City States of Shang – A Move to Yin

Many generations have passed since your illustrious ancestor bravely defended the walls of Zhengzhou against the ruthless Xiongnu. Now, however, the supply of copper at Zhengzhou, so crucial for bronze casting, has been exhausted. Pang Geng, the new king, has thus decreed that the capital be relocated. After much searching, royal geomancers finally found a suitable location, and it shall be known as Yin.
Fish the river, grow millet, wheat and mulberry, and scour the hills for copper. Unfortunately, the area’s clay is unsuited kiln firing, creating a need to acquire both clay and ceramics through trade. Set aside a portion of the city for the elite class, who will doubtless appreciate luxurious silk, appetizing food and acrobats. Decorative statues and wayside pavilions can now add a touch of beauty and grace to the city. Do not forget to develop a strong military arm, as not all cities bow to the Shang king. Paying heed to others’ demands may appease them in the short term, but what does it say of the might of you city?

Starts Feb 1384 BCE

$12,000 on Normal

Requirements:

  • Population of 1500
  • 40 in Lavish Siheyuan

Lavish Siheyuan hold 10 people each and need

  • Ancestral Shrine
  • Herbalist
  • Appetizing Food
  • Hemp
  • Music
  • Acrobat
  • Acupuncturist
  • Ceramics
  • Silk

This is a rather large map, and would be an easy and fun mission, except the housing layout is a bit difficult due to the many rocks, IMHO. Think carefully as you plan your layout. You will need an Elite section to meet the mission requirements, and as you will return here later in the campaign, leave some room for a rather large monument.

The immigrants enter from the west side of the map and you have trading privileges established with Zhengzhou. It is a water route, so explore the natural cove area in the middle of the map. You will need to build ferries to cross over the river and mine the copper, and also fishing is available. Keep an eye out for the Giant Salamaders along the shores. Life was hard in the Middle Kingdom.

But you can grow Hemp, Wheat and Millet. Mulberries trees can be planted. The main constraints are no Clay or Ceramics. You have the Bronze, but Bronzeware is a much more lucrative export. The Ceramics you will need to build the Elites. You can do without Ceramics Vendors in the Market Squares if you don’t evolve the common houses past Spacious Dwellings or linger long enough for the Elites to run out.

This is the way I laid out the city:

The industrial area for making Bronzeware was southwest of the cove for easy delivery of the bronze by ferry and access to imported Clay. The other trading posts were all nearby. Food and Hemp were grown on the East side and Mulberry trees and Silk Weavers were in the south.

One block of common houses evolved up to Spacious Dwellings and a large block of Elites with their own Grand Market.

Lay out your main block and get some workers. Plant your farms and have a few fishing quays to supplement the crops. As soon as you can, start mining the copper. You can have it delivered straight to the Zhengzhou trading quay for some early export money.

As your work force grows, plant some mulberry trees in anticipation of silk exports. The Lavish Siheyuans will need silk to evolve, but that is for later on.

As you have extra food or Hemp, start gifting the other cities to find out what they will trade. You will need to import Clay (Ceramics can be had from Zhengzhou, but you really don’t need much in this mission). So, who has the Clay?

Qufu and Banpo both sell Clay, so concentrate your efforts on them. Look for someone to buy your Silk and Bronzeware at the same time, as these are the main moneymakers. Hemp and Wood can also be sold, but you don’t get as much.

Mostly you will be left alone to get the new capital started. There are some requests for things you can produce starting about year 4 and I had an earthquake in year 5. My Ancestral gods were not angry, but sometimes these things will just happen.

Early on, I set up one Weaponsmith near the ferry and supplied one Infantry fort. It was handy for killing those danged Salamanders. The soldiers will make their own reed boats to cross the river at the ferries and are quite effective at killing predators.

  • Finished Dec 1379
  • Population 1543
  • 67 in Lavish Siheyuan
  • $14,280

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