Great Merchant

Great Merchant
	2
Abilities	Can conduct a Trade Mission in City-States, producing Gold and Influence. Can construct a Customs House.

The Great Merchant is a Great Person acquired though Specialists or Wonders.

Overview

"Great Merchants" provide the goods and services civilizations need to survive. They import food, medicines, and luxuries, and they export a civilization's manufactured goods. They provide the financing needed for great works to be accomplished. They create a civilization's wealth.

Strategy

Besides constructing the special Customs House improvement which, when worked, produces loads of Gold, the Great Merchant can also journey to a city-state and perform a "trade mission" which produces gobs of Gold and gains many points of Influence with the city-state. The Great Merchant is expended when used in either of these ways.

Again, you have the choice to use it for a long-term boost of the Gold production of one city (choose this city well), or use its unique ability to get a large one-time boost of Gold and Influence with a City-state. Note that the Trade mission may sometimes prove dangerous, especially if the City-state is far away.

Unique Unit Replacements

Icon	Unit	Civilization	Abilities
	Ambassador	Holy Rome (Charles V)	May be produced. Less effective at Trade Missions and cannot make Customs Houses. Can be upgraded into Great Ambassadors with Gold: Twice as effective at Trade Missions. Can acquire City-States.
	Herald	Burgundy (Philip III)	Can move through territory without Open Borders. Produces Great Artist, Great Musician, or Great Writer points when conducting a Trade Mission, depending upon the City-State Type.
	Mburichi	Nri (Eri)	Can spread Religion 3 times. Converts adjacent Barbarians to Faith (damages the Mburichi).
	Merchant of Venice	Venice (Enrico Dandolo)	+100% Gold and Influence from Trade Missions. +2 Movement at sea. Vanilla Version Can be used to puppet City-States. With Holy Rome installed Creates a Venetian Glass luxury upon making a Customs House.
	Opperhoofd	Dutch East India Company (Jan Pieterszoon Coen)	Shares the movement of Naval Units it's stacked with. While stationed in a Dutch East India Company city, provides a percentage Gold increase per outgoing Trade Route and Worked Luxury resource.
	Patrician Merchant	Venice (Domenico Selvo)	Can be expanded to grant a free permanent trade route. Provides a burst of faith when expended depending on the number of trade routes in the nearest city.
	Rattathut	Ayutthaya (Narai)	Generates bonus Influence from Trade Missions, scaling based on distance from the Capital May be expended in the territory of another Major Civilization to conduct a Diplomatic Mission, providing a burst of Influence with every City-State allied to that civ
	Tyrian Merchant	Phoenicia (Hiram I)	Can establish Customs Houses. Doing this earns Phoenicia 1 Tyrian Dye luxury.
	Utusan	Tidore (Nuku Muhammad Amiruddin)	Custom Houses created by Utusan claim adjacent Coastal tiles. If inside the territory of a city-state, nearby combat units may pressure the City-State into allowing tribute much more effectively. This can be repeated with each city-state further away from the Capital than the last.
	Voyageur	Canada (Lester B. Pearson)	Cannot conduct Trade Missions or make Customs Houses. Can create Fur resources. Can act as a Caravan.

List of Names

Great Merchant Names Aretas III Andrew Carnegie Coco Chanel Marcus Licinius Crassus Anthony van Diemen Jakob Fugger Harkuf Edward Harriman Milton S. Hershey Ibn Battuta Steve Jobs John Maynard Keynes Sir James Lancaster Sir Alexander Mackenzie Giovanni de Medici John Stuart Mill Henri Nestlé John D. Rockefeller Sir Thomas Roe Shah Jahan Adam Smith Levi Strauss Raja Todar Mal Thomas Twining Cornelius Vanderbilt Richard Whittington Wang Anshi Zhang Qian

Ambassador Names Otto von Bismark Fronz von Albini Adam Adami Kurt Riezler Gustav Streseman Frederick von Der Decken Phillip Hainhofer Walter Hallstein Johann Mattheson Franz von Papen Hans Caspar von Bothmer

Merchant of Venice Names Gasparo Balbi Giovanni Balzoni Giosafat Barbaro Giovanni Caboto Alvise Cadamosto Ambrogio Contarini Niccolo de Conti Cesare Federici Antonio Pigafetta Maffeo Polo Marco Polo Niccolo Polo

Rattathut Names Ok-khun Chamnan Kosa Pan Ok-luang Kanlaya Ratchamaitri Ok-khun Si Wisan Wacha Ok-khun Wiset Puban Ok-muen Pipith Raja Khun Pijaivanit Khun Pijitmaitri Phya Pipatkosa Okya Phra Sadet Surendhra Dhibodi Okphra Sri Phiphat Ratana Rajkosa

Tyrian Merchant Names Hanno Abdmelqart Zimrida Tabnit Melqartpilles Eshmunazar Himilco Rib-Addi Abdosir Hasdrubal Ahiram Khilletzbaal Germelqart Yehawwielon Hiempsal Baalhanno Bodashtart Danel Eshmunamash Sakarbaal Philosir

Voyageur Names Étienne Brûlé Jean Nicolet de Belleborne Médard Chouart des Groseilliers Pierre-Esprit Radisson Daniel Greysolon Jean-Baptiste Antaya Francois Ainsse Ambroise Allard Alexis Baudry Pierre Hamel Joseph LaBelle Louis Laviolette Joseph Leger Dit Parisien Gabriel Mabrien Louis Martin Antoine Villeneuve