1. The author does have an appreciation for Zhao Kuangyin. As the founding monarch who ranks high in history, even Mao Zedong cited Emperor Qin, Han Wu, and Tang Zong and Song Zu as his lyrics. There is no reason to deliberately belittle and smear him.
The successor is unworthy. Many people blame Zhao Kuangyin for the subsequent development of the Song Dynasty. This is not objective and fair.
What kind of era the Five Dynasties was, and how cruel the disasters of feudal towns were, everyone who has read that period of history should have some idea. Zhao Kuangyin was able to eliminate old disadvantages and flatten other countries. His historical status and achievements cannot be erased.
Taking away military power and centralizing power is also the right direction. There is nothing wrong with it. As for overcorrecting, isn't it the right thing to do?
As for the army of the Song Dynasty, during the Zhao Kuangyin dynasty and even in the early days of Zhao Guangyi, they could be described as strong troops. Otherwise, how could some weak brigades conquer the world? In the early Song Dynasty, were there any shortage of famous generals?
Although some causes of trouble have been laid since Zhao Kuangyin, I personally think that the flaws cannot cover up the flaws.
Oppressing orphans and widowed mothers, and gaining the country unfairly may be a black spot, but being on the cusp of history, there is nothing wrong with Dai Zhou's choice.
Personally, I think that so many people despise this, not because they sympathize with the orphan and the widowed mother, but because they feel pity for Chai Rong. After all, many people have said what would have happened if Chai Rong had lived a few more years, which shows their regret for his early death.
But there are no ifs in history. The author wrote this book to make up for his regrets about this period of history through imagination. Let me tell you something, at first, I wanted to write about Chai Rong, and I also thought it was a pity that Chai Rong died early.
2. Some readers feel that the progress of this book is too slow. It has already reached 2 million words and has not yet dominated the world. This is a problem with the pace of the book. I filled in too much other content and lost a lot of words.
However, according to the timeline in the book, the process of unifying the world in the 11 years since the founding of the Han Dynasty, and reaching the point of destroying Shu, is really not slow, or even a little fast.
You know, with the foundation laid in the next ten years, it took Zhao Kuangyin 13 years to basically pacify the south.
Some people compare the protagonist with Chai Rong. I can only say that Chai Rong can be called a wise king and a heroic hero. But is it unfair to compare his achievements with the author's "son" Liu Chengyou?
Moreover, have you really carefully compared the historical development in the book with the official history?
Chai Rong could conquer Jinyang in the north, capture Qin and Feng in the west, pacify Huainan in the south, and then attack Youzhou in the north within a few years. Guo Wei's three years of foundation building were very important.
If he were in the plane, Liu Zhiyuan could also lay a three-year foundation for Liu Chengyou. After extrapolation, would it be similar to the current development? It’s just that the protagonist in the book spends his own time developing and reforming.
As for following the historical development path, aren’t the tested choices worth learning from?
Historical deductions have their inevitability and contingency, and strategic choices also have their similarities. The strategy of first south and then north was decided, and combined with the national conditions and situation in the book, there are traces to follow from Huainan, to Qinfeng, and then to Jinghu.
If, in order to be surprising and not to be similar to history, we change the order of the fight, for example, take Huainan first, then Jinghu, and then Sichuan and Shu, wouldn't you think it's awkward?
Of course, it would not necessarily be impossible if I invented some historical circumstances, such as civil strife in the Southern Tang Dynasty, peasant uprisings, etc., to create opportunities for the protagonist to destroy the Tang Dynasty.
That would be a different approach, but it is not what I want to write, it is based on the imagination and deduction of official history.
Well, that’s all for now. As the same saying goes, benevolent people have different opinions and wise people have different opinions. No matter how you look at it, just keep your opinions.
