[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-wanli-the-enlightened-emperor":3,"chapter-wanli-the-enlightened-emperor-wanli-the-enlightened-emperor-chapter-375":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Wanli, the Enlightened Emperor",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":12,"novelImage":21},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2322197,4542,"Chapter 375: Volume Four: Closing Reflections","wanli-the-enlightened-emperor-chapter-375",375,"\u003Cp>Volume Four: Closing Reflections\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Volume Four: Closing Reflections\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s late, so I’ll just write something casual.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>About this volume.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This volume dragged on too long; I went nearly two months without updating, causing my mind to lose momentum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It not only disrupted the pacing but also affected the progression of later plotlines.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, I’m personally unsatisfied with the ending of this volume—it resembles the second volume’s handling of the Huguang imperial clan, ending abruptly with the emperor’s southern tour to push the plot forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The intent is too obvious; the plot design lacks natural flow, unlike the seamless resolutions of volumes one and three.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Speaking of which, I reread the entire book from start to finish a couple days ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Personally, I think two plot points stand out as the most compelling: one is when the protagonist is weak, trapped in a dire situation yet maneuvering skillfully; the other is when the nation is weak, and he rescues it from collapse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Precisely because of this, volume two suffers from reduced immersion due to prolonged absence of the protagonist, while volume four, with the protagonist confined to the inner palace, relying on proxies, and constrained by delays in information flow, lacks the intensity of conflict seen in earlier volumes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The southern tour, in fact, was when the narrative purpose and the author’s intent finally converged, becoming inevitable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether in terms of plot conflict or writing difficulty, the next volume will be far stronger, so since this volume lacked momentum, I didn’t overthink it—I simply ended it and moved on to the next.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, plot development isn’t entirely under the author’s control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A clear example is the land survey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The original outline planned for the land survey to conclude over two years, from Wanli Seventh to Wanli Ninth Year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Historically, Fujian’s pilot survey began in Wanli Sixth Year, ended in September of Wanli Eighth Year, then expanded nationwide, nearing completion by the end of Wanli Tenth Year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In reality, the nationwide land survey took only slightly over two years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But once I began reviewing the sources, I realized that timeframe was insufficient—many regions carried out the survey half-heartedly, producing wildly inaccurate data.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most typical case is Sun Piyang’s method described in the novel: outsourcing the survey—“relying on the people to self-report, never personally measuring the land.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huguang, like Wu, the governor of Henan, committed the grave error of excessive rigidity—“enforced too harshly, seeking to inflate figures as achievements.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They shortened the measuring rod to artificially increase acreage, counting hills, lakes, house foundations, even graves as farmland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Standardizing the size of acres also became meaningless in the later stages of the survey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To achieve completeness, the novel must eliminate these errors, naturally requiring more time than history recorded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These were all unforeseen during my initial research and outline drafting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The recent chapters on public opinion opposing soft governance emerged naturally from this realization.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the author realized that, under such public sentiment, the scholar-gentry could not possibly avoid deploying this weapon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To resist the new policies, reactionaries would actively merge with secondary conflicts—such as unavoidable regional tensions (or others)—evolving into larger, more powerful struggles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, the further the story progresses, the more entangled the conflicts become.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was also the strongest impression I gained while researching the southern tours of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu for the next volume.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hmm, I’m not even sure what I’m saying anymore—it’s all just stream-of-consciousness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jumping to the next topic: updates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hmm, there’s not much to say—the author has already slacked off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I posted 110,000 characters in June; I don’t know if this month will be any better.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alright, next topic: monthly votes. Hmm, nothing to say here either—updates are too poor; we’ll talk about it again when I pick up my pace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Next topic: giveaways.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hmm, none this time—no royalties for the past two months; we’ll talk about it next time, hehe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oh, by the way, a note on sources.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While rereading recently, I kept encountering source corrections, but after checking, many seemed incorrect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many readers’ historical research likely stops at the original texts themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But original historical texts often require correction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A clear example is the Ming History—this book, for whatever reason, was poorly compiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For instance, in “Ming Shi Ji Shi Ben Mo,” Volume 23, “Pacification of Shandong Bandits”: “In the third month of the eighteenth year of Yongle, the witch Tang Sai’er of Putai County, Shandong, rebelled… traveling among Yidu, Zhucheng, Anzhou, Juzhou, Jimo, Shouguang, and other counties, inciting the ignorant.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Here, “third month” is recorded as “second month” in the Veritable Records.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Likewise, in the earlier Northern-Southern Examination Case, the text reads: “the fifty-one jinshi candidates including Song Cong.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The “Ming History: Election Records II” lists fifty-two, while the “Ming Tong Jian,” “Gui Wei Lu,” “Index of Ming Jinshi Stele Inscriptions,” and “Ming Taizu Shilu” all record fifty-one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, the corrections mentioned in Chapter 150.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Writers often describe weapons as “sixty zhang long, twenty zhang wide,” with ranges “hitting targets within fifty li,” and power “leaving no living thing—plants, animals, or humans—within ten li.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The claim that Zheng He’s treasure ships were 44 zhang long is entirely unreliable; according to “Records of the Eastern and Western Oceans” and “Dragon River Shipyard Annals,” reliable calculations place them at 22 zhang, or 70 meters—a finding consistent with “New Study of Zheng He’s Treasure Ship Dimensions,” though no definitive proof exists, so I didn’t mention it in the text.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Similarly, the claim that Zheng He’s ship records were burned—often blamed on Liu Daxia—lacks concrete evidence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This claim first appeared in Yan Congjian’s “Zhu Yu Zhou Zi Lu”; later, Gu Qiyuan’s “Ke Zhuo Zhui Yu” admitted, “I wrote these casually, without order,” making it untrustworthy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The original source of this claim remains unidentified, and it likely stems from the concealment of Yongle’s archives on the campaign against Annan; thus, in the novel, I only state they were lost—how, and by whom, is now unclear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, many readers have accurately pointed out my errors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One example: confusing Li Du, Yu Dayou’s aide, with another Li Du who was a jinshi—since it didn’t affect the plot, I didn’t correct it, only noted it here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another: the length of the Wanli treasure ship in Chapter 224 was scaled up 1.3 times from verified imperial envoy ship data.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the time, I fell into the writer’s habit of exaggeration, borrowing Zheng He’s inflated “nine masts, twelve sails”; after a reader pointed it out, I corrected it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short, if you spot an error, please point it out in the comments—I’ll check and revise it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Let me think—is there anything else?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I think that’s all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oh, one final note.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many readers have left due to slow updates—this is entirely understandable—but many others have persisted, worried the novel might be abandoned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Here, I must say: compared to earning royalties, this novel is more about my own passion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though updates are slow, I will finish it, no matter what.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1161,"2026-06-20T16:31:35.124Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","330fce0ef31188e3d7397ae01f1e502197d70d89724dcec84b5444e2ff5fb4fc",null,"wanli-the-enlightened-emperor-chapter-374","https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwanli-the-enlightened-emperor-cover.jpg"]