Complete Beginner's Guide — From First Settlement to King

When you enter the game, first familiarize yourself with camera control:

The game has its own time-flow system. You can control the speed:

The time display at the top of the screen shows the current year, month, day, and time-of-day segment. A game year has 12 months, each with 28 days.

Free-draw formation: Select a unit, then hold right-click and draw a line at the target location. The unit will move and form up along the line. When drawing for multiple units, each forms a square column to march, then transforms into the drawn formation near the target — smooth and stutter-free.

Road width & curvature: Hold Shift + scroll to adjust. Roads can be upgraded — upgraded roads let laborers move faster.

Batch pickup: Select map objects (material piles, corpses) to enter batch-pickup mode. The entry is at the bottom-left of the UI. Shift+drag removes items from the selection's priority haul. Relay-station and idle laborers prioritize hauling to warehouses.

Rename building: Select a building, click the button next to its name to rename it.

Quick search: Press Enter or click the Search button. Type initials, Chinese characters, or pinyin for fuzzy building search. Press Tab to switch to item search — highlights all warehouses storing that item with their stock counts.

1. 1Click the Build button (bottom of the UI).
2. 2Select the building you want from the building list.
3. 3Move the mouse over the map — a preview appears.
4. 4Left-click to confirm placement.

The build preview shows: the building's outline, placement validity (green = OK, red = blocked), and required materials.

Some buildings support batch construction — e.g. roads and walls. Hold Shift to enter batch mode: place multiple copies of the same building in one go, then confirm to finish the batch.

Click a built building to open its detail panel. The panel has multiple tabs at the top; different buildings have different tabs. Common tabs include Overview, Work, Production, Storage, Supply, and Demand.

1. 1Click the building to open its detail panel.
2. 2Click the Demolish button (usually top-left of the panel).
3. 3Confirm demolition.

After demolishing: construction materials drop on the ground; items stored inside also drop; laborers auto-pickup the dropped items.

Click the Migrate button on the building panel to move a building to a new location.

The basic labor unit is called a 伍 (wǔ), containing about 5 laborers (民夫). Laborers are your workforce — they automatically perform all kinds of work. You'll see them walking around, hauling items, constructing buildings, gathering resources, etc.

Laborer work is fully automatic — you never micromanage individuals. The system auto-assigns work:

1. 1A building creates a work demand (e.g. 'haul timber', 'construct', 'produce').
2. 2The system finds an idle laborer.
3. 3The laborer travels to the building to execute the task.
4. 4On completion, the laborer seeks the next task.

The building panel's "Work" tab shows: how many laborers are currently working there, what tasks are in progress, and task progress.

Although labor is auto-assigned, you must manually assign 伍 to buildings — a building without an assigned 伍 will not work.

1. 1Open the building detail panel.
2. 2Find the laborer slot in the Overview tab.
3. 3Click Assign to allocate a 伍 to the building.

An assigned 伍 prioritizes that building, boosting its efficiency.

Laborers show different visual states on screen — hauling, building, gathering, idle, sick, etc.

Morale is the core stability metric for your territory, displayed at the top of the screen (initial value 50, range 0-100).

Laborers have basic living needs that must be met to maintain morale. Needs are shown in the morale panel: food, housing (tents), drinking water (wells), and winter fuel.

Morale is checked on a cycle, not continuously. The next check time is shown in the morale panel. Check cycle: monthly.

Before winter you must prepare: stockpile firewood or charcoal; ensure fuel warehouses are full.

The game has many resources (currently implemented):

Different buildings have different warehouse types. Warehouses store specific categories of items.

Open a building's detail panel and click the Storage tab to see: what items are currently stored and the quantity of each.

In the Storage tab you can configure: which item types are allowed to be stored.

A trade post is a specialized building for remote resource allocation. You set transport routes between trade posts to auto-move resources from production sites to consumption sites.

Trade-post logistics runs on a local-supply / remote-demand mechanism:

Local Supply (items you send out): In the Supply tab, set the item types you want to export. Set a local retention — the trade post keeps this many; only the surplus is shipped.

Remote Demand (items you receive): In the Demand tab, set the item types you want imported. Set a local demand — the desired stock level.

Minimum shipment: Each trade post can set a minimum shipment — below this quantity no cart is dispatched, avoiding frequent small shipments and improving efficiency.

Routes form automatically — no manual start/end configuration:

1. 1Trade Post A sets an item as 'local supply' with stock above retention.
2. 2Trade Post B sets that item as 'remote demand'.
3. 3A and B are within each other's working range.
4. 4The system auto-dispatches ox carts from A to B.

The demand panel shows: in-transit carts, each cart's item type/quantity/progress, and estimated arrival time.

Transport capacity is the core limiting factor for resource exchange.

• Relay stations are logistics-specialized buildings.
• Laborers assigned to a relay station prioritize transport tasks.
• Relay-station laborers carry 10× the normal load per trip.
• Building relay stations significantly boosts transport capacity.

Buildings exchange items in two ways. Range Circle: every building has a resource-acquisition range (the range circle). A building only tries to obtain needed items from within its own circle. Click a building to see its range (the white circle).

Laborers can get sick or injured.

Effects: sick laborers work slower and need treatment; severe cases can die; plague auto-spreads to nearby laborers. Treatment: build a Hospital, assign laborers to visit; the hospital must stock medicine.

