If we want to speed up religion, better to build more cities for the UA than building shrines, in my opinion.
Do we really need to improve the Cotton before NC? Perhaps skip Calendar to speed NC up. We lose the gpt from the resource trade, I guess, but getting the NC 6t earlier might top that (considering it also speeds up our next settlements).
If we delay NC, perhaps it's just better to go to Civil Service, before Philosophy. Not sure, though, since only Faith and Devotion would get benefits from it (no irrigation near the 3rd and 4th cities).
Do we really need to improve the Cotton before NC? Perhaps skip Calendar to speed NC up. We lose the gpt from the resource trade, I guess, but getting the NC 6t earlier might top that (considering it also speeds up our next settlements).
If we delay NC, perhaps it's just better to go to Civil Service, before Philosophy. Not sure, though, since only Faith and Devotion would get benefits from it (no irrigation near the 3rd and 4th cities).