On the afternoon of July 26, the 34th year of Taiping in the Ming Dynasty, the capital Shuntian Mansion, the Forbidden City, and the Wenhua Hall.
In the middle of the main hall, on the table that was originally used for discussions, there is now a large-format map of the entire universe.
Four craftsmen from Taipu Temple stood around the table inspecting the work with rulers, compasses and pencils.
They used the original map of Kunyu as the base map and marked the new boundary lines determined in the final peace treaty.
This is a job arranged by the old emperor Zhu Zhongliang for Taipu Temple.
Today's Taipu Temple is responsible for the management of land and natural resources, the surveying and mapping of geographical maps and the compilation of corresponding books, as well as the registration and management of transportation vehicles.
The peace treaty has just been signed, and the carving up of Mozhou has not yet been completed. It will take a long time to draw a formal new map.
But the old emperor now wanted to see the outline of the Ming Dynasty's current territory, so he asked someone to draw a temporary one.
The original maps will be discarded in the future anyway, so it’s not a waste to use them as basemaps for modification.
The old emperor came out of his room with his son Zhu Jianyan:
"how's it going?"
The Taipusi Qing who was in charge of the command immediately raised his hands and saluted and reported:
"Your Majesty, it has been basically completed. There should be no omissions on the whole..."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work, you guys go and have a rest..."
The old emperor nodded slightly and stepped forward to check the modified places on the map, mainly the specially thickened border lines.
Looking at the national boundaries and names of the vassal states, I nodded from time to time to express satisfaction.
After staring at the map for more than ten minutes, the old emperor took a long breath and said:
"Okay, it seems that I don't need to be Emperor Mingling anymore."
When the old emperor said these words, the Taipusi Qing who stayed behind and Zhu Jianyan beside him almost couldn't hold their breath.
The title Lingdi is a posthumous title, which is the evaluation given to the emperor by his descendants after his death.
It is equivalent to finalizing the emperor's lifelong deeds.
Posthumous titles include praise and derogation, or beauty and evil.
Originally, Emperor Ling was not considered a purely evil posthumous title, but after Han Ling Emperor's "chaos without harm", it was basically regarded as an evil posthumous title.
No one dares to respond to this kind of topic now.
As a result, the old emperor didn't say anything when he saw anyone, and simply asked his son directly:
"Jian Yan, please tell me, according to the current situation, what posthumous title should I use in a hundred years? What temple name should I use?"
Taizu, Taizong, Shizu, Shizong, these titles with "ancestor" are all temple names, which were placed in the family temple to commemorate the emperor after his death.
Zhu Jianyan was very helpless now. How could he ask his son such a question.
I said it doesn’t matter whether it’s good or bad.
The key is that you add a premise, "according to the current situation", which makes it even more impossible to evaluate.
If I say: You must use the good ones now, that means you were not good in the past.
Now if you say: If you don't use it well, then... there is no such possibility. That is equivalent to saying that the current credit belongs to others.
It is not good to avoid or refuse verbally, because avoiding may make the old emperor worry that when I wait for a hundred years, will you give me a posthumous title or a temple title that does not satisfy me?
In fact, many elderly people are most concerned about what will happen a hundred years from now, and they don't mind talking about such topics.
For old people in the past, ordinary people would prepare coffins in advance, and princes and nobles would prepare mausoleums in advance.
Zhu Jianyan hesitated for a few seconds, and finally bowed his head and remained silent.
Seeing that Zhu Jianyan was silent, the old emperor waved everyone else out, and then continued to ask:
"Okay, now that everyone is out, let's talk about it..."
Zhu Jianyan was helpless. He had rejected all outsiders and had to let himself speak.
Then there is no other way but to choose the best word. This is the only answer that is not wrong.
However, the Ming Dynasty has been around for more than 400 years, and the typical good posthumous names and temple names are almost used, so it is really difficult to choose.
After thinking for a while, Zhu Jianyan spoke:
"The king's heart is restrained, he is strong and soft, and he is impartial. He governs according to the time. He is called Zhongzong.
"The years of good harvest bring good happiness, long lasting blessings, long life and good health, he is called Emperor Kang."
The old emperor laughed directly after hearing this, waved his hands vigorously, and said very firmly:
"Don't grab Prince Yiwen's title as Emperor Kang. I can't afford the Chinese subtitles. You choose another one..."
"One more set..."
Zhu Jianyan was really helpless.
Of course there are good temple titles and posthumous titles, but choosing them is really troublesome. This is originally a matter for the Ministry of Rites.
The best temple names are: Tai, Gao, Zhong and Shi. These are the four most ancient and traditional temple names in China. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty have not used them all.
Specifically, for each character, ancestors and ancestors can usually be repeated, such as Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, Ming Taizong Zhu Di, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi, Han Shizong Liu Che, and Han Shizu Liu Xiu.
However, after the Tang Dynasty, except for the founding emperor, no emperor used the title "ancestor" anymore.
Zhu Di, Emperor Chengzuwen of the Ming Dynasty, was originally Emperor Taizongwen of the Ming Dynasty.
Jiajing succeeded to the throne as a vassal king. In order not to be ignored by civil servants and to quickly develop his own team, he used his own people to control the central court.
Against the ancient political correctness of the word "filial piety", the famous rites debate was launched on the grounds of sending his biological father to the Ancestral Temple.
The side effect of these actions was that Taizong was renamed Chengzu.
The later Emperor Guangwu of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Cixiang, truly contributed to the reconstruction of the Ming Dynasty. Coupled with his own wishes during his lifetime, he copied the temple and posthumous title of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty.
