Chapter 751: A Single Word Can Decide the Affairs of the Martial Arts World

"Your Majesty! This must absolutely not be done!"

Inside the great hall, just as Ye Ze had finished stating his proposal, an elderly official immediately stood up.

This person was a member of the Cabinet of Internal Affairs.

Previously, there had always been a malicious saying: Ye Ze's words in the Cabinet carried more weight than the Emperor's!

Although the truth might not necessarily be so, it was enough to show Ye Ze's influence over the Cabinet.

Among the six cabinets, his control over the Cabinet of Internal Affairs was the strongest.

It is no exaggeration to say that the entire Cabinet of Internal Affairs was the personal fiefdom of this Chief Grand Secretary!

Yet now, the first person to jump out and oppose him was actually from the Cabinet of Internal Affairs.

This shows just how unpopular his proposal was!

"Your Majesty, in the previous dynasty, Emperor Xuanjing, in order to centralize power, established the Azure Heaven Prefecture and sent out the Azure-Clad Guards to monitor the world and arrest subjects. In the end, it brought disaster to all four corners, caused turmoil in the imperial court, and left the people in misery! With such a warning from the past, how can we repeat the same mistakes?"

This Cabinet Elder of the Cabinet of Internal Affairs said loudly with a stern face.

Li Fei's heart stirred upon hearing this.

He had read history and knew of the Azure Heaven Prefecture and the Azure-Clad Guards the other party spoke of from the previous dynasty.

They were similar to the Eastern Depot and the Brocade Guard of his past life.

Both were secret service agencies, and their duties were to monitor, investigate, arrest, and interrogate.

"Spies everywhere, the world in chaos"—that is what such secret service agencies were called.

Similar to the results caused by the Eastern Depot and the Brocade Guard, after Emperor Xuanjing of the previous dynasty established the Azure Heaven Prefecture, it likewise led to widespread unjust imprisonments, the persecution of dissidents, the extortion of wealth, and tyranny over the people!

In just over a dozen years, it caused national turmoil and severe internal depletion of national strength, burying the seeds for the downfall of the previous dynasty.

This was also the reason why Ye Ze's proposal would meet with such strong opposition.

If it were merely changing the various systems of the Censorate, the resistance would not be too great.

But Ye Ze wanted to establish a new supervisory agency, completely independent of the Cabinet; this change was too significant.

"Your Majesty, I also feel that the Chief Grand Secretary's words are inappropriate!"

Another cabinet member stood up to voice opposition and state their own view.

Then came the third, the fourth...

Soon, nearly one-third of the officials in the great hall had stood up to express their opposition!

Ye Ze had served as Chief Grand Secretary for forty-eight years; it was not as if his past political decrees had never been opposed, but to be opposed by so many people at once like this...

This was the first time!

The voices of opposition surged toward Ye Ze like a tide.

Below the imperial dais, his expression remained as usual.

On the dragon throne, the Emperor looked at the calm Chief Grand Secretary and spoke slowly:

"Chief Grand Secretary, do you have anything to say?"

"I have heard everyone's concerns, and I am also aware of the warning provided by the Azure Heaven Prefecture of the previous dynasty. But I am not intending to establish a new Azure Heaven Prefecture."

Ye Ze said:

"The root of the Three Great Cases lies in problems with the supervision of the provinces, but these problems do not lie solely with local officials; martial arts sects, local clans, and powerful families are all involved.

I believe that rotating supervisory officials across provinces periodically can solve the problems of local officials, but it cannot solve all the problems.

I want to establish a separate agency specifically for monitoring martial arts sects and local powerful families across the provinces."

After he finished speaking, the great hall quickly fell silent.

The officials who had just stood up to oppose him looked at one another.

Not monitoring officials and the people, but monitoring martial arts sects and local powerful families?

This shifted the focus from the officialdom to the martial arts world.

This line of thinking was completely beyond everyone's expectations.

"Chief Grand Secretary, regarding the monitoring of martial arts sects and local powerful families across the provinces, is that not the duty of the local Halls of Stopping Conflict?"

