The Wily Qin

The protagonist's faction includes those who obey orders but not commands, and this faction is tolerated. A powerful family plotted a rebellion, causing heavy losses, and brought him down, sparing no one. The enemy general who had killed many of his soldiers was captured and his subordinates all wanted to kill him.

Given the author's personality, I feel he can't portray the grandeur of a founding monarch. Perhaps the next book will focus on a restorer of the dynasty, as that's his weakness. The previous book was alright, since he started as a second-generation monarch. This one is more like a bandit's second-in-command. While controversy is a good thing, it's certainly something to criticize.

The author's strength lies in intrigue and power struggles, yet they insist on writing about a self-made Qin dynasty, resulting in dry and uninteresting war and farming scenes. The early chapters emphasize that development will inevitably lead to war 😥, clearly indicating the author's writing style can't support such a plot.

I recently saw a comment suggesting that the author should write a protagonist who transmigrates into the body of the Gao family emperor of Northern Qi. I think that's perfect. The author's protagonist doesn't have the charisma and ambition to unify the country and start from scratch as a founding emperor, but transmigrating into the body of the Gao family emperor is fine.

The protagonist is always gloomy and lacks the heroic spirit and personal charisma of figures like Emperor Gaozu of Han, Cao Cao, and King Gaozu of Wei.

This protagonist is utterly unappealing. He knows something is going to happen, then just sits there waiting for it to happen, completely unprepared. He couldn't even have convinced the three brothers not to do it.

Sigh, what kind of ruler is the protagonist if he doesn't personally lead the troops into battle? Which other ruler fights for his subordinates, allowing them to accumulate military merit and prestige? Who would respect you, sitting comfortably at home enjoying the fruits of their labor? Li Yuan had a good son, but what do you have? Do you expect your clan to fight for you?

Having read several of the author's books, I feel that the author is too obsessed with so-called power struggles, and the protagonist is positioned as a top-notch politician like Jiajing, rather than a statesman.

The protagonist has none of the prestige of a founding monarch. Founding monarchs earned their power through battle, but he spends all his time in the rear. He has no domineering presence whatsoever; he's just a bunch of political shrewd charlatans.

So the protagonist is again the one whose elder brother died, and then he inherits the throne and develops the country? Could it be that the author's own elder brother treated him badly, so he's going to torture the protagonist's elder brother relentlessly in the novel?