Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 427: King’s title, country’s title!
Upon hearing Li Shanchang's advice to ascend the throne, Feng Guoyong immediately followed suit.

"Yes, my lord promised us half a month ago when we were out for a walk outside the city that he would become king after the Southern Anhui Campaign was over. Now there are only two or three cities in Jiande Road left to be fought, and the navy of the Yuan army in Jiangxi has been completely annihilated. Before the army enters Jiangxi, my lord must make one more move and cannot delay any longer."

Bao Yu also chimed in, "There is also the matter of adding two new concubines, which cannot be left out."

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Lu Jin stopped shirking his responsibilities. Now that the situation had developed to this point, it would be a bit hypocritical to continue to procrastinate, so he said, "Since you all want to persuade him to ascend the throne, and we are all here, let's discuss it. What title should we use for the king and the country?"

Feng Guoyong was the first to suggest, "If we follow the ancient Chinese system, we can use the title of the lord as the title, such as the King of Han, the King of Tang, and the King of Wei, who were all first given the title of king and then used it to establish a country.

"Although my lord has no title, my lord is of the Gongshu clan of the Ji clan, a direct descendant of the Ji Zhou clan. The Gongshu clan also comes from the State of Lu, so the title of king can be Zhou or Lu. What do you think?"

Lu Jin thought for a moment and said, "You mean to use the king's title as the country's name? Now we use the King of Zhou or the King of Lu, and in the future the country's name will be Zhou or Lu?"

"If we follow the ancient system, then that's indeed the case." Feng Guoyong nodded.

Lu Jin said, "Although Gongshu clan originated from Lu, Lu is not in my hands now. If I call myself the King of Lu, wouldn't it be a misnomer? And the title of King of Lu is fine as a king, but isn't it a bit biased to use it as the name of the country?"

"Zhou is also a big name. The Ji Zhou dynasty lasted for 800 years, but it used a feudal system, which is inconsistent with great unification. Although there were some later generations who wanted to borrow the name Zhou to prolong their national prosperity, the Northern Zhou, Wu Zhou, and Later Zhou were all shorter-lived. Is it inappropriate to use the name Zhou again?"

In fact, what Lu Jin didn’t say was that there were actually two Zhous later, the Great Zhou of Zhang Shicheng and the Wu Zhou of the traitor Wu Sangui, which was even more short-lived. Moreover, the country name that had been used too much by the previous dynasty was bound to lose its novelty.

"This is something I didn't consider enough," Feng Guoyong said immediately.

Lu Jin waved his hand, "A meeting? It's just a discussion. It doesn't matter if you say something wrong. Let's brainstorm. Who else has anything to say?"

Qin Conglong also stroked his beard and said, "My lord, if there is no such place, then the name is not worthy of the reality. Then we can use the ancient name of the existing territory as the name, or the ancient name of the place where the dragon rises as the name.

"The Lord raised his army at Chaohu Lake, temporarily established his capital at Jiankang, and occupied Yangzhou and Xuzhou among the Nine Provinces, as well as Feishui, Yangtze River, and Huai River.

"If you want to use a small number, there are six ancient states around Chaohu Lake, namely Chao State, Shu State, Fei State, and Lu'an State, as well as Zhongli State. Jiankang is also called Jiangning. If you want to choose something nice, you can use Shu Wang and Ning Wang.

"If we use a larger title, your current territory occupies the land of the Three Wus, which is also the former territory of the Chu State. For example, Xuzhou, also known as Pengcheng, was once the capital of the Chu State. This territory can also be called the Huai area, so you can also be called the King of Wu, the King of Chu, and the King of Huai.

"Wu and Chu were both names of great states in the Spring and Autumn Period. The Huai River is vast, and the Huai River is one of the four great rivers. Therefore, these three titles are also extraordinary, especially the King of Chu. Even the princes of the royal family of the great dynasty rarely have this title."

Feng Guoyong immediately said, "Since there are big ones, why use small ones? I think the King of Chu and the King of Wu are good. Although the King of Huai is not small, he doesn't seem formal enough."

Li Shanchang also stroked his beard and said, "Among these titles, Chu is the best. Chu has a vast territory and was a great country during the Spring and Autumn Period. Using the title of King of Wu will easily remind people of Sun Wu. Moreover, the lord is determined to conquer the four seas, while Wu has the idea of ​​being content with a corner, so the King of Chu is the best.

