It's hard to see how becoming the first Ming Emperor in a way congruent with known history can end up as a happy ending, even though that means Zhu wins. (That's some seriously messed up history.)

I overall liked the book, but felt Ouyang's POV was handled awkwardly. For the first third-plus, there was no indication that the book had a deuteragonist, but then suddenly there he was, and presented in a way that made it hard to sympathize with him.