Yinzi

China experienced the greatest economic expansion in its history during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The silver trade between America and Europe and onward to China had a profound effect on the world economy - it can be considered the beginning of a global economy.

In China, social mobility led to the growth of cities, especially in the lower Yangtze region, which at the time was responsible for the most important wheat production in the entire country. In addition to wheat and rice, other crops such as tea, fruit and sugar cane were widely grown. Immigrant farmers changed professions and became merchants and artisans. Many rural people worked in private or state factories, producing goods such as paper, porcelain, refined sugar or silk textiles.

Trade and commerce flourished in this liberalized economy and were helped by the construction of canals, roads and bridges by the Ming government. Several merchant clans emerged in Ming China, possessing large amounts of wealth.

In Yinzi - "yínzi" means "silver" - players represent merchant clans developing parts of China in the late Ming period in the early 17th century along the last 200 km of the Yangtze River before it reaches the China Sea.

Players plant crops, sell goods to rural or urban markets, develop raw materials, build and improve factories, and sell their goods to ships already waiting at the port. To reach the port, players must improve their river transport capabilities along the Yangtze.