“Although the Lord has never been crowned king, he has also shown great interest in Chu. Before the Marshal’s Office switched to the Yellow Emperor’s calendar, the first year of Chu had always been used. Even the official seals used to be engraved in the same way.

"And there is another advantage to using Chu as the name."

"What benefits?" Lu Jin asked immediately.

Li Shanchang immediately explained, "First of all, isn't the lord going to conquer Jiangxi, Huguang, and Jingxiang this year? These territories were once owned by the Chu State. Jingchu, Jingchu, Jing and Chu are originally one. By then, the lord will be the King of Chu, and the lord's troops will be the Chu Army. It is natural and reasonable for the King of Chu and the Chu Army to recover the land of Jingchu. The people of Jiangxi and Huguang will also be more likely to submit to the lord.

"Secondly, Xu Shouhui of the pseudo-Song Dynasty is currently in Jingmen, Anlu and other places. Our lord uses Chu as his banner, so he knows that there is no possibility of making peace with our army and can only take the initiative to fight. As long as he provokes us first, we will have a reason to use our troops against him. This is called having a legitimate reason to fight.

"My lord and his army are both anti-Yuan righteous forces. Whoever attacks his righteous army first will be condemned by all the righteous forces in the world. By then, Xu Song will be isolated and helpless, and it will be natural for my lord to destroy them."

Everyone nodded when they heard this. Feng Guoyong also said, "Yes, if the lord is called the King of Chu, it will definitely be easier for us to attack Jiangxi and Huguang."

Seeing that everyone had the same attitude, Lu Jin also said, "I don't have any objection to using the title of King of Chu, but I still have the same question, if we are called King of Chu now, does that mean we must still use Chu as the name of our country when we establish a new country in the future?"

"That's not necessarily the case. There are precedents of directly establishing a country without a title, or directly becoming emperor without becoming a king, such as the Liao Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty. Although they were not regarded as orthodox, the Yuan court included them in the official history. There were also many such examples during the Five Dynasties period. It is not impossible to establish a country directly with land without a title in advance." Qin Conglong explained again.

Upon hearing this, Li Shanchang asked, "My lord, do you have any concerns? Or do you not want to use Chu as the name of the country?"

Lu Jin nodded and said, "It's ok to use Chu as the title of the king, but firstly, the countries that used Chu as the title before were not unified, and secondly, the countries that used Chu as the title, such as Southern Chu, Northern Chu, and even the pseudo-Chu of the former Song Dynasty, were not recognized by the world, and their national life was not long-lasting.

"So I think that I can be called the King of Chu now, but when I establish a country in the future, can I change the name of the country?"

"That's not impossible. My lord, does your lord have a preferred name for the country?" Feng Guoyong asked immediately.

Lu Jin shook his head, "Not yet."

Li Shanchang also asked, "Then does the lord have any requirements for the country's name?"

Lu Jin thought for a moment before saying, "We want to drive out the Tartars and rebuild China, so we naturally hope to be on par with the Han and Tang dynasties, but it would be best if it had never been used before, and it also had to have a good meaning and be easy to remember."

"." Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. There were quite a few requirements, and each one was more difficult than the last. Fortunately, Lu Jin had already given a clear goal. The next step was the composition assignment. It would see who could come up with the answer that would satisfy him the most.

Zhan Ding also said, "If there is no previous use of the word, and it has to have a good meaning, comparable to the Han and Tang dynasties, and be pleasant to the ear and easy to remember, then how about using Shuguo? Although Shuguo was a small Huaiyi country during the Spring and Autumn Period, this word has a very good meaning and is easy to pronounce. It means to stretch, open, start, relieve, be comfortable, and be serene."

Qin Conglong heard this and said, "It's better to use Huai. You said Shu was a small Huaiyi country during the Spring and Autumn Period. How can it be compared with Han and Tang Dynasties? Besides, Shu also means slowness. It's not good.

"Han is named after the Han River. Huai is also a river, and it is one of the four great rivers. The word Huai is the purest water, symbolizing political clarity and the absence of corruption. The word Huai also implies intelligence, wisdom, open-mindedness, and tolerance.

"And the name of water is calm and steady, with a long history. It also symbolizes lofty goals and pursuits. Doesn't it coincide with the lord's ambition to conquer the world and unify the country? Moreover, water has the reputation of nourishing all things, which shows the monarch's benevolence and love for the people. Most importantly, no one has used it before."

