Pingyao: First Chinese Banks Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Main Board
  • Player Board
• Game Setup
• Game Flow
  • Preparation Phase
  • Action Phase
• Actions
  • Bank Escort (鏢局)
  • Confucius Temple (文廟)
  • West Street (西大街)
  • Money House (錢莊)
  • City God Temple (城隍廟)
  • Yamen (縣衙)
• Emergency Fund Transfer (緊急調銀)
• Assessing the Situation (審時度勢)
• Income Phase
• Resolution Phase
• Game End
• How to Score
• Three-Player Game Rules
• Two-Player Game Rules
• Solo Rules
  • Components
  • Setup
  • Storyline Cards
  • Event Cards
  • Round Goals and Rewards
  • Game End (Solo)
  • Event Card Reward Notes
• Branch Skill Reference
  • Starting Branches (太原府/大同府/忻州/運城 etc.)
  • Tier 1 Branches
  • Tier 2 Branches
  • Tier 3 Branches
• Yamen Support Tile Reference
• About Pingyao

Components

Note: the following introduces the rules using a 4-player game as the example; the 2- and 3-player variant rules are given later in this document.

Main Board

The main board is placed in the center of the table. It shows:

1. Exchange progress track — numbered spaces 1 to 12. Certain spaces award reputation tokens or copper coins when a player's exchange marker reaches them.
2. Reputation progress track — numbered spaces 1 to 15, running along the bottom edge of the board. Certain spaces award copper coins, silver ingots, or other bonuses.
3. Round progress track — the eight round spaces (labelled 1st through 8th with the Chinese numerals 壹貳參肆伍陸柒捌), running down the left side of the board.
4. Dice storage area — where each player's teller (掌櫃/manager) dice sit before being rolled.
5. Resting area — where a displaced die from an action space is moved to.
6. Action space — the space on the main board where a teller die is placed to perform an action.
7. Effect area — shows the "bump" rule: when a teller die is displaced from an action space by a higher/equal-ranking die, at most 3 dice can be resting there before further displacement is blocked (displayed as "at most 3 / at most 2 / at most 1" depending on the action).
8. Number area — six areas (one per die face, 1 through 6) on the right edge of the board where players place their rolled teller dice at the start of the Preparation phase, each showing the die-reroll cost for that value.

Player Board

Each player's individual board shows:

1. Loan area — where money-lending progress markers/cubes sit.
2. Loan progress track — shows the interest earned per loan cube, tiered by number of cubes out (1 cube: 2 silver/turn; 4+: 3 silver/turn; 10+: 5 silver/turn), and the cost to buy back ("redeem") loan cubes.
3. Pingyao Head Office (平遙總號) — your home bank vault, where silver ingots are stored before being distributed to branches.
4. Deposit area — where deposit progress markers/cubes sit.
5. Deposit progress track — shows the interest paid per deposit cube and the "withdraw" (存款/取) costs.
6. Branch construction cost and starting capital — printed on each region's tier track, showing the copper-coin cost to build a branch there and the silver ingots it starts with.
7. Branch effective-silver yield — the income a branch's effective silver produces per round.
8. Region — one of the nine regions on the player board (three per tier), where branches (分號) are built.
9. Region color — each region is colored red, yellow, or green.
10. Reward for opening a branch in this region — the one-time bonus (e.g. "+1 reputation") for building your first branch there.
11. Tier-2 branch management position — a slot beneath a Tier-2 branch where a branch teller (分號掌櫃) can be assigned to boost effective silver.
12. Tier-3 branch management position — the equivalent slots beneath a Tier-3 branch.
13. Exchange-time progress track — on the exchange (匯兌) card holder, showing how many months (rounds) remain before an exchange order matures.

Other components include: copper coins, silver ingots, branch teller cubes, region (branch) tiles split into Tier 1 / Tier 2 / Tier 3 decks, government (yamen) tiles, exchange cards, starting-branch tiles (太原府 Taiyuan, 大同府 Datong, 忻州 Xinzhou, 運城 Yuncheng), a starting-player marker, meeples (one per player, used as markers on the reputation and deposit tracks), and six-sided teller dice in each player color.

Game Setup

1. Place the main board in the center of the table. Each player chooses a color and takes the matching player board and components, placing them in front of themselves.
2. Take the four starting-branch tiles (Taiyuan, Datong, Xinzhou, Yuncheng) from the starting-branch pool, shuffle them, and deal one to each player. Each player places their tile on a Tier-1 region of the color they need (this does not advance reputation), and gains 10 copper coins as starting capital.
3. The player who drew the Taiyuan tile becomes the starting player and takes the starting-player marker.

Detailed setup steps:

• Each player places one meeple of their color next to the Exchange progress track (①) on the main board.
• Place the round marker on space "1st" of the Round progress track.
• Each player takes one of their teller dice (showing pip value 3) and places it in the dice storage area next to the Round progress track; these are not used during the first two rounds.
• Each player places one meeple of their color next to the Reputation progress track (②) on the main board.
• Place the "action forbidden" tiles on the Yamen (縣衙) and Confucius Temple (文廟) action spaces — these two actions cannot be used until the third round.
• Silver ingots, copper coins, and branch teller cubes are placed beside the main board as the general supply.
• Sort the branch tiles into Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 stacks, and place them face-down beside the main board.
• Place the government (Yamen) tiles face-up on the table where players may look at them at any time; they are not used until the third round.
• Shuffle the exchange cards face-down and place them beside the main board.
• Each player takes a set of 6 exchange-order marker cubes and places them beside their player board.
• Each player takes 2 silver ingots and places them in their Pingyao Head Office.
• Each player places their two teller-cube shares (掌櫃股) into their Silver Vault (銀庫).
• Each player places their meeple next to their Deposit area.
• Each player takes 10 copper coins as starting capital.

