, elegant luxury of Suzhou gardens, Liu Chuansheng hopes that the Mohe Garden will have the magnanimity to embrace all rivers and the scenery of the beautiful water in the south of the Yangtze River.
Therefore, when the garden was first built, many large-scale facilities such as the Peony Garden, Broken Jade Tower, and Jade Bridge Palace were planned. It also claimed to store 300,000 volumes of masterpieces by Anhui celebrities and build a kilometer long corridor.
From the perspective of artistic design, such an idea is naturally very interesting, but when it comes to actual architecture, these scenes require real money to support them.
For the wealthy Liu Chuansheng, he doesn't care how much money he has to invest in this garden, because he has already prepared hundreds of millions of funds to start construction.
In the early days, the construction of the garden went very smoothly. Small bridges, ponds, and rockeries were gradually built here, and fruit trees and artificial trees were also successfully planted.
But as the project continued to advance, Liu Chuansheng also discovered changes in things.
Before Mohe Garden was officially opened to the outside world, this project had no profit at all, and money had to be poured into it. It is no exaggeration to say that Mohe Garden was a "gold sales cave."
In order to fill the project shortfall, Liu Chuansheng had to start transferring cash from his other companies to the Moheyuan project.
In addition, he also used his many companies as collateral, borrowed a large amount of loans from banks, and used the money to maintain the construction of Mohe Garden.
In the past few years, Liu Chuansheng invested hundreds of millions in Mohe Garden, but the construction progress of this private garden is not optimistic.
Liu Chuansheng seriously underestimated the difficulty of Suzhou garden construction and overestimated the patience of investors. Seeing that only a frame of the Mohe Garden was built in a few years, many investors decided to withdraw.
The withdrawal of part of the funds suddenly increased the pressure on Liu Chuansheng, but at this time he had reached the point where he was riding a tiger and it was difficult to get off. Only by building the Mohe Garden could he possibly gain profits .
In desperation, Liu Chuansheng began to use personal funds and borrowed debts from business partners in the name of personal debts. He finally got through the difficult period.
But this was only the first crisis faced by the Moheyuan project. In the next few years, the risk of funding rupture was like the sword of Damocles hanging over his head, keeping him awake at night.
Relying on his previous foundation, Liu Chuansheng barely maintained the flow of funds, but he knew very well that the current Moheyuan project could no longer withstand any disturbance.
But sometimes fate is so strange. The more a person worries about something, the more likely it will happen .
From the day when the time hand slowly slid into 2008, the fate of Liu Chuansheng and Mo Heyuan also reached the moment of trial.
The " subprime mortgage crisis " triggered by Wall Street in the United States swept the entire world with overwhelming force. The cliff-like decline of the stock market caused the global economic recession.
Liu Chuansheng's business also suffered a huge blow. The cash flow that had barely supported in the past dried up almost overnight, and all the companies under his name were in crisis.
At this time, Mohe Garden, which is far from being completed, seems to be whispering to everyone: "See him building a tall building, watching him entertain guests, watching his building collapse."
An unfinished farce of absconding with money.
The outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008 put many companies under Liu Chuansheng's name on the verge of bankruptcy.
In order to avoid a complete rupture of capital flow, he had no choice but to start selling off some assets that still had trading value to save the crisis .
But Liu Chuansheng still underestimated the horror of this financial crisis . The funds he obtained from selling off his properties were simply not able to revitalize all projects, especially the hugely expensive Moheyuan project.
Liu Chuansheng, standing in the middle of the contradiction between the embarrassing dilemma of having nowhere to find working capital and the upstream suppliers who came to his door every day to ask for balances, once again felt exhausted.
In addition, the large amount of funds he borrowed as mortgage from the bank were gradually approaching the repayment deadline. If he could not fill this hole, bankruptcy and liquidation would be waiting for him.
Once a powerful figure in Anhui Province, became the big creditor that everyone was chasing overnight. Liu Chuansheng was desperate and made his own selfish and disgraceful choice.
Liu Chuansheng, who knew he was at the end of his rope, knew very well what consequences he was about to face. The night before the storm, he began to sell off all the assets in his name.
Under the circumstances, everyone felt that Liu Chuansheng was selling off his property and preparing to repay debts. had some business partners who, in order to help Liu Chuansheng, also purchased them at a high price.
But what no one expected was that Liu Chuansheng's move was just to recover funds, and he planned to use the money to take his family to escape overseas.
Those creditors who once believed in Liu Chuansheng's credibility and character have now completely lost all clues. Not only did they not receive a penny, they also had nothing to use to pay off their debts.
Among them, the supplier for the Moheyuan project was in a desperate situation. Previously, out of trust in Liu Chuansheng, the issue of project payment was delayed again and again.
Now, Liu Chuansheng has escaped, but these construction engineering teams continue to bear a large amount of debt. Countless workers have worked hard for several years, but in the end they have not earned a penny.
No one knows where exactly Liu Chuansheng went. Some say it is Canada, some say it is the United States. No matter where he is, these crimes cannot be erased.
Liu Chuansheng's name is prominently on the list of "lao Lai" in Anhui Province. His family, which went bankrupt because of his absconding overseas, is forced to face a more difficult life.
In the early days of the design, the Mohe Garden, regarded as one of the most beautiful gardens in the country, was stopped for construction. The seemingly lush woods and quiet and elegant landscapes could only accept the fate of dilapidation.
Since Moheyuan announced the suspension of construction in 2008, , a once-famous engineering project, has been unfinished for fourteen years.
During this period, the Hefei government also wants to find a suitable developer to complete the follow-up finishing work of this project so that Mohe Garden can be re-launched.
But after many twists and turns, it still ended in futility, because there is still a long project cycle before the construction of Mohe Garden is completed. Even if it is reduced and completed, a large amount of capital investment will be required.
Liu Chuansheng’s mistakes made many developers who were originally interested in the project regretfully give up.
Especially after everyone calculated the investment and output of Moheyuan, no one thought that Moheyuan could earn back its previous investment in the future.
In the past fourteen years, the antique attic and the exposed reinforced concrete formed a strong contrast. Unconsciously, wind, frost, rain, snow and running water polished the small bridges in the Mohe Garden into ruins.
Because the construction has not yet been completed, Mohe Garden has not been announced to the public, but even so, many locals have secretly entered this sad place.
Through these unfinished buildings, we can already get a glimpse of the beautiful scenery planned. Especially when it rains in winter, it seems that people really see a different Jiangnan.
Conclusion
In the past fourteen years, the flowers, plants and trees in the Lotus Garden have continued to grow with each passing year, but the world may no longer be able to see its true appearance.
Nowadays, it is no longer possible for Mohe Garden to be successfully rebuilt, and nearby land and real estate have also begun a new round of development and sales.
To the west and north of Moheyuan, two office buildings of about 20 floors are under construction in full swing. The situation of Moheyuan is even more dilapidated and vicissitudes of life.
The story of Liu Chuansheng and Mo Heyuan is like an ancient fable, warning people to do what they can and the inherent value of being honest.
Just imagine, if there had not been the development of Moheyuan, maybe he would not have ended up as a "laosha" who fled overseas, and would not have had so many people, so he would have suffered unreasonable disasters.
Perhaps the charm of Chinese gardens has never been simply spectacular or beautiful, but the history and stories behind their construction.
When we return to the Humble Administrator's Garden, which has endured for thousands of years, and look at the plants and trees here, we understand more about the hardships and difficulties of building Suzhou gardens.
