I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 380: Being tricked by the Emperor

The various titles in ancient times were quite complicated, such as posthumous names, temple names, honorific names and reign names. Many people are more familiar with the posthumous names, temple names and reign names, but many people may not be clear about what the honorific name is.

Simply put, the honorific title is the title of ancient emperors, empresses, and empress dowagers when they were alive, also known as emblems.

The title of honor began to appear and become popular in the Tang Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, the emperors may have felt that the title of "emperor" could be used by emperors from ancient times to the present, and it could not reflect their own achievements in literature and martial arts. Therefore, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty began to add words of praise before the word "emperor". After years of development, it was finally formed in the Xuanzong period. After the Tang Dynasty, the titles of honor of emperors became longer and longer. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the feudal autocratic system in China developed to its peak, and the titles of honor of emperors also reached their peak.

The honorific title was a thing used by emperors to highlight their uniqueness. Later, it developed further and the empress and the empress dowager could also be given honorific titles.

For example, "Cixi" was the original title of Empress Dowager Cixi. Whenever there was a national celebration, the number of characters in the title of Empress Dowager Cixi would be increased, and finally it was increased to 16 characters.

Although the honorific title is a title during one's lifetime, it is not mutually exclusive with the posthumous title. After the emperor's death, the honorific title will become part of the posthumous title.

Now Zhu Houzhao is so crazy that he wants to give the King of Jing a title of honor. This is simply too presumptuous.
"Your Majesty, you can't do this. We understand the brotherhood between your Majesty and His Royal Highness the Prince of Jing, but giving a prince a title is unheard of! This is absolutely not feasible," Yang Yiqing said directly.

Other ministers also spoke out against this matter, saying that adding a title of honor was too outrageous.
"Why not? There have been cases in history of giving honorific titles to royal relatives." Zhu Houzhao refused to back down.

As soon as the people present heard this, they knew that Zhu Houzhao had come prepared. Before that, he must have looked up the relevant records of adding honorific titles in the history books.
Everyone didn't know whether what Zhu Houzhao said was true or false. Li Xunxue, the Minister of Rites, thought about it carefully and said, "The records of giving honorific titles to royal relatives are difficult to verify in history, so they cannot be used as a reference. There is really no record of giving honorific titles to royal relatives or princes in this dynasty. Your Majesty, please think twice..."

Zhu Houzhao pondered for a moment after hearing this, "So what you gentlemen mean is that if there is a record of this dynasty granting honorific titles to princes, then I can grant the title to the King of Jing?"

Zhu Houzhao's words made everyone present confused. They thought that if Zhu Houzhao wanted to make this happen, he would definitely use some rogue means like he did just now. They didn't expect that Zhu Houzhao's words now would be so reasonable.

They subconsciously thought that Zhu Houzhao was setting a trap again.
For a moment, no one dared to answer Zhu Houzhao.

"Is that so? If there is a record of our dynasty granting honorific titles to princes, then I can grant honorific titles to the King of Jing?" Zhu Houzhao urged impatiently.

The ministers present were also thinking quickly. Although Zhu Houzhao's words might be a trap, they really couldn't think of what the trap was.
Zhu Houzhao was doomed to fail by saying this, because in the 150 years since the founding of this dynasty, the main theme was to reduce the power of the feudal lords. There were only a few cases of conferring titles on princes, and the titles were not heavy, not to mention giving princes a noble title. If this really happened, it would be a very famous thing.
Therefore, the ministers present thought about it and didn't think that there was a record of the dynasty giving a prince a title. To be on the safe side, they even whispered a few words to each other to confirm that there was nothing missing.
To be honest, this kind of whispered communication is usually considered a breach of etiquette in front of the king, but what happened today has made the ministers unable to care so much.
To their surprise, Zhu Houzhao did not take their behavior seriously at all and still looked confident and well-prepared.
The ministers discussed for a while and confirmed that there was no record of the dynasty giving a prince a title. Although they did not understand where Zhu Houzhao's current confidence came from, they also felt that they were invincible.
If Zhu Houzhao could not produce the record of the dynasty granting honorific titles to princes, then they would have the upper hand in this debate and gain a huge advantage to stop Zhu Houzhao from granting honorific titles to Zhu Houxun. If Zhu Houzhao could really produce the record of the dynasty granting honorific titles to princes, then they would just go with the flow, since the dynasty had such records anyway, and there was an old precedent for granting honorific titles to Zhu Houxun. In this way, even if there were criticisms in the court and among the people, they could not be blamed.
So they think they are invincible.

"If Your Majesty can produce the records of this dynasty granting honorific titles to princes, then we will no longer prevent the granting of honorific titles to the King of Jing." Liang Chu had recovered by now.
Zhu Houzhao nodded, and he looked at the other ministers and asked, "Are you the same?"

Other ministers expressed the same idea as Liang Chu, either directly or hesitantly.
"We have agreed on this!" Zhu Houzhao confirmed again.

The ministers again expressed their agreement.

"Okay, then I will reveal the answer. There is indeed a record of our dynasty giving honorific titles to princes, and there are quite a few of them." Zhu Houzhao said confidently.

Zhu Houzhao's performance made the ministers even more confused. Yang Yiqing said directly: "Your Majesty, we are not talented and learned enough. Please explain it to us clearly."

Zhu Houzhao was even happier. He proudly revealed the answer to the riddle: "King of Korea. Every King of Korea has a title!"

This answer was beyond everyone's expectations and shocked everyone.
"Does the King of Korea have a title?" Everyone present was confused. This was a blind spot in everyone's knowledge. Finally, they all looked at Li Xunxue, the Minister of Rites.
Li Xunxue's face suddenly turned red. As the Minister of Rites, he had never noticed whether the King of Joseon had a title.
"I asked the Korean envoy yesterday, and he told me that the King of Korea has a title," Zhu Houzhao said proudly.

"Your Majesty, we were just talking about this dynasty." Mao Ji said hurriedly.

"Just tell me whether the affairs of Korea are related to our dynasty?" Zhu Houzhao interrupted Mao Ji directly.

Korea was the largest, most respectful, and most closely connected vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. It would be politically incorrect to say that Korea's affairs were not the affairs of the Ming Dynasty, and it might even cause diplomatic disputes.
So Mao Ji was speechless all of a sudden.
"But the King of Korea is not a prince, right?" Jiang Mian asked immediately.

"The King of Korea is not a prince by blood, but the Ming Dynasty and Korea have always been friendly, and the King of Korea is treated as a prince. Every King of Korea is canonized by the dynasty, and the royal seal, clothing, ceremonial guards and other specifications are the same as those of a prince. From these aspects, the King of Korea is a prince of our Ming Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)