A New Chronicle of the Later Han

Having read up to Chapter 25, I've had a persistent feeling of unease. It wasn't until I saw comments below expressing the same sentiment that I realized why everyone was saying the protagonist was incompetent and the plot boring: because the protagonist dared not do anything, always hesitant and fearful, afraid of everything.

I know what the problem with this book is: the protagonist has absolutely no military talent for fighting tough battles, and he can't find a trusted general like Yang Hu or Murong Ke to fight for him. He's better off being a stable military governor of Bianliang than pacifying the world.

To put it simply, the audience wants to see you take action, whatever that may be, as long as it doesn't affect the overall situation or cause collapse. It's about gradually developing your power, installing trusted confidants, and slowly regaining power both inside and outside the court. What they fear is that you're constantly hesitant and suspicious, relying on outliving your ministers.

The Later Han Dynasty shouldn't be called the "Three-Fold Han Dynasty," right? It has no relation to the first two Han dynasties! The Five Barbarian Invasions tarnished the reputation of the Han Dynasty! There were all sorts of Han dynasties, all established by non-Han peoples!

This book's war descriptions are a complete mess. To allow the infantry to retreat smoothly, the author had the cavalry cover their retreat, only to depict the entire cavalry being wiped out, with just over 5,000 men defending the city, and over 20,000 men besieging it for three days before it fell with fewer than 3,000 dead. It's incredibly cruel!

From a writing perspective, it's good, and the plot, set in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, is quite engaging. However, this is a historical novel, which requires rigorous logic; otherwise, the reader's immersion will be weak. Even if you only depict the daily life of ordinary people in the Five Dynasties, as long as it conforms to the historical background, it's still a decent work.

I'm casting my vote to criticize this. The protagonist has been incredibly stupid lately. Knowing that the eunuch surnamed Su was secretly spying on the palace and plotting against important officials, he didn't suspect a thing about the intelligence network that hadn't given him any information. A proper emperor would have already purged the entire department.

Up to chapter 65, there are good points and areas for improvement. Overall, the quality is above average. It's not just a purely entertaining read; you can see that the author has a clear vision. Many of the critics feel it's not entertaining enough, which means they are not the target audience for this book. I would not recommend reading it if you can't settle down and enjoy the story.

The plot became so sexually repressive during the Great Fu era that it was almost unbearable to watch. All that coy, lovelorn men and women, and then the Five Dynasties' focus on women—just get to the point! I mainly want to see bloodshed and social and institutional changes. These changes should be gradual, taking time, and the protagonist should focus on military matters. 🙂

It lacks its own central theme and overall perspective. It simply follows historical events and reacts to various changes. It's not that time travelers have to start making reforms right away, but in areas like technology, agriculture, animal husbandry, and medicine, much of the knowledge and ideas from later generations are like a game-changer.