Thank you for this. When I think of the real circumstances on the ground that these states faced, how little they had to do with, and how constricted their ability to make any real changes, I'm really amazed that they had any success at all, and... I kind of see why vassal states are afraid to make a break for it. It's like being tethered with a slipknot around the neck. The only solution is sever the tether, risk breaking your neck, or be strangled slowly with any movement made, or have the captor tighten or loosen the noose to whatever degree and how slowly or quickly as dictated by their caprices.