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The Land of Annam

Emperor Shi-Huangdi has sent you on an important mission to spread Chinese culture and influence in the southern lands of Annam. Advance scouts report the land is fertile and ideal for rice cultivation, and that wild pigs and dangerous tigers inhabit the thick forests. Lacquer trees grow sturdy and strong in the region, and their valuable resin will make a profitable export. You might even be able to strike a good deal on raw, uncut jade from the natives, who call themselves Viet. The jade from this region is a rich green, and once fashioned into intricate carvings it will surely bring a healthy price on the streets of Xianyang. If matters are progressing well after a year, the emperor has vowed to dispatch a generous shipment of weapons. While the natives do not seem overly aggressive, like wild animals they should not be trusted.
As royal administrator and envoy for the Qin Empire, you need to build a strong, vibrant city that clearly shows the locals the superiority of the Chinese way. The site of this ancient fishing village should be a nice place to start.

City - Xiangjun
Starts Feb 219 BCE
12800 starting cash on Very Hard

Requirements:
  • Population of 1800
  • 1000 people in Ornate Apartment or better
  • Produce 16 casks of lacquer in one year
  • Produce 12 jade carvings in one year

From a governor's diary
New Year, 219
Qin empire is spreading its influence to the south... and I was asked to establish Xiangjun, a city in humid tropical climate, where lacquer can be obtained from trees and tigers roam the deep forests. But maybe worse than tigers are all the diseases infesting this land, and the climate itself. My only task is to get everything running, then I'll be called back to the lands I know and like a lot more - so let's hurry!

February/March, 219
I don't like tigers, do you? Well, of course I love to watch them while I'm safely behind the bars... uh..that is, while they are behind the bars... but I don't really need to meet them somewhere outside. Fortunately, the explorers I sent reported, that tigers avoid the ruins of a village and their vicinity. That's where we will build our city, or, to be more precise, its industrial quarter. Houses will be off to west a bit, because people wouldn't want to live in the ancient ruins. Some merchants already tried to convince me that this is an unlucky place and we should move elsewhere... bah!

April, 219
Explorers brought news about a city hidden in the forests to the West from us. It is called Nanyue and is fairly big... for a barbarian city, of course.

July, 219
It seems that the city of Nanyue is something like capital of a kingdom. We should find out more about them and make friends. City has 250 inhabitants; hunters have been successful in locating an area where wild pigs live, but not tigers... and we planted some rice. Looks like food won't be a big problem here.

February, 218
No time for a celebration. Hunting is not productive, but my decision not to build any bridges across the river stands. Fishermen will help to feed our people, but rice is the best source of food. People live in Cottages and everybody has enough food. Hemp is being imported from Xianyang. We are cutting down trees for wood and planting lacquer trees. We started paying homage to Nu Wa, she is the one we need most in our situation.

April, 218
Our blessed emperor read my report about kingdom of Nanyue and sent us 12 crates of weapons. Fortunately, this 'kingdom' seems to be peaceful - but anyway, as soon as we can spare some labour, we'll train a small army. Clay here is of high quality, we just started to produce ceramics from it - we'll need lots of it, Chinese ceramics is one of the most valued commodities on Nanyue's markets, as our spies reported. Almost 1000 people are living in Xiangjun these days.

August, 218
Money is running low, but we are starting to sell lacquer to Xianyang. Tax income helps us a lot, I'm sure we'll make it. Our small gift of first locally produced ceramics, sent earlier this year to Nanyue, was accepted with thanks - but these people are not dumb. More gifts will be necessary to convince them to start trading with us. Just in case they should be a bit too greedy, I have ordered to train cavalry.

January, 218
Things are going our way. Nanyue accepted a gift of 16 crates of ceramics and seems to be ready to open trade with us. Xianyang sent us 8 canisters of salt, which we needed sorely. Without it, we would hardly be able to supply enough appetizing food - hunting is not reliable. We are producing lacquerware and the city market started to distribute ceramics.

April, 217
Nanyue agreed to trade with us! We will import all jade we can, since I'm not sure how long this friendly status will last. They already started demanding things... and I don't intend to give in to their threats and obtain silk for them. We don't have it ourselves! A few sacks of rice sent to Xianyang on Emperor's request. City has 1800 people, all in Ornate apartments; production of lacquer is much higher than expected. The only thing left to do is to produce some carvings from the imported jade. This will be my last year in this terrible city. It is only April, but weather is as hot as if it were July in Xianyang! I hate it...

September, 217
We ran out of funds buying all this jade, but it was worth the effort. Carvers say it is easy to cut, and the carvings are wonderful! Emperor sent us some more money, and when we start selling the carvings, we'll have more than enough to pay it back. We have used up all salt and maintain the quality of food with much effort and only partial success, but I don't care. I'm off here at the end of year, and I'm sure I'll be able to delay the onset of problems until then. The next governor will have to do something about it, ha ha ha!

February, 216
I'm on my way back home! But I'm not as happy as I thought I will be. There are rumours that instead of governing our capital Xianyang, I will spend several years strengthening our northern borders. Oh well, everything is better than this greenhouse!

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