Chapter 150 Jiazi
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Now that the will has been finalized, the next step is to discuss the temple name and posthumous title. Although according to regulations, the emperor's temple name and posthumous title were proposed by the Ministry of Rites, but since Emperor Yingzong, the matter had been under the control of the cabinet. The important officials at the central government would never easily give up the power to make the final judgment on the previous emperor; so the convention was changed accordingly, and the Ministry of Rites could only dance within the lines drawn by the cabinet.
Since the Zhao and Song dynasties, the power of the emperor has grown, while the power of the ministers has declined. The custom of "retaining the names of respected people" has basically disappeared. No matter whether they are wise or foolish, good or evil, they are all praised with flattering words and clichés. The sacredness of civil and military officials is piled up randomly, which is so overused that it makes people sick. The ministers strictly abided by the conventions and were very cautious. Even if they felt aggrieved, they could only express themselves in a sarcastic way and hide praise or criticism in the posthumous titles.
Today, cabinet ministers follow this tradition. For example, Lord Xu took great pains to think of giving the late emperor a posthumous title of "Su". The so-called "being firm and resolute is called dignified, and being firm and decisive is called dignified". The so-called "firm and decisive" clearly implies that the late emperor was autocratic, abused his power, and was extremely harsh, cruel, and vicious. It is a very euphemistic explanation of the past of the late emperor's rule.
After Lord Xu spoke, Lord Li took over and intended to say “success” for the late emperor. “Virtue is complete when it is integrated into rites and music; virtue is manifested in actions.” This description is not only identical to that of the previous emperor, but at least completely unrelated. However, the previous Emperor Cheng of Han, who was posthumously named Cheng, was wise in state affairs and worked hard to govern the country in his early years, but in his later years he was incompetent and indulged in pleasure, building large-scale projects and squandering money. In the end, he died suddenly, shocking everyone. Doesn’t such a one-to-one replica of his life fully reflect Li Ge Lao’s skills in classics and history?
In short, don’t offend writers, especially those who are highly skilled and live long. If the will had to take subsequent political arrangements into consideration and had to be somewhat restrained when compiling it, then everyone could really be unscrupulous when discussing the posthumous title, and could happily jump around on the late emperor's grave to their heart's content and vent all the anger that had accumulated over the past decades - how could the late emperor still be unconvinced in his underworld? Even if you are not convinced, you have to hold it in!
However, while several university scholars were fully utilizing their life's strengths, the Prince of Mu suddenly pulled Zhang Taiyue away, and after chirping for a full quarter of an hour, he actually proposed his own plan. He suggested that the late emperor be posthumously named "Xian" or "Xie", and his attitude was quite firm.
"Virtue is admired by both China and foreigners and is called illustrious", "Acts are known to both China and foreigners and are called faithful", everyone understands as soon as they hear it, knowing that this is a great praise for the late emperor's achievements in reopening maritime trade and winning battles in his later years. When it comes to leaving one’s name in history, military achievements are always the most important. If people put aside grudges and look at things impartially, based on the achievements in these naval battles, the late emperor’s life is actually quite commendable, and it is worthy of these two posthumous titles… Of course, these achievements were mostly due to the right people and the trend of the times, but doesn’t our country still have such a freak as Yingzong? With the example of Emperor Jiamen before him, the former emperor was able to make use of people to accomplish things. Isn’t this another kind of wisdom?
At least the late emperor didn’t drag Qi Yuanjinghai Gangfeng out and chop him into pieces. What else do you want?
When they thought of this, everyone was silent.
Of course, it is impossible to put aside grudges. But the boss who presided over the meeting was very clear and knew that this was to gain status for the Foreign Affairs Office. As long as the late emperor's life achievements are defined as "admired by China and the world", then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has promoted the late emperor's merits overseas, will be credited with great achievements, and its power can never be taken away. On the contrary, if we allow the Grand Secretary to be sarcastic and make random inferences, then it doesn't matter if we deny the late emperor's personality (the late emperor had no personality anyway). But what if public opinion ferments and the conservatives follow the trend and involve the late emperor's decision to open the sea and the wars against Spain, Portugal and Japan? What should we do?
