Chapter 486: Author's Note on Completion

Author's Note on Completion

I hesitated for a moment about whether to write this.

To be honest, there's no end to what I could say, but not saying anything feels a bit off, so I'll just ramble a bit.

First, some official business:

1. Card event: a separate lottery post is in the reader circle; everyone can go check the post.

2. Thank you all for participating in the completion fanwork event. The winner list will be announced in the reader circle within fifteen days. Likewise, details can be found in the post.

3. As per usual, fanfiction texts will be compiled in the appendix and preserved as part of this book. If you don't want to be included, please privately message the operators. Images and other content will be compiled in a centralized post.

4. More events will be launched later, such as character birthdays and new SR card pools. Thank you for your participation.

5. Around the same time, there should be a large number of official completion events. Everyone can keep an eye out (full subscription gets you an avatar and title; a patron leader gets a pillow gift box—don't forget).

6. The manhua adaptation of this book is already on the schedule. It should come out around the end of the year or earlier (I've already become so senile I've forgotten the specific details). Everyone, keep an eye out.

Now let's ramble a bit.

First, the routine report on results... This book is now infinitely close to an average of 30,000 subscriptions. I could wait and hit it directly, but there's no need... Moreover, since it was published, the growth curve has been very smooth. Basically, the average subscription increases by 800 to 1,000 every month, including this last half-volume.

Besides that, one Golden Patron Leader, seven Silver Patron Leaders, and as of just now when I wrote this—two minutes after the last chapter was posted—including the recent patron Red Crow, a cumulative total of 230 Patron Leaders... I won't list the specific names; it's too extravagant...

Five years ago, when I was writing "Movie King," who could have imagined three pages of Patron Leaders?

For comparison, "Overthrowing Han" had nearly 600,000 more VIP words, yet its completion average subscription was less than 14,000. I was already quite satisfied back then... Of course, now it's been driven up to 22,000 by "Reviving Song."

In short, I can fully say the results exceeded my imagination.

To all legitimate readers, I have only gratitude.

Let's talk about "Reviving Song"... This book actually needs to be viewed from two perspectives. If you lower the standard—it's just a web novel time-travel historical fiction, what's there to think about? Just making a living—then naturally everything is smooth sailing, and you lose if you take it too seriously.

But if you seriously examine it from another angle, there are certainly many shortcomings.

First, it was rushed into action. Before I started the book, I really didn't know what subject to write about. I was just chatting idly with an author friend, randomly came up with something, and went for it. I didn't even have any drafts saved. When I wrote the first chapter, I had to look up which circuit of the Great Song Bozhou belonged to... I only knew Han Shizhong, Yue Fei, and Wu Jie; I knew Wushu and Qin Hui. Most of my impressions came from reading "The Complete Story of Yue Fei" in third grade... that little yellow booklet of one hundred foreign classics and one hundred domestic classics... I didn't even know who Lu Haowen, Zhao Ding, or Zhang Jun were when I wrote about them.

I was basically reading "History of Song" and "Continued Comprehensive Mirror" while buying popular science books and biographies. When I encountered specific detailed issues, I'd search CNKI for papers, then plot the scenes against Tan Qixiang's historical atlas... It was essentially learning on the fly and selling it immediately.

Second, I abandoned the fancy tricks... What are fancy tricks?

For example, the Old and New Yan Documents in "Overthrowing Han," or the poetic titles referencing content in "Overthrowing Han."

Without fancy tricks, I had to seriously write the story and characters, and attempt large sections of battle scenes... This isn't a matter of one being superior to the other, but without a doubt, this style of writing for "Reviving Song" is more exhausting and consumes more mental energy. By the time I was halfway through the book, I could barely sustain it.

Unsustainable on all fronts... a dual torment of body and mind.

This led to the third problem: the updates suddenly became comprehensively lackluster—visibly, the update tier of less than 150,000 words per month quickly slipped to 120,000, and finally to a tier of 100,000 words per month.

What's there to say about poor updates in web novels? It wasn't met with large-scale cursing, only suppressed by the spiral of silence.

Then came the fourth: after the mid-point of the plot, it started to become dry and hollow. Some characters and plotlines I had ambitiously planned earlier ultimately lost their nerve.

