Chapter 536: The Great Zhou Emperor Who Continued Heaven's Bright Mandate

On the fifteenth day of the first month in the year 946 CE, the Shangyuan Festival.

Zhang Zhao, who had already accepted the acclamation of the civil and military officials and the people of the Eastern Capital, donned the twelve-tasseled crown and the great fur ceremonial robe for sacrificing to August Heaven, with its dark upper garment and crimson lower skirt, and went out of Kaifeng toward the southern suburbs.

The great fur ceremonial robe is the highest grade of ceremonial robe, its upper garment painted with the six emblems of sun, moon, stars, mountains, dragons, and the pheasant.

The lower skirt is embroidered with the six emblems of pondweed, fire, rice grains, the ritual vessel, the axe, and the fu symbol — twelve emblems in all, hence it is also called the Twelve-Emblem Robe.

Before this, Zhang Zhao had long since ordered men to build an altar in the southern suburbs of Kaifeng, the Eastern Capital, for the first step of founding a state and ascending the throne was to make sacrifice and announce to Heaven and Earth.

By the Tang dynasty, this whole system of heavenly response to following Heaven's will and responding to destiny was already held in the highest esteem.

The emperor styled himself Son of Heaven, so upon ascending the throne he naturally had first to make sacrifice and announcement to Heaven and Earth and to August Heaven.

But into this ritual, Zhang Zhao also added a sacrifice to the Yellow Emperor, Xuanyuan, because the Zhang clan's ancestor Zhang Hui was the grandson of the Yellow Emperor.

The Yellow Emperor's surname was Ji, and the Zhang clan derives from the Ji surname — and Zhang Zhao's choice of Zhou as his dynastic name also came from this.

Sacrificing to the Yellow Emperor signified that Zhang Zhao inherited the legal succession of his ancestral Ji line above, tracing back to his forebears; therefore he practiced the rites of Zhou and took Zhou as his dynastic name, giving it a basis in legal succession.

At the southern-suburb altar, Zhang Zhao in his great fur ceremonial robe performed the kneeling and prostration rites, burning firewood in sacrifice to August Heaven.

Then he went before the spirit tablet of the Yellow Emperor and performed the kowtow rites; after that he returned to his position and once more performed the three kneelings and nine kowtows to the gods of soil and grain, presenting jade and silk.

After this whole set was done, beside it there was a smaller shrine, where sacrifice was made to the Zhang clan's first ancestor Zhang Hui and to Emperor Ku, father of Houji, first ancestor of the Ji surname.

Zhang Hui and Emperor Ku were both grandsons of the Yellow Emperor; the two were full brothers, and one was the first ancestor of the Zhang surname while the other was the first ancestor of the Ji surname.

Sacrificing to the two of them separately was also to consolidate the legitimacy of this Zhang Zhou succeeding the Ji Zhou, and to strengthen the inevitability of his restoring the rites of Zhou and ending the age of chaos.

This whole set of rituals was completed with the assistance of Feng Dao, who was temporarily serving as Chief Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

There was no help for it — the original Chief Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices had been killed by the Khitan, and men like He Ning and Fan Zhi did not come out to contend with Feng Dao; moreover Feng Dao was the leader of the literary way at this time, so it could only be he who presided.

The moment Zhang Zhao finished the sacrifice, Feng Dao immediately shouted out in a great voice.

"The rites are complete! The Son of Heaven of the Great Zhou ascends the imperial throne!"

Hearing that the rites were complete, Zhang Xichong, the de facto Chief Minister, led the hundred civil and military officials, the elders and worthies of the capital's people, and at once began to offer congratulations and dance, calling out "Long live!" three times.

In this moment, Zhang Zhao's substance as emperor was formally completed under the witness of Heaven, Earth, and his distant ancestors.

From this time on, he was the rightful and legitimate emperor of the Central Plains.

After Zhang Zhao accepted the crowd's three cries of "Long live!", under the escort and guidance of the imperial procession, he proceeded to the Imperial Ancestral Temple — here was where his direct-line ancestors received their blood offerings.

In the Imperial Ancestral Temple, Zhang Zhao removed the great fur ceremonial robe and changed into the embroidered ceremonial robe specifically for sacrificing to soil and grain and to the ancestors.

The first matter, and almost the only matter, was to present the precious registers and posthumously enfeoff four generations of ancestors.

