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This book describes the thrilling story of Kang Youwei's escape from the capital and his journey to Japan when the 1898 Coup of 18 broke out. The story is gripping. Taking Kang Youwei's whereabouts as a clue, historical figures such as Cixi, Guangxu, Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, and even Japanese politicians and party leaders all appear in person, each with their own characteristics. Kang Youwei in the book has both a generous and tragic song in the year of 1898, running for the country and taking risks with his life, and also a cowardly character in King Qin's uprising in the Gengzi year, which led to the collapse of King Qin's uprising. It shows Kang Youwei's complex and changeable character and colorful life history in a specific era. At the same time, there are also wonderful descriptions and portrayals of people with lofty ideals such as Liang Qichao, Tan Sitong, and Tang Cichang who loyally followed Kang Youwei.

This is a highly concentrated history, which contains almost all the elements of the reform movement: power struggles, radical changes in right and wrong, system design, faces of loyalists and traitors, the world's moral principles, and of course, lessons learned. Who killed this reform? What did Wang Anshi do wrong? Reform is an eternal proposition, and Wang Anshi's reform will always serve as a warning to future generations. This book tells history in vernacular, deeply deciphers the causes and consequences of Wang Anshi's reform, and reveals the secrets of the struggle for power in the Northern Song Dynasty. It peels off the cocoons, analyzes layer by layer, eliminates the false and retains the true, and vividly presents the changes in the Northern Song Dynasty before our eyes.