Anyone tried a specialist economy with amurites, veil -> sacrifice the weak and minimum distance between cities? Sure 8 plots is rather low, and the upkeep can drag you down considerably. But thats what you use gambling halls for.
8 farms -> 24 food, 16 gold plus whatever the plots give.
At 1 food per pop, you can easily have 25+ cities en masse in an incredible small area. Nope, you won't get much production or resources. But whiping 13 pop should be enough for most things.
I havn't tried this but it's worth trying. Population does grow faster the smaller it is so it makes sense.
Except: You want the city with the crown to have as many scientists as possible for the bonus.
And btw, if you don't care about research that much any more, just switch to religious discipline and use infinite Priests to boost your production.