Old Zhu stared blankly at Empress Ma's memorial tablet. Although it had been almost twenty years, it seemed that he had long since accepted many things.

But time doesn't always mean forgetting everything, and it doesn't mean that Lao Zhu has truly forgotten his wife of many years. In fact, even after nearly twenty years, Lao Zhu remembers everything more clearly than ever before.

His longing for his deceased wife never ceased. "Yin'er, your great-grandmother is probably very happy now. She couldn't let go of your grandfather, and now your grandfather has passed away. She couldn't let go of your father, and now your father has grown up, become the emperor, and has you."

Little Zhu wouldn't say anything witty at this moment; he just knelt obediently on the prayer mat, and he had nothing to be afraid of.

Even when he was very young, Xiao Xiao Zhu visited the Ancestral Temple quite often. He always knew very well that the ancestral tablets enshrined there represented his ancestors, the people who would protect him, and his closest relatives.

Zhu Yunying then said, “Now that we’ve become emperor, my grandmother’s worries have been relieved. She was afraid that we would be bullied after losing our mother in our early years. But with my grandfather protecting us, who could bully us?! Now that’s better, no one can bully us anymore.”

"She's just a worrier by nature, always wanting to meddle in everything," Old Zhu said irritably. "If she weren't so fond of worrying, she probably could have lived a few more years. Besides, her health isn't that great."

Zhu Yunying thought about it and realized that it was indeed true; Empress Ma's health was not as good as Zhu Yunying's.

Looking at Empress Ma's memorial tablet, Old Zhu slowly asked, "Your imperial grandmother's posthumous title was Empress Xiaoci. If we were to pass away, what posthumous title would you give us?"

The posthumous title is a final judgment, and it cannot be taken lightly. Generally speaking, the posthumous title of an emperor is obtained with the participation of the succeeding emperor, so it can be said that Zhu Yunying's posthumous title definitely required his participation in the discussion.

Zhu Yunying said matter-of-factly, "Grandfather's posthumous title must be the highest. Although a person's merits and demerits cannot be clearly explained in just a few words, we think it's best to be realistic."

In the past, emperors' posthumous titles were not particularly long. However, Empress Wu Zetian set a precedent by having emperors add flattering words to their titles during their lifetime, essentially declaring their own posthumous titles. This transformed the objective evaluation into unrestrained praise, and the increase in the number of characters reflected the extent of the praise.

Old Zhu nodded slightly and said, "You really know what I'm thinking. I am Emperor Xiaogao, so my temple name should be Taizu."

Zhu Yunying also acknowledged these points. In fact, the original posthumous title of Zhu Yunying in history initially had fifteen characters. However, this was not unusual in the Ming Dynasty, as it was gradually increased to sixteen characters.

This established a rule, with the Ming emperors using sixteen characters and the Qing dynasty further developing it to twenty-two characters.

Therefore, many people could no longer use posthumous titles to refer to emperors, mainly because the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties had too many characters in their names, so they could not be called by their given names and were only used on specific occasions.

Zhu Yunying suddenly remembered something and said, "Grandfather, please remember to issue an imperial edict in advance. Don't let those unworthy descendants mess things up. This posthumous title is not allowed to be changed. It's not their place to change it arbitrarily."

The reason for this is that some emperors in later generations would change the posthumous titles and temple names of their ancestors for various reasons.

For example, the posthumous title of "Old Zhu" was initially decided by Zhu Yunwen. However, Zhu Di, after seizing the throne, certainly couldn't accept it, so he immediately changed it. And after the Jiajing Emperor, it went even further; he reinstated the posthumous title for "Old Zhu," even removing the "filial piety" attribute.

The Jiajing Emperor was indeed eccentric. The political struggle he initiated over the "Great Rites Controversy" regarding his parents' legitimacy was no small matter. He legitimately allowed his collateral branch to inherit the main branch, purging some of the civil officials. He also conveniently changed Zhu Di's title to "Chengzu," ensuring that after a lifetime of struggle, Zhu Di would once again be labeled a "usurper" by his descendants. The existence of two "Zu"s in one dynasty proves that his accession was illegitimate and not based on legitimate succession.

Old Zhu thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "You're right. We trust you to do things, and you know what you're doing. It's just that we can't be sure about your descendants in the future. We have to keep an eye on them from the very beginning."

That's exactly the case. Otherwise, if another emperor like Jiajing were to appear, it would be a real headache.

The idea that the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty lacked filial piety is simply ridiculous. Every feudal dynasty used the banner of "ruling the world with filial piety," so it's absurd to say that the founding emperor was merely a "high emperor."

Whether Zhu Yuanzhang was "filial" or "unfilial" was no small matter; it affected the national policy of a dynasty. On a larger scale, it impacted public sentiment, which was clearly not a trivial matter.

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunying and said with a smile, "Then let's set the rules, which should be Tang's conciseness."

The "Tang" here naturally refers to the period before Wu Zetian. Posthumous titles at that time were relatively concise, not a bunch of messy additions. There were no titles with more than ten characters; that would be an exaggeration, just self-praise from the emperor and his successor.

Little Zhu, kneeling to the side, said with a worried look, "What should we do? After Father Emperor passes away, we can't give him the posthumous title of 'Emperor Wen'. We're afraid we'll have to argue with all the officials. Everyone knows that Father Emperor likes to fight and doesn't get close to scholars."

Zhu Yunying glared at Little Zhu and said irritably, "Then what about Emperor Taizong Li Shimin? Didn't he go out to fight? Our posthumous title will either be Emperor Xiaowen or Emperor Xiaowu. How you deal with the court officials is your business. It depends on whether you have the ability to balance the court."

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