Yes it is. You seem to be confusing gold for lords with gold total. In order to extract the maximum amount of gold from a region for the realm as a whole, that requires knights. However, if we are just talking about the lords needs, knights are at best redundant and at worst a drag in finances, especially for rural lords.
no, this is incorrect.
A lord cannot have more than 50% of the estates, NO MATTER HOW MANY KNIGHTS. They cannot tax higher than 50%, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT THERE IS A KNIGHT.
BUT... their efficiency - and so their own gold - cannot be maximized without knights in the other estates.
So, a knight NEVER DRAWS GOLD AWAY FROM THE LORD, but CAN increase it.
That's the whole design behind the new estate system.
