The Crown Prince of Chongzhen

The Ming army had no full pay; a full pay army was invincible.

The author truly lives up to his reputation as a descendant of the Qing Dynasty; the Qing warriors are all incredibly powerful, with scouts taking on hundreds single-handedly, cutting through enemy ranks like vegetables, and treating the Ming army like toys. In the end, however, they are ultimately defeated by the protagonist's halo. 👍👍👍

In 1563, the entire Spanish Armed Forces had only 158 gunners, plus 50 administrative and technical personnel; by 1619, these numbers had increased to 297 and 92 respectively. From the mid-1680s to the mid-18th century, the number of gunners listed on the payroll of the Viennese government was approximately 600.

The political intrigue and human nature are well-written; more of that could be explored. The war scenes could be reduced. Several minor characters like Zhou Xiancai could be added to the story, running throughout—commoners, merchants, Qing soldiers, puppet troops—each could be included to reflect the impact of changing circumstances on society.

It started off quite well. But as the siege battle was being written, it turned into a martial arts novel. A Manchu scout was fighting a hundred men on the city wall, leaping and twirling on the shoulders of the defenders, and finally even flew to the crown prince to duel him. This trope could have been skipped and the writing simplified; it was just too ridiculous.

This book is like someone becoming the son of a bald man in 1949, during the time when a million-strong army was crossing the Yangtze River, and the bald man ran away. You don't have any special abilities, yet you still want to change your fate? You're really dreaming.

I only read the first three chapters before I went and subscribed to the rest. Author, believe me! If you can be ruthless and heartless, I'll subscribe to the whole book. I think you should write more realistically.

Guangzhou fell like a joke. Historically, it was lost because the era ended, and the Manchus swallowed up the whole of China. Now, the main players hold half the country. Did the gentry and locals of Guangzhou really not contribute and let it be captured so easily? And half the soldiers were lost in just a few days. Didn't the enemy need time to build siege equipment?

After reading 60 chapters, I roughly understand why the author isn't popular. Firstly, the author likes to weave their own views on historical events and their own interpretations of how events unfold into the book, which is not very appealing. At least, none of the authors of the most popular historical novels on Qidian have this habit.

The author shouldn't bring up the Industrial Revolution! The commodity economy of the Ming Dynasty was completely distorted and cannot be considered the nascent stage of capitalism. The Industrial Revolution requires a significant increase in agricultural output to supply surplus population for industrial production, monetary reform, a market economy, and the groundwork laid by ideology—all are…