Everyone nodded when they heard this, but seeing that Lu Jin didn't react, Li Shanchang asked, "My lord, are you satisfied with this word?"

Lu Jin immediately said, "I can't say I hate it, but I can't say I like it either. Let's use it as a backup. Is there anything else?"

"This..." Everyone began to ponder again.

At this time, Bao Yu also suggested, "How about using the word Zhao? Zhao State was the fief of Ji Shi, the son of King Wen of Zhou. It was one of the princes within the capital and the main family of Ji Zhou. It just so happens that the lord also has the surname Ji and the clan Gongshu.

"We can use the character Zhao next to the sun character, which means brightness, hope, openness and justice, and also means outstanding talent and excellence. It is even often used as a good name for emperors, meaning virtue, integrity and honesty, such as Zhaode, Zhaoren, even Zhaozong, Zhaojun and so on."

Lu Jin thought, there is also Showa, why don't you add it.
"The name of the country, Dazhao, seems to be a good one. What do you think, my lord?" Li Shanchang asked again.

Lu Jin remained calm and said, "Just consider it as a backup first, is there anything else?"

As an alternative, that is, there was no love at first sight, so everyone started thinking again.

At this time Xia Yu suddenly said.

"Zhao means brightness, so if you want to take the meaning of brightness, why not just use Ming as the name of the country?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin looked over immediately. This was the first person who thought of using Ming as the reign title.

Li Shanchang frowned and asked, "Shu is taken from the ancient Shu State, Huai is taken from the Huai River, the current territory of the Lord, and Zhao is taken from the Lord's surname, which is the fief of the Ji Zhou Dynasty. What do you think of your Ming State?" Feng Guoyong also said, "Yes, there is a prophecy of 'Maitreya is born in the Red Scarf, and the Ming King is born', but the Lord has always been unwilling to associate with it, and has never believed in Maitreya or White Lotus. If we use Ming as the name of the country, will it cause misunderstanding among the people? Will they think that we are no different from those armies that burn incense?"

Upon seeing this, Xia Yu immediately smiled and explained, "Using Ming as the country's name does indeed secretly match the Red Turban Army's prophecy, but it doesn't matter whether the lord believes it or not, as long as we don't admit it."

Li Shanchang still frowned, "What about the origin? How to explain to the outside world that Ming is the country's name? How should the accession edict be written?"

Xia Yu heard this and said, "The Yuan barbarians rose from the northern frontier, and had no titles or fiefs to use. Their country's name was taken from the Qian Gua in the Book of Changes. Great is Qian Yuan, the source of all things, and the ruler of the heavens. Yuan means the greatest, and it is indeed a beautiful name.

"Since they can take numbers from the Book of Changes, then so can we. In addition to this sentence, the Tuan Ci of the Qian Gua in the Book of Changes also includes 'Clouds move and rain falls, things flow and take shape, Great Brightness begins and ends, six positions are formed at the right time, and sometimes riding six dragons to control the sky.

"If they can call themselves the Great Yuan, why can't we call ourselves the Great Ming? The Great Ming is the beginning and the end, and the one who puts an end to the Great Yuan is the Great Ming. Using the Great Ming as the country's name also means destroying the Yuan.

"And the meaning of the word 'Ming' is self-evident. It means bright and aboveboard. Is there any better word than this?"

"This..." Everyone was stunned when they heard this and looked at each other. Before, they were all restricted by the rules of title and fiefdom, and no one thought of taking the name from the Book of Changes like the Yuan Dynasty.

However, Xia Yu's proposal that the one who would destroy the Yuan Dynasty would be the Ming Dynasty really made them very excited. Moreover, the word "Ming" had a good meaning and it was almost impossible to find a bad connotation in it.

So everyone immediately looked at Lu Jin, and Li Shanchang asked again, "My lord, what do you think of the Ming Dynasty?"

Lu Jin just felt a toothache. After all the trouble he had gone through, he finally ended up fighting against the Ming Dynasty?
"Not bad, at least it's innovative and can be used as an alternative. Are there any others?"

This time everyone seemed to have their minds opened up, and Zhan Ding also spoke up.

"If we take a name from the Book of Changes, and my lord still doesn't like Ming, then we can use another sentence: 'The way of Qian changes, each corrects his nature and destiny, maintains harmony and peace, is beneficial and righteous, is the first to come out of the common things, and all nations are peaceful and harmonious.' Using Dahe as the country's name also means ending the Yuan Dynasty and represents the transition from the old to the new."

