The wedding of Xiang Xiaoqiang and Zhu Yourong is scheduled for April 26. But before that, there will be a canonization ceremony, which is to confer the title of prince to Xiang Xiaoqiang. This must be held before the wedding, because the queen must marry a prince.
, rather than marrying a marquis.
Regarding Xiang Xiaoqiang's princely title, several ministers and experts on royal affairs had a heated discussion at all levels. Most of the titles given to kings in the Ming Empire were based on place names, such as King of Shu, King of Chu, King of Yan, and King of Ning.
One type. But this type of title is mainly given to royal family members, and is the title of a king with the same surname. There is also a relatively rare kind, that is, a king with a different surname. The titles of kings with different surnames generally do not use place names, but are based on the person.
For a person's meritorious deeds, one or two characters, or two or three characters, are used as a title, which is similar to a "temple title".
Xiang Xiaoqiang's achievements are naturally numerous. Among them, there are two relatively big ones. One is that he made a major contribution to the Ming Dynasty's acquisition of Sumatra Island, the Strait of Malacca, and the three major naval ports in Nanyang; the other is the elimination of the Nanming Dynasty.
The Northern Qing Dynasty made great contributions to the unification of China. These two are indeed "national" contributions. Although he is not necessarily crowned king because of these two things, he is now crowned king because he married the queen. These two things are combined
When achievements are used as a reference for titles, there is no ambiguity at all.
So, some people proposed to be called "King of Jingnan", some people proposed to be called "King of Suobei", and some people proposed to be called "King of Pingnan"... In the end, there was a stalemate, and everyone gave Wei Zijin the titles they proposed.
, and asked her to present it to Her Majesty the Queen for inspection, and Her Majesty the Queen would make the decision to choose one. After a while, Wei Zijin came back and brought her Majesty the Queen's decree.
Wei Zijin said:
"My lords, Your Majesty has said that Xiang Qing is a gift from God to the Ming Dynasty. He has made more than one or two major contributions to the Ming Dynasty. If you use one of the achievements alone to draw up the title, it will always be biased. At the end of 1935,
When the Ming Empire was in turmoil, Xiang Qing stood out and helped the Ming Dynasty in crisis... Why not call him 'King Fu Ming'. The word 'Fu Ming' finally covers Xiang Qing's contribution to the Ming Dynasty."
Several ministers really didn't think of the title "King Fuming". The praise of the word "Fuming" is much higher than that of "Jingnan", "Pingnan", "Saobei" and so on. In
In the eyes of several people, it was obvious that Her Majesty the Queen favored Xiang Xiaoqiang and praised him to the sky. However, the issue of title closure is not a matter of principle. Since Her Majesty likes it, let's do it.
Therefore, Xiang Xiaoqiang's prince title was decided, and he was called "Prince Fuming".
On April 24, the prince canonization ceremony was held. Before Xiang Xiaoqiang married Zhu Yourong home, he first became a prince. Qiuqiu, Xiuxiu, and Shi Shigege were also canonized as princesses. Shang Xiaojun
As the princess and the adoptive mother of the princess, she was also canonized as a first-class wife on this occasion. A "hanging ceremony" was also held in front of the Xiang Mansion. Because it is a Western-style building, Chinese-style plaques cannot be hung, so a bronze plaque was set on the rock at the door.
, there are four big characters on it: Prince Fuming’s Mansion.
That night, a large banquet was held at the palace, inviting all the civil servants and generals of the Ming Dynasty. This was also the previous tradition. After the previous few who married the queen were canonized as princes, they would hold banquets in the palace, and the main people in the capital
The civil and military ministers all went to congratulate. There was also an "interview ceremony" before the dinner. The ministers and generals, who were listed as ministers, also had to meet with the prince one by one as ministers. This was also a symbolic ceremony of changing roles. From the former "
The relationship of "fellow ministers and ministers" was transformed into the relationship of "master and ministers".
