I had wanted to say a lot of things for a long time, but I kept hesitating.
Because I was very worried that you readers would think I was imposing my own ideas on you.
But at this point, there really were some things I needed to say.
Ever since this book began, a lot of questions had hung over it. Let me address all of them in this recap.
First, the issue of not changing the broad course of history.
A lot of readers actually misunderstood this, thinking I left history on its original course because it was easier to write. Quite a few said I did it to make copying easier, or because I lacked the ability to work out how events would develop.
Honestly, that really was a typical outsider's view. At least for me, alternate history was very easy to write.
I had countless historical stories in my head. Give them a new face, and I could put together an entire history's worth of stories, without being bound by the established personalities of historical figures.
Take the Zhou State arc, for example. Apart from the opening chapters, almost the whole arc was invented and had practically nothing to do with the history of the Zhou Dynasty.
Why did I insist on taking the harder road and following the course of history, even sacrificing some logic to a certain extent?
Simple: to make it more immersive, to give historical figures a sense of participation.
A lot of readers said the Zhou State arc was well written, but when I checked the backend figures, the best-performing stretch was from the fall of the Six States through Emperor Wen of Han, Emperor Wu of Han, and Pacify the Disorder in Obedience to Heaven.
Didn't that seem absurd?
Right