Lu Jin's face was filled with black lines when he heard this. The country's name is Yamato? The devil is actually me???
"another."

"Uh" Everyone looked at Lu Jin's expression. This was the first country name he had clearly expressed his opposition to. Was there anything wrong with Yamato? Or did it touch some taboo of the lord?
Qin Conglong also said, "Among the sixty-four hexagrams in the Book of Changes, none can compare to the Qian and Kun hexagrams in terms of momentum and image. Among the two hexagrams, only the Qian hexagram has the most positive meaning, while the Kun hexagram represents autumn harvest and winter storage, representing lurking and murderous intent, as well as annihilation and rebirth. It is not as suitable as the Qian hexagram to be used as the name of the country.

“And the Da Yuan in the Qian Gua has already been used. If we don’t want to use Daming and Yahe, then we can’t just use the Qian Gua itself and call it Da Qian, right?
"Qian means heaven. Although China is regarded as the Celestial Empire by the barbarians, isn't it a bit too grand to use heaven as the name of the country?"

Others also nodded.

Lu Jin sighed at this time, in the end, the Ming Dynasty was the most suitable.

"Then don't choose. Just use Ming. The country's name is Ming, and the king's name is Chu. First call yourself the King of Chu, and then establish Ming in the future."

Lu Jin stood up and said, "You just said that the one who ended the Yuan Dynasty was the Ming Dynasty. This country name means to destroy the Yuan Dynasty.

"I have the confidence to drive out the Tartars, rebuild China, and establish the Ming Dynasty. Do you have the confidence?"

Feng Guoyong immediately took the lead and stood up and said, "My lord once said that every man has a share of responsibility for the fate of his country. Our ancestors' country was stolen by the barbarians. We are following my lord to recover our homeland. It is our duty and responsibility. We are willing to die for my lord!"

The others immediately followed suit and said, "We are willing to die for our lord!"

"Ahem." Li Shanchang cleared his throat and reminded, "My fellow colleagues, you should address me as Your Highness from now on."

Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly said in unison, "We are willing to die for your Highness!"

Seeing this, Lu Jin quickly waved his hand, "Hey, why are you in such a hurry? I don't know much about etiquette. When you become a king, you need to hold a ceremony and sacrifice. If necessary, try to keep it simple. Or issue an imperial edict?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shanchang hurriedly said, "Other ceremonies are not important. The important thing is that Your Highness should quickly take in two concubines. This is the serious matter. I wonder if Your Highness has any favorite candidates?"

"."

Damn it, they are urging me to get married again. Lu Jin is speechless. His original intention was to do as Zhu Yuanzhang did in the original history and have two more children with his wife first to ensure the stability of the status of his wife and son, and then take a concubine to avoid trouble in the future and avoid chaos caused by the fight for the throne.

However, even if he took a concubine now and got pregnant immediately, by the time the concubines' children were born, Tan'er should be almost two years old. As long as he didn't die young, no one would be able to take away his position as the eldest son. So Lu Jin agreed to their request.

Then Lu Jin asked about the ceremony of becoming king, and was told that it was similar to the sacrifice to the river god before crossing the river before, but it was more complicated and consisted of roughly three stages.

First, a Circular Mound was built in the south of the city, equivalent to the Temple of Heaven, for offering sacrifices to heaven. Then firewood was burned to pray to heaven, sacrificial offerings were burned, and prayers were recited. Next, one had to receive the Mandate of Heaven (fake auspicious signs) and claim that it was a response from heaven, indicating that one was destined to be king.

After offering sacrifices to heaven, one must report to the temple and offer sacrifices to ancestors. The emperor has seven temples, so seven temples must be established. The father, grandfather, great-grandfather and seven generations of ancestors must be posthumously conferred the title of king. The ancestral tablets (tablets) are then smeared with the blood of livestock. This is called blood food, which represents the continuation of the bloodline. The imperial edict is then read out, telling the ancestors that they are going to be kings and they must bless them.

After offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors, the third step is to take the throne and issue an edict. One has to wear the imperial crown, the twelve-chapter imperial robe, hold a jade sceptre, ascend the high platform, accept the cheers of "Long live the emperor" from all civil and military officials, and finally issue the edict of accession to the throne to announce it to the world. At the same time, one can also grant amnesty, reduce taxes, etc. It all depends on one's intention.

