Overscouting is whats wrong. you have rings around your provinces blue(very easy) green(easy) yellow(hard) red(very hard)
Even getting the 25% reduction on advanced scouts will only bring you back to yellow and maybe a couple of green, so you are always going to have a hard time negotiating or battling.
You will hit a wall on province ring 10 when you need orcs to negotiate also, which you wont get till Orcs chapter.
My advice would be to either start a new game (in a new world if you've spent diamonds) with you only being chapter 1. or only scout the provinces needed to complete the chapter and wait till it starts getting easier.
Elvenar is a game of patience not speedy gonzales
How will you be able to complete province/tournament or scouting quests in events if you cant get the troops or resources to do so?
Check out elvengems website for a guide on playing elvenar efficiently.