1. Stay active. Don't let your top generals sit around for too long doing nothing.

2. Spies, in each province preferably, keep the happiness levels up. Also, you will often get intelligence reports about disloyalty, and the chance to do something about it before catastrophe strikes.

3. Change the composition of large stacks if they are led by disloyal generals. Leave these turncoats by themselves. Don't let them sit there in charge of armies until you're committed to battle.

4. Destroy and rebuild 20% agriculture facilities in your poor farming provinces to get the "Steward" virtue for your ruler. Do the same with Inns and other cheap buildings to get the "Builder" virtue.

5. Don't lose more than one province to outside aggressors in a single year. This is a big one.