Were, you must be assimilated.
He does, after all, have a fort. However, I also hire a messanger to send an alliance request to Kevino as well. Finally, I buy some timber and build a small trading outpost at X:627 Y:145.
I walk into Avi's fort and ask for an alliance.
I eat some of the food I have collected to satisfy my hunger.
I build a wall around my house and build a port,I continue fishing
Similair to china* And only the important stuff, like farms, mills, grainaries, manufactories, mines, that sort of thing.
If that is not enough to make them happy I also pay them with food stuffs.
Do we have a currency? If not I make one. I ditch the current tax system in favour of a very small income tax (mainly taxing the middle class and up, not that there really is a middle class in a feudal system (I think)) and a heavy tax on luxury goods and recreational drugs. I use the money from this to actually pay the workers. And to be clear, all of the stuff is state owned (like china :) )
The peasants also start demanding more payment for the work they are doing.
Avi, there is already a river surrounding your castle, so you can't make a moat.