Dominic is correct in noting that, even in the medieval period, it is conceivable that gold could be "turned into" food. Sure, the marginal returns will decline, but the idea that the feudal economy ever had marginal returns below zero seems rather untenable.
However, in terms of game mechanics, it makes total sense to restrict the effect on food production. Otherwise, it would be conceivable to support a city (like Paisly) almost exclusively from, say, a townsland and a small rural (Chesland and Maeotis), and that is evidently not how the game is intended to work.
Investing in Maeotis would never produce enough for all our cities, and would cost so much I doubt it'd be a real alternative to imports. We'd do it for sure, though, at least now and then, but it wouldn't cut our requirements for imports.
No, you are being silly and absurd. Read what the others have written, and you will understand what I mean in the correct light. 100% is the maximum attainable production, this is the last time I will say this.
Others are clearly as ignorant as yourself when suggesting that any patch of land has a theoretical maximum production capacity. There is no theoretical maximum production capacity, *especially* not in agriculture. You can always develop more productive breeds, invent better fertilizers, discover better crop management, etc. That they did not have the technical knowledge we have nowadays does not mean that everyone had access to the latest technology of the days either, some could not afford better tools or did not have access to training for better methods, for whatever reason. Dump enough cash, and people will be able to afford better tools or training, that's just how the world works. And honestly, what the hell are people investing in to manage to make a small rural region's income double, without increasing food production, when everyone there is working on farms? It'd be way more realistic if investments in rural increased production % less considerably, but that this allowed for higher food production levels. If rural lords had more power over their food production, they might be more tempted to make a trade out of it, instead of shipping it all out for free as most do.
If you are arguing that 100% is the maximum food production in-game at this time, though, then you are just pointing out the totally obvious thing that served as the basis of my critic.