Originally Zhang Zhao had not planned to posthumously enfeoff Zhang Yichao, in order to preserve his name as a loyal minister of the Great Tang, but later he discovered that doing it this way had a problem.

Because if Zhang Yichao were not posthumously enfeoffed, then according to the order of Zhang clan holders of power, he could only posthumously enfeoff the second-generation Military Governor of the Guiyi Army — namely Zhang Yichao's nephew, Zhang Huaishen.

But Zhang Huaishen was not Zhang Zhao's direct-line grandfather!

Moreover, Zhang Huaishen had been killed in a coup, a matter that everyone had always kept deeply taboo, because it was extremely likely that Zhang Zhao's grandfather Zhang Huai-ding had taken part in the murder of Zhang Huaishen.

So if Zhang Zhao did not posthumously enfeoff Zhang Yichao, it would be black comedy of the darkest sort — the first to be posthumously enfeoffed would not even be the direct ancestor of the dynasty's founder, and unspeakable matters would be mixed up in it.

And he could not simply refrain from posthumous enfeoffment — the rise of the Shazhou Zhang family and of Zhang Zhao came from the lone loyalists of the northwest, the Guiyi Army; no matter how it was put, Zhang Huaishen was the one who could not be bypassed.

So Zhang Zhao could only abandon the idea of preserving for Zhang Yichao the name of a loyal minister of the Great Tang, and properly and by the rules began posthumously enfeoffing four generations of ancestors.

Among them, the fourth-generation ancestor was Zhang Yichao's father, Zhang Zhao's great-great-grandfather Zhang Qianyi, posthumously enfeoffed as the Filial Emperor of the Yi Ancestral Temple — the temple name Yi and the posthumous name Filial were both fine posthumous names concerning virtue.

As for the life of Zhang Qianyi himself, even the Zhang family no longer knew it very clearly, so they simply piled up fine virtue names and that was enough.

For Zhang Yichao, the great hero who first founded the Zhang family enterprise, Zhang Zhao and his ministers deliberated and settled on the temple name Heng, taking the meaning that "Heng" is when martial power settles the four directions, and when one can fulfill martial ambition.

The posthumous name conferred was: Emperor Who Established the Way, Laid the Foundation, Sagely, Martial, Divinely Accomplished, Heroic, Wise, Perspicacious, Filial, and Settled.

Among these, "Established the Way, Laid the Foundation, Sagely, Martial, Divinely Accomplished, Heroic, Wise, Perspicacious" are the added posthumous names, while "Filial" is the fixed posthumous name.

Only the character "Settled" is the posthumous name proper, taking the meaning that "Settled" is when benevolence can unite the multitude, and when heirs complete the martial achievement.

All of these were praises of Zhang Yichao raising troops to found the enterprise, leading the heroes of Hexi to overthrow the tyranny of the Tibetan nobles, and saving the people of all ethnicities.

As for the second to be posthumously enfeoffed, Zhang Huaishen, his temple name was Ying, taking the meaning that "Ying" is standing out from the crowd, and clear understanding of grand strategy.

Zhang Huaishen himself, as the second-generation Military Governor of the Guiyi Army, after Zhang Yichao went to Chang'an, smoothly stabilized the Guiyi Army's base; among the second generation of the Zhang family at that time, he truly deserved the character Ying.

And the posthumous name Ying had another layer of meaning — this posthumous name also hinted that internal strife had occurred during the emperor's reign.

In history, during the reign of Emperor Yingzong of Yuan there was the Nanpo Incident, and during the reign of Emperor Yingzong of Ming there was the Seizing-the-Gate Incident.

Of course, people of this era could not possibly know of later events, but Zhang Zhao did know, so he insisted on giving Zhang Huaishen the temple name Ying.

Because during his time in power, internal strife within the Zhang family had broken out between him and Zhang Zhao's grandfather Zhang Huai-ding, who was supported by Suo Xun and others; Zhang Huaishen, his wife Lady Chen, and their four sons all perished.

Zhang Huaishen's posthumous name was Huai — "Huai" is when the people remember his kindness, and when one loses his position and dies; his full title was the Great Filial Emperor Huai of the Ying Ancestral Temple, which one could say accurately summarized Zhang Huaishen's life.

