There is a consistent thread through the novel of the MC acquiring "underlings" of various socially low castes and "bettering" their lives with his modern mindset and training techniques to serve him, which okay fine is a transmigrator trope I usually don't have an issue with, but in this case I was weirded out how he openly considers it to be "brainwashing" (literal word he uses multiple times) to mold others to suit his needs. There is no element of altruism or kindness involved; literally, he needs to manipulate how people think in order to essentially ens*ave them into making him more money or providing him with opportunities. He's very cold and calculating beyond even typical "cold and calculating gong" stereotypes.

That uncomfortable brainwashing trickle suddenly becomes an outright off-putting-in-the-extreme raging torrent in the last arc of the novel, where the MC basically defects from pseudo-China with his giant fleet of underlings, sails to crude-savage-and-inferior pirate-ridden pseudo-Japan, where he and his mass of people raid all the "bad" pseudo-Japanese pirates and evil overlords while taking over the land piece by piece by installing his own soldiers and imposing his own culture on the locals via government enforcement. All this helps the poor helpless peasants! Forcing them to assimilate into pseudo-Chinese culture via laws like "you must speak only our language, if you don't, you will not receive government aid or recognition and will be a second-class citizen" is something the colonized people eagerly agree to because it's just language, what's the big deal? Their lives will be so much better if all they have to do is become pseudo-Chinese!! And anyway, this other culture is so much better and more refined!!! Look how much their prosperity increased once these people from an enemy country sailed over out of nowhere and mass took over half of the country!!!!

The MC ruthlessly colonizes and conquers pseudo-Japan and reforms it in his image of modern-day China right down to literally, I **** you not, declaring the empire is called the People's Republic of China, with a huge emphasis on how amazing the country is in terms of prosperity and equality and technological advancements, how much better off the former people are (who are all super happy to be citizens of this new better country!!!!!!) , and how amazing everything is because his government is the greatest and takes care of the people and the people trust the government so much and it's all because of him and his ability to guide these crude people of ancient times toward modern enlightenment.

It's actually quite very rather just a bit ever so slightly somewhat off-putting, if y'know what I mean.

Here are all the things (not giving any context to the novel's event specifically' that both disgusted/weirded me and those that started as comedic turned repetitive and just borderline annoying.

• ML's as*hole behavior to just anyone in general. It's understandable for his shitty family in the start but like come on.
• Just weird blind admiration/hate from everyone around ML?! Like in the earlier chapters, if I recall correctly, his family calls a yamen officer to arrest or put the ML in trouble. The ML (because he is a trained officer) overpowers him and ties him up with the threat of death and like after a whole day of captivity, the yamen officer kind of develops stockholm syndrome? He starts admiring him and supports him later on in the novel.
• Another infuriating event was with the ger Shen Anxin. Introduced as a marginalized individual because quite like women in ancient China, they were also disapproved of working in trade/business (any masculine jobs really) He is a strong person who works hard and breaks societal bonds yadda yadda. And then the author made him fall for the ML and turn all pathetic? He forgets all his businesses and family reputation, goes through some weird white moonlightification (except for way more losers), and his character is reduced to a side stepping stone. He gets rejected by the ML (understandable) and he blames MC for it? And then he goes into this blind despair, falls into a trap gets gangr*ped by someone, and also blames MC? Either I'm crazy or this novel was turning shittier by the second. (I'm not crazy)
• Moreover, for no reason, the imperial royal family who were not meddling at all with the ML, started to work against him?! (The starting of the absolute rushing of the plot that follows) And then the ML with his escort agency somehow defeats the Imperial government (I scrolled through these chapters because they were frankly horribly written{the translators are GODS for putting up with this}) and then he encountered the people from another 'continent' who were just stereotyped Japanese. And oh my god does the novel start blaring red flags. Firstly he dislikes/ is disgusted with them because they are 'barbaric', different in 'appearance' and lastly speak a 'weird language'. There is a literal scene where the ML ORDERS that the "foreign refugees" have to learn his language to talk with him or he will not bother. It also pointed out that the continent has been through some chaos and war and then the 'foreign' people are shamed for being bandits. How were they supposed to survive, you entitled piece of arrogant garbage who just happens to come from the modern era and hence gains the right to be superior? It even subtly hinted that the common poor folk of the native continent (China) are more 'tolerable' than these 'foreigners' (Japanese). As a native of a colonized country that has faced racism, I felt simply horrible and grew to hate the ML.
• Lastly, the ML just goes ahead and starts invading the 'foreign' territories to unify one great China. I kid you not the ML literally 'COLONIZES' and unifies all the territories (Where Chinese will remain forever superior to others) and names himself the PRIME MINISTER??!! Boy, it is an ancient set novel and you make the title the Republic of China? And the extras were just his daughter getting a random territory in Australia and his other kids also becoming the next Prime minister?
• As you may have noticed how I barely mentioned the MC because his whole persona is so goddamned reliant on the ML, he is invisible to me (which is better than the hot mess the ML is).