Currency conversion: 1 silver ingot = 1 [silver] unit value; 1 copper coin ingot = 5 copper coins (i.e. large copper-coin tokens are worth 5 small ones).

Any unused components are returned to the box.

Game Flow

The game lasts 8 rounds. Each round is divided into 4 phases.

In rounds 1 and 2, each player may only use 2 teller dice (1 large teller die and 1 ordinary teller die), and may only perform 4 of the actions: Money House (錢莊), West Street (西大街), Bank Escort (鏢局), and City God Temple (城隍廟). Starting with round 3, each player takes their 3rd ordinary teller die from the dice storage area, and the "action forbidden" tiles are removed from the Yamen and Confucius Temple regions — from this round on, players may perform those two actions as well during the Action phase.

The four phases of each round are:

Preparation Phase → Action Phase → Income Phase → Resolution Phase

Preparation Phase

1. Each player rolls all of their teller dice (2 dice in rounds 1–2, 3 dice afterward). After rolling, each player places their teller dice onto the main board's number areas matching their rolled values.
2. In player order, each player triggers the activation-type effects of their Tier-1 branches. Any branch card bearing the "activation" icon may be triggered in this phase, in player order. If a die's value is changed by such an effect, move that die to the number area matching its new value.
3. Players may exchange copper coins for silver ingots at a rate of 10 copper coins = 1 silver ingot, added to their Pingyao Head Office, as many times as they like. Outside this phase, players may not freely convert copper coins into silver ingots. Also, silver ingots can never be converted back into copper coins in any phase, including this one.
4. Once all players have finished, the next phase begins.

Action Phase

In this phase, the die with the highest value acts first. If an action's number area contains multiple dice of the same value, then starting from the starting player and proceeding clockwise, each player in turn uses one of their dice to perform an action.

Example: if the red player holds the starting-player marker, and the players' teller dice occupy the number areas as shown, the dice resolve their actions in the order below (a "Z" pattern): 6(yellow) → 5(red) → 5(blue) → 5(green) → 4(yellow) → 4(green) → 5(yellow) → 5(red) → 4(green) → 4(blue) → 4(yellow) → 4(red). Whenever a player has two dice showing the same value, that player may freely choose which of the two acts first.

When it is your die's turn to act, you choose to trigger, for example, your Tier-1 branch Changde's (常德府) skill, changing one of your teller dice showing 4 to a 5. After the value changes, move that die (now showing 5) from number area 4 to number area 5.

A player may dispatch a teller die to an action space that has no die on it yet, resolving the action directly according to the die's value.

Before dispatching a teller die, a player may pay a reroll fee (2 copper coins to reroll a 5 or 6, 1 copper coin to reroll a 1–4) to reroll that teller die once, and must then immediately perform the action indicated by the new value (regardless of whether it is that die's original turn to act). Each teller die may only be rerolled once.

Bumping a die already on an action space. When a player dispatches their teller die to an action space that already holds a die (whether their own or another player's), three cases apply:

1. If your teller die's value is lower than the die on the action space, you must first pay copper coins equal to the difference in values to the general supply. Then move the die on the action space to the matching resting area, and place your teller die on the action space, and perform the action according to your die's value. If you are using a large teller die, you pay 1 less copper coin.
2. If your teller die's value is higher than the die on the action space, you take copper coins from the general supply equal to the difference in values, then move the action-space die to the matching resting area, and place your die on the action space, performing the action per your die's value. If you are using a large teller die, you gain 1 additional copper coin.
3. If your teller die's value is equal to a die already on the action space or in its resting area, your teller die may not perform that action, and (in this case) a large teller die may not be placed there either.

Worked examples:

• Your die shows 5 and you dispatch it to Bank Escort (鏢局), which is empty: you place it on the action space and immediately resolve the effect for value 5.
• You have dice 4, 4, and (yellow) 6; when your 6-valued die is dispatched, you choose to pay 2 copper coins to reroll it, rerolling to a 4. You need not then place it in number area 4 — instead you may directly dispatch it to the action space and perform the action.
• Green player's die shows 3 at Bank Escort, where yellow's die (value 1) already occupies the action space. Since green (3) > yellow (1), green takes 3 copper coins from the supply (2 for the difference, +1 because green used a large teller die), then places its die on the action space, moving yellow's die to the resting area, and resolves the action.
• Green player's die shows 4 at Bank Escort, where the resting area already holds a yellow die valued 4. Green may not perform the action because a die of the same value (4) is already present in the resting area, and this restriction also blocks a large teller die from being placed.
• Green player's die (value 4) is dispatched to Bank Escort, which already holds a red die of value 5. Since green (4) < red (5), green must pay 1 copper coin (the difference), but green is using a large teller die, so it pays 1 less, i.e. 0 copper coins. Green then places its die on the action space, moving red's die to the resting area, and resolves the effect for green's die value.

Note: when it is your turn to dispatch a teller die, if you hold fewer than 5 copper coins, you may instead decline to perform an action and discard that die in exchange for 3 copper coins.

When a player does not have enough copper coins to perform an action, but could obtain enough copper coins via the value-difference payment described above, they may first collect that difference and then perform the action.

Actions

During the Action phase of each round, players may perform 6 kinds of actions: Bank Escort (鏢局), City God Temple (城隍廟), West Street (西大街), Money House (錢莊), Confucius Temple (文廟), and Yamen (縣衙). Of these, Confucius Temple and Yamen can only be performed starting in round 3.

