Damn, we're going to have to multitask like we've never multitasked before to pull this off. Also shit, the lowest we've ever gone during the tax crisis was 2 legitimacy. I don't want to know what happens in the negatives.
Okay, if we're going to pull this shit off, we're going to do it in style. Taking it likely means we lose Diplomacy as well, thanks to us pissing off the Metal Workers, as well as an extra Prestige hit and hostile relations for the next century or so. This means we're likely to end up at
General
Diplomacy
10 [-1] (result of our only significant trade partner embargoing us and encouraging with weapons that everyone else do the same)
Economy 5
Martial
12
Stability
Stability
-1 (expected)
Legitimacy 1 (damn this is going to hurt)
Organizational
Centralization 3 (New Trails would be great, but not the time)
Hierarchy 6
Cultural
Art
4 (need to use this to get Legitimacy back, not going to be fun, no other way to do so)
Mysticism
4 (going to leave us at risk of DOOM!)
Prestige 9 (might also drop as a result of backstabbing Metal Workers)
This only unlocks the study chain. We also need to constantly be raising stability, and we'll likely need multiple turns that cost us -1 stability, so we'll be basically forced for the next two turns to take RoO (my god that's horrifyingly efficient) and some Proclaim Glory.
If we're doing that, then the best secondary action we can take is a policy switch. If we're attacked, our
12 Martial should let our provinces stomp whoever's attacking into the ground. With a policy switch, we need to know what we need to survive here, and that's Mysticism and maybe some Art to fuel Proclaim Glory. Therefore we should switch to Spirits, which lets us get both for Econ which we'll run low on, but it'll let us bounce back quickly. (thinking it looks like maybe we'll get 4 mysticism and 2 art from double Mained Expand Holy Sites to drop us at exactly 1 econ, and CA is likely to trigger at least once)
This'll push us up to 4 Art and 8 Mysticism, but repair work still needs to be done. Hopefully this isn't a "race against the clock before you lose the knowledge", otherwise it's going to be very difficult. The second turn is likely to be another RoO(because even if we get lucky and go to 1 stab, something is bound to happen which drops us down to 0) with Secondary Proc Glory, restoring us to max legitimacy. The secondary is a loose one - if we have to invest in Econ expansion, Econ expansion, but if the study chain can be started there we start the chain. If all else fails and we're attacked, shift policy to Attack so that we can utilize our 12 martial with our provinces for a double War mission while we go and do something like expand econ or just generate econ in general.
That's about as much as I want to type up before letting other people read; please comment/critique so that we can survive this and come out with IRON.
[X] Protect him and have him teach his knowledge (-4 Stability, -2 Legitimacy, -10 Mysticism, -10 Art, -2 Prestige, chance of infuriating the Metal Workers, gain Iron Smelting study chain)
