Selling Anxiety in the Song Dynasty

Since the protagonist turned evil, I've managed to read five more chapters, but I feel like the book is still heading down a crazy, downward spiral with no turning back. Currently, there are some questionable or problematic areas for me. First, the protagonist has passed the brothel head exam, but is still a commoner with countless enemies.

The protagonist seems to have something wrong with his head, constantly acting hypocritically. You haven't even tried, so why do you keep saying you're no good at this or that? Your brother went to great lengths to let you study, all for the sake of bringing honor to the family. You agreed, and were so moved, how can you not try your best to achieve some success?

Seeing the author's impressive business acumen made me laugh. In ancient times, a wealthy merchant was nothing; a county magistrate could ruin his family, a prefect could wipe out his entire clan. You know Shen Wansan, right? He was slaughtered like a pig by the emperor.

In dynasties like the Song and Ming, how could you sell anxiety without the title of a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations)? If you weren't a Jinshi, you were just a dog; any official with a title could easily send you to the fields to sell anxiety. It's ridiculous.

The protagonist seems to be taking things too seriously. In ancient times, making a fortune is secondary; the main concern is survival. If it's just a 10% share, aren't the two brothers afraid of being silenced? It would be better to come up with some ideas, get some money, and find another way out.

The Song Dynasty is the dynasty that I dislike the most. The emperors were all useless, the court was useless, they were good at nothing but internal strife. External enemies such as Liao, Jin and Mongol were all capable of fighting and established their countries through military force. The Song Dynasty was surrounded by wolves, and it always valued civil affairs over military affairs.

Wearing Qing dynasty clothes and not rebelling will get you a chrysanthemum drill; wearing Song dynasty clothes and not rebelling will get you a gift from the palace! The Qing and Song dynasties are the only two dynasties in history where not rebelling is considered rubbish.

The writing is quite good, but the plot lacks originality and is a bit frustrating to read. The protagonist is shrewd in business but hypocritical, and surprisingly, there isn't a single character I like throughout the entire story…

The book was very good and quite enjoyable, but there's one thing that puzzles me: the protagonist became very successful in Bianjing (Kaifeng) so quickly, so why didn't he try anything back in his hometown, even watching his mother work herself to death?

It's quite well-written. Both the protagonists and antagonists are intelligent and don't have any major flaws. The writing flows smoothly, with appropriate use of plagiarism, and a significant amount of detail is devoted to character development. The author seems to have high ambitions; hopefully, they can maintain control of the plot's direction in the later stages.