When killing a mouse, you cannot damage the jade bottle. Even for the sake of maritime trade and diplomacy, some things still need to be restrained.
...So, the prince's suggestion was actually written down and recorded in the official documents.
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After all those who had a say reached a consensus, Zhang Taiyue carefully considered for more than half an hour and finally finished the draft of the edict and presented it to the successor emperor for his review. With Master Gao personally reviewing it, the new emperor certainly had no objections. He simply made some symbolic changes to a few allusions and agreed to the final verdict.
Although the will has been issued, there are still a lot of important procedures to go through. The heir emperor was basically exhausted from all the work he had done since entering the palace. He could only take a rest in a side hall and wait to keep vigil and cry again at night. The eunuchs were busy getting mourning clothes and white banners from the palace storehouse, summoning palace servants to clean the body and change the clothes of the late emperor, and sending ceremonial officials to the Forbidden City and various government offices in the capital to report condolences. The important officials of the central government took a short rest and were then called up by Lord Xu to discuss the funeral rites in the ear room.
The most important affairs of a country are sacrifices and war. After the late emperor passed away, the new emperor's enthronement ceremony immediately took place, and both were extremely important ceremonies. But the late emperor had been on the throne for so long that the country had not held a grand funeral for fifty years, so they had to look through the ceremonial records again and adjust the rituals one by one, which was quite tedious and troublesome. However, the throne has been decided, the will has been issued, and the political situation in the court has returned to stability. This little trouble is just a matter of wording and there is no need to spend any energy on it. The ministers relaxed and were even in a mood to chat and laugh while flipping through the books and sketching.
Previously, Xinghuo entered the palace and was entrusted with the task of supporting the crown prince to ascend the throne. Everyone was united and advanced and retreated together, and they had a little friendship in sharing weal and woe. After much deliberation, Gao Suqing, a scholar, finally decided to insert a piece of explosive news into this seemingly casual conversation.
"I learned earlier that the heir emperor has given birth to a prince, who will be a hundred days old this month. Because children are difficult to raise, the news has not been disclosed." He spoke solemnly and reservedly: "It is of course not appropriate to organize a banquet during the mourning period of the late emperor, but after all, it is a great joyous event that the royal family has a successor. I think I should still submit a congratulatory message and ask for a cup of vegetarian wine from the royal family."
This statement was said tactfully and peacefully, but the bigwigs present reacted immediately, and they all stood up and saluted towards the palace, congratulating the royal family on the birth of a son - everyone knew that Gao Suqing was quietly winning over officials for the successor emperor and stabilizing the delicate political situation during the succession of the empress; after a hundred days, the prince would basically be grown up, and as long as the prince grew up, the successor emperor, who had only one child, would be considered to have "successors", which would ensure the stable inheritance of power between father and son, and would not lead to the end of the family being eaten up by others.
Well, it is indeed a bit impolite to discuss the issue of eating out the extinct family in front of the late emperor. But this is an unspoken consensus among all ministers - an emperor with an heir and an emperor without an heir are absolutely two different things; if there is no reliable and secure imperial succession, the important ministers will not easily bet on the emperor.
Therefore, this is definitely the good news that the successor emperor has been waiting for for a long time, which is enough to influence the situation in the entire court; and Gao Suqing's intention of revealing all this is self-evident. Everyone understood the elegant meaning of the music and immediately started a conversation with Master Gao after congratulating him. Their words were subtle and they all expressed their willingness to congratulate the royal heir and to actively get closer to the new monarch.
