Why are building cities so much cheaper than castles or churches?

[Kurblius]

I don't know when this started happening but at some point I discovered that building a new city is half the cost of building a church or castle. Then, I THINK if I acquire a Chinese Bureaucrat, the city building cost is halved again (but churches/castles only decrease by 15%, which is expected). So in the end it cost me just under 100 gold to build a city in my 5th or 6th holding in a county. It's astonishing.

Why?

Correction: Sorry I meant under 200 gold.

 

[knppel]

Are you playing reformed hellenic and member in the Stoic Intelligenzia? They , unlike the usual monastic orders, let you build cities cheaper opposed to churches.

 

[Kurblius]

Oooh! Yes! Very cool.