Lu Jin called it troublesome. This whole process was almost the same as the one when Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne. Could it be simpler?

So Li Shanchang said that there was no need to build the Circular Mound, but to find a "natural sanctuary" such as a mountain top or a riverside, and to hold sacrifices on the bank of the Yangtze River before crossing the river. That would be considered a natural sanctuary, and sacrifices to heaven must be performed, but the process could be simplified.

If you don't posthumously confer titles on seven generations of ancestors, you can posthumously confer titles on three generations. Lu Jin does not have a royal temple or a ancestral temple now, so you can only temporarily set up a ancestral hall to worship your ancestors. Didn't you say that you should respect heaven and follow your ancestors? Then how can you not worship heaven and ancestors?

The final steps of wearing the imperial robe, receiving congratulations at the throne, and the music and dance ceremonials can all be simplified. Military can replace ceremony, the army can line up to replace music and dance, and armor and weapons can be displayed as ceremonials. Finally, there can be an edict of accession to the throne, and everything will be done.
However, Li Shanchang also suggested that although the process of becoming king could be simplified, several things must be done to highlight its legitimacy.

First, the names of the military institutions should be changed. The Academy of Literature should be changed directly to the Administrative Council, the Academy of Military Affairs to the Privy Council, the Secretariat to the Cabinet, and the Court of Justice to the Dali Temple, and so on. As for the official titles, they should no longer be called the Chief Secretary or the Chief Secretary. They can be called Prime Minister or Shangshu, whatever they should be called. This sounds more formal.

Secondly, he wanted to take in a concubine, and also to make Zhang Yunxiu the Princess of Chu, and to make his eldest son Gongshu Tan the Crown Prince of Chu, so as to establish the crown prince early to avoid trouble in the future.

Third, whether to confer titles on the generals, and whether to do so now or later, will be decided by Lu Jin.

Lu Jin said he agreed to the first two points, but would put the third one on hold for now.

The situation of the Shengwu Army is a bit strange now. The ones with the greatest military achievements are Zhu Liangzu, who commanded the Jiangbei Campaign, and Yang Jing, who commanded the Eastern Expedition. These two are representative figures, one of whom was a surrendered general and the other voluntarily surrendered.

On the contrary, the Liao and Yu families, who were born as the elders of Chaohu, have been guarding the Luzhou base camp since Yu Tingyu took the lead alone, and has no military achievements at all. Liao Yongan, the leader of the Liao family, has only led an army to attack Anqing Road in one battle, which is only a small achievement.

If we confer titles based on military merit, Yang Jing and Zhu Liangzu will definitely have the highest titles, but Liao Yongan and Yu Tingyu, two Chaohu elders, are at the back. They are all original shareholders, and Lu Jin is the one who joined later. How do you think these Chaohu elders will feel? Wouldn't their morale be dispersed?
So we should delay it a little longer, until Yu Tingyu's Fourth Front Army finishes conquering Nanyang and Xiangyang, and Liao Yongan's First Front Army finishes conquering Jiangxi and Huguang, and when they have all made great military achievements, it will not be too late to award them all titles at that time.

Li Shanchang, Feng Guoyong and others also expressed their understanding.

However, in order to appease the emotions of the generals on the front line, Lu Jin decided to give them military ranks. Since Lu Jin became king, the position of marshal was vacant. The main generals of the five fronts could be given the rank of marshal. In addition, the position of the governor of the front was changed to the commander of the front.

The title of commander did exist in ancient times, but it was first established by Zhu Yuanzhang. You wouldn't have thought.
Of course, the commander-in-chief established by Zhu Yuanzhang was not a military position in the modern sense, but the predecessor of the Tongzhengsi of the Ming Dynasty. It was specifically responsible for receiving and sending memorials and issuing government orders. Its functions were similar to those of the Tongzhengsi, and it played a role in transmitting information from top to bottom. However, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that it was not very easy to use, so he later changed it to the Tongzhengsi.

Even if all this is arranged, it will not be so fast to become king. Now it is the end of May, and it will take at least two months, June and July, or August at the latest, to complete the process before officially attacking Jiangxi in September.

Because it would take two months just to send the betrothal gifts to the families of the two concubines.

Well, Lu Jin learned a little knowledge. The gift given to the wife's family is called betrothal gift, and the gift given to the concubine's family is called bride price!
(End of this chapter)