Let's Play Emperor ROTMK [Hard]: Part 25 - Handan [Mission 19] [1/3]

Welcome back to Ancient China! Sajuuk continues to follow in the footsteps of the ancestors who built the ancient empire of China on Hard difficulty!

China is in a state of disarray: states are devouring each other and weak kingdoms being subjugated to stronger powers. The leaders of the Zhao Kingdom have tasked us to build a critical section of the long wall at Handan, which should protect both the city and the state: can we hold off rival Chinese soldiers and create the first section of the Great Wall of China?

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[countingtls]

Welcome to the Warring States Period, where everyone is out to get you XD

And due to the chaotic nature of this period, in real history, the "long wall" near HanDan (邯鄲 this is the correct ancient place name BTW, this place became the capital of the State of Zhao 趙國 since 386 BC) wasn't facing north, but facing southeast and southwest against other States. Many other states also build "long walls" along their borders to defend their territories.

The cities of the in-game world map meant to represent different States' capitals. Ji (薊 and it is in the same place as modern day Beijing) is the capital of the State of Yan (燕國). Anyi (安邑) is the early capital of the State of Wei (魏國, the powerful neighbor to the south for Zhao). Qufu (曲阜) is the capital of State of Lu (魯國, although it's not a major power, but it is the home state for Confucius himself, and I think the developer was meant for it to represent the State of Qi 齊國, since it is one of the major power in Warring States). The city Ying (郢) from previous mission you already know as the capital of Chu The city of Wu (吳) is NOT the capital of the once powerful Kingdom of Wu, since it had been conquered by its southern neighbor the State of Yue (越國 and it had taken Kingdom of Wu, and used Wu's capital as its new capital). Pingyang is a typo of the developers, its name should be Xianyang (咸陽), the capital of the later mighty State of Qin (秦國, however at 353BC, Qin was only on its way to became a major power). Loyi I think the developer meant for representing the remaining "weakest" major power the State of Han 韓國, however its capital wasn't here, but once at the place of the actual Pingyang, somewhere in the middle between Loyi and Xianyang. Loyi itself was still the official "Capital" of "Zhou Dynasty", however was reduced to a very small state, not even a puppet king anymore.

All the major powers in Warring States tried to conquered smaller states and expand their territories. In 403 BC, the once mighty Kingdom of Jin (remembered I mentioned it as one of the major kingdom at the beginning of Spring and Autumn period, where King You's rebelling son fled to, and effectively ended the Western Zhou Dynasty as the King of kings) itself faced the same fate of Zhou, and its ruler reduced to became a puppet, and its vast territory split three, forming three major powers of the early Warring States - Zhao, Wei, Han. From the start, Wei was the most powerful, and Han and Zhao were weaker. In 354 BC, Zhao tried to expand its territory thus attacked a small kingdom of Wey (衛國, although pronounce the same as Wei, but a different place and a neighbor of both States of Zhao and Wei). The State of Wei is its protector, thus allied with other states and lunch a counter-attack to HanDan and force Zhao to retreat from Wey. The ally forced actually breach the wall of HanDan and took it in 353 BC. But again the east neighbor and the powerful State of Qi joined the fight and counter-counter-attack Wei's capital to force the ally to retreat, and ambushed and defeated the Wei army halfway home. Later, Wei return HanDan back to Zhao in 352 BC. (Hence in theory, if we are true to the history, the wall should be in the south of the city, and from the beginning it was already on enemy's hand, and you'll have to retake it back :P. But this is a city building game, not RTS game XD)

Sun Tzu (孫子, Tzu or Zi, is just a honorary way to call a prestigious man. Originally meant for low-rank noblemen, however later extended to all classes, like calling someone Most Honorable Mister Sun. His birth name is Sun Wu 孫武. Notice this Wu is different from the Kingdom of Wu 吳, again its the same pinyin but different tones different words), is actually one of the military general form the Kingdom of Wu participating the campaign ransacking Ying that I mentioned in previous mission (Thus he lived around the same period as Confucius). One of his descendant Sun Bin (孫臏) participating the battle when Qi counter-counter-attack Wei I described above. They both wrote military strategy books that we now know as The Art of War (Sun Bin's version was once lost, but in 1970s archeologists excavated some volumes of it from an ancient tomb).

[nowhiringpaladins]

Just a few points covering all three videos:

1. After 4-5 years, I put an isolated fishing industry on the peninsula at 11:25. Its Warehouse filled up rather quickly, so I'd give the Ancestors whatever the Mill deliverymen didn't collect. I'd turn this and other industries off when workers were needed elsewhere.

2. I lasted the whole mission (13 years) with two mixed Farms and one Hemp Farm, which were all irrigated. My single Hunter's Tent and four Fishing Quays held the line whenever the grown foods wore thin. There was neither enough food, space, nor workers to support a second Common block, so I somehow got by with very few Farms.

3. Trading with Wu was vital to my success. With them buying so much Silk, I didn't bother with anyone else (except the preexisting Carved Jade consortium with Qufu and Anyang). Wu also provided me with Salt and Rice for the rest of the mission.

4. I initially failed to satisfy Ji's demand for Iron, too, so I reloaded the August autosave and readied the Iron ahead of time. Even so, they eventually invaded, but my single Infantry company and Huang Di were victorious.

5. Maybe it's the VH difficulty, but I've had Spy problems in Hao, Yulin, and Loyi. It got pretty bad in the latter two cities. Ironically enough, I didn't notice any spies in my Handan. I haven't seen any in Lingshou so far.

6. Sometime after Ji's failed invasion, I started harvesting Wood in two places south of the Wall. The far right side had the most trees, but I had to bring over my Infantry to deal with the Salamanders.

7. I had the exact same problem with my Common block suddenly losing Diviner access. This happened after the years wore on, and my block design has been fairly stable every time I use it. Using the Religion Overlay, it appeared that houses recently passed by a Diviner would lose their access more rapidly than usual. I don't know what the issue could be. I summoned Nu Wa towards the end to patrol while waiting for the Wall to be built.

8. It finally happened: several "docile" rivals swore fealty to me. I tested this by conquering Ji, the Nomad Camps, and half of the other cities.