Pretty much the same for me as the other people. I am playing as Russia, 1 turn = 1 year. I'm at about turn 70 or so, and am only at war with the Rebels. Even Poland has backed off of me after I killed their king in battle. His heir apparently didn't want to go to war with me, and after killing their King, we were no longer at war for some reason.
The trick is to expand enough to get a few good provinces that either have good resources, or nice land that can be upgraded for farming.
I do this by keeping only the forces that I need (plus a little more in case of a large attack). At that point I start building an infrastructure. Roads, farm upgrades, try to get as many coastal provinces trading as possible...all eventually.
Also another thing that works well, especially with Russia...is have your landlocked provinces be castles (as many as you think you need, I only have 3). Each region capable of generating an impressive income should be a city. All my coastal regions are cities, so I can meddle with the taxes, and other buildings that will generate income that aren't always available to castles.
As Russia, taking (Helsinki I think it is? the one across the sea from Novgorod) helps, as I'm making almost 3k per turn there, not including the 2-3 merchants in the area making 150 each per turn.
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