Great Zhou Boxing Match

In the Grand Court assembly, the Second Minister of the Great Zhou Cabinet was slapped in the face by the current Chief Minister, right in front of the civil and military officials and the Emperor?

"You old scoundrel! You've gone too far! I'll fight you to the death!"

Zhuge Huaijin was not satisfied after one slap. He let out a roar like a fierce tiger let out of its cage, lunging at Zhang Wuji regardless of everything.

So what if they are scholars? When scholars are pushed to the brink, they bite too!

Zhang Wuji finally reacted. As the dignified head of an aristocratic family, when had he ever suffered such a humiliating disgrace? Humiliation and anger instantly broke through the dam of his reason!

"You old dog Zhuge! You dare hit me?! I'll kill you today!"

The two instantly scuffled together. It must be noted that although Great Zhou advocated martial arts, and brawling in the court was also an unwritten "tough guy tradition," using true qi inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony was absolutely forbidden. Otherwise, it would be treated as an assassination attempt on the Emperor, punishable by the execution of nine generations. Therefore, even though Zhang Wuji's martial arts realm was a major realm higher than Zhuge Huaijin's, he dared not use half a point of internal energy at this moment, relying only on physical strength to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

This caused the highest-level cabinet brawl to take on an extremely bizarre and... down-to-earth style.

"Ouch! You dare to pull my beard!" Zhang Wuji let out a miserable scream. His beautiful beard was tightly grabbed by Zhuge Huaijin, hurting so much that tears almost came out of his eyes.

"Not only will I pull your beard, I'll also gouge out your eyeballs! You corrupt traitor to the nation!" Zhuge Huaijin looked like a madman, grabbing the beard with one hand while frantically scratching Zhang Wuji's face with the other.

"Get lost! Watch my Black Tiger Steals the Heart!" Zhang Wuji countered with a heavy backhand punch, hitting Zhuge Huaijin in the chest. The two fell to the ground simultaneously, rolling together on the smooth-as-a-mirror gold bricks of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

"Chief Minister!"

"Second Minister!"

Seeing their respective bosses being beaten, the officials from poor backgrounds and aristocratic families immediately saw red, rolling up their sleeves and preparing to rush up for a group fight.

Just at this critical moment, Wang Hao slapped the armrest of the dragon throne.

"Insolent! In the Hall of Supreme Harmony, what kind of behavior is this! Pull them apart for me!"

With Wang Hao's command, the three great eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial—Sun Li, Hai Dafu, and Wei Zhongxian—who had been standing by and itching to act, pounced into the battlefield like fierce tigers.

These old eunuchs appeared to be "breaking up the fight," but in reality, they had long disliked the aristocratic faction. Usually, these aristocratic civil officials didn't spare them from being cursed as the eunuch faction, and today they finally caught an opportunity!

"My Lords, please don't get angry, it's not worth it, not worth it!"

Wei Zhongxian shouted louder than anyone else, but his body "nimbly" blocked Zhang Wuji, who was trying to get up and counterattack. It looked like he was breaking up the fight, but he tripped Zhang Wuji, causing him to fall flat on his face again. Incidentally, he also extremely covertly crushed his toe hard on Zhang Wuji's thigh.

"Ouch! Who stepped on me!" Zhang Wuji cried out in pain.

"Chief Minister, calm down!" Sun Li "hugged" Zhang Wuji's arm, pressing him firmly to the ground, and shouted loudly, "Men! Quickly hold back the Chief Minister, Chief Minister, stop!"

While his mouth was telling Zhuge Huaijin to stop, he locked Zhang Wuji's hands tightly, letting Zhuge Huaijin's completely unorganized fists rain down on Zhang Wuji's body.

Hai Dafu was even more ruthless. He directly jumped between the two, seemingly trying hard to separate them, but in reality, his elbow inadvertently smashed hard into Zhang Wuji's ribs, hurting him so much that his eyes rolled back.

"Zhuge the Peasant... you're not winning fairly... you castrated dogs are taking sides!" Zhang Wuji was so angry he spat blood, struggling frantically on the ground, but with the secret suppression of the three inner eunuchs, his martial arts realm was completely useless. He was forcefully ridden by Zhuge Huaijin and punched more than a dozen times.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony was in chaos. Tie Zhan watched with his blood boiling on the side; if not constrained by the rules, he would have loved to go up and kick Zhang Wuji twice. The civil officials of the aristocratic families watched their boss being rubbed against the floor, their hearts aching, but they dared not clash with the eunuchs, jumping up and down in anxiety.

