I am finding the game slow paced if you choose it to be. I've been sitting on the cusp of realm divide for ages, building up a war chest, strengthening trading relations and having fun with defensive wars. It's around 1570 now and I guess I really should get this thing going.

Craft provinces seem rather scarce (I don't have one) but the +20% accuracy bonus seems amazing, so I would definitely re-fashion them. Ditto smiths and perhaps philosophical tradition provinces. The other ones would be optional, provided I have one of the same speciality already. But for troop production (crafts and smiths), I find it unlikely that I will be able to channel all my recruitment through one or two provinces once the fur starts flying, so a few more are always welcome.

On an unrelated subject, I noticed one bad thing about getting +4 agents straight out of training - you get the skill points but not the retinue. I think a more "organically" grown agent would have two retinue by level 4. Hopefully, my factory farmed ones can pick up retinue later.