Posthumous titles are something that people of later generations simply can’t understand what’s so controversial about them. But in fact, this thing is a very serious issue in any dynasty.
Lin Yutong's mind was spinning, thinking about what to do about this matter. This is really not something you can just talk about and retaliate at will!
Because each dynasty has legal provisions on this, and it also has complete rules and regulations. The Zhou rites have been continued forever. If the rites are wrong, it violates the rules and regulations. It is like the "Posthumous Law" mentioned in later generations.
, its full name is "Yi Zhou Shu·Posthumous Law Interpretation". Throughout the dynasties, you can't violate this when formulating a posthumous title! People have stipulated that, "It is said that if you are diligent in learning, inquiring, and knowledgeable, the posthumous title can be called Wen"
; And he is knowledgeable, versatile, intelligent and wise, which can be said to be Xian.
This is how it is prescribed for you.
There is another saying in "The Book of Rites and Justice", which says: The posthumous person lists his virtues in his life, in order to give him a good name.
In the Tang Dynasty, since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, there has been a provision in the "Liu Dian of the Tang Dynasty", which states that any posthumous title for a prince or above will be commended and criticized based on his merits.
Ordinary officials, who are of third rank or above, are required to be given a posthumous title after their death.
This is also the law!
In today's dynasty where people are said to be rude if they sit in the wrong posture, then do you think the posthumous title is important?
In fact, this was not only the case before the Tang and Tang Dynasties, but also the subsequent dynasties were almost the same. For example, Song Renzong wanted to give his teacher a better posthumous title, but the etiquette officials disagreed. He said that his teacher was a villain, and the officials wanted to
Giving a good posthumous title is the emperor's personal favor, and what is corrupted is the court's laws. And people say that the person who is given the posthumous title has official duties! What does it mean? It means that the posthumous title is drafted, and relevant people are drafted, and the emperor has the final choice.
Right, no right to formulate.
In other words, the posthumous title requires everyone to publicly comment on the person's merits and demerits, rather than the emperor's final word!
There was really no other way. Song Renzong wanted to drag it out, but no one in the court agreed. Sima Guang continued to make excuses, each time more intense, criticizing Song Renzong's actions in this matter. In the end, Song Renzong wanted to use
'Wenzheng' was useless, and he chose a posthumous title like 'Wenzhuang' which did not include praise or criticism. The minister only said: Let's leave it like that!
The emperor took a step back, but in exchange the ministers reluctantly accepted it, and a posthumous title dispute in the court was settled.
Not to mention the dynasty where Song Renzong was a wise king, just like Song Huizong, he did not dare to mess around in this matter. For example, when Li Qingzhao’s father-in-law, who was the prime minister, passed away, Song Huizong went to pay homage in person. Li Qingzhao’s mother-in-law came
Before, I said that I wanted to ask for three things. The first thing I asked for was: I hope that the posthumous title of the deceased would be given the word '正'.
It is very common for scholar-bureaucrats to have the word "文" in their posthumous titles, but the Zhao family always uses the word "正" when speaking. Doesn't it add up to "Wen Zheng"?
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty did not dare to agree, so he just declined and said: "We will wait and see."
I don’t dare to be arbitrary about this matter, and we will discuss it later. In fact, I declined it politely!
Even in the Qing Dynasty, posthumous titles were very serious matters. For example, when the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, they gave the posthumous title to Emperor Chongzhen. At that time, Li Zicheng really didn’t understand this, so he didn’t give Chongzhen the posthumous title. What about Dorgon? He
He was given a "Huaizong" and asked to be reburied properly, and the actor cried for three days before completing this political show. Later, after entering the customs for a long time, Emperor Shunzhi understood the Han people's books and felt that Dole
What Gon did was wrong, and he issued an order specifically for this purpose and canceled the previous account.
Lin Yutong's mind was racing. That is to say, from this perspective, you can't say that the Ministry of Etiquette is wrong!
