Those sound like great solutions. reducing pop from 220 to 200 would not be a great way to nerf the civ considering there are only mauryans and persians that get that bonus besides Han. I was basically just trying to summarize the problems, causes, and options and I definitely think the options you guys brought up are top contenders.
https://code.wildfiregames.com/D4875
https://code.wildfiregames.com/D4874
https://code.wildfiregames.com/D4873
I have nothing for crossbows yet. I think their prepare time should be increased. This is because for the first 3.6 seconds (.6 sec prepare time + reload of 3 sec) of a fight they do 28+28 pierce = 56 pierce or close to 19 DPS which is very high compared to skirmishers.
making prepare time 1000 ms would reduce this value to 14 which is more reasonable. Sniping would still be effective here (not OP), and this would only be further resolved by my plans to address the meat shield meta in the community mod.