I feel I need to go a bit further..
Firstly, the actual game play issues of this strategy are bad ones. Tactically the only way to stop this type of assault is to have sufficient defences in all of your provinces to stop him, as well as a free army to hunt him down. I have been in two games were the best option for both empires was to simply run their way through enemy territory settings taxes to 200 to offset the same damage being caused back in their home provinces. You need roughly three times the resources to defend against an enemy using this tactic. There are no negatives at all to this tactic either.
You either gain territory if your opponent decides to not use resources to take the territory back right away, or you cost the enemy huge amounts of troops to stop you, which will end in a normal battle causing both sides to lose troops.
This would be fine, except that you are making large amounts of money for no risk to yourself and crippling your enemies economy. When he takes his provinces back, he now needs to reduce the unrest you so easily gave him, probably costing him the game. If one player starts using this tactic - given even sides - all players will have to use this tactic. It is simply the most effective way to use your resources in any situation where both sides are roughly even.
Again, on non-tactical terms, broken infrastructure or destroyed crops do not require that you kill a large amount of your population to fix. I fail to see how killing the farmers helps them plant their crops any faster.
Edit: One further thing,
Quote:
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If you consider unrest as an abstraction unrest relative to players also make less sense. Unlike the inhabitants of Robin Hood movies people do not automatically and instantly switch from lawlessnes and banditry just because a tyrant is disposed, nor are roads and bridges repaired or crops replanted without effort.
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Unrest of this type could not be removed by lowering taxes? Why would proper banditry (not revolting peasantry) be stopped by lowering taxes? They dont pay taxes already! They arent going to start plowing fields just because someone wont be asking for as much gold anymore.
[ January 03, 2004, 16:39: Message edited by: RyanZA ]