Besides, is this just a matter of the Ministry of Rites? Regarding the posthumous title, Taichang Temple said that it was given to "Miao". Considering what Xu Jingzong did in his life, is it wrong to give it?
If you are fair-minded and don't think about this issue blindly from the perspective of Empress Wu, it is not wrong for people to use "Miao" to evaluate Xu Jingzong's life. He violated the law and took his first wife's maid as his stepmother. No.
Raise the son of your first wife well. The son had an affair with his step-in-law, exiled his own son and caused his death. He accepted a large sum of money from a foreigner in the South and married his daughter to him. This is no different from selling his daughter. As a minister,
It's not that he has no talent, but that he has poor moral character. Which one was right for him to seek refuge with Empress Wu, create unjust cases, and tamper with history books? In his later years, the mansion kept hundreds of prostitutes and built pavilions and pavilions specifically for the prostitutes to live and play.
, arrogance, extravagance and lewdness occupy a whole.
So, is it wrong to give a ‘Miao’?
Moreover, this word cannot be decided by one person. This needs to be discussed publicly by officials of the fifth rank or above in the court!
What does this mean? It means that there are many officials who are dissatisfied with this person. It also shows that 80% to 90% of officials above the fifth rank in the court do not support Empress Wu.
This is not a matter of loyalty. What is reflected in this is too dangerous.
What Lin Yutong is thinking now is that if he really wants to be stable, he has to get his mentality right. He can't just look at the courtiers who are not good here and there. In fact, from another perspective, there are so many fifth-grade officials in the court who are just looking for trouble.
?
No! During Li Shimin's reign, there were two principles in the court: first, the official conduct should be clean and upright; first, the public should be open to public opinion.
A clean official style means zero tolerance for certain people and certain behaviors. Therefore, during Li Shimin's reign, even though Xu Jingzong was one of the eighteen bachelors, he was never promoted or reused.
The way of speech is wide open, that is, in the court, you can say whatever you want and whatever you think. You are allowed to speak, you are allowed to speak, and you can speak if it makes sense.
Such a trend cannot be dissipated instantly by changing the emperor, and they also have their own persistence. Xu Jingzong is just wrong, why don't you let him say it? I think it is wrong, so I will give advice. Am I wrong?
Li Zhi postponed the posthumous title because he wanted to avoid conflicts between the queen and the courtiers.
But if this matter is not resolved, it will not be considered a turning point!
At this moment, Li Zhi was still speechless. He turned to look at Tongtong, "Anding, what do you think?"
I said? What did I say?
Lin Yutong looked at Dai Zhide, and Dai Zhide also looked at Lin Yutong in surprise. After the two looked at each other, Dai Zhide silently lowered his eyelids to show respect.
Lin Yutong said, "A posthumous title is a sign of deeds; a title is a sign of merit. When people come to this world and stand between heaven and earth, they can live as they please. This is everyone's freedom. There are limits to freedom, except
In addition to legal constraints, there must also be moral constraints. In other words, can his behavior in his life withstand the criticism of others? The bigger the official position, the more people dare not criticize him. This is why he has a posthumous title! During his lifetime,
No one said that there will still be infamy after death. This is to supplement a group that may not be restrained by law and morality. This is the original intention of establishing the posthumous law."
Dai Zhide was stunned for a moment and glanced at the Princess Protector in surprise. What she said was fair.
"The posthumous method is to encourage good and forbid evil! Good people should have good posthumous names, and evil people should have evil posthumous names. We should let the world know that even after death, the name will always exist." Lin Yutong said, "Since
After mentioning the posthumous title, don't delay it. Decide who should be invited. Then call and go to the palace to discuss it. Today's matter will be finished today!" After saying that, he looked at Li Zhi and said, "What do you think?"
Li Zhi looked at Liu Ren and said, "Go and do it."
