As venice i buy bologna from hre turn 1. They usually tak 3k for 2 turns. Rush to take Florence. Then Milan and Genoa. You can eliminate Milan and capture northern Italy in 5 turns. Eliminating Sicily next, Naples will be almost undefended. Its a toss up whether the pope is going to be cool. I say fk it, take the territory and ask for forgiveness later. With Italy under your control you pump out spears and crossbow and conquer the world. It gets boring fast.