Part 36: Economic Breakdown 3

How to build the perfect province

Welcome back to the third and final bonus economic update in my Rise of the Samurai LP. In this instalment, we will go through what we have learned in the previous two updates and distil this information into practical, general case advice in order to improve your Shogun 2 economic game. Through covering several different game conditions and province types, we will explain what buildings are ideal to build to maximise your return as well as the order of building purchase.

Finally, an answer to the question "These numbers are great and all Shalcar, but how do I actually use them?"!

I'm going to put a disclaimer right up the front here, that you should always consider your situation and use the numbers directly appropriate to your situation if you want the absolute optimal build paths, as well as always giving appropriate thought to building capacity or military improvements rather than economic ones if the situation demands it.

We will cover three separate situations:

Your second province
Your tenth province
Your twentieth province

This roughly corresponds to early game, mid game and late game in the standard campaign, as well as giving you context for things like the value of food etc. Your high value provinces will have a Junsatsushi of varying skill, as with a capacity of 5 for the game and on-map use for 2-3 of those, there will really only be 2-3 Junsatsushi used for boosting the economic situation of your provinces (Generally your 3 most valuable provinces).

If you can build a Junsatsushi, you should build one, as they give incredible returns for their low cost, even if all you do is put them in a province. They also save upkeep costs on troops by converting provinces at a faster rate and so reducing the maximum unrest a newly conquered province will reach, allowing you to expand faster and garrison with less, often quite a substantial saving!

For each of those situations, there are different possibilities that will impact how you set up your province, with the largest of these factors being the fertility of the province. In our examples, we will cover three levels of fertility (Fertile, Average and Meagre). The extremes, Very Fertile and Barren, are rare in provinces and tend to make little impact in your building priority, as farm upgrades perform very poorly in Meagre and so other options are more attractive, while farm upgrades are competitive in Fertile and so are even more attractive in Very Fertile, neither of which change the building priority or ranking much (Just the return rate).

Your second province

So you have just conquered a province with your Levy and your war machine is starting up (or you bought one out with your Junsatsushi), but you know that you are going to need lots of koku to keep up your momentum. With only a single Junsatsushi (and likely low level at that) who is best used to acquire the still available same clan minors, you will be working with your base tax rate of 30%. Some players would think that with the whole game in front of them, now is the perfect time to invest in long term investments. While this is true to an extent, over-investing in long term pay-offs will leave you with very limited koku in the short term, starving your economic engine when you have the option of the best value upgrades and limiting the size of your standing army. Remember that koku that is reinvested brings continued dividends, so koku now is worth significantly more than koku later.

All your provinces are going to require Strongholds if you want to hold on to them, making Dry Field Agriculture food neutral and allowing two building slots. At this early stage, your loss in growth is minimal compared to the direct benefits of economic buildings, something that will persist into mid-game. To this end, we are most interested in immediate returns, with our choices driven by Time to break even. The number of turns until the building breaks even is listed in brackets. We will be developing our Barter Exchange into the Market chain, as the break even point of the Market chain is a full 18(!) turns faster for the Market under these conditions. That sort of head-start means that the triple point is almost identical at around 60 turns, with the Market results front loaded, giving us more valuable koku.

Items in italics are province specialities and can only be build if the province has the appropriate trade good. Each trade good building is listed twice, one if no items are sold in trade routes and the other if all items are sold in trade routes. The time until break even for Rice Paddies and Improved Irrigation is for an empire size of 5 provinces, to more accurately simulate the extra wealth generated towards the end of their payback period.