The old emperor probably wouldn't want to use the title of "ancestor", so among Tai, Gao, Zhong and Shi, there are still Gaozong and Zhongzong available.
But the temple name "Gaozong" has not been used since Zhao Gou, Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty. Even in the Ming Dynasty for more than 400 years, no one has taken the title Gaozong...
So Zhu Jianyan just chose Zhongzong.
The posthumous title also took the imperial title "Emperor Kang" posthumously given by Emperor Jianwen to Prince Yiwen Zhu Biao.
Zhu Jianyan thought for a while and then said:
"If you don't want Emperor Kang, we can replace him with Emperor Ming or Emperor An.
“But Father, you are definitely worthy of the title of Zhongzong.
"The achievements of this war in opening up new territories are second to none than those of our ancestors."
In the end, the old emperor still shook his head:
"Except for the mainland, I may have nominally opened up more overseas lands in this dynasty than Shizu did in the past few decades.
“But this is the industrial reform started by Emperor Shizu, which laid an extremely solid foundation for our Ming Dynasty.
"We have the ability to continue to fight against Xiyi, but Xiyi can no longer hold on and can only admit defeat at the negotiation table.
"Secondly, Jingyuan's strategy was effective. Relying on the strong basic strength of our Ming Dynasty, the Western Yi were forced to retreat step by step, and finally won these nominal territories.
“However, those lands now are not actually considered our Ming Dynasty’s.
"Nowadays, Southern Yinzhou is still full of wind and smoke, the central part of Northern Yinzhou is still thousands of miles of wilderness, the country of Dashi is also uninhabited, and the monarch of Xianbei Kingdom is still named Romanov.
"Whether these lands can become the lands of our Ming Dynasty in the future depends on you, father and son.
"So the temple title of Zhongzong is left to you, father and son, to see who can get it.
"Just give me Emperor Gaozongxiang or Emperor Zhenzonghuan.
Zhu Jianyan finally understood that the old emperor was using the topic of temple posthumous titles to give him eye drops.
Remind yourself not to look at the map and be complacent, remind yourself where the focus of governance will be in the next few decades, and remind yourself to truly seize the land that Zhu Jingyuan talked about.
While Zhu Jianyan was thinking about these situations in his mind, he also instinctively responded to the old emperor's last two sentences.
Zhu Jianyan was frightened by the words the old emperor chose:
"Father, Song Gaozong is Zhao Gou, and Song Zhenzong is the one who signed the Chanyuan Alliance.
"There are also Song Xianggong and Han Emperor Huanling. There is no such thing as a good word..."
The old emperor smiled again, and he smiled happily:
“The words are all good words, but the few people who used these words in the past were unpopular.
“There weren’t many good posthumous names and temple names in the first place, but as a result, he destroyed several font sizes during the three hundred years of the Song Dynasty, making it even more difficult for everyone to choose font sizes later on.
"I just want this font name. The Chanyuan Alliance of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty also went to Mount Tai to consecrate the Zen, so I happened to be able to go there too.
"You think the peace treaty negotiated by Jingyuan can't suppress any of the Chanyuan Alliance?
"When we get down there, I'll see if Song Zhenzong dares to stand with me.
"I originally thought that the ministers inside and outside the court would really sign the Chanyuan Agreement for me.
"The result is like this now. I really like Chengzu's reign name now, and I also like Master Chengzu's mentality of choosing Yongle.
"Let the Ministry of Rites prepare for Mount Tai's enshrinement. I will abdicate when I come back."
Zhu Jianyan finally fully reacted.
The court names and sons of later emperors would not dare to use the names used by emperors such as Song Gaozong and Song Zhenzong for the old monarchs and fathers.
In fact, it is because their father may not have any merit and may not be any higher than Song Zhenzong.
Although Zhao Gou, Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, was despised, he did preserve the legal system of the Song Dynasty. Many emperors may not be as good as him.
Emperors with the same posthumous title may be compared together by future generations.
If future generations compare and find that there is actually no difference between the two emperors, but one of them has been infamous throughout the ages and the other is unknown, then I don't know who will be embarrassed.
But if the achievements and popularity of the later emperor with the same name are far greater than that of the previous emperor, then no one will pay attention to the previous emperor's affairs.
If you insist on comparing, the result is that the latter wins completely.
Therefore, emperors who really have great achievements will not particularly care about using the font size used by emperors who did not have a good reputation in the past.
He can completely disregard the previous reference and choose the font size completely according to the original meaning.
Zhao Min's actions are successful, nothing hidden, nothing hidden, and it is said to be true.
He established the land and conquered the country, and established military positions in all directions. He was named Huan.
The merits and virtues are so great that they cover the sky and are said to be high.
There is virtue in opening up the land, and the power and virtue serve the people far away, and they are called Xiang.
These font sizes are indeed good, but among those who have used them before, some are not very good at them.
The reign name Yongle of Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, had actually been used by three people before, but later generations only knew that Zhu Di was the Yongle Emperor.
During the current Taiping period of the Ming Dynasty, the land was expanded to more than ten thousand miles.
The signed covenant was all a condition for the Western barbarians to cede territory and pay compensation.
The old emperor was not afraid of conflict with Song Zhenzong. Not only did he want to compete with the temple, he also wanted to learn from Taishan Fengzen.
I am afraid that this old man was not thinking in his heart, so he went to the underworld to chat with Song Zhenzong.
And now that you have achieved great success in conquering the world and expanding the territory tens of thousands of miles to become a Zen, you have directly wiped out the previous standards for becoming a Zen.
I am afraid that no one will ever be able to reach this standard of Zen in the future.
Look at the Ming Dynasty 1805.8.2...m. :