Die value requirements for opening branches (used by the Bank Escort action):

• Die values 1 or 2: may open a Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 branch.

• Die values 3 or 4: may open a Tier 1 or Tier 2 branch.

• Die values 5 or 6: may only open a Tier 1 branch.

• Opening a Tier 1 branch: your meeple immediately advances 1 space on the Reputation progress track.

• Opening a Tier 2 or Tier 3 branch: at game end you will score 1 point (Tier 2) or 2 points (Tier 3) respectively.

When opening a branch, you must immediately take enough silver ingots from your Pingyao Head Office to place on the new branch as its starting capital (you cannot take more than the required amount) — a Tier 1 branch needs 1 silver ingot, a Tier 2 branch needs 2, and a Tier 3 branch needs 3. If you cannot take enough silver ingots from your head office's vault, you may not perform this action.

Each branch tile shows its amount of "effective silver" and its branch-teller position(s). Effective silver produces income at the end of the round. While a branch's teller position is empty, the branch has no special skill — only once a branch teller fills that position does the skill activate. A branch with no teller position triggers its skill immediately upon being placed. See the branch skill reference near the end of this document for each branch's specific skill.

The player-board region below where a branch sits has "management positions" that help increase a branch's effective silver: dispatching 1 branch teller to a management position increases that branch's effective silver by 1. A Tier 2 branch can have its effective silver raised by at most 1 this way; a Tier 3 branch by at most 2.

• A player may not open two branches with identical skills.
• A branch may hold any number of silver ingots, but only the silver up to its stated "effective silver" amount produces income at the end of the round.
• If a branch teller is already present at that location when a branch is opened there, it may immediately be dispatched to the branch's teller position, or to the branch's associated management position.

Bank Escort (鏢局)

Managing a remittance house first requires opening branches across the country; a place of business needs supplies shipped from headquarters, and this delivery job is best entrusted to the oldest courier service in China — the Bank Escort.

When performing the Bank Escort action, first, according to the die-value effect, choose which tier and which colored region (each tier has a red, a yellow, and a green region) to open a branch in, pay the appropriate copper coins (Tier 1: 6 copper coins; Tier 2: 12 copper coins; Tier 3: 24 copper coins), then draw 4 branch tiles of that tier, choose one to build in the chosen region, and place the other 3 face-down at the bottom of the corresponding tile stack.

Example: You choose to open a branch in a Tier 2 red region. After paying 12 copper coins, you draw 4 Tier-2 branch tiles, look them over, choose one to place in the region, and move 2 silver ingots from your Pingyao Head Office to the newly opened branch as its starting capital, then your action ends.

Confucius Temple (文廟)

Once a branch is opened, someone must run it. Players must visit the Confucius Temple to recruit the talented people they have cultivated and dispatch them to manage a branch, making that branch's business flourish.

This action cannot be performed in the first two rounds; starting from round 3, players may perform it.

• Die value 1 or 2: gain 1 branch teller, and you may move 1 silver ingot from your Pingyao Head Office (if it has any) to any branch.
• Die value 3 or 4: gain 1 branch teller.
• Die value 5 or 6: pay an additional 2 copper coins, then gain 1 branch teller.

When performing this action, take 1 branch-teller cube from the supply and place it on a branch-teller position (as shown in the diagram: ① a branch's teller position, ② a branch's management position, or ③ a region with no branch yet).

• When a branch teller is placed on a branch's teller position, its skill may be triggered.
• When a branch teller is placed on a management position, it increases that branch's effective silver.
• If a branch teller is placed on a region that has no branch yet, it sits idle; once a branch is later built in that region, you may freely choose where on the new branch to place it. Each branch-less region may hold at most one such waiting branch teller.
• Once all of a branch's teller-position slots are filled, no further branch tellers may be dispatched to that branch.

West Street (西大街)

Once branches are open and staffed with branch tellers, the exchange business can officially begin taking orders and earning money!

Exchange (匯兌) is one of the most important actions in Pingyao. It lets players move silver ingots between a branch and the head office, or between two branches, functioning as an interest-free loan to the player.

• Die value 1 or 2: may perform the exchange action, and the exchange card may be placed up to 3 "months" out on the timeline.
• Die value 3 or 4: may perform the exchange action, and the exchange card may be placed up to 2 months out.
• Die value 5 or 6: may perform the exchange action, and the exchange card may be placed up to 1 month out.

In this game, one round represents one month of in-game time!

Executing the exchange action, step by step: first, draw 1 exchange card from the deck and, based on the exchange-time value shown, place it on the exchange-time progress track (i.e. how many months later the client will pick up the funds) — up to 1, 2, or 3 months later depending on your die value. The exchange card shows: the number of silver ingots being deposited, a "Deposit" (存) location (the colored piaohao/branch where the silver is deposited), a "Withdraw" (取) location (the colored piaohao/branch where the silver is later withdrawn), and a handling fee (手續費) you earn from this transaction, adjusted according to which branch's silver you choose to withdraw from.

Steps to perform the exchange action:

1. Draw 1 exchange card from the deck and place it on the exchange-time progress track according to its exchange-time value (i.e., how many months later a client will come to withdraw the funds — 1, 2, or 3 months). Then, as required by the card, take 1 silver ingot from the supply and place it on the piaohao (branch or head office) matching the card's "Deposit" color. Then take 2 exchange markers of a matching color: place one on the piaohao matching the card's "Withdraw" color, and place the other on the exchange card itself, to mark which withdrawal piaohao this card corresponds to.