Fertile province @ 30% tax:
Washi Mills (3 turns, all sold)
Washi Mills (4 turns, none sold)
Lacquerware Works (4 turns, all sold)
Harbour (5 turns with a trade route/partner)
Small Iron Mine (6 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (6 turns, all sold)
Lacquerware Works (7 turns, none sold)
Saw Mills (8 turns, all sold)
Silk Spinner (9 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (10 turns, none sold)
Small Iron Mine (10 turns, none sold)
Iron Mine (10 turns, all sold)
Dry Field Agriculture (12 turns)
Barter Exchange (12 turns)
Clan Estate (12 turns at 1500 wealth)
Trading Port (12 turns with a trade route/partner)
Silk Spinner (14 turns, none sold)
Clan Estate (15 turns at 1000 wealth)
Saw Mills (15 turns, none sold)
Iron Mine (16 turns, none sold)
Gold Lodes (16 turns)
Master Silk Spinner (16 turns, all sold)
Market (20 turns)
Improved Irrigation (23 turns)
Shinden (23 turns at 1500 wealth)
Harbour (25 turns without a trade route/partner)
Master Silk Spinner (26 turns, none sold)
Rice Paddies (27 turns)
Trading Port (29 turns without a trade route/partner)
Merchant Guild (33 turns)
Gold Mine (34 turns)
Goods Exchange (37 turns)
Food Stores (38 turns, Shown for comparison only, build the Market!)
Mandokoro (54 turns at 1500 wealth, only build if you have worked out the Clan Palace will give you decent returns)

Average province @ 30% tax:
Washi Mills (3 turns, all sold)
Washi Mills (4 turns, none sold)
Lacquerware Works (4 turns, all sold)
Harbour (5 turns with a trade route/partner)
Small Iron Mine (6 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (6 turns, all sold)
Lacquerware Works (7 turns, none sold)
Saw Mills (8 turns, all sold)
Silk Spinner (9 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (10 turns, none sold)
Small Iron Mine (10 turns, none sold)
Iron Mine (10 turns, all sold)
Barter Exchange (12 turns)
Trading Port (12 turns with a trade route/partner)
Silk Spinner (14 turns, none sold)
Clan Estate (15 turns at 1000 wealth)
Saw Mills (15 turns, none sold)
Dry Field Agriculture (16 turns)
Iron Mine (16 turns, none sold)
Gold Lodes (16 turns)
Master Silk Spinner (16 turns, all sold)
Market (20 turns)
Shinden (23 turns at 1500 wealth)
Harbour (25 turns without a trade route/partner)
Master Silk Spinner (26 turns, none sold)
Trading Port (29 turns without a trade route/partner)
Improved Irrigation (29 turns)
Rice Paddies (31 turns)
Merchant Guild (33 turns)
Gold Mine (34 turns)
Goods Exchange (37 turns)
Food Stores (38 turns, Shown for comparison only, build the Market!)
Mandokoro (54 turns at 1500 wealth, only build if you have worked out the Clan Palace will give you decent returns)

Meagre province @ 30% tax:
Washi Mills (3 turns, all sold)
Washi Mills (4 turns, none sold)
Lacquerware Works (4 turns, all sold)
Harbour (5 turns with a trade route/partner)
Small Iron Mine (6 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (6 turns, all sold)
Lacquerware Works (7 turns, none sold)
Saw Mills (8 turns, all sold)
Silk Spinner (9 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (10 turns, none sold)
Small Iron Mine (10 turns, none sold)
Iron Mine (10 turns, all sold)
Dry Field Agriculture (12 turns until break even)
Barter Exchange (12 turns)
Clan Estate (12 turns at 1500 wealth)
Trading Port (12 turns with a trade route/partner)
Silk Spinner (14 turns, none sold)
Clan Estate (15 turns at 1000 wealth)
Saw Mills (15 turns, none sold)
Iron Mine (16 turns, none sold)
Gold Lodes (16 turns)
Master Silk Spinner (16 turns, all sold)
Market (20 turns)
Shinden (23 turns at 1500 wealth)
Harbour (25 turns without a trade route/partner)
Master Silk Spinner (26 turns, none sold)
Trading Port (29 turns without a trade route/partner)
Merchant Guild (33 turns)
Rice Paddies (33 turns)
Improved Irrigation (33 turns)
Gold Mine (34 turns)
Goods Exchange (37 turns)
Food Stores (38 turns, Shown for comparison only, build the Market!)
Mandokoro (54 turns at 1500 wealth, only build if you have worked out the Clan Palace will give you decent returns)

