I missed the vote, but would have put my say toward "something else".
I say retweak the spawn of monsters/undead. They seem largely random right now. Mountain/badlands/forests should spawn monsters at an increased rate (but farmlands/city/towns almost none), cities should spawn undead at an increased rate and maybe (although this is more effort-intensive) an increased rate for recent battlegrounds.
This way you have increased spawn rates, but they are focused on regions that aren't profitable. Players have a choice to abandon those mountains to the brigands or to toil to see them stay under control.
Poll