Your Pingyao Head Office and each tier of branch are all treated as "piaohao" for this purpose. The Head Office is considered a 3-color piaohao and can serve as the deposit or withdrawal location for any exchange card.

When choosing a withdrawal location, it may be chosen even if it currently holds no silver ingots. However, by the time the exchange card matures, the withdrawal location must have a silver ingot available to pay out, or an emergency fund-transfer action must be performed (see below). If you are unable to choose a valid deposit location and withdrawal location as required by the card, you must immediately discard the exchange card and end the action.

Note: whether branch or Head Office, the deposit location and withdrawal location of an exchange cannot be the same piaohao.

Worked example: You use a teller die of value 2 to perform the exchange action. After drawing 1 exchange card, you may place it as far as position 3 on the exchange-time progress track; based on the situation, you place the card at position 2. You then choose your Pingyao Head Office as the deposit location, taking 1 silver ingot from the supply and placing it in your Head Office. Since your only Tier-2 red branch is Lanzhou (蘭州府), you set it as the withdrawal location, placing one purple exchange marker on Lanzhou and the other purple exchange marker on the exchange card itself — completing the first step of the exchange action.

Then, immediately collect the corresponding handling fee shown on the exchange card from the supply: the number on the right is the base income; if the withdrawal piaohao is the Head Office, the fee is adjusted -1 copper coin; if the withdrawal piaohao is a Tier-2 branch, +1 copper coin; if it is a Tier-3 branch, +2 copper coins. The handling fee is collected only once, at this point — no further fee is collected until the exchange card matures and resolves.

In the example above, you immediately collect 2 copper coins in handling fees; since the withdrawal location is a Tier-2 branch, you also collect 1 additional copper coin, for 3 copper coins total.

Each player may hold at most 3 exchange cards at once (matching 3 sets of exchange markers), which may be freely distributed across the 3 positions to the right of the exchange-time progress track; multiple exchange cards may occupy the same number.

Finally, each time you complete an exchange action, advance your meeple 1 space on the main board's Exchange progress track, to track how many exchanges you have performed in total.

Reaching certain values on the Exchange progress track grants bonuses: reaching position 3 grants +1 copper coin to the handling fee of all future exchange actions; reaching position 6 grants a further +1 copper coin (cumulative +2 total); reaching positions 9 and 10 grants +1 point at game end; reaching positions 11 and 12 grants +2 points at game end (these bonuses stack — e.g., ending the game at position 11 grants a total of +4 points).

Resolving an exchange card: During the Resolution phase, move each exchange card one space down its exchange-time track. If a card is already at position 1, then it matures: discard the card, and take the required silver ingot from the corresponding withdrawal piaohao (marked with the matching-colored exchange marker) and return it to the supply. If there is no silver available at the withdrawal location when it matures, the affected player must immediately perform the emergency fund-transfer action.

• Once the exchange-card deck is exhausted, shuffle the discard pile to form a new exchange deck.
• If multiple exchange cards occupy the same number to the right of the exchange-time progress track, the player decides the order in which they resolve.

Money House (錢莊)

After careful management, you should have earned a fair amount of silver — surplus silver can be deposited with a money house to earn interest! Players without spare cash need not worry either — a piaohao can also absorb public deposits, injecting cash flow into the business during hard times, for only a small handling fee. Both of these actions are performed at the Money House.

In this game, one round is considered to represent one month. When performing the Money House action, choose one of two options: Lending (放款) or Accepting Deposits (存款/吸收存款). The effect differs by die value:

• Die value 1 or 2: may lend/deposit for up to 3 months.
• Die value 3 or 4: may lend/deposit for up to 2 months.
• Die value 5 or 6: may lend/deposit for up to 1 month.

Lending (放款): Take 2 silver ingots from your Pingyao Head Office vault and place them on the matching number of the loan-time progress track (numbers 1, 2, 3 represent 1, 2, or 3 months), earning the matching copper-coin income from each silver ingot every round during the Income phase. At most 2 silver ingots may be placed on each number position, and the entire lending area may hold at most 4 silver ingots in total. During each round's Resolution phase, shift all silver ingots in the lending area left by one space; if a silver ingot moves off the lending track, return it to your Pingyao Head Office. Silver ingots in the lending area cannot be withdrawn/used until their lending time is up and they return to the Head Office.

Worked example: The blue player uses a die of value 2 to perform the Money House action, choosing to lend. They may lend for up to 3 months, but since position 3 already holds 2 silver ingots, the blue player cannot place there and instead places the 2 silver ingots on position 2.

At the start of the game, each silver ingot's lending income is 2 copper coins per month. Once a player's reputation reaches 4, each silver ingot's lending income rises to 3 copper coins per month; once reputation reaches 10, it rises to 5 copper coins per month. During the Income phase, lending income is calculated according to the player's current position on the Reputation progress track.

Accepting Deposits (存款): Take 2 silver ingots from your player board's Deposit area and place them in your Pingyao Head Office, placing your meeple on the matching number of the Deposit-time progress track (1, 2, 3 = 1, 2, or 3 months). During each round's Resolution phase you must pay 2 copper coins interest, and move the deposit marker left by one space; if the deposit marker moves off the deposit track, you must move 2 silver ingots from your Pingyao Head Office back to the Deposit area. If you lack sufficient silver ingots to do so, for every silver ingot short, you must perform 1 emergency fund-transfer action.

