First you have to reach 56 population with the 2nd tax level as quickly as possible and at the same time secure the supply of rice, vegetables and LOTS of wood.

To achieve these you must first Build at least 30 wood camps.
Place your wood camps and the stockpile as close to the available bamboo forest as possible. You will need a lot of wood to expand your castle. Wood is the most important resource at the beginning. Purchase additional wood to speed up construction.

Build 7 houses at the same time to reach 56 population.
Try to keep the 2nd tax level. You get additional gold by selling wood.

The food supply is secured with 13 rice fields and, as quickly as possible, 10 vegetable fields.

Bows for defense are purchased at the market as needed. Defend yourself with cheap units and conquer the first weak warlords.

The goal is to reach 104 population with level 3 taxes and at the same time start weapon and resource production.

To do this, build 3 more normal houses for 80 wood and also build 2 superior houses for 220 wood. This gives you a whopping +10 popularity from housing comfort.

In order to get to tax level 3, you then need only 2 well-placed small temples. It is best to place a temple near the wood cutters and one near the rice fields.

Simultaneously build about 20 weapon forges. Additional gold can be gained by selling wood. Basically, I recommend producing expensive weapons like armor and swords. Bows and other cheap weapons can be bought cheaply. Remember, 30 bows will cost you only 500 gold.

You should also start mining stone and iron. 2 iron mines meet the needs of weapon production. Stone mines are built as needed, usually 2 are enough.

I also recommend upgrading your castle with stone walls and other defenses

Reach level 4 of taxation
This requires the full bonus of 15 popularity from Temple coverage. A good layout helps to cover a large number of buildings with just a few temples.
With 104 residents and the 4th tax tier, your economy is well equipped to attack and defend!

At this point you should demolish your 30 wood cutters and replace them with a clothing production
Clothing is one of the most valuable goods and should always be sold directly on the market for high additional income.

The production rate is: 1 silkworm field, 1 silk workshop and 3 clothing workshops. Divided among 30 workers, this is a ratio of 18 clothing workshops / 6 silk workshops / 6 silkworm fields

You could also double your population to 208. But then, of course, your food production must be also doubled.

• Rice: 1 field per house + 1 additional field as reserve. 14 fields in total for 104 people
  Rice is a necessity and should always be cultivated. However, double rations are rarely worthwhile, as rice is the least productive food

• Vegetables: Are more efficient than rice and cheap to costruct. This makes them very useful to increase your popularity in the early game. The fields benefit particularly from the proximity to the granary and become less efficient when they are far away from it.
  Ratio: 0,8 field per house

• Tea: Tea is even more efficient than vegetables, but generates slightly less popularity and requires an additional tea house. Tea is useful if you can't get the full bonus through tempel coverage. Ratio: Every 2 houses you need one tea garden + 1 gardens as a reserve.

• Meat: is the most productive food source. but it cost also a lot of wood to built and it has a long start-up time. That's why this food is only worthwhile in special cases, such as when there is little space. Tip, build a wall around the farms, then they will be more efficient.
  Ratio: a pig farm every two houses

• Housing comfort:
  Neutral: 2 normal houses for 80 wood, the rest huts for 40 wood. Useful at the beginning of the game.
  Full bonus: 2 superior houses for 220 wood, the rest normal houses for 80 wood. Gives +10 popularity and is always recommended.

• Clothes: For 104 population: 2 silkworm fields, 2 silk workshops and 6 clothing workshops.
  Sell clothing for an high additional incomme.

• Black Powder: A saltpeter mine supplies 2 black powder manufacturers. Black powder is useful in defense and as a trade commodity.

Layout 4 keep & food production.
You will need 1 aditional vegetable field!

Please note the city layout requires the largest temple. I'm too lazy to change that now

• Develop your castle step by step. Use the build order from this guide explained in step I - III

• Taxes level 4 are very efficient at generating gold and easy to achive. You need only the bonus from temples, living comfort, rice and vegetables.
  If you need more gold, produce and sell silk clothig.

• But taxes are only efficient up to level 4. If you want to earn more gold, then you have to produce and sell silk clothes.
  Always set the automatic purchase of rice, vegetables and iron in the market to avoid shortages.
  At the same time, surplus goods should always be sold for an additional income

• Diplomacy buildings cost a lot of gold and should therefore not be built too early. Usually it is better to invest the money in your own economy.

• Be aggressive. Use light units to build up pressure.

• Quality beats quantity. The troop limit is often limited.

• Use the attack movement for moving troops (CTRL + right click)

• For quick recruitment, set your tax level on negative. With +75 popularity new peasants will spawn within a few seconds.

In full efficiency, the fear factor is linked to 40 population. Of course, 40 workers are far too few to run an effective economy.
If you want to use the fear factor, you should play with 80 population. This way you can at least use half the fear factor effect and still have a decent economy.

Positive fear factor:
At 80 population, provides +6 popularity and +10% stronger troops. But it costs - 20% efficiency of your economy.
Use the Positive Fear Factor, if your economy is full developed and you want stronger troops.

Negative fear factor:
At 80 population, provides a +20% more efficient economy. But it comes at the cost of - 6 popularity and 10% weaker troops.
Worth it if you want a more efficient economy. Especially in combination with the production and sale of silk clothing. Offset the negative popularity with a lower tax bracket or additional rations of silk clothing.

Bonus tip:
The Dragon Lord perk increases the fear factor bonus from 40 population to 80 population. This means, that the full bonus can be used with a population of 80!