Foreign Ministry (Civ6)

The Foreign Ministry is a Tier 2 government building in Civilization VI: Rise and Fall. It is built in the Government Plaza district and requires a Tier 2 government (Merchant Republic, Monarchy, or Theocracy) and a Tier 1 government building (Ancestral Hall, Audience Chamber, or Warlord's Throne).
* Effects:
** Levying City-States costs half .
** City-State units gain +4 Combat Strength if you are the City-State's Suzerain (including levied units).
** Awards +1 Governor Title.
** +3 per turn.
* Restrictions:
** Cannot be built if , , or has already been built in this district.
== Strategy ==
Of all the Tier 2 government buildings, the Foreign Ministry has the most limited scope of use. The problem with city-states' armies is that they are very likely to be obsolete, and a mere +4 Combat Strength doesn't help bridge the power gap. If you want to levy them, you must pay to levy and then extra and resources to upgrade them. This only works for defensive civilizations that tend to amass a huge treasury and resource reservoir without a large standing army, and need to mobilize a large army in a short period of time when they are attacked. Other than that, the only three civilizations that should build this building instead of the Grand Master's Chapel or Intelligence Agency are Sumeria, Norway under Harald Hardrada (Varangian), and most importantly, Hungary.
* Hungary has excellent synergy with this building, as they have no problem with upgrading units once they collect the to levy them. The extra Combat Strength on top of the bonus from Matthias Corvinus is also greatly synergistic, since every levied unit will now have a whopping +9 Combat Strength bonus.
* Harald Hardrada (Varangian) already has a 75% discount towards levying city-states' units, and when levied units kill enemies in combat, he gains , , and , which can be enough of an incentive for him to lean heavily into using levied troops over his own. Make sure you stock up your and resources to upgrade the levied troops, and research Mercenaries early to unlock Professional Army and Retinues.
* Sumeria can sometimes make use of this building as well, since they come with an innate discount to levying. However, as mentioned above, levied troops must often be upgraded to be viable in combat, and Sumeria has no incentive to use mercenaries over their own troops. When playing as Sumeria, you should build the Foreign Ministry if you have an abundance of and resources and the Intelligence Agency in other situations.
In Gathering Storm, the +3 arguably becomes the best benefit of the Foreign Ministry, especially for those attempting a Diplomatic Victory. The equivalent of three Suzerainties' worth of can be potent if this building is built early on, though doing so means forgoing the Intelligence Agency and its bonuses to Spies (which a diplomatic player wants for Fabricate Scandal missions).
== Civilopedia entry ==