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City States of Shang - A Tomb for Lady Hao

Esteemed administrator, you have been recalled to the dynasty's capital of Yin on the Yellow River during a time of great sadness. The recent passing of Lady Hao, queen and consort to Wu Ding, King of Shang, has unfortunately created the sudden need for a tomb and tumulus suited to her high stature. A person with great management skills is obviously needed for this important project. As overseer, you must amass the required burial provisions -- quantities of ceramics, bronzeware, and fine silk -- so that our royal subject shall enjoy an afterlife of appropriate comfort. If you can handle this job for our mourning King, it will surely help to ease the painful burden of his grief.
Another way you can help ease our sovereign's sorrow would be to fill his palace grounds with an assortment of wonderful animals. Such a menagerie would surely delight Wu Ding. If you pay sufficient homage to the creator goddess, Nu Wa, she will visit your city. Then, you can request her to capture local wild animals for the Palace menagerie. You might also send emissaries to other cities, asking them for gifts of animals to please Wu Ding. Of course, other leaders appreciate receiving animal gifts, too, so send offspring from our menagerie as gifts to other cities in China. Such a generous present might convince them to reciprocate with specimens of their own native fauna for our menagerie.
Powerful chariot-mounted warriors will be useful for military expeditions -- and impressing would-be adversaries. Perhaps these war chariots will also be a better match against those irksome Xiongu horsemen?

Starts Feb 1250 BCE

$6,000 Normal

Requirements:
  • Tumulus
  • 80 in Humble Compound
  • 4 animals in Menagerie
Humble Compounds hold 15 people and need
  • Ancestral Shrine
  • Tasty Food
  • Herbalist
  • Acupuncturist
  • Music
  • Acrobat
  • Hemp
  • Ceramics
  • Silk
  • Bronzeware

Here we are back in Yin, some 50-odd years later and it looks just like we left it. Amazing..

First order is a bit of reorganizing of the trade, since we have some new opportunities. Selling raw materials such as bronze isn't as lucrative as the finished Bronzeware, so I demolished the trading quay to Zhengzhou. You can add a few fishing quays along the shore. You can trade with Panlongchen by land selling more Bronzeware and Wheat and get the Ceramics you need from them, plus Rice. Lots of other cities now sell Ceramics, so that isn't much of a problem.

Since I never have enough workers, I made my Elite block a mixed block. A row of Common houses along one side will quickly evolve into Ornate Apartments and give you lots of new workers for the monument. The Elites have their own wells, but you will have to place a Water Carrier on the block for the others.

Start the monument early, it takes a long, long, long time to build. I found a place for it near the entrance to the map, not too far from the forests (since you need a lot of wood) and placed a "getting" warehouse to accumulate the burial goods. You will need Silk, Ceramics and Bronzeware to send Lady Hao on her journey. These burial goods go in first, after the initial excavation, not at the end like in Pharaoh. Oh, and don't forget the carpenter to build the casket that holds the burial goods. You will need more carpenters, wood and several labor camps to complete the monument.

Your Palace has a Menagerie to display the animals. Be careful with keeping the Palace staffed - if you don't have workers, the animals will escape. I asked Panlongchen for an animal quite early. They obliged in a short while, so I in turn gave the (offspring) animal to all the other cities. Keep this up, giving and receiving and you should have at least 4 animals in a few years. If your lucky year rolls around, you can also ask for the Special Gift to get another animal.

Another way is to pay lots of homage to Nu Ma and let her capture a Panda for you from the bamboo forests near the little river.

This is a bit of "more of the same" as the first Yin. Expand your bronze industries and sell all you can. I added a farm, and two more mulberry farms and some weavers. Oh, and one logger, a warehouse accepting wood inside the city will take care of the Tax Collectors.

You might notice I have three forts, which is a lot for me. Two are infantry forts and I used them to keep the Giant Nasty Salamanders under control. You can build a separate set of ferries to move the troops back and forth across the river. It is not pleasant to see a Salamander eat a whole cartload of Bronze.

Now, Baijo was my ally when the mission started. They asked for troops because the Nomads were attacking them. I really, really meant to send some troops, but I got busy and forgot. They weren't too happy. Then I got to thinking that if the Nomads thought I was weak, they might attack me. That was another reason to build the three forts. Perception is reality. I also was nice to all my other trading partners and got alliances with three of them. Maybe that is why nobody bothered me.

  • Finished February 1243
  • 165 in Humble Compounds
  • 8 animals
  • Population 3052
  • $42,899
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