The title “Battle South of the City” is taken from a Han Dynasty folk song:

“Fighting south of the city, dying north of the ramparts, dying in the wild, unburied for ravens to eat. Tell the ravens for me: ‘Be guests for now!’ Dying in the wild, truly unburied, how can rotting flesh escape you? Deep waters surge turbulently, cattails and reeds grow darkly; brave cavalry die in battle, weary horses pace and neigh. Building houses on the beams – why to the south? Why to the north? Grain unharvested, what will you eat, my lord? To be a loyal minister, how can this be achieved? I think of good ministers, good ministers are truly worth thinking of: marching out to attack at dawn, not returning home at dusk!”

During the Jingnan Campaign, both the Southern Army and the Yan Army suffered heavy casualties. Historical records state that “north of the Huai River became overgrown with wild grass,” hence this work takes its title from this reference.

II. Throughout history, imperial power and ministerial power have always maintained a complex relationship of mutual growth and decline. Emperor Hongwu abolished the position of Prime Minister and personally handled daily governmental affairs, acting as his prime minister to prevent power from falling into other hands. However, future descendants found it difficult to maintain such demanding work, so the actual prime ministers – the Grand Secretaries – emerged accordingly. Prince Yan’s edict hinting at returning ministerial power to civil officials with the phrase “desire to govern the world together with all” was taken from commentary in “The Forbidden City.” I hereby declare this source. Additionally, Ming Dynasty civil officials were relatively more formidable compared to those of the Qing Dynasty, so I created a character like Ningheng as their representative.

III. The Council of Elders:

The operational procedures of the Council of Elders on the immortal mountains at sea bear considerable resemblance to modern parliamentary style – quite advanced, even utopian for that era. However, given the later existence of the Lanfang Republic, it was not impossible for overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia to develop a similar organization during their century of wandering.

The Lanfang Republic, also known as the Southern Republic, was established in 1777 by Luo Fangbo, a Hakka from Meixian, Guangdong, in western Borneo in Southeast Asia (present-day western Kalimantan). Referencing some legal systems of Western countries, it established a complete set of administrative, legislative, and judicial institutions. The head of state was called “Grand President,” with succession through forms similar to a democratic election and abdication. At its peak, it controlled all of Kalimantan. It was destroyed by the Dutch in 1885, having existed for 108 years.