On the dragon throne, the Emperor asked.

Whether they were martial arts sects or powerful families, those in power were mostly martial artists, so they were under the jurisdiction of the Halls of Stopping Conflict.

It was not as if these forces were left unmanaged.

Ye Ze responded calmly: "Although the local Halls of Stopping Conflict have the power of supervision, the martial artists within the halls are almost all from the local area. It is inevitable that the Halls of Stopping Conflict will have connections with local forces and thus be influenced.

Establishing a separate agency at the center and periodically sending people to inspect the provinces, working in tandem with the Halls of Stopping Conflict, is the only way to possibly prevent the disaster of today's Three Great Cases."

Li Fei immediately thought of the former Xingcheng upon hearing this.

The head of the Xingcheng Hall of Stopping Conflict had colluded with the Tiger Blade Gang, and many martial artists in the hall were from the Tiger Blade Gang. Under such circumstances, how could the Hall of Stopping Conflict possibly control the Tiger Blade Gang?

Even though the Censorate at the time was controlled by the Chief, the Censorate could only monitor officials and could not bypass the Hall of Stopping Conflict to directly deal with martial artists.

That was why the Tiger Blade Gang could be so rampant.

Similar situations occurred in many places.

Local powerful families, martial arts sects, and great clans colluded with the government, yet they were not subject to much supervision from the government, which allowed them to gradually grow and act rampantly.

The problems exposed by the Three Great Cases were actually long-standing deep-seated ills of the Great Lan Dynasty.

"Chief Grand Secretary, why not do as you previously proposed and have the martial artists of the local Halls of Stopping Conflict also rotate across provinces periodically?"

A cabinet member suddenly spoke up.

Compared to establishing a new agency, everyone was more willing to make changes within the 'system'.

Ye Ze shook his head: "The martial artists of the Halls of Stopping Conflict come from the local area; although they are influenced by local forces, they can also influence local forces in return, making it easier to mediate disputes. This matter has both advantages and disadvantages; one cannot choose to cut everything off just by seeing the disadvantages."

After all, what the Halls of Stopping Conflict do is different from the Censorate.

The Censorate only needs to act according to the rules and find and deal with all officials who violate regulations and laws.

But the Halls of Stopping Conflict cannot do that.

Many grievances and disputes in the martial arts world, and the conflicts that arise between major forces, have no clear right or wrong.

To handle these martial arts affairs well and quell disputes, one must truly understand the local situation and ideally have a certain degree of influence in the area.

Under these circumstances, periodically rotating the people in the Halls of Stopping Conflict is not appropriate.

The Sage said: "The 'goody-two-shoes' of the village are the thieves of virtue."

But in many cases, the management of a locality can only rely on being a 'goody-two-shoes'.

This is the reason why Ye Ze, even knowing that the Halls of Stopping Conflict would be influenced by local forces, was unwilling to rotate the martial artists of the Halls of Stopping Conflict.

Clearly, this Chief Grand Secretary was not sitting high up in the Cabinet, taking things for granted to push through a political decree.

He truly understood the actual situation in each place and had fully considered the possible variables and results before putting forward his own ideas.

Inside the great hall, Li Fei witnessed for the first time how this legendary Chief Grand Secretary 'governed' the world.

He used to subconsciously feel that these high-ranking, relatively incorruptible civil officials would inevitably have some scholarly arrogance and be somewhat idealistic.

But after truly hearing Ye Ze's speech, Li Fei realized that this Chief Grand Secretary did not cite classics or engage in high-flown rhetoric as he had imagined.

In terms of literary talent in speech, the other party was not even as good as many people in the great hall!

The other party's speech was simple and pragmatic, but it went straight to the point.

"Regarding the newly established agency, I believe that several Azure Patrol Envoys from the Censorate can be included as representatives of the government. In addition, we can invite prestigious major sects and clans from the martial arts world to send their own representatives to join and govern the martial arts world together with the imperial court."

Ye Ze continued.

Li Fei was startled upon hearing this; he had not expected that this matter would actually involve him?

There was a commotion in the great hall.