Your tenth province

At this point your economy should have been built to the point where you are able to support yourself into the long term investments, as it is still early enough in the game to see the full returns of these types on investments, while still having enough of an economic engine to carry you through the lower income early phases. As such, the values we are interested in are Time to triple. Two or so high value Junsatsushi (Rank 3+) are available to ensure your economy is boosted to where it needs to be, so the effective tax rate of your high performing provinces is ~50%. In this scenario, while the Market has greater returns over the Food Stores, the later buildings in the Granary chain have better returns than the latter Market chain buildings. In lower tax provinces (~30%), the Granary chain is the superior choice (Useful for if you want to know what to build outside your Junsatsushi boosted provinces.)

The time until break even for Rice Paddies and Improved Irrigation is for an empire size of 15 provinces, to more accurately simulate the extra wealth generated towards the end of their payback period. The time listed in brackets is for time to triple.

Fertile province @ 50% tax:
Washi Mills (6 turns, all sold)
Lacquerware Works (10 turns, all sold)
Washi Mills (11 turns, none sold)
Harbour (13 turns with a trade route/partner)
Small Iron Mine (15 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (15 turns, all sold)
Lacquerware Works (18 turns, none sold)
Barter Exchange (20 turns)
Dry Field Agriculture (21 turns)
Saw Mills (22 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (23 turns, none sold)
Small Iron Mine (23 turns, none sold)
Iron Mine (25 turns, all sold)
Trading Port (26 turns with a trade route/partner)
Master Silk Spinner (26 turns, none sold)
Gold Lodes (29 turns)
Silk Spinner (33 turns, none sold)
Saw Mills (33 turns, none sold)
Clan Estate (35 turns at 1500 wealth)
Market (36 turns)
Rice Paddies (38 turns)
Improved Irrigation (38 turns)
Harbour (39 turns without a trade route/partner)
Iron Mine (39 turns, none sold)
Master Silk Spinner (41 turns, all sold)
Trading Port (44 turns without a trade route/partner)
Food Stores (46 turns, Shown for comparison only, build the Market in 50% provinces!)
Merchant Guild (55 turns)
Granary (57 turns)
Grain Warehouse (57 turns)
Gold Mine (60 turns)
Silk Spinner (60 turns, all sold)
Goods Exchange (66 turns)
Shinden (76 turns at 1500 wealth)
Mandokoro (180(!) turns at 1500 wealth, only build if you have worked out the Clan Palace will give you decent returns)

Average province @ 50% tax:
Washi Mills (6 turns, all sold)
Lacquerware Works (10 turns, all sold)
Washi Mills (11 turns, none sold)
Harbour (13 turns with a trade route/partner)
Small Iron Mine (15 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (15 turns, all sold)
Lacquerware Works (18 turns, none sold)
Barter Exchange (20 turns)
Saw Mills (22 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (23 turns, none sold)
Small Iron Mine (23 turns, none sold)
Iron Mine (25 turns, all sold)
Trading Port (26 turns with a trade route/partner)
Master Silk Spinner (26 turns, none sold)
Dry Field Agriculture (28 turns)
Gold Lodes (29 turns)
Silk Spinner (33 turns, none sold)
Saw Mills (33 turns, none sold)
Clan Estate (35 turns at 1500 wealth)
Market (36 turns)
Harbour (39 turns without a trade route/partner)
Iron Mine (39 turns, none sold)
Master Silk Spinner (41 turns, all sold)
Rice Paddies (42 turns)
Trading Port (44 turns without a trade route/partner)
Improved Irrigation (45 turns)
Food Stores (46 turns, Shown for comparison only, build the Market in 50% provinces!)
Merchant Guild (55 turns)
Granary (57 turns)
Grain Warehouse (57 turns)
Gold Mine (60 turns)
Silk Spinner (60 turns, all sold)
Goods Exchange (66 turns)
Shinden (76 turns at 1500 wealth)
Mandokoro (180(!) turns at 1500 wealth, only build if you have worked out the Clan Palace will give you decent returns)