On the dragon throne, Wang Hao supported his forehead with one hand, his shoulders shaking as he desperately held back his laughter, his abdominal muscles cramping.

Awesome! So freaking awesome!

Letting you old foxes act deep and speak in riddles in front of me usually! Today, aren't you pulling hair and picking noses like street punks?

Hilarious, these shrewd people fighting is no different from market ruffians!

Seeing that Zhang Wuji had already been beaten black and blue, his official hat flying under a pillar, and Zhuge Huaijin tired and panting, Wang Hao knew the time had finally come.

After using the stick, it was time to give a sweet date. If he really pushed the aristocratic families to the wall, in this critical moment of implementing the new policies, there would be great chaos in the local areas.

"Bang!"

Wang Hao picked up the gavel on the imperial desk and smashed it down hard, the sound carrying a trace of energy, instantly intimidating the entire hall.

"Enough! All of you stop! Dignified cabinet ministers, acting like cursing shrews and street hooligans! Have all the sage books you read gone into the bellies of dogs?! Pull them apart for me!"

With the Emperor's outburst, Wei Zhongxian and the others "reluctantly" released Zhang Wuji.

Zhuge Huaijin and Zhang Wuji were helped up by the eunuchs. Both were completely disheveled and panting like cows. Especially Zhang Wuji, with a black left eye and half of his beard missing, looked in extremely sorry shape, looking at Zhuge Huaijin and those few eunuchs as if he wanted to eat their flesh.

"Your Majesty!" Zhang Wuji fell to his knees with a thud, crying bitterly, "The Chief Minister committed violence in public, beating a court official, I beg Your Majesty to bring justice for this old minister!"

"Your Majesty! Zhang Wuji insulted the Chief Minister of the court, despised the poor scholars, and is even more corrupt and perverts the law, I beg Your Majesty to severely punish the traitor Zhang!" Zhuge Huaijin also knelt down, his momentum not weak in the slightest.

Wang Hao stood up, slowly walking down the jade steps, his gaze sweeping over the two, his originally lazy eyes now extremely sharp.

"I see the two of you treat this Hall of Supreme Harmony as your backyard!" Wang Hao snorted coldly, "Since neither of you is convinced by the other, I will decide the positions of the chief officials of the six halls, six bureaus, and six departments in the local areas! You have no objections, right?"

"We beg for Your Majesty's divine judgment." The officials knelt and bowed.

"The extension of central power is a great change unseen in a century for our Great Zhou, this concerns the foundation of the state." Wang Hao's voice was deep and majestic, his gaze slowly sweeping over the audience, "Minister Zhuge, your recommendation of poor scholars is reasonable. They study hard to cultivate their moral character, manage their families, govern the state, and bring peace to the world. If the court doesn't give them a chance, won't it chill the hearts of scholars all over the world?"

Hearing the first half of the sentence, Zhuge Huaijin and the officials from poor backgrounds showed joy, thinking the Emperor was going to completely favor them.

However, Wang Hao changed his tone: "What Minister Zhang said is not entirely without reason. Local government affairs are complex, how can they be managed well relying only on hot blood? Among the children of aristocratic families, although there are some black sheep, there are also experienced and prudent officials who have been in officialdom for a long time and are well-versed in local governance. If we cut everything across the board and replace them all with inexperienced newcomers, the local areas will definitely be thrown into chaos!"

Zhang Wuji's intact right eye suddenly lit up. His Majesty is protecting the noble clans! As long as His Majesty still cares about regional stability, our noble clans still have a chance to turn the tables!

Therefore, I have made my decision.

Wang Hao walked back to the dragon throne and sat down imposingly. With a sharp gaze, he laid out his well-thought-out and extremely ruthless final plan.

For all the local chief official positions across the nine provinces, thirty-six regions, four hundred commanderies, and four thousand counties of the realm. Chief Grand Secretary Zhuge Huaijin and Second Grand Secretary Zhang Wuji, based on the results of the capital evaluations from previous years, you will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the character and ability of all officials! The humble officials shall take forty percent.

Whoa— A suppressed wave of ecstasy erupted from the faction of humble officials. Forty percent! That meant thousands of positions with real power! Breaking the noble clans' long-standing monopoly of nearly eighty percent over local officials, this was the greatest victory the humble scholars had ever achieved in history!

