I'm not even going to bother, it's clear you are going to believe what you want to regardless of any evidence we bring forward. Oh, by the way, Greater Xavax doesn't have the issue with low tax rates that Sirion has because we have a very, very high noble density, not very much peasant population compared to say, Caligus and Sirion, and a middling amount of regions. Isadril has 19-20% without the lord being there. It probably is ssustainable at 16-17%.
So the issue isn't an inability to tax, it's sheer number of nobles splitting the income. Besides, more men is always better, because it's diminishing returns, not negative or zero. So long as you can afford the unit, there is no reason to get a larger one, because a larger unit can survive multiple battles. Trust me, I say this with experience in multiple sieges where more than one attack was needed. The player of Bustoarsenzio Peristaltico was very much one of the best strategic minds of Battlemaster at the time, and I distinctly remember this being done in one of his attacks against Xinhai's/Morek Empire's enemies.
