I absolutely love this whole series, which unveiled a much neglected dynasty in history book and sparked my interest in history. The author has done an honorable job to bring to life dull history texts in ancient Chinese that no one cares to read thru superb storytelling and humorous languages. Coming out of high school history class, I considered Ming nothing more than a lackluster dynasty between Yuan and Qing that neither boasted great poets like Tang or Song nor suffered horribly tragic events like Hundred Years of Humiliation. Yet as unveiled in this book, this 300 years of history, like any other 300 years, was weaved together by thousands of people, each had their own ideals, desires, struggles, good or tragic ends. The author dutifully reported what happened per historical texts, offered his insights why it was reported that way, shared his honest thoughts on the historical figures, and more importantly weaved everything together into a story.
The last book of the series. It’s interesting to know the reason behind the end of a dynasty is due to currency inflation. I found this as an extremely sad ending. It’s really hard seeing Chongzhen Emperor’s efforts were all for naught. The Ming dynasty was eventually destroyed by his own people, and then taken over by outsiders.