The Rome TW exploit: Being a protectorate

[Jambo]

This whole protectorate system appears to have one major weakness which can be exploited to the full, even if you don't actually want to exploit the AI -

Firstly, if you're the protectorate of an AI faction I don't think you ever seem to pay tribute to them (noted by the lack of any funds disappearing from turn to turn and there being no note of it in the 'tribute expenditure' section of the financial scroll...

Second, when the AI offers you to become their protectorate, you can always seem to counter offer and include a large sum in your favour. If the tribute sytem worked (can anyone confirm this or not?) then maybe this would be ok, but as it doesn't when you're the protectorate it just seems like an easy way to get a quick financial fix.

Third, and related to the above, the AI often offers protectorates when it's besiegeing or about to besiege one of your settlements. In effect, they offer you the protectorate and a large sum of money and then they cancel it on the same or the next turn. In otherwords they just shelled out several thousand denari for nothing.

Sigh.

Anyone help here? Someone please tell me that being a protectorate means you pay the protecting faction? I've noticed it does sometime appear to be the case that you will receive money from your protectorates as a human player, but this doesn't seem to be the case the other way round.