I'm seeing a pattern in my games

[Badtz Maru]

What I have done before is to build the Forbidden City near my capital, and then build a palace in a location central to my more distant cities - the palace is a lot cheaper than the Forbidden City and thus easier to build in a city with high corruption.

[cort]

well, playing as french (not militaristic) on the regent level, huge map & 16 civs; i got 4 leaders until 1700s (after then I abandoned the game due to long AI turns) i even got two in a single turn!

it didnot seem like a that big issue at that time but at my second and current games havent spawn any yet and my game style didnot change at all, probably its a function of the difficulty level & map size making them harder to appear. my second game was monarch and third is emperor both on tiny maps.

other than using a GL, build a wonder is a real though job, i mean i can stand to wait ~50 turns at all

[RobRoy]

Originally posted by Badtz Maru
...the palace is a lot cheaper than the Forbidden City and thus easier to build in a city with high corruption.

Not unless you're playing a mod that makes it cheaper. In my version Palace is 400, Forbidden City is 300. Can't rush the Palace either.

[CygnusZ]

You can buy expensive city improvements though and up it towards your Forbidden Palace. I think that research labs (albeit late in the game) will give almost enough shields to create the Forbidden Palace.

Not sure, but I think Factories are fairly expensive too. Hospitals cost a bit, so do cathedrals. In other words, you certain can speed up building the FB without a leader, but it's always a bit of a pain in ye olde arse.