I had the old Nintendo version of this game. It was one of my favs.
Suggestions for new players:
1. Play an early scenario, and try to expand in the west, where few people have claimed prefectures. Unless you want to be attacked, always stay at least one prefecture away from Gao Qui's territory. The imperial forces never try to take empty areas; their domain only expands if they decide to attack a bandit-controlled area.
2. Don't be too picky about sworn brothers early on. You need them to allow you to issue commands in prefectures where your chieftain is away from. A sworn brother with low integrity can be good for throwing Feasts... (Golden Lotus as the sworn sister of Hairy Priest is just wrong...
k: )
3. Don't bother with duels, especially if you're the attacker. Your body points will probably be too low to win by the time you reach your opponent...