Worked example: The blue player uses a die of value 2 to perform the Money House action, choosing to accept deposits. They may accept deposits for up to 3 months, but based on need, they choose 2 months. They place their meeple on position 2 of the deposit-time progress track, then take 2 silver ingots from the Deposit area and place them in their Pingyao Head Office. For the next 2 rounds, during each round's Resolution phase, this player must pay 2 copper coins as interest on the accepted deposit; at the second round's Resolution phase, the player must return 2 silver ingots from their Pingyao Head Office back to the Deposit area.

City God Temple (城隍廟)

Good reputation brings better-quality clients to a player; for the same volume of business, a player with higher reputation earns more. Shanxi merchants therefore paid great attention to building their reputation — during the game, players can perform charitable works at the bustling City God Temple to raise their reputation. Higher reputation not only increases income but also attracts talented people to join you!

When performing the reputation action, players spend copper coins to raise reputation and receive additional bonuses. The effect differs by die value:

• Die value 1 or 2: spend 2 copper coins to raise reputation by 2.
• Die value 3 or 4: raise reputation by 1 (free).
• Die value 5 or 6: spend 1 copper coin to raise reputation by 1.

Reputation track bonuses shown above the track are one-time bonuses, granted only once per game each, located at reputation values 2, 8, and 13: reaching each of these grants a free branch teller, which may be placed on any one of your regions (regardless of whether a branch has been built there yet).

Bonuses shown below the track are cumulative, located at values 4, 6, 10, 12, 14, and 15:

• 4: Each silver ingot in your lending area gains +1 copper coin of income during the Income phase, for a cumulative total of 3 copper coins per silver ingot per round (month).
• 6: +1 exchange progress. When you perform an exchange action, you may draw one additional exchange card and choose one of the two to execute.
• 10: Each silver ingot in your lending area gains a further +2 copper coins of income during the Income phase, for a cumulative total of 5 copper coins per silver ingot per round (month).
• 12: +1 point at game end.
• 14: +2 points at game end.
• 15: +3 points at game end.

These bonuses stack — for example, if a player ends the game at reputation position 14, they receive a 3-point bonus (the cumulative total of the 12 and 14 bonuses).

Once a player's reputation reaches 15, performing the reputation action no longer produces any further effect.

Yamen (縣衙)

As business grows, players naturally need the support of the local government. Players may donate money to help the Yamen (county government) with disaster relief, in exchange for business privileges granted by the government (Yamen support tiles). These privileges are very powerful, and players can use them to build an especially strong development path and become the greatest piaohao of all!

This action cannot be performed in the first two rounds; starting from round 3, players may choose to perform it.

• Die value 1 or 2: choose 1 Yamen support tile and pay its cost from your Pingyao Head Office.
• Die value 3 or 4: pay 2 copper coins to choose 1 Yamen support tile, then pay its cost from your Pingyao Head Office.
• Die value 5 or 6: pay 4 copper coins to choose 1 Yamen support tile, then pay its cost from your Pingyao Head Office.

Each Yamen support tile shows its ongoing effect (e.g., "+2 copper coins / [Money House icon]") and the silver-ingot cost (e.g., "-1 silver ingot") required to acquire it.

Players choose 1 of 6 available Yamen support tiles (8 in the crowdfunding "Pro" version), pay the required silver ingots from their Pingyao Head Office, place the tile beside their player board, and immediately gain the benefit it provides. A player may not own two tiles with the same effect.

If your Pingyao Head Office has no silver available, you cannot perform this action.

Emergency Fund Transfer (緊急調銀)

Emergency fund transfer occurs during the Resolution phase alongside resolving exchange cards and returning deposits. When a player performs an emergency fund transfer, they must pay a shipping fee of 5 copper coins per silver ingot to move a silver ingot from one of their piaohao that has silver to the piaohao that needs it.

If a player does not have enough copper coins to pay the shipping fee, they instead return a silver ingot from any one of their piaohao to the supply, in place of paying the fee.

Assessing the Situation (審時度勢)

If, when it is a player's turn to act, only actions remain that the player is unwilling to perform, or no player is able to perform any available action (including after all dice have been placed), the player may decline to act and return that teller die to beside their player board; the next teller die then acts. A player who declines to act receives no compensation.

Income Phase

In this phase, all players calculate their income, which consists of 4 parts:

1. Copper coins produced by all of your branches' effective silver. (Base income: Tier 1 = 2 copper coins per effective silver, Tier 2 = 3 copper coins, Tier 3 = 4 copper coins — printed on each branch tier's card, along with its construction cost and activation cost.)
2. Interest earned from all of your silver ingots in the Lending area at your Pingyao Head Office (2 copper coins per silver ingot at reputation 0+, 3 at reputation 4+, 5 at reputation 10+).
3. Income produced by your Tier 2 branches' activation-type skills.
4. Any branch tile or Yamen support tile bearing the activation icon may be triggered in this phase, producing extra copper-coin income for the player; see the branch-tile icon reference for each branch's specific effect.

Sum the above income and collect the corresponding copper coins; this phase then ends.

Resolution Phase

In this phase, delayed-effect markers and cards are resolved in the following order. Delayed-effect markers are the player board's deposit marker and the silver ingots in the Lending area. The delayed-effect card is the exchange card. Resolve in this order:

1. First, resolve the silver ingots in the Lending area (per the Money House rules).
2. Then, resolve the deposit marker (per the Money House rules).
3. Finally, resolve exchange cards (per the West Street rules).

After all players finish resolving, each player retrieves all their teller dice from the main board. The round ends: move the round marker down one space, and pass the starting-player marker clockwise. The next round then begins.

