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The Great Merchant is a type of Great Person Great Person in Civilization VI dedicated to wealth, luxuries, and trade. Each Great Merchant has a unique ability which may be activated at least once, granting its owner a potentially game-changing bonus. Activation is accomplished usually in a Commercial Hub district.

In the Monopolies and Corporations game mode, each Great Merchant has 1 Build charges (Civ6) build charge and can build a Corporation (which expends the Great Merchant). This allows a Great Merchant to either use its activated ability or build a Corporation, but not both. For Great Merchants that have multiple activated charges (e.g., Marcus Licinius Crassus) this limitation still applies, and using any of their normal activated charges makes them ineligible to establish a Corporation.

Earning Great Merchants[]

Great Merchants may be claimed by any player who has earned enough Great Merchant Great Merchant points. Commercial Hubs and Sugubas generate +1 Great Merchant Great Merchant point per turn, +2 more if the city has built the Oracle, and provide an additional point for each building completed in that district. (For example, a Commercial Hub with a Market, Bank, and Stock Exchange would generate +4 Great Merchant Great Merchant points per turn.) In Secret Societies mode, the Gilded Vault, the Owls of Minerva's unique replacement for the Bank, adds +2 Great Merchant Great Merchant points instead of 1, and the Alchemical Society, the University replacement of the Hermetic Order, also provides +1 Great Merchant Great Merchant point. In Monopolies and Corporations, the Industry improvement generates +1 Great Merchant Great Merchant point as well. Further points may also be earned by completing the Commercial Hub Investment project in a city with a Commercial Hub. Players who do not have enough points may patronize a Merchant by paying the difference using Faith Faith or Gold Gold.

Several wonders also provide Great Merchant Great Merchant points. Great Zimbabwe provides +2 Great Merchant Great Merchant points per turn, and the Casa de Contratación and Big Ben wonders each provide +3 Great Merchant Great Merchant points per turn.

Great Merchant badge (Civ6)

Players can also increase their Great Merchant Great Merchant point yields by using the Traveling Merchants policy card, which generates +2 Great Merchant Great Merchant points per turn. Once the player completes the Capitalism civic, the Traveling Merchants card is replaced with the Laissez-Faire policy card, which generates +4 Great Merchant Great Merchant points per turn. In Gathering Storm, this card instead provides +2 Great Merchant Great Merchant points for every Bank owned, and +4 for every Stock Exchange owned. It also provides bonus Great Admiral Great Admiral points.

The Stockholm Suzerain bonus (or Bologna in Gathering Storm) increases the number of Great Merchant Great Merchant points generated from each Commercial Hub district by +1. (Note that in Rise and Fall, this bonus is only active if the Commercial Hub has a completed Market building.)

All Great Merchant Great Merchant point yields are doubled if Pingala with the Grants title is present. Additionally, the Kongolese generate 50% more Great Merchant Great Merchant points from all sources.

Great Merchants[]

Name Era Bonus
Colaeus Classical Gain 100 Faith Faith (on Standard speed). Grants 1 free copy of the Luxury resource on this tile to your Capital Capital city.
Marcus Licinius Crassus Classical Gain 60 Gold Gold (on Standard speed). Annexes any contiguous tile into the nearest of your city's territories. Activates on tiles next to your territory. (3 charges)
Zhang Qian Classical Increases Trade Route Trade Route capacity by 1. Foreign Trade Route Trade Routes to this city provide +2 Gold Gold to both cities.
Ibn Fadlan[1] Medieval Increases Trade Route Trade Route capacity by 1. Your Trade Route Trade Routes to City-states now grant you +2 Faith Faith.
Irene of Athens Medieval Increase Trade Route Trade Route capacity by 1. Grants 1 free copy of the Luxury resource on this tile to your Capital Capital city.

R&F-Only Grants 1 Governor Governor Title or recruit a new Governor.

Marco Polo Medieval Grants a free Trader unit in this city, and increases Trade Route Trade Route capacity by 1. Foreign Trade Route Trade Routes to this city provides +2 Gold Gold to both cities.
Piero de' Bardi Medieval Gain 200 Gold Gold and 1 Envoy Envoy.
Zhou Daguan[1] Renaissance Grants 3 Envoy Envoys at this City-state.
Giovanni de' Medici Renaissance Instantly builds a Market and a Bank in a Commercial Hub district. This Bank gains 2 Great Work slots which can be filled by anything.
Jakob Fugger Renaissance Gain 200 Gold Gold and 2 Envoy Envoys.
Raja Todar Mal Renaissance Gain an Envoy Envoy. Domestic Trade Route Trade Routes gain +0.5 Gold Gold per district at the destination (rounds down to integer).
Adam Smith Industrial Adds +1 Economic Policy Economic Policy slot to your government.