As for Zhang Zhao's grandfather Zhang Huai-ding, his temple name was Lie and his posthumous name was Dao, styled the Great Filial Emperor Dao of the Lie Ancestral Temple.

The temple name Lie was mostly used for emperors who recovered the family enterprise but whose founding was limited. Zhang Huai-ding took power back from his cousin Zhang Huaishen, which exactly suited the temple name Lie.

The posthumous name Dao was exactly right for one whose time in power was short and who died young in middle age — styled the Great Filial Emperor Dao of the Lie Ancestral Temple, it exactly suited Zhang Huai-ding, who after recovering his position served only a few years as Military Governor before passing away.

And for Zhang Zhao's father Zhang Chengfeng, the temple name was Yuan and the posthumous name was Su, styled the Great Filial Emperor Su of the Yuan Ancestral Temple — all of which had already been settled by the Empress Dowager of Fengtian.

Yuan was taken from Zhang Chengfeng being the first to call himself Son of Heaven and founding the Western Han Jinshan Kingdom.

Su was also chosen in advance — "Su" is when one executes decisively. Hmm, it was quite fitting; when Zhang Chengfeng established the Jinshan Kingdom, he truly did execute decisively.

With the posthumous enfeoffments complete, the ancestral temple of the Zhang Zhou state was established. Next came the settling of the reign title, and in this regard Zhang Zhao especially wanted to use the reign title Qianyuan.

What a fine term!

Qian has four virtues — Yuan, Heng, Li, Zhen — with the virtue of Yuan at the head, representing the beginning of the Way of Heaven and the inception of all things; the praise says: Great indeed is Qianyuan!

But upon checking he found that the reign title Qianyuan had already been used by that fellow Emperor Suzong of Tang, and he had used it for only three years before changing the reign title.

What a problem! Such a fine reign title, and he didn't cherish it at all — it was as infuriating as those people in later ages online who register a level-one account just to squat on a name.

So Zhang Zhao could only continue choosing from the reign titles that his ministers had deliberated and submitted.

Zhang Zhao even considered using "Mandate of Heaven" — later he thought, setting aside whether it was off-putting or not, this Mandate of Heaven was also far too blunt, with no cultural refinement whatsoever.

In the end, the ministers submitted two reign titles drafted by Xue Juzheng — one was Tianzuo, and the other was Shaoming.

Holy shit, Emperor Tianzuo? The moment Zhang Zhao saw it, he shuddered. Although "Receiving Heaven's Mandate" was indeed a fine phrase, it was even more off-putting than "Mandate of Heaven"!

So Zhang Zhao decisively chose the phrase "Shaoming." "Shaoming" took its meaning from "continuing the bright mandate of Heaven," signifying the receiving of Heaven's command, which also fit perfectly with the banner Zhang Zhao had raised of following Heaven's will and the people's hearts, and restraining oneself to restore propriety.

Moreover, this reign name seemed to have been used only by Vietnam's Ly dynasty over a hundred years later, so at this time it was absolutely a first use.

Thus Zhang Zhao immediately issued an edict, making the year 946 CE the first year of Shaoming of the Great Zhou.

After settling the reign name, the final step was to prepare the three sacrificial animals of pig, ox, and sheep, and perform the Grand Sacrifice to announce to the altars of soil and grain. This was the last step of the suburban announcement rites.

Once this was done, Zhang Zhao changed back into the great fur-lined ceremonial robes, and surrounded by the civil and military officials, escorted and guided by the imperial procession and guards of honor, returned to the Daning Palace, which had been renamed the Qianyuan Palace.

If the series of suburban sacrifices had been Zhang Zhao's family affair and the state affair of the Great Zhou, then upon reaching the Qianyuan Palace, this was the moment the assembled civil and military officials were most excited about.

For whenever a new dynasty was established, there would always be grand enfeoffments of meritorious officials and lavish rewards!

However, Zhang Zhao's founding ceremony simply could not compare to those of the Li Tang or Zhu Ming periods, because he could not afford such a grand spectacle, nor did he have so many professionals.

It could not even compare to that of Zhao Da a dozen or so years later, because by then, after the governance of two Later Zhou emperors, the Central Plains had already become quite prosperous.

But now, the land was still essentially covered in devastation, so things could only be simplified a little.

Perhaps this palace enthronement ceremony was similar to that of Han Gaozu Liu Bang — a crowd of civil and military officials and brothers who had fought for the realm surging joyfully into the palace, then waiting eagerly for high office and rich rewards.

