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Turbulent Winds - Spring and Autumn Weather

Most trusted advisor, it seems nothing can stop the detestable Xiongnu. Despite strenuous efforts to halt their forays into the Ordos, they managed to break through -- and now our once proud city of Hao has been ignominiously sacked! It seems the soldiers did not rally when the beacon fires were lit, as too many times before King You had them fired just to see the smile on the face of a petulant concubine. You Wang now lies dead in the ashes of Hao and our new regent, Ping Wang, fears for his life. For this reason, the capital is moving eastward.
It is your good fortune, noble commissioner, that engineers have already constructed strong defenses at Loyi. However, the site for a Temple Complex must still be staked out. More income from trade can be had by striking coins at the mint, and soldiers armed with powerful crossbows can now protect the city. Nutritious soybeans will supplement your citizens' diet. The river provides tasty fish, but also a certain danger, as heavy spring rains can cause flash floods.

Starts Feb 771 BCE

$17,000 Hard

Requirements:
  • population of 3200
  • 50 in Humble Compound
  • Temple Complex
Humble Compounds hold 15 people each and need
  • Ancestral Shrine
  • Tasty Food
  • Herbalist
  • Acupuncturist
  • Music
  • Acrobat
  • Hemp
  • Ceramics
  • Silk
  • Bronzeware

I like this one! So far the best mission, with several hidden challenges. You have a lot to think about, if you want to (of course you can just play it and win, but then you'll miss all the fun). Some of the questions I had to solve when starting Loyi: Should the temple complex be situated in the city or outside the city walls? How to design the city for feng-shui in perfect harmony? Where should I build the city docks (trading quay)? Should I fish or import all food except soybean and wheat?

Let me explain, that the walls are mainly decorative in this mission; that water trade route to Anyang is of very low importance (I built the quay, but didn't trade there at all); that no one is asking you to build the temple at a certain location or going to reward you if it is built there. All that is purely a matter of your free decision - and I enjoy the game a lot more with some additional targets or restrictions. So, what was my decision? Temple will be outside the walls, feng-shui must be in perfect harmony as always, city walls should remain in place with the exception of gap for irrigation and trading quay, and as many buildings as possible (including farms) will be placed inside the walls to form a city that can survive a long siege.

Temple complex seemed to be something huge by the footprint - in fact it is quite normal building in a large garden with stone wall. I situated it to the north, near the stone quarry. The wall requires many mason actions, but is built last of all the monument. I had 2 carpenters, 2 labor camps, 1 ceramist. When stone was delivered to the place, I built 3 masons to speed the construction up a bit - IMHO that was enough for decent speed of progress. Surely the monument could have been finished earlier with more artisans, but speed wasn't essential for me.

Well, now about the plans... I built almost all buildings to find out what can be done and what can't, deleting and rebuilding many of them, then reloaded the starting position and built everything from the scratch. In the walled area there are houses for 3500 people in 2 housing blocks (one of Ornate Apt., one mixed Ornate Apt. and Humble Compounds), served by 1 grand market and 1 mill - it is enough for steady supply of food; 3 farms (1 hemp, 2 food) + irrigation system; 6 mullberry orchards; 7 weavers; 1 logging shed; trading quay. Near the monument construction area there is an industrial area (bronze smelters, mint, bronzeware makers, kilns, clay pits and logging sheds). On the hill to NW, near the more distant copper ore deposits, I built military area (bronze smelters, weaponsmiths, forts). Just outside the city walls are 2 more farms (hemp and food).

All fisheries are in south, across the river from city and - as all areas outside the walls - unconnected to the city. Fish is accumulating in a warehouse, from which the mill delivery men are getting it; they don't need road connection for that, but spend lots of time travelling - getting several types of food from such a distance would be problematic. The order in which I built all the buildings is very similar to the order in previous missions, there were no significant differences.

  • Finished Feb 764 BCE
  • Population 3489
  • 150 in Humble Compounds
  • $29087
  • Feng Shui: Perfect harmony

At a certain point, the water level rises visibly, but the flood does little damage to other buildings than fisheries and probably a warehouse with fish. Even a trading quay survived the flood intact. City walls stop flood, as long as they are "waterproof". If you make an opening in the wall, water will get inside but it causes little damage.

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