Quote Originally Posted by dual939
This vassalage stuff is very interesting, and I have tried to understand all that you have said, but I must ask you to summarize, and address my question.

I am assuming that vassalage gets you money.
In Part. Provinces which belong to vassals count towards your victory conditions, so in order to win, theoretically all you need is your homeland, the other target provinces (as stated on the faction screen) and vassals with the required number of provinces. The good thing about vassals is, you don´t need to worry about managing those provinces, the AI does that for you.

Once you have gotten them to accept becomming you vassal, do you then state the money you want? Or as I believe makes more sence, you ask for the money when you are requesting them to become your vassal. Yes?
Usually, in order to get a faction to become your vassal you have to pay them money, not extort it from them in addition to their loss of independence.
However, once a faction is your vassal, you receive the cash surplus from their treasury (short of a minimum which the vassal keeps for army upkeep, building etc., I believe), which makes having big, rich vassals a real cash cow - you get the money without having to garrison the cities, uphold public order, fight and all the other assorted stuff you´ve got to do when you occupy the provinces yourself.