Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"Has the renovation plan for the Imperial Temple been completed?"

"Please tell me more, sir."

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youjian said casually.

He didn't know why Qian Qianyi requested an audience, but he still gave him a chance to meet alone.

When Qian Qianyi heard the word "Mr.", his heart trembled. He realized that he still had some status in the eyes of the emperor.

The emperor always addressed his respected subjects as "Sir".

He got this title after he revised "On Eternal Property" according to the emperor's request.

However, compared to Liu Zongzhou who was always respectfully addressed as "Sir", he, like other ministers, was sometimes called "Sir" and sometimes "Qingjia" by the emperor.

Everything depends on whether it is in line with the emperor's wishes.

Therefore, he still had some status in the emperor's heart, but it was not high, at least not comparable to someone like Liu Zongzhou.

This was the thing that he was most unwilling to accept, and it made him determined to improve his status in the academic world.

Qian Qianyi, who was determined to support the emperor academically, responded to the emperor:
"I, the ministers, the officials of the Taichang Temple and the Ministry of Rites have gathered together to determine the renovation plan for the main hall of the Imperial Temple."

"As your majesty said, we should offer sacrifices to the founding emperor who made great contributions to China."

"In a temple, there is a deity but no statue, only a corresponding deity position."

"The three emperors are in the center, Fuxi, Shennong, and Huangdi. The five emperors are in the left niche, Shaohao, Zhuanxu, Diku, Yao, and Shun."

"The first niche on the right is for the four kings of the three ancient dynasties, King Yu of Xia, King Tang of Shang, King Wen of Zhou, and King Wu of Zhou. The second niche on the right is for the monarchs of the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties, Emperor Gaozu of Sui, Emperor Taizong of Tang, and Emperor Taizu of Song."

"There is no dispute about the above four rooms."

"Only the second left niche added the tablets of Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han, and changed Han Gaozu's name to Han Gaodi, which some officials of the Taichang Temple slightly objected to."

"Since the Imperial Temple is called a temple, I think it should be called by its temple name."

"Emperor Gao of Han was renamed Emperor Taizu of Han, Emperor Wu of Han was renamed Emperor Shizong of Han, and Emperor Guangwu of Han was renamed Emperor Shizu of Han."

This was a suggestion made by some ministers, who believed that since it was in the Imperial Temple, it should be called by the temple name.

After hearing this, Zhu Youjian felt very uncomfortable.

Because he was used to being called Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Guangwu of Han, and even Emperor Gaozu of Han was called Emperor Gaozu of Han. Changing all of them to temple names would be inappropriate.

So, he thought about the titles of other emperors in the main hall of the Imperial Temple and said:

"There is nothing wrong with calling King Wen and King Wu of Zhou by their posthumous titles."

"During the Han Dynasty, the posthumous title system was still strict, and people could be referred to by their posthumous titles."

The collapse of the posthumous name system began in the Tang Dynasty. Before that, emperors were mostly referred to by their posthumous names.

For example, Emperor Gaozu of Sui, Yang Jian, was better known as Emperor Wen of Sui. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that emperors abused posthumous titles and began to call emperors by temple names.

Qian Qianyi obviously knew this, but when officials from the Taichang Temple raised some opinions, he had to give feedback to the emperor.

"Having said that, the Han dynasty actually placed more emphasis on temple names."

"Of the twenty-eight emperors of the Han Dynasty, only seven had temple names."

"If we call it by its temple name, it will seem more honorable."

Zhu Youjian was too lazy to bother with these details and decided:

"The deities in the imperial temples all have their full names written on them."

"The so-called Han Wu and Guangwu are just abbreviations that have been commonly accepted. There is nothing wrong with them."

"Of course, the abbreviations of Han Taizu, Han Shizong, and Han Shizu are also good. Temple names are allowed."

“But because people are not familiar with it, it is only used as a secondary abbreviation.”

Use the method of compromise to resolve this dispute.

Although this did not actually change anything, it gave Qian Qianyi enough face.

