I saw some readers bring up the issue of currency. ♡💗 🏆💎
Emmmm...
I'd better explain it.
Xiao Mo looked up some information and learned that the currency used during the Shang Dynasty seemed to have been seashells. It was the Bronze Age, and works like the Simuwu Ding were representative artifacts. Even their weapons were made of bronze...
But this is a xianxia fantasy novel about gods and demons, not an actual historical novel.
Novels can be divided into realistic and fictional stories.
There's no doubt that Xiao Mo is writing the second kind. The stories in it are basically all made up, and made up means they aren't real.
Investiture of the Gods was written during the Ming Dynasty, when gold, silver, and copper coins were in circulation. The author wrote those into the story, even though they didn't actually exist in the Shang Dynasty.
Why did the author write it that way? Xiao Mo would venture to guess that the intention was to make the story easier for readers of the time to understand, not to teach everyone history.
People read novels for the story, not to learn history, right? Otherwise, wouldn't you learn more accurate information from a history book than from a novel?
That's why Xiao Mo writes this way, too: to make things easier for everyone to understand and read. There's really no need to nitpick historical details in a xianxia novel.
Although I look things up before writing, it's inevitable that there'll still be some historical errors and oversights. I can only hope that those who know better will be understanding.
There are also some issues that really can't be avoided, because changing them would make the story impossible to write.
Take currency, for example!
In the original story, they used copper coins, gold, and silver. When Jiang Ziya told fortunes for people, and when King Wen had his fortune told, they both tossed copper coins. If those were changed to seashells...
Would they have to toss a few shells like little kids while telling fortunes?
Just picture it. Doesn't that seem pretty hilarious?
Of course, if anything in the book seems wrong, or if you have suggestions, feel free to leave a comment in the reviews. As long as you're not just spewing abuse, Xiao Mo will definitely correct any mistakes and carefully consider your suggestions.
Before you continue