If this is the last round (round 8), first move all delayed-effect markers and cards to the "1" position, then resolve them in the order above.

Any branch tile bearing the "reputation" icon may be triggered in this phase, producing extra points for the player; see the branch-tile icon reference for each branch's specific effect.

If two or more players are tied in score, the player with more unconverted copper coins in hand wins; if still tied, the player with higher reputation wins; if still tied, they share the victory.

Game End

After all phases of round 8 are complete, the game ends and all players proceed through the following scoring steps:

1. Every 10 copper coins converts to 1 point.
2. Every silver ingot on your Pingyao Head Office and on any of your branches is worth 1 point.
3. Every opened Tier 2 branch is worth 1 point, and every Tier 3 branch is worth 2 points.
4. Each player gains points according to their position on the Reputation and Exchange progress tracks, all such bonuses stacking (if applicable).
5. Every 2 branch tellers assigned to branch positions are worth 1 point (branch tellers placed on a region with no branch built do not count).
6. Sum all of the above, then add any points from branch skills, for the player's final score.

How to Score

The player with the highest score at the end of the game wins. Points can be earned in the following ways:

1. Reaching the end of the Reputation or Exchange progress track each grants a 6-point bonus; players may pick a direction to focus on and plan their actions toward reaching the end of one of these tracks — 6 points is a substantial reward.
2. Opening Tier 2 and Tier 3 branches grants 1 and 2 points respectively — don't forget to count these!
3. Earning more copper coins each round matters, because 1 silver ingot converts to 1 point, and 10 copper coins convert to 1 silver ingot, so earning more copper coins each round is the most important way to score. There are only 5 sources of copper-coin income:
   1. Your Pingyao lending income each round.
   2. Your branches' effective-silver income each round.
   3. The handling fee from each exchange action.
   4. The value-difference income gained when placing teller dice.
   5. The income bonus provided by Tier 2 branch skills.

Be sure to plan carefully how you use your silver ingots so that every ingot produces income every round — never leave a silver ingot idle, as that is wasteful.

Three-Player Game Rules

The 3-player game is the same as the 4-player game, except the starting-branch tiles used are Taiyuan (太原府), Xinzhou (忻州), and Taigu (太谷); and there is only 1 copy of each Yamen support tile. Otherwise unchanged.

Two-Player Game Rules

In the 2-player game, there is only 1 copy of each Yamen support tile, and the starting-branch tiles used are Taiyuan and Datong. After both players choose their colors, the two remaining sets of dice (from the unused colors) are treated as public dice.

For example, if one player chooses red and the other chooses blue, then the yellow and green dice (6 dice total) are treated as public dice.

• Before each round begins, an extra phase is added: the starting player rolls all the public dice, then chooses one die and either (1) places it on any action's matching resting area, or (2) removes it from play for this round.
• Then the second player chooses 2 of the remaining public dice and performs the same choice for each; then the starting player chooses from the remaining 2 dice; finally, the last 1 is chosen by the second player. Every die goes through this same "either/or" choice.
• Each action's resting area may hold at most 1 public die.
• A public die placed in an action's resting area does not allow players to place another die of the same value on that action space. Aside from this, these dice have no other effect — they never generate the value-difference payment or income when teller dice are dispatched.
• In rounds 1 and 2, this extra step only uses the 2 public four-sided dice and 2 public six-sided dice, and when placed, they may only go to the resting areas of actions other than "recruit branch teller" (Confucius Temple) and "Yamen." The starting player chooses one first, then the second player chooses two, then the starting player chooses the remaining one.

Otherwise, the rules are the same as the 4-player game.

Solo Rules

Components

• Storyline cards (劇情卡) × 5
• Event cards (事件卡) × 10

Setup

Place the game board on the table, and place the Risheng Chang (日昇昌) player board in front of yourself. Take the starting-branch tile Taiyuan and place it on any colored region of Tier 1. Choose one color's 3 teller dice and 3 meeples; all other setup is as in the 3-player game.

Unlike the 3-player game, the solo player may use all 3 teller dice from the very start of the game, no "action forbidden" tiles are placed on the board, and both the Head Office's and the starting branch's starting capital are 1 silver ingot (instead of 2).

Then, from the 10 event cards, draw 8, shuffle them, and place them face-down beside the board. Choose 1 storyline card and place it face-up nearby. The other 9 unused teller dice become public dice, placed beside the main board for later use.

Storyline Cards

The storyline card is the final goal you must overcome in this game. The top half of the card shows the Yamen support tile you receive at the start of the game, and the bottom half shows the victory conditions for Normal and Hard difficulty.

• According to the top half of the storyline card, take the corresponding tile from the Yamen support tiles; you gain this tile's effect for the entire game.
• At game end, compare your results against the different difficulty thresholds to check whether you have cleared Normal or Hard difficulty.

Event Cards

At the start of every round, flip over 1 event card and set up the round according to what it shows.

Each event card shows an "initial setup" row (icons for a four-sided die and a six-sided die under each of the 6 action spaces) and a "round goal" area with its reward:

• Round goal: the condition to fulfill this round (e.g., a numeral and action icon).
• Reward: the bonus gained for completing that round's goal (e.g., "+1 [something]").

Following the event card's "initial setup" requirements, roll the public teller dice set aside earlier accordingly.

Worked example: the West Street initial-setup icons shown mean that this round, you roll one four-sided die and one six-sided die, then, in roll order (four-sided die first, then six-sided die), place them in the matching resting area and action space. Each time, the die placed on the action space represents the last die required by the "initial setup."