Let him know that the emperor was in a good mood, and continued: "In addition to the main hall of the Imperial Temple, we have discussed adding four side halls."

"The left first hall is used to worship the orthodox emperors of all dynasties, including the orthodox emperors of the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Han, Western Jin, Tang, and Song dynasties. There is one room for each of the three dynasties and the Han, Jin, Tang, and Song dynasties."

"The first hall on the right is used to worship the emperors who ruled a certain area when the orthodoxy was weak or even unruly, such as the emperors of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the wars at the end of the Qin Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty, the Southern and Northern Dynasties of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms at the end of the Tang Dynasty. Anyone who has merit can enjoy the worship, one room for each period."

"The second hall on the left is dedicated to famous officials of all dynasties. Currently, there are 32 officials enshrined in the hall, and they are also divided into rooms according to dynasties."

"The second hall on the right is used to worship the emperors who are half Chinese and half foreign, and their meritorious ministers. It is divided into rooms according to the Northern Dynasties, Liao, Jin, Yuan, etc."

A drawing was presented, showing the layout of the Imperial Temple after the renovation.

Such a direct image made it clear to Zhu Youjian at a glance, and he praised it.

"You have thought it through so thoroughly. You really put a lot of effort into it."

"Write down the names of the participants and reward them according to their achievements after completion."

"Sir, you should also write an article to record the process of rebuilding the Imperial Temple this time. Put up a monument in the Imperial Temple and engrave the list of participants on the back."

"From now on, the common people will be allowed to go to the Imperial Temple to worship, and the meritorious monarchs and ministers in the temple will be allowed to receive incense and sacrifices."

"The Taichang Temple will find a way to manage this aspect."

When Qian Qianyi heard this, he was really overjoyed.

The emperor asked him to write an article for the reconstruction of the Imperial Temple and to erect a stele in the temple, which would undoubtedly allow him to leave his name there.

The list of participants was also drawn up by him, which gave him the power to win over others.

As long as the Imperial Temple is rebuilt, it will be the stepping stone for him to rise to the top.

So even though he disagreed with the emperor's decision to allow common people to visit the Imperial Temple, he agreed without hesitation:

If you miss this opportunity to share the names of our ancestors, you will never have it.

At this time, he was glad that he was the Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Although this position was only one of the Nine Minor Ministers and was previously considered a nominal position, he was able to leave his name in the Imperial Temple today by holding the position of Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Of course, what he hoped more was to be able to be worshipped in the Hall of Famous Ministers in the Imperial Temple one day in the future based on his own merits, which would require great achievements.

This made him determined:

"The other day, your Majesty was talking about the division of ancient times. He said that the ancient times used stone tools and pottery, the ancient Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors used bronze tools, the ancient Three Dynasties used bronze tools and jade tools, and the Middle Ages used iron tools."

"I have made some progress. After the On Constant Property, I have written a new article, On Weapons."

"Your Majesty, please give me some advice!"

He first presented the "Theory of Weapons", which he had written with great effort, to the emperor.

This is what he heard when he was communicating with Bi Maokang a few days ago. He wrote it after pondering the emperor's words. When the emperor read it, he explained:

"The Minister of Arms, Bi Shumi, once said: What the barbarians fear most about China is firearms."

"They believed that firearms were the basis for China's victory over the barbarians."

"But before the Ming Dynasty, there were few firearms. How did they defeat the barbarians? I think they must have used other weapons."

"Stone tools, bronze tools, and iron tools can all be used as weapons."

"China was the first to use these weapons, so it was able to defeat the surrounding barbarians."

"Until the time of the pre-Song dynasty, ironware was not only owned by China, but also by Liao, Jin, Xixia and other places."

“Therefore, China went from being strong in the Middle Ages to declining in the recent past, and was even destroyed by the Mongols.”

"It was not until Taizu used firearms to drive out the barbarians that China became strong again."

"Your Majesty innovated firearms and revived the military might of the Ming Dynasty."

Closely following the theme of weapons, it praises the current emperor. (End of this chapter)