Now, everything has its ups and downs.
If we stop and build up - We give time to our enemies to conquer other rich provinces, meanwhile we keep building up our infrastructure. In the end, we WILL fall deep in debt and our income wont keep up with our expenses. I played a Shimazu game once. Built a massive and unstoppable army of Matchlocks and Samurai, and captured The Black Ship. Conquered the Island, and built everything there is to build. Then I went for Kyoto, and conquered it. After becoming Shogun, I became so close to being Bankrupt that I was forced to disband a large number of units back home. After that, I was ZERGED. Coastal invasions, Foreign Trade Ports' attacks, Sieges, you name it.
If we continue attacking - We have a better chance of survival. More opportunities with each conquest, and that won't give time for our enemies to build up. In short, this is the best option, in my opinion anyways.
Otherwise, we could build up and wait till the end date, then all those massive empires disintegrate and become small one-state nations. Would be pretty easy to conquer everything by then. But before the end-date, we must achieve the position of Shogun.
"I long for Darkness."
- Cormac McCarthy, The Sunset Limited.
"We are a species that ravages, plunders, kills, destroys, rapes and enslaves in the name of progress."