Only once all six action spaces have been set up in this way does the player begin their own turn. Dice from the initial setup are treated as though "someone else already used this die to perform an action here" — when the player places a die to perform an action, they follow the normal rules: the value cannot equal a die already in that action's resting area or action space; a higher value than the action-space die earns the value-difference payment; a lower value requires paying the value-difference fee.

Round Goals and Rewards

1. If you complete the round's goal at any point during the round, you immediately gain the reward shown below it (you may choose to decline the reward). If the reward is a one-time effect, discard the card once you have triggered the reward. If the reward is an ongoing effect, you may keep it in front of you and use it at the appropriate time.
2. If you do not complete the round's goal during the round, discard the card; you may not later complete that discarded card's round goal in a subsequent round.

Game End (Solo)

The solo game lasts 8 rounds, resolved with the same scoring procedure as the base rules. Afterward, compare your final state against the storyline card's victory conditions. If even one condition is not met, the challenge is considered failed; if all conditions are met, the challenge is a success.

Event Card Reward Notes

1. When the reward granted is an exchange action, you may both collect the handling fee and advance your exchange marker one space on the Exchange progress track (except when the exchange fails for lack of a valid deposit or withdrawal location). If the granted exchange is a 2-month exchange, it may also be placed at position 1 of the exchange-time track.
2. When the reward granted is a Yamen-support action, you must still pay the required silver ingots from your Pingyao Head Office when taking the Yamen support tile.
3. "Gain an extra action" as a reward means the player may take back one of their already-used teller dice, reroll it, and perform one additional action of any kind with it. This rerolled teller die still retains one chance to pay to reroll it again, as normal.

Branch Skill Reference

Note: all copies of a branch with the same skill can each only trigger their unique-effect (non-repeatable) text once.

Each branch tile shows: the branch-teller position(s) where a branch teller must be placed to activate the skill; its "effective silver" value (income-producing silver capacity per round); and its name/location.

Starting Branches (太原府/大同府/忻州/運城 etc.)

• Treated as a colored branch: Permanent effect. This branch tile never needs a branch teller placed on it. It is treated as a branch of its printed color (red/yellow/green, as applicable).

Tier 1 Branches

• Lasa (喇薩) — Die value -1: Activates once a branch teller is placed. Used during the Preparation phase, once per round: decrease the value of one of your teller dice by 1, but not beyond the die's normal range (1–6).
• Jiujiang (九江府) — Move a branch's silver to Pingyao: Activates once a branch teller is placed. Used during the Preparation phase, once per round: choose one of your branches and pay 2 copper coins to move one silver ingot from that branch back to your Pingyao Head Office.
• Changde (常德府) — Die value +1: Activates once a branch teller is placed. Used during the Preparation phase, once per round: increase the value of one of your teller dice by 1, but not beyond the die's normal range.
• Jinzhou (錦州府) — One die +1, another die -1: Activates once a branch teller is placed. Used during the Preparation phase, once per round: increase one of your teller dice's value by 1 and decrease another's by 1; a die cannot wrap from 1 to 6 or from 6 to 1, and you must change both dice simultaneously (you cannot change only one).
• Xiangyang (襄陽府) — Reroll cost -1: Activates once a branch teller is placed. Permanent effect: paying to reroll a teller die costs 1 less copper coin.
• Ningxia (寧夏府) — Draw an extra exchange card: Activates once a branch teller is placed. Permanent effect: when performing the exchange action, draw 1 additional exchange card and choose 1 of them to keep; the unchosen card goes to the bottom of the exchange deck.
• Xinyizhou (新義州) — Gain a 1-month exchange: (crowdfunding promo card) Immediate on-entry effect; this branch tile never needs a branch teller. When this branch enters play, you may draw 1 exchange card and resolve its effect without collecting the handling fee, then place it at position 1 of the exchange-time track. This skill may only be used once, whether or not you use it immediately when the branch enters play; it cannot be used again later, regardless of whether it was used on entry.
• Kobe/Shenhu (神戶) — Gain 1 reputation: (crowdfunding promo card) Immediate on-entry effect; this branch tile never needs a branch teller. When this branch enters play, advance your meeple 1 space on the Reputation progress track. This skill may only be used once — whether or not used on entry, it cannot be used again later.

Tier 2 Branches

• Suzhou (蘇州府) — Recruit and place a branch teller on entry: Immediate on-entry effect; this branch tile never needs a branch teller. When this branch enters play, pay 2 copper coins to recruit 1 branch teller, which you may place on any region or dispatch to any branch. This skill may only be used once, whether or not used on entry.
• Lu'an (潞安府) — Income per green branch: Activates once a branch teller is placed. Used during the Income phase: gain 1 copper coin of income for every green branch you have. (The same applies to red/yellow, worded identically for those colors; a branch's skill-granted color also counts.)
• Kaifeng (開封府) — Treated as a tri-color branch: Permanent effect. This branch tile never needs a branch teller. It is treated as a branch of all three colors.
• Guilin (桂林府) — Income per 4 reputation: Activates once a branch teller is placed. Used during the Income phase: for every 4 points of reputation you have, gain 1 copper coin of income (based on your position on the Reputation progress track).
• Liuzhou (柳州府) — Income per 3 exchanges: Activates once a branch teller is placed. Used during the Income phase: for every 3 exchange actions you have performed, gain 1 copper coin of income (i.e., 3 exchanges = 1 copper coin, 6 = 2 copper coins, 9 = 3 copper coins, 12 = 4 copper coins; based on your position on the Exchange progress track).
• Incheon/Renchuan (仁川) — Gain 2 copper coins and a 1- or 2-month exchange: (crowdfunding promo card) Immediate on-entry effect; this branch tile never needs a branch teller. When this branch enters play, you may gain 2 copper coins and draw 1 exchange card, resolve its effect without collecting the handling fee, then place it at position 2 or 1 of the exchange-time track. This skill may only be used once, whether or not used on entry.

