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The Enlightened One

Following three hundred years of disunion and strife, Wendi, first Emperor of the House of Sui, has reunited the kingdoms of China. As a reminder of the glorious past, the Emperor has decreed that the capital of Chang-an -- ancient capital of the great Han Dynasty, but now ruined and overgrown -- is to be rebuilt. Architects have drawn up plans for a monumental Grand Pagoda. It is now up to you to see the plans to fruition.
In the countryside, tea plants can now be cultivated. The leaves of this marvelous plant, when carefully cured, make a delicious and aromatic drink. The popularity of -- and demand for -- this product is growing rapidly throughout the land, so ensure that adequate amounts are planted. Even the common folk, now residing in luxurious apartments, have acquired a taste for this savory beverage.
A wise sage relates that the revered Bodhidharma, a heroic Buddhist figure, can be of immense help where tea is concerned. It might therefore be wise to donate generous amounts of homage to him, as his presence could be especially useful for the fledgling tea industry

City - Chang-an
Starts Feb 581 CE
16000 starting cash on Very Hard
(20000 starting cash on Normal)

Requirements:

  • 1700 people in Luxurious Apartment or better
  • Grand Pagoda must be built
  • 36 Months of Heroes

Difficulty played at - Very Hard

The campaign begins in the city of Chang-an on a generous map with a bounty of natural resources. Take care planning this city because you will be coming back to it in the seventh mission. The more you accomplish now, the easier the seventh mission will be.

Ruins of a former city exist southeast of the bend in the river. Sections of the city walls, with towers and gatehouses, are still present. There is a lot of rubble to be cleared, but this would be an ideal place to begin your new city. Immigrants enter the map on the Road to China from the east. Clear a few tiles of this road at the edge of the map or the immigrants will follow the road instead of going cross-country. This will speed up immigration, and you can't accomplish much until you have some workers in your city.

You can grow three varieties of food and the river is full of fish. Food quality will not be a problem. You can grow your own hemp and produce ceramics, tea and silk. You have all the resources you need for Luxurious Apartments without the need to import. Your main sources of income will come from selling tea and silk. As housing evolves, taxation can also be lucrative. And don't forget to build a Mint. There are copper ore deposits near the north edge of the map.

The mission begins with Kashgar as a distant trading partner. You will want to establish trade with Kashgar as soon as you can produce some tea and/or silk. Kashgar will buy both. The other cities on the map are Chengdu, Changzhou and Guangzhou. If you can establish trade with these cities, each will buy one, or both, of you export items.

Within the city walls, I eventually developed three housing blocks. One block contained 33 Luxurious Apartments (to meet the housing goal). A second block held 39 Ornate Apartments (for additional workers). An elite housing block included 8 Impressive Compounds.

Food and hemp farms were northeast of the city. Tea and silk orchards were to the southwest. Weavers were located at the northeast edge of the orchards. Fishing Quays were to the northwest with clay pits and kilns for ceramic production. The land southeast of the city was arid and difficult to irrigate, so I left it undeveloped.

A stone quarry is near the western edge of the map, so that it where I decided to build the Grand Pagoda. Trees were also abundant near this location and a clay pit could be built nearby to support the Ceramics Guild.

While I was waiting on the construction of the Grand Pagoda, I decided to get started on developing my military. I wasn't sure what to expect in the future mission that revisits this city, and I wanted to be prepared. Iron ore deposits are located in the southeast corner of the map. Here I built steel furnaces, logging sheds and weaponsmiths. By the time the mission was complete, I had two Infantry, two Crossbowmen and two Horseman forts filled.

Now, here is a real tip. When you come back to this city in the seventh mission, one of the requirements is 8 Menagerie Animals. 36 months of Heroes is a requirement for this mission, so build a Palace, summon Xi Wang Mu and have her capture a Panda for you. Xi Wang Mu's presence also helps speed up monument construction. If you can get more animals from your trade partners, you will be that much ahead. (I collected 4 animals in this mission.) Another requirement of the seventh mission is 200 people living in Heavenly Compounds. I also got a head start on this requirement by having 8 Impressive Compounds already in place.

There are several requests for goods in this mission. I received a "demand" for 6 sachets of tea from Guangzhou in September CE 583, and was given 5 months to comply. Guangzhou can be a profitable trade partner so compliance is important. The next request for tea (8 sachets) came from Changzhou in August CE 585. Changzhou was back again in June CE 585 and this time they wanted 9 bolts of silk.

I finished the Grand Pagoda in June of CE 587, but decided to stay around at little longer to get things ready for the seventh mission. My final results were as follows:

Mission Completed: June CE 590
Cash: 78301
Population: 4803 with 2233 living in Luxurious Apartments or better
Score: 3024
Feng Shui: Perfect Harmony

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