Quote Originally Posted by Aenlic
Is that with level 2 gold mines and another merchant on the other gold source in that province, Musashi?
Actually those are just level 1 gold mines. Note that the merchant revenue jumped significantly when I actually took Timbuktu... So you actually make more if the province belongs to you.

I do have a merchant on the other gold mine in Timbuktu. In fact, I have merchants on both the gold mines in Timbuktu, the mine in Arguin, and all four Ivory deposits in Timbuktu and Arguin, and I even have one on the slaves in Timbuktu. All told I'm dragging in almost 5000 florins per turn in merchant trade, which is, ironically, more than my cities make in normal trade.

Also, this is with my Capital in Cordoba... If you were playing the Russkies and had your capital up in say, Moscow, I'd shudder to think what you could be bringing down with merchants in Timbuktu.

How mush does a maxxed out merchant like that get on the ivory spots? An area with 4 ivory and 3 gold in two provinces which which no other merchant bothers with, unless the AI is the Moors, is a pretty sweet deal.
The Ivory deposits are only slightly less lucrative... I forget the exact numbers but they're good.

And yes, owning Timbuktu and Arguin is VERY sweet.

I noticed your uber merchant was only 46. Nicely done. Did you need a high level merchant guild to get him started, or what process did you follow to get him that high?
Well, remember I'm on the 0.5 timescale, so even though that screen was from 1104, I've been playing for 48 turns. So my merchants gain skill faster compared to their rate of aging than in a standard timescale 2.0 game.

Also, I'm a save and reload player. I know, I know. But I like winning ;)

He was my first merchant. I had him massacre a bunch of Spanish and Portugese merchants until his skill was maxed out, then sent him to Timbuktu ;)

However, even if you don't use those kind of tricks, be aware that a merchant with ONE point of finance skill will draw 150 florins a turn down there.