Inviting major martial arts sects and clans to govern the martial arts world together?

This was another proposal that no one had expected.

But thinking about it carefully, the officials had to admit that this move by Ye Ze could be called a brilliant stroke!

Establishing a dedicated agency at the center to manage martial arts sects and local powerful families across the provinces was equivalent to imposing a shackle on the martial arts world of the Great Lan Dynasty, which would inevitably arouse strong dissatisfaction and counterattacks from the martial arts world!

Even if they dared not act recklessly openly, they had plenty of means in the dark.

But if the imperial court was willing to take out a portion of the quotas and power and voluntarily share them out.

That would be different.

Just imagine, if the major martial arts sects like the 'One Tower, One Cabinet, Three Mountains, Four Sects, and Seven Great Families' all sent representatives to participate, how much strength could the entire martial arts world's counterattack have?

Would such an agency, tasked with managing the entire martial arts world, not carry more weight?

Win over a batch, divide a batch, and suppress a batch.

This kind of political maneuvering was something Ye Ze was simply well-versed in!

"The specific details have already been written in this 'Memorial on the Establishment of the Azure Patrol Cabinet'."

Ye Ze once again took a file from his sleeve.

"Azure Patrol Cabinet?"

The Emperor read the name and smiled: "This name is quite fitting."

Seeing the Emperor's attitude, the officials in the hall immediately understood.

After Feng Cheng presented this new memorial, the Emperor read it for a long time this time.

After he put down the memorial in his hand, he looked at everyone again:

"My lords, regarding what the Chief Grand Secretary just said about establishing the Azure Patrol Cabinet, what are your views?"

"..."

The officials who had just stood up to oppose Ye Ze looked at each other, and at this moment, they were all silent.

They had already mustered the courage to stand up and oppose him once, only to find that the idea Ye Ze proposed was not as 'terrifying' as they had thought; now, asking them to oppose him a second time, they could not help but hesitate.

"Your Majesty, your subject believes this move is feasible!"

Suddenly, a young cabinet member stood out, choosing to support Ye Ze.

This person was none other than Ye Ze's student, Hu Tingzhong, who was being groomed as the next Grand Secretary.

After Hu Tingzhong spoke, officials stood up one after another to support Ye Ze.

In fact, given Ye Ze's influence, any policy he meticulously planned and proposed, no matter how shocking, would absolutely have supporters in this great hall.

Yet, just a moment ago, so many officials had stood up to oppose him, but not a single person had stood up to speak for him.

And now, the great hall was filled with voices supporting him!

Li Fei glanced at this Grand Secretary, whose posture was as straight as a pine, and recalling the series of changes from the moment the other party stood up to speak until now, he began to grasp the situation.

He could not help but feel a sense of admiration!

If one could say that governing a country and political maneuvering also had realms, this Grand Secretary was definitely at the level of a Martial Saint or a True Person!

More than twenty minutes later, this Grand Court Session concluded.

The imperial eunuch Feng Cheng announced the dismissal of the court.

Regarding the two political decrees Ye Ze finally proposed:

The periodic cross-provincial rotation of officials in the supervisory system and the establishment of the Blue Patrol Pavilion.

Although these two matters were not finalized directly at the Grand Court Session, the ultimate direction of events made it clear to everyone that these two decrees would likely be implemented in the end!

What was lacking now was merely a discussion of the specific details.

Leveraging the impact and negative influence brought by the three major cases on the imperial court, Ye Ze took the opportunity to unveil a move second only to the Mingxin Reform!

Of course, introducing a decree is one thing, and the final implementation effect is another.

There were still thousands of obstacles waiting ahead.

If it could succeed in the end, perhaps this Grand Secretary could extend the life of the Great Lan Dynasty by several more decades!

The gathered officials walked out of the Zheng Lan Hall one after another; Ye Ze was the last to walk out of the great hall.

This Grand Secretary suddenly stopped at the hall entrance, raised his head, and his pair of double pupils looked toward the sky.

The winter sunlight fell, reflecting the white hair at his temples.

