Pursuit of Mercantile Power — Devlog #1: Your First Bucket of Gold Starts

Hi everyone—this is the creator, MiFeng. Today I’d like to introduce more of Pursuit of Mercantile Power and share some development progress.

In Pursuit of Mercantile Power, your rise doesn’t start with robbing the bank or manipulating stocks. It starts with something very down-to-earth:

Escort runs.

This devlog is a light overview of the Escort Agency system that’s already implemented—and how it ties directly into the village economy.

1) Why Does the Main Progression Start with the Escort Agency?

In one sentence:

Escort Agency = combat gameplay + a cash-flow source + bankruptcy-risk education (all in one).

Early on, what you can do is roughly:

• Join the Escort Agency (your most important first step)

• Visit the office to see the agency’s daily operations and the manager’s journal

• Check the mission board for available escort jobs

• In the workshop, configure your car front + carriage module combo

  • you must match correctly and meet mission requirements

• Set out and escort the cart—on the road you must fight off enemies and keep the cart safe

• If the car front is destroyed, you can still push the carriage yourself; if the carriage is destroyed, the mission fails

• Success earns rewards; failure costs money

  • the agency pays compensation and you lose your deposit

  • severe failure can push the agency into the bankruptcy process

• Gain reputation and contribution points for rank promotion and proposals

• The higher your position, the more proposals you can submit—and the higher your success rate

This design serves two goals:

• Combat is not isolated content —successful escorts directly change the agency’s numbers and the risk it can take afterward.

• It teaches you early: this is a cash-flow game, not a simple power fantasy. You can make a fortune in one run—or wipe out and end up kneeling at the bank for a loan.

  

2) A Day at the Escort Agency: From Mission to Settlement

The core loop is already running. The flow is roughly:

Take a mission

Different missions come with different routes, danger levels, time requirements, and pay. The farther the trip and the more valuable the cargo, the higher the upside—and the uglier the crash.

Preparation

• Choose a car front (power/speed) and carriage (capacity, passenger module, cargo module)

• Craft gear and improve your combat strength; use medicine if you can

You cannot open your inventory during escort combat, so medicine must be used before entering the battlefield—and its duration is tracked in real time.

Combat on the road

Escorts are real-time battles. You can freely switch martial arts to handle different situations. You can also discover herbs and materials along the route—but you must gather them to obtain them.

Return and settle

• Success: agency funds and reputation increase; the player also gains money and reputation

  • but the agency receives most of the payout

  • the player gets about 20% of the listed reward, plus item rewards

• Failure: your deposit is not returned and reputation is reduced

  • the agency pays cargo compensation

  • serious failures can wreck its finances and even trigger bankruptcy

In the current implementation, all money from this system flows through the Escort Agency into the wider funding network—eventually distributing into the village’s overall cash flow.

In short: the Escort Agency is the village’s external capital injection point.

3) The Escort Cart: Car Front / Carriage Upgrades and Repairs

Both the car front and carriage have levels and durability.

• Upgrades require money + materials

• Upgrades improve load, defense, and other performance

• Going on missions consumes durability

• The more dangerous the route and the harsher the fights, the more durability you lose

• Keep running low durability, and you know what your crash odds look like

This is handled through the proposal system:

The manager/staff may propose:

• upgrading the car front

• repairing the carriage

• raising escort wages

Once the player controls 51% of the Escort Agency shares, you can directly access all workshop functions without going through proposals.

4) Escort Workers and Manager Slacking: Not a Free Labor Machine

Escorts are not infinite-stamina workers. The system already includes:

Fatigue mechanics

• Escorts are controlled by the manager

• The player’s escort runs are solo (because the player is too strong…)

• Each run increases fatigue; they need rest before heading out again

• Exploit workers too hard, and problems will eventually happen

The manager’s daily AI

Each day, the manager decides actions based on funds, missions, and staff status, such as:

• recruiting escorts

• finding and executing escort missions

• trading shares

• handling internal affairs (like material acquisition)

• occasionally slacking off—traveling, or making questionable investments

All of these behaviors are tied to cash flow and combat risk.

5) The Escort Agency Goes Public: From Worker to Takeover Target

The Escort Agency isn’t just helping others move money—it’s also a tradable asset.

Already completed features include:

Escort Agency stock system

• The player and NPC managers can buy and sell shares

• Monthly dividend payouts tied directly to profits

• Stock price fluctuates based on total capital, performance, and market liquidity

Control thresholds

• Full logic for major control and full ownership

• At 51%, the player is recognized as the boss and unlocks more control

• At 100%, the most important power unlocks: free deposit/withdrawal of agency funds

Dividends linked to market liquidity

Dividends don’t only go to shareholders—they also affect the market’s liquidity pool. When dividends circulate into the village, villagers can buy more shares, enabling a more active ownership market.

Put simply:

The Escort Agency is both your workplace—and a piece of property you can speculate on and acquire.Steam post image

6) Bankruptcy Process

When the Escort Agency can’t hold its finances, the current logic is:

1. Try borrowing from the bank first

2. If still not enough, sell all held stocks to survive

3. Send an SOS to the player

   • you can fund the agency from the manager’s office

   • this yields more contribution points (requires being employed in the agency), and grants village reputation

4. If all fails: declare bankruptcy

   • mass layoffs

   • operations stop

   • after 90 days of “financing time,” it becomes official bankruptcy

   • stocks, dividends, and the village economy take a hit

Since the Escort Agency is both the capital injection point and a major dungeon gateway, if it collapses, the village stops receiving external capital—and the player loses access to escort-run battle content.

7) Rebuild Process

After bankruptcy, you have one chance to rebuild.

Bankruptcy is treated as a major village event, with multiple notifications (emergencies, carrier pigeon messages, etc.). Then the player can go to the Government to initiate reconstruction.

There are four rebuild options (details vary by funding source):

• Player-funded full rebuild: very expensive; must also shoulder existing debts

  • keeps all agency levels, warehouse, materials, reputation, etc.

  • grants 100% ownership

• Player starts a new agency: cheaper (construction cost only)

  • all levels/warehouse/materials/reputation reset to basics

  • grants 100% ownership

• Joint rebuild with villagers: both sides pay part of the cost (details are in-game)

• Government-led rebuild: requires the government to have enough funds

  • 

Summary

For Pursuit of Mercantile Power, the Escort Agency system is:

• the player’s first bucket of gold

• the first place you truly experience luck + risk + cash flow

• a key node for future storylines (new car fronts, new carriages, village events)

The Escort Agency’s core logic is already running. Next, I’ll keep tuning the numbers while hooking in narrative routes—such as:

“the honest escort path” vs “the ruthless takeover merchant path.”

Everything above is a light overview—but the Escort Agency content is already grounded and working.