Swallowing the Ming Dynasty Whole

Some self-proclaimed "keyboard Ming Dynasty history experts" claim that "the Donglin Party betrayed the Ming Dynasty," but someone has compiled a list, and the "Donglin Generals' List," personally designated by the eunuch faction, actually only lists three individuals as traitors (one of whom defected to the eunuch faction after the list was published; I won't name names).

Aside from building a Ming-style Maginot Line and supporting the Guan Ning Group, Sun Chengzong didn't seem to contribute much to the Qing Dynasty. Is it really necessary for the author to exaggerate his contributions like this?

If Emperor Chongzhen were at the author's level, he wouldn't have lasted even 17 months. From the Ming Dynasty's own compiled historical records to the People's Republic of China, Wei Zhongxian has never been a good person in any official historical record. Even if you say that Ming and Qing scholars disliked eunuchs, surely the People's Republic of China wouldn't target Wei Zhongxian specifically? 😄 Even if the Donglin Party was despicable, they were still slightly better than Wei Zhongxian.

Personally, I believe it's impossible for a time traveler to revitalize the late Ming Dynasty through political maneuvering. Only by using a vision beyond their time and acting as an emperor to forcefully promote technologies like sweet potatoes and firearms can they break the deadlock.

This is just my personal opinion. Because of the power of the civil officials in the outer court, the eunuch faction at the end of the Ming Dynasty had become a de facto imperial faction. Without military power or grassroots support, their only reliance was the imperial power.

Don't condemn eunuchs to death, and don't idealize civil officials. Civil officials are inherently opposed to the emperor and the common people. Wei Zhongxian was a knife; as the saying goes, "When the horses are released to graze and the armor is stored away," no fool would break their own blade. Put such a vicious dog like Wei Zhongxian in a cage. When things get tough, just pull out the cage to scare those who oppose you—"Keep your vicious dog at home, enemies stay away."

Where did all that money collected annually for the Liaodong campaign go? The emperor didn't get it, the eunuchs didn't get it, and the border troops didn't get it either. I urge all the followers of the Donglin Party to stand up and tell me loudly: after Li Zicheng captured Beijing, he conducted a torture operation, extracting a total of seventy to eighty million taels of silver from the…

The author has fallen into the same old trap when writing about political intrigue: the focus of the description is off, giving the impression that the scope of the work is too narrow. Take the salt administration reform for example. The writing focuses entirely on corrupt officials. But the question is, were there any officials in the late Ming Dynasty who weren't corrupt?

The Donglin Party's filial sons and grandsons are quite active, but why do they all disappear when the issue of the Liaoning military pay is brought up?

This is the most enjoyable historical novel I've read recently, and the only one I've subscribed to all of recently. It's very enjoyable, but the updates are too infrequent.