Bringing Peace to the Later Zhou Under Emperor Gaozong

It's a great read, fulfilling many people's lingering regrets. If the Later Zhou Dynasty had had a mature monarch, and if the Chenqiao Mutiny hadn't happened, could they have recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun after three generations of diligent governance and decades of hard work? Could they have avoided the large-scale bloodshed that followed? It's a high-quality book, written with a solid foundation of knowledge, a rare find in historical fiction.

It reads quite meticulously, at a leisurely pace; the literature of the Five Dynasties period is also improving, with some good authors emerging.

Liu Chengyou, one of the most tragic emperors in history, was clearly not a foolish ruler, yet he ruined the future of his country and his own life in the manner of a foolish ruler.

It was too short; I wasn't satisfied. Although there was a lot of buildup, it was detailed enough.

This is a very promising book; its perspective and approach are quite novel, and it's worth reading.