Plague is a special disease state: it spreads to nearby laborers within a cycle and range; infected laborers risk death; survivors gain a significant bonus. Countermeasure: avoid concentrating laborers in plague zones (imprison or execute the infected); the plague ends after spreading for a while.

When morale is too low, rebellion can break out: the lower the morale, the higher the chance; laborers don't rebel immediately — they enter a preparation phase first; rebels-in-preparation can be dealt with early via execution; rebelling laborers become rebel soldiers that attack your buildings and troops; suppress them with soldiers or by building a Village Pavilion and recruiting catchers.

Prevention: keep morale at a safe level; promptly meet laborer needs; act early when rebellion signs appear.

Under certain conditions, rebels may be struck by lightning — a special morale-buff effect. When morale is in certain favorable states, rebels may suffer divine punishment.

Farmland cycles through different states as crops grow. Monitor the states via the building panel.

Farmland has a fertility value that affects yield. Fertility drops: each planting consumes fertility. Fertility can be restored: apply fertilizer (肥水) to recover it.

If you plant the same crop consecutively, fertility consumption increases. Rotate crops — alternate different crops — to avoid this penalty.

Farmland needs watering. Build a well or water source near the farmland. Laborers auto-draw water from wells to irrigate the fields.

To turn laborers into soldiers:

1. 1Prepare enough equipment (weapons, armor, etc.).
2. 2Select the conscript function in the panel.
3. 3Choose the soldier type to conscript.

Soldier types are determined by the weapons used during conscription. Confirmed types include melee infantry (short sword, long ge), archers (bow), and chariot troops. More types will be documented as data is mined.

After selecting a soldier/army:

In combat, chariot-type attacks can knock soldiers back: the hit soldier flies in a parabolic arc and only recovers standing posture after landing. Flight distance and height scale with the attacker's power and speed.

• Faction-aware: knockback only affects enemy units; friendly fire knockback does not occur.
• National policy unlock: all friendly units gain a chance to knock back on attack.
• Hold state: soldiers in Hold orders are harder to knock back — use this to stabilize lines.

Height difference between attacker and defender creates distinct combat outcomes for wall sieges and terrain elevation:

• Low attacking high (e.g. ground troops attacking wall defenders): the hit party takes less damage.
• High attacking low (e.g. wall defenders firing down at siege troops): the hit party takes more damage.

1. 1Select the city wall building.
2. 2Place the first wall segment.
3. 3Keep placing — walls auto-connect.

Walls auto-generate snap points. On connection points you can build: gates, towers, wall catapults, and other defensive facilities.

You can garrison archers on walls (remember to issue Hold orders) — they will shoot enemies from the wall.

Click a wall segment — the panel has an Upgrade button. Upgraded walls are sturdier.

Two wall materials can be built: wooden walls and rammed-earth walls. They are independent systems — built separately and cannot connect to each other.

After a wall is built, you can place wall defenses (e.g. bed crossbows) on it. Wall defenses can be rotated with the F key. All wall defenses have their own attack range. Some wall defenses require specific wall types as support.

Retainers are special characters that provide various bonuses. They belong to different schools of thought (philosophical traditions).

• Recruitment: spend resources in the retainer panel / command tent.
• Diplomacy: obtain retainers from other states via diplomacy.

1. 1Select the target building or army.
2. 2Choose the retainer to dispatch.
3. 3Confirm dispatch.

Once dispatched, the retainer provides bonuses to the target building or army.

• Must have their own housing.
• Monthly salary must be paid (knife money and items).
• If salary is unpaid, satisfaction drops.
• If satisfaction drops too low, the retainer leaves!

Click the diplomacy button to open the panel. You see: a list of all other states; each state's favorability value; the current favorability stage.

Favorability is divided into stages that determine available diplomatic actions and trade price modifiers.

Click a state to use these functions:

Open the nobility panel to see: current rank (0-6), upgrade requirements, current progress. Laborers auto-haul the required upgrade items to the command tent. Rank upgrades increase the number of 伍 attracted per month at the same morale level.

Each rank has specific conditions (resources, items, etc.) that must be met before petitioning.

1. 1Click the Petition button in the nobility panel.
2. 2The system enters the petition process.
3. 3After completing the petition, your rank increases.

The highest nobility rank is Claiming Kingship!

1. 1Select a save slot.
2. 2Enter a save name (optional).
3. 3Confirm save.

1. 1Select the save to load.
2. 2Confirm load.
3. 3The game loads that save state.

Check these points:

• Is the building still under construction? (It must finish building first.)
• Has a 伍 been assigned? (Check the Overview tab.)
• Has it reached the production cap you set?
• Are there enough work materials in range?
• Check the Production tab for the reason it's not working.

Check the morale panel:

• Is the food need met?
• Is the housing need met? (Enough tents?)
• Is fuel stockpiled for winter?
• Are wells supplying water normally?

Building requires laborers to haul materials:

• Check if there are idle laborers (only unassigned laborers do construction work).
• Check if materials are sufficient.
• Check if roads are passable.

Raise morale:

• Meet all morale needs.
• When morale is high, new 伍 join.
• Some special events also grant population.
• Population only arrives at the start of each month.