Sichuan's allure was simply too great. Han Tuozhou believed that as long as they could recover Sichuan, the imperial court would never begrudge this price.
Song Qingshu revealed a look of surprise. The other terms had all been within his expectations, but the title of King of Qi was an unexpected delight. Though he was now called the Golden Snake King, everyone in the realm knew that it was merely the title of a bandit chief. No one truly took it seriously.
But the title King of Qi was entirely different. In China's system of princely titles, single-character titles were far more prestigious than two-character ones. Among the single-character titles, Qin, Jin, Qi, and Chu were generally considered the most honorable. Due to historical reasons, the Song Dynasty would never bestow the titles Song, Zhao, Liang, or Shou upon anyone, making King of Qi unquestionably one of the most prestigious princely titles.
The reason it was Qi rather than Qin was mainly because the territories Song Qingshu now controlled were Shandong and Jianghuai, which roughly corresponded to the State of Qi's territory during the Spring and Autumn period. Thus, King of Qi was more fitting.
In this world, legitimacy was more important than anything else. With the title King of Qi, Song Qingshu would possess a righteous name. He would no longer be some bandit leader, and attracting talented Han Chinese would become immeasurably easier.
As for whether accepting the Song Dynasty's Imperial Edict of Appointment would cause others to regard him as a subject of the Song Dynasty, that was not something he needed to consider at this stage. Once his power became strong enough in the future, a reversal of host and guest would be perfectly normal.
What deserved more consideration was that accepting the Song Dynasty's appointment