However, amidst all the enthusiastic praise, there are also some anomalies. Those who were qualified to speak and express their opinions were all dignitaries in the cabinet. Newcomers like Zhang Taiyue who served in the imperial court could only stand with their hands behind their backs and listen respectfully. As for the prince of Duke Mu... for some reason, after hearing the words "the birth of a prince", the prince was stunned for a moment, then turned around to look at Zhang Taiyue and said a word before standing up and following the conversation.
The glance was vague, but the expression seemed extremely strange... Zhang Hanlin stood where he was, feeling a little surprised.
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That evening, this subtle feeling of surprise became even more obvious.
After the funeral ceremony was roughly discussed, all the bigwigs found excuses to go home and rest, so as to have enough energy to mourn the death the next day. Only Zhang Taiyue, who had the least experience, was ordered to stay behind. He was busy taking care of a large number of trivial matters, drafting documents and searching for literature for the cabinet, and writing by candlelight late into the night. He was so tired that he had no time to eat or drink.
The emperor's funeral was a serious matter and the eunuchs in the palace were so busy that no one thought of looking after Zhang Hanlin, who was of low status. In the end, it was Prince Mu who came at night, saying that he was deeply grateful to the late emperor and could never repay him, so he volunteered to keep vigil for the late emperor every night. He also prepared the most exquisite tea and snacks from his mansion and presented them to the emperor, hoping that the successor emperor and the eldest princess could "take good care of themselves", control their grief, and eat more. The heir to the throne and the eldest princess naturally could not eat much, so all the leftovers were naturally brought into the ear room and placed directly in front of Zhang Taiyue.
While Zhang Taiyue was wolfing down snacks and drinking hot tea, the prince flipped through the official document he had spent several hours writing:
Large volumes of textual research on rituals and laws, "General Explanation of the Law of Posthumous Titles", detailed explanation of the rituals of ascending the throne to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the evolution of imperial edicts since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, and the calendar documents drawn up by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory...
Prince: …………
In order to avoid humiliating himself, the prince could only change the subject:
"When will the will be issued?"
Zhang Taiyue covered his face with his hands and swallowed a green ball with force:
"Lord Xu meant that we should set out at daybreak. The capital will mourn, and then the new emperor will ascend the throne in front of the coffin."
"We're going to start at daybreak? That means tomorrow - oh no, today." The prince glanced at the candlelight and corrected himself: "But today seems to be the Jiazi day, right? It's a coincidence that he ascended the throne on the Jiazi day."
It is indeed a lucky day with perfect timing. In the past, King Wu destroyed the Shang Dynasty and pacified King Zhou on the Jiazi day, thus establishing his kingdom. From then on, the Jiazi day also had the meaning of getting rid of the old and starting anew, and making a fresh start for the world. The new emperor is in the right position on the Jiazi day, which can be said to be a special kind of luck and an auspicious day made by heaven.
However, if one praises the new monarch for the auspicious timing of his accession to the throne, isn't that the same as praising the late Emperor Fei Xuan Zhenjun for kicking his legs at the perfect timing? Zhang Taiyue hesitated for a moment, but he didn't dare to respond, so he could only avoid it:
"A new dynasty, a new atmosphere. The successor emperor will do great things. As the saying goes, heaven and man are connected. Heaven will naturally give us some guidance..."
Prince Mu smiled slightly but looked out the window. After June, the daybreaks started coming earlier and earlier. Now, it was not even the morning hour yet, but a faint light was flickering in the gloomy and thick night, and there was even a faint glow of the sky. In another half an hour, the sun would rise.
"Yes, there is a new atmosphere." The prince said, "A new era is coming, right? In fact, I really want to see what it looks like..."
The prince's voice gradually became lower, almost as if he was talking to himself; after being absent-minded for a moment, he turned around and saw Zhang Taiyue's shocked and confused face, without even putting down the teacup in his hand.
"Have you finished eating?" The prince said calmly, "Go to sleep for a while after you finish eating. I can help you take a look. You still need to sleep well and get enough rest...it's almost dawn!"
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