Tier 3 Branches

• Singapore/Xinjiapo (新加坡) — Gain 2 reputation: (crowdfunding promo card) Immediate on-entry effect; this branch tile never needs a branch teller. When this branch enters play, pay 2 copper coins to advance your meeple 2 spaces on the Reputation progress track. This skill may only be used once, whether or not used on entry.
• Guangzhou (廣州府) — Extra points per green branch, end game: Activates once a branch teller is placed. Used at end-game scoring: gain 1 extra point for every green branch you have opened. (Same wording applies for red/yellow; a branch's skill-granted color also counts.)
• Shuntian (順天府) — Extra points per 5 reputation, end game: Activates once a branch teller is placed. Used at end-game scoring: gain 1 extra point for every 5 points of reputation you have.
• Taipei (臺北) — Extra points per branch teller on this branch, end game: Activates once a branch teller is placed. Used at end-game scoring: gain 1 extra point for every branch teller placed on this branch (both its own teller position(s) and its management position count as this branch's branch tellers).
• Jinan (濟南府) — Extra points per 3 exchanges, end game: Activates once a branch teller is placed. Used at end-game scoring: gain 1 extra point for every 3 exchange actions you have performed.
• Tokyo/Dongjing (東京) — Reset all branch tellers: (crowdfunding promo card) Immediate on-entry effect; this branch tile never needs a branch teller. When this branch enters play, you may recall all of your branch tellers and then reassign them to any valid positions. This skill may only be used once, whether or not used on entry.
• Macau (澳門) — Extra points if 4 silver ingots present, end game: Activates once a branch teller is placed. Used at end-game scoring: if this branch has 4 silver ingots on it, gain 3 extra points, regardless of whether those silver ingots count as "effective silver."
• Moscow (莫斯科) — Flat +1 point, end game: (crowdfunding promo card) This branch tile never needs a branch teller. Used at end-game scoring: gain a flat 1 extra point. This branch's effective-silver value is 3.

Yamen Support Tile Reference

Each Yamen support tile shows its ongoing effect and the silver-ingot cost to acquire it (e.g., "-1 silver ingot").

• +2 copper coins per Tier-1 effective silver, income phase: During the Income phase, each unit of effective silver in your Tier-1 branches earns 2 additional copper coins. (Effective silver from starting branches does not benefit from this effect.)
• +3/+7/+11 copper coins per round, based on staffed Tier-2 branches: During the Income phase, if you have 1/2/3 Tier-2 branches with a branch teller assigned, gain an extra 3/7/11 copper coins that round respectively. It does not matter whether the branch teller sits at the branch's teller position or its management position — either counts as "a Tier-2 branch with a branch teller."
• Change a dispatched teller die to any value: When dispatching one of your teller dice, you may change it to show any value (including its original value); if you then dispatch it to an action space already holding a die and your die's value is lower, you gain the value-difference in copper coins from the supply instead of paying it. This effect may be used once per round.
• +3 copper coins per exchange handling fee: Each time you perform an exchange action, gain 3 additional copper coins.
• -1 copper coin, +1 reputation: When performing the reputation (City God Temple) action with a die value of 3–6, you may pay 1 additional copper coin to advance 1 extra reputation.
• +3 copper coins per 2 silver ingots in Lending area, income phase: During the Income phase, gain 3 additional copper coins for every 2 silver ingots you have in the Lending area.
• May build a Tier-3 branch with any teller-die value: When opening a Tier 3 branch, you may use a teller die of any value (including 3) to do so; and, once you have opened at least one Tier 3 branch (regardless of the die value used to perform that action), you immediately gain 1 free branch teller, to place on any branch or region.
• Flat +4 points, end game: At end-game scoring, this Yamen support tile is worth 4 points.

About Pingyao

The following historical note on the real city of Pingyao appears near the end of the printed rulebook.

Pingyao belonged to the state of Jin in the Spring and Autumn period, and to the state of Zhao in the Warring States period. The Qin dynasty established Pingtao county here as one of the capital-region counties; under the Han it was a marquisate held by the imperial clan. Northern Wei renamed it Pingyao early in the Taihe era (太和元年, 477 AD; some sources give other dates), and the name has remained ever since. In the late Qing dynasty, Pingyao became a center of China's earliest draft-bank (piaohao) industry, home to more than twenty piaohao houses, including "Rishengchang" (日昇昌), regarded as the first modern Chinese bank/remittance house, and known in its day as a "Wall Street of the Qing dynasty" whose network reached across China.

The old city of Pingyao preserves the basic layout of a Ming/Qing walled county town. The city wall, first built in the third year of the Hongwu era of the Ming dynasty (1370 AD), survives largely intact — over 6 kilometers in circumference — along with six gate-towers, 72 watchtowers, and thousands of crenellations, arranged in a plan traditionally described as shaped like a tortoise. Within the walls, the streets follow a grid oriented to the cardinal directions, with the Confucius Temple and Wu Temple symmetrically placed to the east and west of the main north-south axis, and the City God Temple, main streets, and residential lanes laid out according to traditional geomantic principles. Also within the old city are the Shuanglin Temple, Zhenguo Temple, and other sites now included, together with the old city itself, in the UNESCO World Heritage list.