I, on behalf of all the humble scholars in the realm, kowtow to thank Your Majesty for your immense grace! Zhuge Huaijin was so moved that old tears streamed down his face as he kowtowed heavily. He did not lose out; taking a few punches in exchange for forty percent of the realm was completely worth it!

Wang Hao ignored him and turned to look at Zhang Wuji. Second Grand Secretary Zhang Wuji, the veteran officials of the noble clans you represent will also take forty percent. But I say this first: for these forty percent of the positions, you must recommend those noble officials who truly have talent and remain uncorrupted! If I see those playboy scions who oppress the commoners taking office again, the imperial secret police will be waiting to invite them for tea!

Zhang Wuji shuddered all over. Forty percent! Although it had shrunk compared to before, under the deterrence of the Qingyun Sect's annihilation, being able to keep a forty percent baseline was already a stroke of luck!

More importantly, the Emperor's words were a reassurance to the noble clans, telling them: I will not drive you to extinction. As long as you obediently listen, pay taxes, and do your work, you are still the aristocrats of the Great Zhou.

This old subject... kowtows to thank Your Majesty for the grace of sparing our lives, and shall devote himself entirely to the Great Zhou! Zhang Wuji prostrated on the ground. This young emperor played the imperial mind game of giving a slap followed by a sweet date to absolute perfection, making it impossible for anyone to even harbor a thought of rebellion.

Just as both the humble scholars and the noble clans thought the division of spoils was over, each calculating how to fight for those lucrative forty percent vacancies, a quiet voice echoed from a corner of the great hall.

Your Majesty, what about the remaining twenty percent?

The speaker was the Minister of Justice, Li Xian, who had been watching from the sidelines and had not participated in the shouting match at all. Behind him stood the Chief Minister of the Court of Judicature and Revision, Zhao Li, and others. They did not belong to Zhuge Huaijin's radical humble scholar faction, nor did they completely rely on Zhang Wuji's aristocratic families. Instead, they were the neutral faction that had long survived in the cracks between the two.

Wang Hao looked at Li Xian, the smile at the corners of his mouth growing deeper, giving Li Xian the creeps.

The remaining twenty percent will naturally be taken over by steady ministers like you, Minister Li, and Minister Zhao, as well as inner court personnel personally appointed by me, especially the regional branches in charge of penal, judicial, and supervisory affairs.

As soon as these words came out, the entire hall fell into a dead silence once again.

Immediately after, the expressions of both Zhang Wuji and Zhuge Huaijin changed drastically at the same time!

They finally realized it!

How was this any sort of balance? This was clearly a three-way standoff!

The humble scholars held forty percent, and the noble clans held forty percent. The two sides were evenly matched and would definitely fight like dogs in the local regions, tearing at each other so that neither could dominate alone!

And the remaining twenty percent, although the smallest in number, held the most crucial judicial and supervisory powers handed over to the neutral faction by Wang Hao! This was a blade hanging over the heads of the humble scholars and the noble clans! You can work desperately and scramble for political achievements in the local regions, but the moment you dare to embezzle, accept bribes, or cross the bottom line, the blade of the neutral faction will immediately strike down!

And who stood behind the neutral faction? The Emperor!

The Emperor was the only dealer and the ultimate winner in this game of power!

Your Majesty is sagacious! We shall uphold the law impartially and live up to Your Majesty's grace! The Minister of Justice, Li Xian, and the Chief Minister of the Court of Judicature and Revision, Zhao Li, were overjoyed and quickly stepped forward to kneel and bow. They never dreamed that marginalized figures like themselves, who had to look at others' faces every day, would actually get such a massive piece of the cake in this earth-shattering gamble!

Zhang Wuji and Zhuge Huaijin exchanged a glance.

For the first time in thirty years, these two mortal enemies saw a sense of powerlessness in each other's eyes.

Just moments ago, they had exposed each other's dark secrets and even resorted to physical blows to fight for power and profit, performing like two clowns in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Little did they know, the young man sitting on the dragon throne was like an owner watching two crickets biting each other in a jar. When they had bitten each other until they were covered in bruises and exhausted, the owner casually tossed down a few grains of rice and arranged everything for them perfectly.

Four to four to two.

A perfect system of checks and balances was thus firmly nailed onto the map of the Great Zhou amidst the Emperor's casual laughter, and even after an absurd brawl in the royal court.

Alright, today's court session has been quite fruitful, Wang Hao stood up and stretched lazily. You beloved ministers have worked hard. Go back, wash your faces well, and apply some medicine for your wounds. Prepare the rosters and submit them within the next few days. Court dismissed.