Just thought I'd pop in to say how enjoyable it is to read the discussion in this thread. Wish I had anywhere near the kind of historical know-how to really participate, but you guys going back and forth over the past two hundred pages has been super educational on the time period!
I don't think it is possible for you to write a bad update BG, they're always fantastic reads. Great foreshadowing to the 17th century--my memories of the first TL are a bit cloudy by this point, but I'm assuming there will be some great political drama as the empire begins to democratize!