Despite the vast tracts of rich, arable land available to her, China would have to break with Earth history and become a naval power. Enough of a naval power, at least, to counter Japan's rampaging Galleys off her coast. The teeming herds of Cows, Sheep, and Horses, penned in all over Eurasia, were allowed to continue to run free in the far east.
The war front for those first few years was stagnant. Cat-and-mouse battles with Asoka continued in southeast Asia, and the Indians even snuck a few Archers through the Himalayas into the Chinese heartland, but these were raids, not a full scale invasion, so they were easily beaten back. The barbarian incursions into Old Mongolia were a different matter. Nationless looters poured from the Siberian plains, bearing clubs, bows, and eventually axes. Karakorum was never in serious danger, but many of the city's surrounding mines and pastures were destroyed over the course of the round.
Karakorum wasn't the only Chinese city to suffer. Hong Kong completed a Forge, promising strong Productivity to come. But it was short-lived for, on the very eve of its opening, a monsoon swept through the city:
Destroying the new Forge and a Monument to boot. Gotta say, I was strongly considering a reload there, but I persevered.
With Sailing completed, a navy was slapped together and Machinery was looked into to pave the way for our coming Engineer. Despite the uneasy feeling that we're lagging badly in Tech (Still no Animal Husbandry!? Or Alphabet!?), we proved to be second in the rankings:
I wonder who #1 is. The Incas, maybe? Huayna Capac is Financial, and with South America open to him, and with Eurasia's tech-trading advantages gone, who knows?
Regardless, second place may be good enough for now, but our economy is clearly sagging. We need a boost. And what better place to look for extra gold than in our abundant coastlines?
The Colossus didn't quite make it a night and day difference, but it was a solid investment of hammers, I think. Well, hammers and whipped population
So, with a navy built up and our borders (mostly) secure, I sent some raiders off to choke Kyoto:
Now, I know we'd agreed that putting Japan on lockdown while we conquered the rest of the world would be fun, but... Two Archers? And with a free Settler holed up in the city? Come on. No reason to leave those juicy islands in the hands of the enemy.
But first, it was time to finally usher in the age of the Cho-Ko-Nu:
Wow, peanuts really CAN be used for anything.
So in 215 B.C., Kyoto was taken:
The Lighthouse survived, but Tokugawa had escaped, and the populace held out hope for his triumphant return. 3 additional angry faces in an empire that's already starved for happiness resources! After whipping out a Monument, the one remaining productive worker was able to feed the rest of the population off of the Fish tile, but the city wasn't even earning its keep, much less earning its status as a crown jewel of the empire. Tokugawa would need to be found.
Chittagong was founded to form a defensible border with Asoka and claim Malaysia for the Chinese empire:
The city is a little choked right now, between Jungles and Indian culture, and it will never be a top tier city, but with the Spices, Bananas, and Rice, along with a bunch of Grasslands under all those vines, it's got some potential. And, for now, it'll serve as a focus for Asoka's aggression.
A Scout was sent westward, where he found Moscow's defenses sorely lacking:
But he was quickly killed off. Without the possibility of Open Borders, I think we're pretty much resigned to not knowing what the rest of the map looks like
Tokyo, Japan's final redoubt, was significantly farther south than I'd expected:
But it was, thankfully, lightly defended. Assault troops were loaded onto a Galley and sent southward forthwith.
Mathematics was our next major research goal. I figure it opens up Construction (for military), Currency (for our lagging economy), and Calendar (to finally get some happiness resources online). But first, we took a quick trip into Masonry. Why?
For the Great Lighthouse, of course. Again, not a fantastic Wonder, but with Kyoto ours, and with the south Pacific now open to us, it makes too much sense not to build it.
Like clockwork, Asoka started sending real opposition at Chittagong:
No worries. Axemen and Swordsmen there are actually less trouble than Archers tooling around near Beijing and Hong Kong.
Tokyo was crushed without much opposition:
And Earth18 was down to Earth15 (in order: Germany, Mongolia, Japan). And we could now turn our attentions to Asoka.
The source of Chittagong's Cultural pressure was identified:
Lightly defended, but still too tough a nut to crack for my expeditionary force. Regardless, Bombay is now our target.
One of our soldiers from the naval assaults on Japan, Horatio Nelson, returned to Beijing in triumph. He was a skilled tactician and a charismatic leader. He was brought to Qin Shi Huang's palace and was honored as a hero of the empire:
Now the question is, what to do with him? Create a Spearman supermedic? Attach him to a Cho-Ko-Nu and create a breaker? Settle him for long-term xp?
With Mathematics completed, we also have a choice to make in terms of technology:
I'm strongly leaning Calendar. We have way too many Plantation resources out there, and our Happy Cap of 4 is cramping my style. And the Mausoleum is a nice bonus, too (Damn you, Industrial trait!). But I'm willing to be argued with.
Here's a look at our empire at this point:
And our Military Advisor:
As you can see, we have two Settlers available to us. I'm thinking one in northern Japan to make use of the Silver, and the other down somewhere in the Pacific, to make use of the islands? There's a tough Barbarian city on a hill in Malaysia at the moment. I've been putting that particular project off, but maybe it's time. What do you all think? I look forward, as always, to the discussion.
It was just because i already had this pic uploaded for one of my SG games that were played in E1000 AD that i used it here ... and some lazyness to start the game, screenshot and upload 
The thing about the cityplacement is still standing 