Well, perhaps it was a bit better than Han Gaozu's. At least Zhang Zhao still had the Ceremonial Guard Office set up memorial tablets, the Hanshan Capital armored soldiers serving as stand-in guards arrayed outside the Vermilion Bird Gate, banners and the five imperial carriages displayed, and he had even barely scraped together a full music ensemble capable of performing the refined court music.

After a dazzling series of ceremonies was completed, Zhang Zhao formally took his seat upon the throne in the Fengtian Hall. The assembled officials once more cried out "Long live the Emperor" three times, then presented congratulatory memorials.

After Zhang Zhao received the officials' congratulations, his legal mother, the Fengtian Queen Dowager, his birth mother, the Fengsheng Queen Dowager, and Queen Cao Yanxi arrived.

Zhang Zhao honored his legal mother, Lady Li, the Fengtian Queen Dowager, as the Yingyou Empress Dowager, in gratitude for her protection of him in his childhood.

He honored his birth mother, the Fengsheng Queen Dowager, as the Cisheng Empress Dowager, and established Queen Cao Yanxi as Empress.

Zhang Zhao performed the ritual kneeling obeisance of a son to the two Empress Dowagers, while Empress Cao Yanxi performed the kowtow obeisance to Zhang Zhao. The three then returned to the rear palace.

Afterward, Zhang Zhao grandly enfeoffed the assembled officials. In terms of noble titles, Zhang Zhao abolished the Tang dynasty's founding titles, because those required allotting a certain number of households for income; Zhang Zhao changed them all to annual salaries.

Moreover, he reversed the Great Tang practice of titles being so over-granted that they became worth less than certain honorary offices, and placed great restrictions on noble titles.

He did not establish viscounts or barons, letting the functions of these two ranks be replaced by military rank officials.

Therefore, from earl upward, all were above the regular ranks. For subjects and most imperial princes, enfeoffment stopped at commandery prince and went no higher.

In Zhang Zhao's mind, single-character princely titles were basically all to be enfeoffed outside China.

However, although he abolished the founding titles, Zhang Zhao specially added the four characters "hereditary and irreplaceable."

For titles without these four characters, after the titleholder died, his son could inherit the title as an earl, his grandson would be appointed to a military rank official of the horizontal class or above, and by the great-grandson it would simply be gone. Only "hereditary and irreplaceable" titles could be passed down.

Thus, in terms of military merit, Yan Jin was first, enfeoffed as the hereditary and irreplaceable Duke of Jin, and granted an iron certificate inscribed in cinnabar.

In terms of civil governance, Cao Yuanzhong was first, enfeoffed as the hereditary and irreplaceable Duke of Qiao, and granted an iron certificate inscribed in cinnabar.

Additionally, Zhang Zhao specially enfeoffed Pei Yuan, who had been silently contributing all along and was still holding Liangzhou as rear guard, as the hereditary and irreplaceable Duke of Hedong Commandery.

Next, Bai Congxin became Duke of Kucha Commandery, Yin Yaozi became Duke of Dunhuang Commandery, Ma Yaozi became Duke of Jiuquan Commandery, Ma Shacai became Duke of Zhangye Commandery, Murong Xinzhang, tracing his ancestry back to the Qinghai King Murong Fu, became Duke of Qinghai Commandery, Liu Zaisheng became Duke of Hetian Commandery, Li Cunhui became Duke of Shouchang Commandery, and Cao Yanming became Duke of Ziting Commandery — all hereditary and irreplaceable.

The rest: Guo Tiance became Marquis of Suyab, Man Xiong became Marquis of Changle, Dunzhu became Marquis of Jinchang, Wang Tongxin became Marquis of Wucheng, and so on. Even Feng Dao received a hereditary and irreplaceable Earl of Jingcheng, which could be considered a happy outcome for all.

Afterward, Zhang Zhao held a grand banquet and also bestowed food upon all the people of the Eastern Capital, letting them join in the celebration.

Amid the toasts and drinking where none refused, over a hundred civil and military officials got thoroughly drunk in the palace, yet Zhang Zhao became all the more clear-headed.

Because he knew that although he had taken the most solid step forward, he still had much to do to prevent this nation from sliding, as it had in history, into the conservative atmosphere of the post-Song era.

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