Search - 4rchive

>>2170229
There's 5 things to manage
>income
>military strength
>succession
>longevity
>vassals
Collecting taxes is a trap, development is better for the long run. You need good provinces to keep as your capital, like farmlands, plains, or floodplains, for their bonuses, as they have good economic buildings to support your economy/development
With money flowing in, it's important to have decent MAA and station them in provinces for their optimal benefit. I'm always for a siege MAA to reduced sieges to 2 or 3 months instead of 8, which can be a great military asset, but, otherwise, look to your traditions and check what your opponents have to counter (pikes vs cavalry, heavy infantry or cavalry against archers, archers against pikes, etc).
Succession is the most key, since the game always starts gavelkind. One bonus to a province with several baronies is that all baronies go with the county upon succession, so keep building castles for your heir to take control of. Otherwise, some siblings can become allies and don't ever feel stressed about "losing" land, as you can press claims for wars.
The learning lifestyle tree is great for health and development bonuses, which alloes you to live long, gain development, and delay succession even further. But, it also is good for progressing innovations, so you can work towards better succession laws/new eras, which gives better options for your culture, such as reducing gavelkind to heir-focused succession
Lastly, vassals are idiots and only exist to hate you. Make their contracts give gold instead of levies, as levies are a useless troop; this can help your economics and MAA as you build more land for yourself and your heirs. It's fine to give into a faction to reduce crown authority as you can raise it again in 10 years, but pretender revolts will replace your kindship.