In conclusion, don't read the novel, someone shoved Chinese propaganda up the Author's throat as she was writing the end and she was also on every form of substance.

when ML, MC and their family with their men leaving theirs whole hard earned fortune and escaping to start new life and founding new country.. It was amazing ?

Original Jiang reincarnation and his achievements giving what he wanted in his new life. Adding cute extras with MC & ML reincarnation in modern times. Omg it's a pity that novel is ended so soon

honestly I think the handling of it was fine, and people only seem to consider him hitting the mum to be an issue which is a... take to be sure. probably the only thing that I disliked was the treatment of the little sister (I'll get into that)

the MC is primarily reactive, he doesn't do very much on his own initiative in regards to the jiangs, they mostly start sh*t which is where one of the key issues come into play, that being that the jiangs dont know when to give up

every so often it would mention them and I'd already be rolling my eyes because they were going to do something useless to the MC and get their sh*t rocked. I far preferred the bits when they would meet with failing purely because of their own poor decisions

she is literally punished for her families bad decisions, and despite being literally the only person in the household who treated the original bodies owner with any kindness, its basically written off for not 'being enough'

she literally becomes a s*ave to avoid being forced to become a concubine to a man who almost killed his wife, all because her family wants to pay off the debts of the third brother (changxian?)

she is 15-16 at this time, and the MC literally describes her as a child because that is what she is, yet he and the author both seem to punish her for not being able to give him more??

there is a part with the pirates, theres some throwaway line about them being refugees, which gets tossed away soon enough in favour of basically calling them morons for going under the banner of one person for survival and just generally glosses over the whole thing and its, from where I dropped this, never mentioned again... like at all

during this section theres this absolutely Bizarre bit where the MC introduces stitching up wounds to the masses. its considered barbaric and then its revolutionary when its like the oldest medical practice? like cleanliness is fairly new and dependent on region, but stitching up wounds is ancient and clearly a very obvious one since so many cultures have individually realised it. also I just want for authors to stop making MC's revolutionary for no reason. like this literally pulled me so hard out of the story that any possibility I had of getting past the next bit was impossible, it shattered all enjoyment

so the character we are introduced to is fairly naïve but generally kind and honest. a pretty obvious foil to the ML with them both removing the mole. he had a crush on the MC but like apparently its slim pickings in those times.

the crush plot cuts off because he thinks the MC has concubines and he disappears for a bit, when he comes back to the story after a year its as this bootlicking suck up. okay that's fine, do what you gotta do

but then after he learns that the MC doesnt have concubines, the crush magically returns, as if the MC doesnt still have a wife, and the character just does a rapid fall from decent character to easy faceslapping material.

he is wildly jealous and somehow convinced that he is better than the ML, despite the fact that during his introduction, he pretty quickly realised this and knew that he wouldnt have been able to marry MC anyway.

a business enemy, who's son had been harassing and attempted to have him assaulted during the introduction arc, takes the opportunity to have shen anxin gang r*ped. it is not described, but it is done in the most uncaring and hamfisted way. when he goes to the MC for help, the MC completely ignored him and brushes him off. which the writing labels is fair and like... no? this just makes the MC look bizzarely unempathetic towards someone who actually hadnt done much of anything to him

all of it completely demolishing and ignoring the characterisation that had been built originally. and what keyed me into this, was the line that literally said that "he had gotten everything he ever wanted"

.... what

this character was described as having lost his father, had to dig out his mole in order to live as a man, is gay but has to marry a woman because he did this, has been routinely harassed by someone who wants to take over his fathers legacy and is carrying the burden of his whole family on his back.

what about this screams "gets everything he wanted"? the son that wanted him assaulted was treated with more kindness, hell I bet the father that had him assaulted will be basically let off the hook

Later on Jiang Zhen's company keeps moving forward and forward, he opens a school for boys and girls, he creates a dock on the island of the salt pan or salt which becomes a very popular place, he becomes a sea trader and goes to other continent bringing new things like mirrors ect, Then he was attacked and fled to a country to the east where the pirates came from, as the country was short of weapons and food, Jiang Zhen took advantage of this and sold them weapons and food while he took away their land little by little, then when they realized it was too big and Jiang Zhen took control of the country and called it China, The country becomes a constitutional monarchy where the emperor is but he is not the absolute power, Jiang Zhen becomes the prime minister and Zhao Jinge becomes the emperor, China becomes the most developed country creating new things and taking it to the industrial revolution and creating the steam train as a new invention, he dies at the age of 80 something, he succeeded in having three children a daughter a son and a ger who will become the emperor in the future.

The country hundreds of years ahead will be the most developed country in the world and will be one of the great powers.

He took over another country, forced change the entire country cultures, and became a ruler?? I would rather he gets acknowledged for his business sense and becomes an important government/imperial merchant. Going from "im making sht ton of money" to "abandon the country, I'll just establish my own since the old one dont like me."