R&F-Only Gain 500 Gold Gold. Grant 1 Governor Governor Title or recruit a new Governor.

John Jacob Astor Industrial Gain 500 Gold Gold. Gain 2 Envoy Envoys.
John Spilsbury Industrial Creates one copy of Toys Toys, which provides +4 Amenities Amenities.
Stamford Raffles[1] Modern Absorbs this City-state into your empire. Grants you +10 Loyalty per turn in the city. Activates in a city-state of which you are Suzerain.
John Rockefeller Modern Grants 1 Oil Oil. Your Trade Route Trade Routes gain +2 Gold Gold for each Strategic resource improved by the destination city.

GS-Only Grants 3 Oil Oil per turn. Your Trade Route Trade Routes gain +2 Gold Gold for each Strategic resource improved by the destination city.

Sarah Breedlove Modern +25% Tourism Tourism rate towards other civilizations you have a Trade Route Trade Route to.
Mary Katherine Goddard Modern Gain +1 Diplomatic visibility with other civs.
Helena Rubinstein Atomic Creates two copies of Cosmetics Cosmetics, which provide +4 Amenities Amenities each.
Levi Strauss Atomic Creates two copies of Jeans Jeans, which provide +4 Amenities Amenities each.
Melitta Bentz Atomic Increases Trade Route Trade Route capacity by 1. +25% Tourism Tourism to other civilizations you have a Trade Route Trade Route to.
Estée Lauder Information Creates two copies of Perfume Perfume, which provide +6 Amenities Amenities each.
Jamsetji Tata Information Campus districts provide +10 Tourism Tourism. Activates in your Campus.
Masaru Ibuka Information Industrial Zone districts provide +10 Tourism Tourism. Activates in your Industrial Zone.
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Available with the Babylon Pack DLC.

R&F-Only Added in the Rise and Fall expansion pack.
GS-Only Added in the Gathering Storm expansion pack.

Scenario-specific Great Merchants[]

Jadwiga's Legacy[]

Strategy[]

The Great Merchants' abilities help commerce, as usual. However, they do it in vastly different ways. Some grant instant Gold Gold sums; others grant increased Trade Route Trade Route capacity; others grant free Luxury Resources. Some Merchants also help to influence city-states. Endgame Merchants are even able to turn District District into tourist attractions, thus helping you to achieve a Cultural Victory.

In Monopolies and Corporations mode, it is crucial to attract Great Merchants since they are the only way to establish Corporations. At the same time, be careful which Merchants you use to establish Corporations, since they will disappear after doing so.

Civilopedia entry[]

Of the four things that determine the course of civilization, greed is probably the most pervasive. Once folk settled and started farming and mining, there was always someone who found that others wanted what they had in plenty, and were willing to pay for it. And so merchants fanned out across the globe, trading in everything from grain to gold, hemp to human beings. The most adventurous among these were always seeking new markets, and hence were explorers who brought back knowledge of distant peoples and customs. Some of the greatest discoveries were the product of the greed of these adventurers. Their travels also enriched their nations in more material ways, for the taxes and profits from their trips funded great works of engineering, education, colonization, art, and war. Without the great merchants, civilization would have been much poorer.

See also[]

Civilization VI Great People [edit]
AdmiralArtistEngineerGeneralComandante General1MerchantMusicianProphetScientistWriter
Great Works
Great Merchants
Adam SmithColaeusEstée LauderGiovanni de' MediciHelena RubinsteinIbn Fadlan1Irene of AthensJakob FuggerJamsetji TataJohn Jacob AstorJohn RockefellerJohn SpilsburyLevi StraussMarco PoloMarcus Licinius CrassusMary Katherine GoddardMasaru IbukaMelitta BentzPiero de' BardiRaja Todar MalSarah BreedloveStamford Raffles1Zhang QianZhou Daguan1
1 Requires DLC

R&F-Only Added in the Rise and Fall expansion pack.

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