Meagre province @ 50% tax:
Washi Mills (6 turns, all sold)
Lacquerware Works (10 turns, all sold)
Washi Mills (11 turns, none sold)
Harbour (13 turns with a trade route/partner)
Small Iron Mine (15 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (15 turns, all sold)
Lacquerware Works (18 turns, none sold)
Barter Exchange (20 turns)
Saw Mills (22 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (23 turns, none sold)
Small Iron Mine (23 turns, none sold)
Iron Mine (25 turns, all sold)
Trading Port (26 turns with a trade route/partner)
Master Silk Spinner (26 turns, none sold)
Gold Lodes (29 turns)
Dry Field Agriculture (32 turns)
Silk Spinner (33 turns, none sold)
Saw Mills (33 turns, none sold)
Clan Estate (35 turns at 1500 wealth)
Market (36 turns)
Harbour (39 turns without a trade route/partner)
Iron Mine (39 turns, none sold)
Master Silk Spinner (41 turns, all sold)
Trading Port (44 turns without a trade route/partner)
Rice Paddies (44 turns)
Food Stores (46 turns, Shown for comparison only, build the Market in 50% provinces!)
Improved Irrigation (49 turns)
Merchant Guild (55 turns)
Granary (57 turns)
Grain Warehouse (57 turns)
Gold Mine (60 turns)
Silk Spinner (60 turns, all sold)
Goods Exchange (66 turns)
Shinden (76 turns at 1500 wealth)
Mandokoro (180(!) turns at 1500 wealth, only build if you have worked out the Clan Palace will give you decent returns)

Your twentieth province

At this point you are well inside Realm Divide and into the endgame. With only 6 provinces left to take, you are interested in a quick shot in the arm to your economy, giving you some extra cash to supplement your final push. Most of your provinces will be well upgraded at this point, leaving only your lesser value provinces available to upgrade and so you are interested in Time to Break Even. In fact, your twentieth province and your second province have almost exactly the same requirements, albeit for different reasons. At this point, long term investments won't pay off and so should be avoided. Your province is assumed to have a tax rate of 30%, but the significantly larger empire size adjusts your best build order in a significant but subtle manner. Farm upgrades at this point are competitive with Market upgrades with the triple time of Farms and Granary chain items being neck and neck and significantly better than Markets. However, unless you have a spare 40 turns up your sleeve, the game won't last long enough for you to see it.

The time until break even for Rice Paddies and Improved Irrigation is for an empire size of 20 provinces, as you won't spend much time being any larger without being in the stage where growth is practically irrelevant. The time listed in brackets is for time to break even.

Fertile province @ 30% tax:
Washi Mills (3 turns, all sold)
Washi Mills (4 turns, none sold)
Lacquerware Works (4 turns, all sold)
Harbour (5 turns with a trade route/partner)
Small Iron Mine (6 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (6 turns, all sold)
Lacquerware Works (7 turns, none sold)
Saw Mills (8 turns, all sold)
Silk Spinner (9 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (10 turns, none sold)
Small Iron Mine (10 turns, none sold)
Iron Mine (10 turns, all sold)
Dry Field Agriculture (12 turns)
Barter Exchange (12 turns)
Clan Estate (12 turns at 1500 wealth)
Trading Port (12 turns with a trade route/partner)
Silk Spinner (14 turns, none sold)
Clan Estate (15 turns at 1000 wealth)
Saw Mills (15 turns, none sold)
Iron Mine (16 turns, none sold)
Gold Lodes (16 turns)
Master Silk Spinner (16 turns, all sold)
Market (20 turns)
Rice Paddies (21 turns)
Improved Irrigation (21 turns)
Shinden (23 turns at 1500 wealth)
Harbour (25 turns without a trade route/partner)
Master Silk Spinner (26 turns, none sold)
Food Stores (28 turns, Shown for comparison only, build the Market!)
Trading Port (29 turns without a trade route/partner)
Merchant Guild (33 turns)
Gold Mine (34 turns)
Goods Exchange (37 turns)
Mandokoro (54 turns at 1500 wealth, only build if you have worked out the Clan Palace will give you decent returns)

