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Government, Trade and the Empire Map Questions

Can I set my own prices for goods that I sell/buy?

Can I buy goods from one city and sell them to another at a higher price?

How can I get other cities to trade with me?

How can I tell what climate zone a city is in?

How can I get animals for my Menagerie?

Why does my advisor say high taxes/low wages/lack of jobs/etc is deterring immigration, when I don't have high taxes/etc any more?

Is there a limit to how many spies I can have?

How do I catch spies in my city?

Can I set my own prices for goods that I sell/buy?

Yes you can, but if you set selling prices too high other cities may stop buying them. This is indicated by the price turning red in the trading post. If you set your buying price too low then other cities may refuse to sell to you. Also charging more than standard can change the other cities opinion of you, if you charge too much they may start to dislike you and could stop trading or even invade.

Can I buy goods from one city and sell them to another at a higher price?

Yes sometimes you can do this, how high you can set the price varies.

How can I get other cities to trade with me?

You need to send a diplomatic request asking the city to open trade with you. This will not be possible unless its favor attitude towards you is at least at Apathetic, it is more likely if they are at Respectful or above. Giving gifts will raise their favor attitude; gifts of cash or those goods the city needs are most appreciated, larger gifts raise favor quicker. Small gifts of goods the city doesn't need will have little effect. Each time you send a gift of any kind or size it costs you 100 cash to send your emissary.

How can I tell what climate zone a city is in?

In the Empire map on the information panel for each city there is a city history icon that differs for each climate zone. The arid zone shows a city on yellow land, temperate light green land and humid has dark green land.

How can I get animals for my Menagerie?

If you have animals on your map you may be able to get a hero to capture an animal for you. Nu Wa, Xi Wang Mu, Sun Wu Kong and Sun Tzu can all capture animals once they are in your city. Click on the hero to get their tab showing then click on Capture Animal (you must have a Palace built first). They will go capture an animal and bring it back to your Palace. If you have more than 1 animal type on your map you can get them to get the 2nd or 3rd type by moving their standard close to the other type of animal and then clicking on Capture Animal.

Another way of getting animals is to request them from other cities. They need to like you before they are likely to meet your request.

Asking for a special gift in your zodiac year is the third way to get an animal.

Once you have an animal in your Menagerie it obviously breeds as it is then possible to gift that animal type to other cities. Giving other cities animals will often result in them giving you an animal in return, even if they don't like you. Since each climate type has 3 animals native to that climate then generally it makes sense to give animals to cities from other climates so as to receive different animals in return from them.

Why does my advisor say high taxes/low wages/lack of jobs/etc is deterring immigration, when I don't have high taxes/etc any more?

Your people can take a while to forgive you for bad conditions and for potential immigrants to hear of the better conditions. This also means that you can sometimes increase taxes for a short time without affecting your city's mood too badly.

Is there a limit to how many spies I can have?

You can have a maximum of 3 spies for each city in the Empire.

How do I catch spies in my city?

The best way to catch spies is with watchtowers. The guards from these will detect and turn spies. You can also discover spies if you right click on them. You will generally notice them because they are a walker from a building that isn't in that area. After you click on them they will spin around and then go into hiding.

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