One trick I've learned is to use the swift/rough/tough/random justice vice to make money and keep myself occupied while not expanding. The thing to remember is that your govenor will get the vice if he is in the province (i.e. particpated in the put-down of the rebellion) and you execute all the rebels afterwards. I don't mean have your general kill them on the field, but wait until you get the screening telling you how much land you confiscated and giving you a choice. (If you kill all the rebels the turn you take the province - before you've assigned a governor - then your king is likely to get the swift justice vice even if he is in a different province.)

So... take a rebel province, preferably one that is prone to rebellion (like Portugal, Livonia or Latvia - to a lesser extent Scotland, Pomerania, Switzerland and a few others.) Kill all the rebel prisoners after the first battle to see if you can give your king a dread point, then assign the govenorship to someone who is in the province you just took. Take someone with at least four feathers, very little or no dread, and - bonus - any happiness-reducing vices that you may find (chinless wonder or whatever). Stack a general that you are hoping to hone with him - you don't want him leading your troops. Reduce the garrison as much as you can - less than 100 troops helps - and never build any happiness buildings like watchtowers, town watches, churches, etc. Keep your assassins, spies and religious agents away. And wait for rebellions.

The rebellions get bigger and bigger, with better and better troops. You should keep some troops in adjacent provinces for back-up. Fight outnumbered when you can - it will help your general earn good vices (skilled defender, etc.) You'll start raking in decent bucks after a while, and your generals and troops will gain experience and valor. Execute the rebels after each battle, and your gov will first gain some dread but that will be quickly offset by the happiness penalties he earns. Keep teching up the province if you want the rebels to get better and better - just don't build any happiness buildings you don't need. When you finally get sick of it, replace your gov with a better one and lower taxes for a while. Check the province loyalty after each turn - make sure to keep it really low. (Again, this is easiest with those rebellion-prone provinces.)

One caution - since your govenor is participating in each battle you may want to keep an eye on him during the fight - if he gets killed, you have to start over. Best if you gov is a tough unit - not a peasant.

Hope someone else enjoys this method, too. I like it - gives me a chance to keep fighting during games where I'm not expanding a lot. I can still make some money that I can put towards tech.

P.