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The Grand Canal

The mountains and valleys mourn the death of Wendi, founder of the great Sui Empire. His second son, Yangdi, has inherited the throne, and his father's grand vision. Work on the still unfinished Grand Canal system must be carried through to completion. Like a vibrant artery connecting head and heart, once completed the Grand Canal will link the southern rice basket with the populous north
The southern terminus of the Grand Canal will be at Yangzhou, near the mouth of the great Yangzi River. It is there where you have been sent, to oversee construction of this leg of the project and to guide development of the city. While commoners toil on the project, however, the elite of Yangzhou can now enjoy the fabulous new art of drama, especially when performed at a theatre pavilion accompanied by talented musicians and nimble acrobats
Meanwhile, our new Emperor keeps a watchful eye on the ignoble kingdom of Koguryo. Do not be suprised if troops are needed to campaign there.

City - Yangzhou
Starts Feb 604 CE
20000 starting cash on Normal

Requirements:
  • Grand Canal Section must be built
  • 100 people in Heavenly Compound or better

The requirements of this mission are very distinct. Building a section of the Grand Canal is going to be the most time consuming, so that is where you will want to concentrate your initial efforts. The first thing you need, like in all missions, is workers. Immigrants enter the map from the north on the eastern most road. Near the entry point, I built two blocks of common housing. Both blocks contained 29 houses (with room for more 7 more houses in each block if workers were needed). One block would eventually be evolved to Spacious Dwellings and the other to Elegant Dwellings. The maximum population of the two blocks, with 29 houses each, would be 2697.

As soon as I had enough workers, I placed my Stoneworks near the Stone Quarry on the west edge of the map, and soon thereafter, a Warehouse set to accept the stone. I then built cabbage, rice and hemp farms to evolve the housing and generate more workers. Laborers Guilds came next so that excavation work could begin on the Grand Canal.

The Ancestors were becoming less and less pleased with me. Clay Pits and Kilns were built so that I would have gifts for the Ancestors and ceramics to continue the housing evolution. All was going well, but I was beginning to run short of cash. It was (past) time to start making some income.

The main source of income was tea. Kashgar, Sabi, Changzhou, Guangzhou and Lanzhou will all buy tea from you if you open up trade with them. Tea Curing Sheds were my next priority.

You will need paper for your Tax Offices. Produce a little extra and sell it to Chang-an. Chang-an will also buy any extra rice that you produce, as will Lanzhou and Sabi. Chendu will only buy cabbage. As soon as cash and the workforce allowed, I added more Laborers Guilds, getting Warehouses to move the stone closer to the construction site and Mason Guilds.

Work on the Grand Canal was progressing nicely and cash was beginning to accumulate. It was time to get started on the Heavenly Compound requirement. I built another housing block, for 5 Elite Houses, northwest of the Common Housing. Fishing Quays provide a third type of food, however spices, silk and lacquerware all have to be imported for the Heavenly Compounds. I imported a little at a time and stockpiled it until the Grand Canal was nearing completion.

The last thing I built were shops to distribute the silk and lacquerware. I had 108 people living in Heavenly Compounds and finished the Grand Canal in the same month. On to the next mission.

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