Food question

[Jsteele14]

Playing as Liu Bei and all going well. Have decent positive food, income, 2 armies, etc. Then i take Yuan Shao's capital and all of a sudden i am -16 food. Did some deals to get food to -12. Now my whole faction is in jepoardy. Went ahead a few turns but situation not improving (was hoping public order improvement would help).

Anyone else run into this? What is the best course of action? There are food facilities already in the city i took. Do i demo all other buildings for food? Seems awfully punative if i have to convert to all food buildings.

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[makanyane]

Check what the food buildings in the city actually are - there's two lines of buildings in the 'green' section - one gives you food - the other trades it away at -8x per turn, it sounds like you have the trading away version, and you probably need to demolish/downgrade it.

[Osskssa]

Big cities consume alot of food level 5, 10 food, level 6, 16 food, thats where most of your food will go, Yuan Shao is pretty OP with alot of money, was his capital big?

[Jsteele14]

You were right. It was on food trader at -6 per turn. Downsizing and switching to food producer at +3 per. Still leaves me at -3 but getting closer.

Yuan Shao's capital was a large city around 1 mil i think. My whole faction population has been declining rapidly due to food shortage so that city is down to 750,000 or so. Even with the smaller population, my food shortage stayed the same.

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[Ethann]

It sounds like you've hit a challenging spot in your campaign as Liu Bei in Total War: Three Kingdoms. Here are some strategies you can consider to manage the sudden food deficit after capturing Yuan Shao’s capital:

1. Evaluate the City's Infrastructure: Check the newly acquired city for its existing buildings. Sometimes, large cities consume more food than they produce. If there are high-level buildings that are not essential and consume a lot of food, consider downgrading them, This can reduce food consumption without completely demolishing non-food production buildings.
   
2. Trade and Diplomacy: Continue to use diplomacy to manage your food crisis. You've already made some deals to mitigate the situation. See if there are additional trade partners who can supply you with food in exchange for other resources or services, like military access or ancillaries.
   
3. Develop Agriculture in Other Territories: Boost food production in other parts of your empire. If you have any territories with fertile lands, prioritize upgrading agricultural buildings there. It might take a few turns, but it’s a more sustainable solution.

[Willie Smith]

It sounds like the food shortage is mainly tied to the high population and food consumption in Yuan Shao's capital. A large city like that consumes a lot of food, so even after taking the city, the population still drives the shortage. Downsizing and switching from a food trader to a food producer is a good start, but you might also want to demolish or downgrade non-essential buildings that consume resources. Additionally, consider securing food trade agreements with other factions to bridge the gap. Reducing your armies temporarily to free up food can also help stabilize the situation.