Lin Yutong whispered to Li Zhi, "I'm going to invite the queen mother."
good!
As agreed here, we have to go to Empress Wu, and we have to tell her about this in advance.
When I went there, Empress Wu was reviewing the papers, and Ming Chongyan was helping to sort them out. Seeing Lin Yutong coming, she didn't avoid it.
Empress Wu pointed to the place next to her, "What happened again?"
Lin Yutong explained the matter, "...Mother, right and wrong, merits and demerits are not things we can avoid without talking about them! The matter itself is not big, what is big is the opposition of so many scholars and officials at the top and bottom. Just blindly.
You are partial to Xu Jingzong, and the result is that you stand on the opposite side of so many people. This is not a good thing for you or the court! What I mean is not to expand it! It depends solely on what Xu Jingzong did in the officialdom throughout his life.
Posthumous title."
Empress Wu put down her pen, and she felt that this was a crisis! If it was not handled well, it would be a big crisis! Up and down, 80% of the people above the fifth rank were against her, which would affect the access to political affairs. If this is the case
, the saint also has to consider the consequences of this matter.
Therefore, what Tong'er means is that you have to take a step back! You can't fight if you are right or if you are wrong. If this is the case, there will only be more people who oppose it.
Empress Wu pondered for a moment, then stood up and said, "Let's go!"
The fifth-rank officials in the capital gathered together, as if they were not surprised by the appearance of Empress Wu, but they still looked at Lin Yutong who came in immediately, until Lin Yutong stood behind the saint.
At this time, behind the saint is the princess protecting the country. On both sides of the saint, the queen sits on one side and the prince sits on the other.
Empress Wu looked down and said, "If we want to achieve great governance in the world, we need to be able to distinguish between good and evil, and be able to perfect the way of encouragement and punishment. Encourage people to do good and reward their good deeds; persuade them not to do evil, and we need to punish them."
Evil deeds. If evil can be punished and good be promoted, everyone in the world will be happy to do good and everyone will be afraid to do evil. The court should be a role model for the people. And everyone in the court should also know that no matter how severe the punishment is, it can only wake people up for a while;
No matter how great the reward is, future generations will never know it. Only the names of honor and disgrace, and the posthumous titles of good and evil, can be immortalized in future generations. This is how the name will last forever even though the body dies!"
The minister standing below thought she would carry him to death, but she retreated, speaking with great righteousness.
So what's the matter? Just give 'Miao'?
The prince looked at the Minister of Rites and asked, "Where is the Ministry of Rites? What do you think?"
The Minister of Rites is Yang Sijing. He is married to Princess Anping, the daughter of Li Yuan. He has a close relationship with the royal family. Yang Sijing knew what the prince meant when he said this. What the prince meant was: the queen took a step back.
The courtiers should also take a step back.
Therefore, he suggested, "It is better to use 'Gong' as a posthumous title."
Lin Yutong glanced at this person and nodded inwardly. This person responded quickly.
Gong, this word is a little nicer than 'Miao'. However, the note on this word in the "Posthumous Law" is: If you know your mistake, you can change it to Gong!
If you know your mistakes and can correct them, don't you still say he is wrong?
Not only can we take into account everyone's attitude and position of being dissatisfied with Xu Jingzong, but it can also be regarded as giving Empress Wu and the Prince some face. It's a compromise!
No one objects! After all, Xu Jingzong was not always wrong in his life. For example, when he came down from Wagang to join the Tang Dynasty and participated in the Xuanwu Gate Incident, was it also Miao's fault?
This word "gong" is relatively objective.
So Li Zhi asked someone to draft an edict, and Xu Jingzong was given the posthumous title of "Gong"!
Only then did I turn over this article.
After the dynasty was dismissed, everyone who deserved the news got the news. The Princess Protector stayed in the imperial court, spoke and acted in a clear-minded manner, and was extraordinary! In court affairs, her attitude and opinions should still be taken seriously!