Song Qingshu was still brimming with excitement when Chen Ziqiang, the Minister of Finance beside him, said with a smile, "Young Master Song, when it comes down to it, you ought to thank Prime Minister Han for this matter."
Seeing Song Qingshu's confusion, Wu Qian explained from the side, "Originally, His Majesty only intended to grant you the title of Prince of Langya. It was only because Prime Minister Han fought strongly for you that His Majesty decided to elevate the princely rank."
Song Qingshu's brow twitched. From Prince of Langya to prince of Qi—how was that merely an elevation of one rank? The title of prince of a commandery was lower than that of a prince, and princely titles themselves were divided into two kinds. One used the names of commanderies and counties, what people commonly called two-character princely titles, such as King of Hailing, King of Lanling, and King of Fufeng. The other used the names of states, what people commonly called one-character princely titles.
Among the one-character kings, the four titles "Prince of Jin, King of Qin, King of Qi, and King of Chu" were generally the most prestigious. Of them, Prince of Jin ranked highest, because the states represented by those four titles had been the strongest during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. The next tier included "Zhou, Lu, Zhao, Wei, Liang, Yan, Dai, Han, Song, Wu, Yue," and so on. For reasons of its own, the Song dynasty specially reserved the title Prince of Song and would never grant it to anyone.
Though King of Qi ranked only third among princely titles, it was already an exceptionally lofty rank. Moreover, the territory under Song Qingshu's control happened to resemble the former State of Qi, making King of Qi the most fitting title