In the early stage, I suggest that you invest in a country first, no matter what country, there must be at least one big town, otherwise the transaction will run back and forth.
The preliminary task is to recruit a few free NPCs first. With them, we can at least fight against a dozen or twenty soldiers, and then we don't have to talk at first. It is enough for Meiling to solve the prisoners given by the court. It's just that a crossbow team of 30 people was formed in the early stage.
Next is the accumulation period of saving money to build a factory, and the rest will refer to the strategy upstairs.