Maximize gold production:
To maximize gold production, first you need to maximize your population. More population means more gold produced. Attempt to reach 80/90% of your total cap (80/90 allegiance)
Once you reach this point, set tax rate to 100% and Appease with Disaster Relieve every 30 minutes.
Allegiance drops 1 point every 6 minutes. That means 10 point every hour. However, if you appease twice per hour (once per 30mins), you can keep the allegiance up (which means population won't drop), and still get 100% earning.
Example of a current city:
36600 population cap
32940 population (with 90 allegiance)
100% tax earns 32940 gold per hour. Food cost to appease per hour is 36600 x 2 = 73200.
At best case where you buy food for 0.08, you earn 32940 - 73200* 0.08 = 27084 gold per hour
At worst case where you buy food for 0.12, you earn 32940 - 73200* 0.12 = 24156 gold per hour
The more population you have (more cottage basically), the more gold you earn. Any questions? Post it here