I think I worked out the production thing

-- every piece of gold you pay works out to be 1 point once production is complete (so far it seems to be the case anyhow) give or take some rounding.
The Travelling Merchants - gives you nothing however as said above once you spend the gold on production - you get your points.
New Buildings / Expansion - just building now - will try and check a soon as its finished - however my guess would be you may get a point per gold piece spent - it makes sense

I could be wrong
I was wrong

- on small ones anyhow seems to work out 10% of the total cost e.g. a building that costs 450 gold gets you 45 points ( based on two buildings) - will try a medium and large an see what happens
Them there trolls not only rip you off but you also get no points selling or buying from them

I suppose its just bad management if you have to stoop that low - so why be rewarded