Average province @ 30% tax:
Washi Mills (3 turns, all sold)
Washi Mills (4 turns, none sold)
Lacquerware Works (4 turns, all sold)
Harbour (5 turns with a trade route/partner)
Small Iron Mine (6 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (6 turns, all sold)
Lacquerware Works (7 turns, none sold)
Saw Mills (8 turns, all sold)
Silk Spinner (9 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (10 turns, none sold)
Small Iron Mine (10 turns, none sold)
Iron Mine (10 turns, all sold)
Barter Exchange (12 turns)
Trading Port (12 turns with a trade route/partner)
Silk Spinner (14 turns, none sold)
Clan Estate (15 turns at 1000 wealth)
Saw Mills (15 turns, none sold)
Dry Field Agriculture (16 turns)
Iron Mine (16 turns, none sold)
Gold Lodes (16 turns)
Master Silk Spinner (16 turns, all sold)
Market (20 turns)
Shinden (23 turns at 1500 wealth)
Rice Paddies (23 turns)
Improved Irrigation (25 turns)
Harbour (25 turns without a trade route/partner)
Master Silk Spinner (26 turns, none sold)
Food Stores (28 turns, Shown for comparison only, build the Market!)
Trading Port (29 turns without a trade route/partner)
Merchant Guild (33 turns)
Gold Mine (34 turns)
Goods Exchange (37 turns)
Mandokoro (54 turns at 1500 wealth, only build if you have worked out the Clan Palace will give you decent returns)

Meagre province @ 30% tax:
Washi Mills (3 turns, all sold)
Washi Mills (4 turns, none sold)
Lacquerware Works (4 turns, all sold)
Harbour (5 turns with a trade route/partner)
Small Iron Mine (6 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (6 turns, all sold)
Lacquerware Works (7 turns, none sold)
Saw Mills (8 turns, all sold)
Silk Spinner (9 turns, all sold)
Lumberyard (10 turns, none sold)
Small Iron Mine (10 turns, none sold)
Iron Mine (10 turns, all sold)
Dry Field Agriculture (12 turns until break even)
Barter Exchange (12 turns)
Clan Estate (12 turns at 1500 wealth)
Trading Port (12 turns with a trade route/partner)
Silk Spinner (14 turns, none sold)
Clan Estate (15 turns at 1000 wealth)
Saw Mills (15 turns, none sold)
Iron Mine (16 turns, none sold)
Gold Lodes (16 turns)
Master Silk Spinner (16 turns, all sold)
Market (20 turns)
Shinden (23 turns at 1500 wealth)
Rice Paddies (24 turns)
Harbour (25 turns without a trade route/partner)
Master Silk Spinner (26 turns, none sold)
Improved Irrigation (27 turns)
Food Stores (28 turns, Shown for comparison only, build the Market!)
Trading Port (29 turns without a trade route/partner)
Merchant Guild (33 turns)
Gold Mine (34 turns)
Goods Exchange (37 turns)
Mandokoro (54 turns at 1500 wealth, only build if you have worked out the Clan Palace will give you decent returns)

So you might be wondering when you would want to build the Granary chain, given it's constant poor performance in return compared to our examples. Granaries are best used as an upgrade to the Barter Exchange when you are not building a pure economic province and have between 12-20 provinces, as the low base tax rate of your non-economic provinces impacts the other buildings significantly more than the Granary chain. It's often good to put a Granary chain in a province that is military in nature, as you will often need a big fortification and have a spare building slot for all non-monk military provinces.

I hope you enjoyed this last economic bonus update and I am confident that it will help break through some of the confusion of what to build!