The Wanli Emperor Has Arrived

Empress Dowager Li's status wasn't that high; the novel exaggerates it. According to the History of Ming, when Wanli Emperor dined with his stepmother, Empress Dowager Li would serve him food from the sidelines.

Rant: It's not good to write royal fairy tales in China, especially not Snow White. It's like the emperor is about to cause trouble. Princess, stepmother, queen, poisoned apple—what are you trying to do? I've never really liked telling stories or writing novels set in ancient times. Firstly, these things weren't considered respectable back then, and secondly, the stories I chose were terrible.

The first few dozen chapters are a bit bland, with somewhat verbose internal monologues, but it gets really exciting after a few dozen chapters. The political infighting reminds me of the old TV series "Officialdom of the First Rank," and the plot is quite reasonable.

The first two chapters already portray Zhang Juzheng as a treacherous minister. The author should at least respect history; Zhang Juzheng's reforms essentially extended the life of the Ming Dynasty, and this portrayal of him as a treacherous minister is biased.

The book is good, especially the parts about reform. Overthrowing and starting from scratch faces great resistance. It's better to improve existing institutions and laws gradually and step by step, which is less likely to cause strong resistance. During the Wanli era, the Ming Dynasty was not yet completely rotten, and there was still hope for correction.

I don't recommend reading this novel. It constantly criticizes Zhang Juzheng, and the author clearly has his own biases. I don't know if the author had some ancestral feud with Zhang Juzheng or what, but without Zhang, the Ming Dynasty would have fallen much earlier.

You're slandering Zhang Juzheng, a savior prime minister? And what nonsense are you spouting about Emperor Shenzong of Ming, a super-incompetent ruler who didn't attend court for two or three decades?

I've read the first twenty chapters. All I can say is it's incredibly discouraging. I'm genuinely curious how this book has 150,000 followers. Dude, if you're an emperor, why are you doing all this fancy stuff? Speechless. And you're just a 10-year-old kid, dealing with glass, math, compiling textbooks, pencils—goodness, even sketching! Aren't you afraid people will find out?

The author is truly a political novice; the idea of ​​killing Feng Bao is laughable. Wei Zhongxian was killed by the emperor with a single word because he relied on the emperor, while Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng combined were more powerful than the real emperor himself; you were nothing more than their puppet.

This book is alright; it's worth reading for those unfamiliar with the Ming Dynasty and the Wanli era. As a history enthusiast, especially familiar with the Wanli period, my understanding is somewhat rigid. Some of the descriptions in the book are inevitably hard to accept, although the book itself is historically consistent and logical.