To put it plainly, in the early stages I didn't know what to write, so I wrote about whatever came up. By the middle and later stages, I had ideas, but I was already somewhat powerless... It felt a bit like hearing a song without understanding its meaning at first, only to become the person in the song upon hearing it again... Of course, this is from a creative perspective.

But still, as I said, at this point, I can only talk about it. What's more important is celebrating the completion... Zhao Jiu celebrated his achievement of ten years' work with an axe, and I too want to celebrate finishing this book.

The harder it gets, the more I have to grit my teeth and complete it according to the original plan. At this point, finishing is truly a victory.

Through countless hardships, this book is completed.

As for the plot... I know what everyone is thinking. How to recuperate and rebuild afterward, how to harness the Yellow River and curb land annexation, how to reform the system, how to further stimulate maritime trade, how to make the northern frontier completely part of the nation, how in Zhao Jiu's later years, taking advantage of internal strife in the Western Liao, to launch an expedition similar to the Mongol westward campaigns... To be honest, I have plots and scenes in my mind.

I even thought that a white-haired Zhao Jiu should die on the westward expedition.

But, just as the previous book was called "Overthrowing Han," so it should end with the fall of Han and the rise of Yan... This book is called "Reviving Song." "Reviving" means to guide and redirect. The original intention was to turn the nation's direction, to let the Chinese nation trudge out of the quagmire of the Song-Jin war. So, with the end of the Song-Jin war, this book should officially end.

Biting off more than you can chew.

If I wrote further, whether I could sustain it is one thing, but it would also be a structural harm to the book.

Looking back now, the structure of this book is actually very simple: resist the Jin, flee—gain a foothold—catch a breath—counterattack—spread arms—gather strength, and finally punch back. Win, and it's done... So, after the final decisive battle, the Jin state is destroyed, Zhao Jiu returns to Mingdao Palace, swings an axe, and his heart is completely clear. That's when the book should end.

And so it ends.

Actually, this final axe swing was the completion scene I decided on shortly after starting the book. He had to swing that axe, so that beyond the victory in the Song-Jin war, he could also truly win a victory for himself—a victory belonging solely to him.

So, let's also celebrate the successful completion of this book.

I've really seen many authors, very serious authors, who write until the end, with good results, but just can't go on... I understand completely, because long serialization truly wears an author down in every way.

But it's finally completed.

Stop going in circles and repeating myself... Let's keep rambling.

A small clarification.

This book actually made a low-level error during the Northern Expedition war. I confused Great Ming Prefecture's one city with two counties—Yuancheng and Great Ming—and mistakenly split them into two cities.

This is a low-level mistake, and I must apologize to everyone.

Of course, it doesn't affect the plot. In fact, the opposition between Yuancheng and the small town across the river is real. The small town across the river where the hot air balloon rose is real, and it should be the old city. I just got the name wrong.

Next, I want to thank Editor-in-Chief Ruili for his continuous concern for this book, and also thank Xu Xu and Huya, Shuize and Liuxing for their help as editors. Thank you to all the managers of this book for their tireless efforts in maintaining its operation... from Anzong to Xiaoxiao, from Qisui to Hanmen, from 196 to Xiaoyu, from Weila to Dengren... I really can't list names; listing names is truly a super-sized project.

Of course, I must specifically thank all the enthusiastic readers for recommending, subscribing to, and patronizing this book. Over 200 Patron Leaders, 15,000 following subscriptions, 30,000 average subscriptions, 60,000 peak subscriptions. Behind every single data point is a living reader. I can only thank everyone for their long-term support. Especially, I want to thank the countless chapter comments on each chapter. You are one of the creators of this book. I also want to thank Xiaoyu and Dabizi... and I won't thank CCTV or the author backend.

New book... There should be a new book, otherwise I'll probably starve... But this time I really need to rest well, properly recuperate my health, and also do some preparation for the new book. I hope the next book won't have this kind of rushed feeling... In short, I'll be resting for a long time.

As for what to write... I really haven't decided... After "Overthrowing Han," I had the idea of a historical trilogy, but... I really don't know if I should directly continue with history or try a different genre first and then come back.

As I said, let's rest first and see.

With respect and salutations.

I wish everyone a happy completion!

Pour water on level ground; it flows east, west, south, and north.

Life too has its fate; how can one walk sighing and sit in sorrow?

Open a bottle of happy fat-guy soda, iced... I hope that one day, we'll meet again in the wide world.