Before the audience ceremony began, Xiang Xiaoqiang was both nervous and satisfied. What was satisfying was that all the cabinet ministers, generals of the headquarters, and respected old men all became his ministers immediately. Isn’t this very satisfying! Nervous What's strange is that there are many people among them whom I have always respected, or who are quite afraid. These people are much older and more qualified than me, such as Tang Yunsheng and Shen Rongxuan. Now I am a young man. As a young man, as a prince, he accepted their submission and came to court. He felt somewhat like being "roasted on the fire".
Wei Zijin had almost become Xiang Xiaoqiang's secretary at this time, holding a large folder and teaching Xiang Xiaoqiang various things to pay attention to. Seeing that her husband had become a prince, Qiu Qiu and Xiu Xiu were so happy that they were beside them. No longer close.
"Your Majesty, please remember," Wei Zijin said, "In formal occasions, you cannot say 'I', but say 'lone'... In addition, you must also pay attention to the difference between 'lone' and 'little person', as well as this The usage of the two words in different situations and contexts... In the most advanced formal situations, you must call yourself 'lone'. In lower-level situations, such as meeting ministers, informal conversations with ministers or civilians , you can humbly call me a 'little man'..."
"Alas..." Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled, picked up a cigarette and smoked it, shook his head and said with a smile, "I'm really not used to this thing... How can I get used to it!"
"You are the prince now," Wei Zijin looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang with an expressionless face, but there was a sense of doubt in his brows, "These are the most basic etiquette. Following these most basic etiquette, not only will these It represents your identity and is also your responsibility. For example, this is an informal occasion, but because the slave is present, the prince must at least call yourself 'the widow' and cannot call yourself 'I'. If the slave is not present and only the wife is present, you can I call myself 'I'."
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:
"I see that when Your Majesty talks to you, he always talks about 'I'. Why don't you correct me?"
Xiuxiu smiled beside her, gently tugged on the corner of Xiang Xiaoqiang's clothes, and said with a smile:
"Your Majesty...Sister Wei, this is for your sake...You have just become a prince, can you compare with His Majesty? Your Majesty has been the emperor for several years, so he has already become familiar with what he calls himself on any occasion. At least he is familiar with it. You can ensure that you don’t make mistakes in formal occasions, but it doesn’t hurt to be casual occasionally in private... You haven’t developed these etiquette habits yet. If you follow His Majesty’s example of being so casual now, can you ensure that you don’t make mistakes in formal occasions? Haha... So, you’d better practice first..."
Wei Zijin was already speechless by Xiang Xiaoqiang's question. His face turned red and he was speechless. But now he was relieved by Xiu Xiu's few jokes. He coughed lightly, nodded and said:
"Well, what the princess said is absolutely true, and this is exactly the slave's intention."
Finally, the audience ceremony began. Xiang Xiaoqiang sat upright in the hall, waiting for the civil servants to be the first to appear.
Shen Rongxuan led all the cabinet ministers in.
Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at the ministers standing below the steps, especially at the leader Shen Rongxuan, and was filled with emotion. He thought that when he first came to Ming Dynasty, on the night of the Dongchang meeting, he was a poor and poor person at the bottom. Xiao Xiami tried every possible means to curry favor with Shen Rongxuan, the director of the Shangdong Factory. But just over two years later, he had become the prince and prince of the Ming Empire, while Shen Rongxuan had also risen through the ranks and became the chief minister. Minister, but after all, I want to call him "Gu", and he wants to call me "Chen".
This feeling is satisfying, but it always makes Xiang Xiaoqiang feel uneasy.
Shen Rongxuan looked up at Xiang Xiaoqiang, their eyes facing each other. Shen Rongxuan looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang like this, and he must have been filled with emotions at this moment. Shen Rongxuan stared at him for a moment, then took off his hat, put it on his chest, and bent down Bowed and said in a deep voice:
"Your Highness, Shen Rongxuan, pays homage to His Highness Prince Fuming. His Highness is a thousand years old!"
Immediately afterwards, a large group of ministers behind him also took off their hats, placed them on their chests, bent down and bowed to Xiaoqiang, and said in unison:
"Your Majesty - so-and-so, pays homage to His Highness King Fuming. His Highness is a thousand years old!"