Many officials around looked toward this side, but no one dared to approach.

Ye Ze stood at the hall entrance for a while, then stepped away.

Li Fei and He Jian walked out of the gate of the plaza in front of the hall together.

"If the Blue Patrol Pavilion is truly established, I actually think you are very suitable to join."

Li Fei said to He Jian.

Compared to investigating major cases involving government offices, he felt this old man was more suited to investigating cases in the pugilistic world.

Because cases involving government offices would involve too many things outside the cases themselves, and He Jian's personality was actually not very suitable for handling those.

He Jian looked at Li Fei: "Are you planning to transfer me over?"

After all, Ye Ze had just said in the hall that he wanted to transfer all the Blue Patrol Envoys of the Supervisory Pavilion into the Blue Patrol Pavilion.

So once the Blue Patrol Pavilion was established, Li Fei would immediately be able to gain a voice within it!

"I do have that thought."

Li Fei said candidly.

"Let's talk after I finish the case in my hands."

He Jian said as much.

Li Fei smiled: "Then I will take it that you have agreed."

"Marquis of Jing'an, please stay!"

A voice suddenly came from behind.

Li Fei turned his head to look, and a young man was walking toward him.

It was Hu Tingzhong.

"Grand Secretary Hu, is there something you need?"

Li Fei cupped his hands in a salute and asked.

Hu Tingzhong returned the salute: "My teacher asked me to invite the Marquis of Jing'an to his residence for a talk tonight."

"Teacher? The Grand Secretary is inviting me?"

Li Fei was startled.

Ye Ze suddenly wanted to see him?

"Very well, please tell the Grand Secretary that I will definitely be there tonight."

Li Fei did not hesitate and decisively agreed.

Hu Tingzhong nodded and took his leave of Li Fei.

"Grand Secretary He, why do you think the Grand Secretary suddenly wants to see me?"

After Hu Tingzhong left, Li Fei asked He Jian, who was by his side.

He Jian shook his head: "I only know that the Grand Secretary rarely meets with any official privately at his own residence."

Li Fei shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

In any case, he would know once he met him tonight.

After leaving the Imperial City, Li Fei first returned to his own residence.

It was not until 7 o'clock in the evening that he walked out of his residence and headed to the Ye residence on foot.

Come to think of it, he, this Marquis of Jing'an, could be considered frugal to the extreme.

There was not a single servant in his residence, and he had not even bought a carriage for transport; he relied entirely on walking when going out.

When he arrived in front of the Ye residence gate, it was already approaching 7: 0.

In front of the gate, Hu Tingzhong was standing there all by himself.

"Why did the Grand Secretary come to welcome me personally? It makes this Marquis feel ashamed."

Li Fei walked up quickly and said to Hu Tingzhong.

Hu Tingzhong waved his hand and smiled: "Marquis of Jing'an, there is no need for such formalities. In this residence, I am merely a student of my teacher. Please."

Afterward, Li Fei followed the other party into the Ye residence.

This residence was also bestowed by the Emperor; it occupied a vast area and had every kind of pavilion, terrace, and building.

Yet, looking at the interior decoration, one could not see much of an atmosphere of wealth.

It was completely unlike the residence of a Grand Secretary who was below one person but above ten thousand.

Hu Tingzhong led Li Fei through several corridors and two courtyards, then pointed to a study in front that had its lights on and said:

"My teacher is waiting for you inside."

"Many thanks to the Grand Secretary for leading the way."

After Li Fei expressed his thanks, he stepped into the study.

The layout inside the study was also very simple; the only relatively expensive items were likely the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on the desk.

Li Fei guessed that those should also be imperial gifts.

"I have seen the Grand Secretary."

He saluted Ye Ze, who was sitting in front of a table.

Ye Ze nodded: "Marquis of Jing'an, no need for such formalities, please sit."

Thus, Li Fei sat opposite the other party, with a short table between them, on which were placed a chessboard and two boxes of chess pieces.

"Does the Marquis of Jing'an know how to play chess?"

Ye Ze asked directly.

Li Fei nodded: "I know a little."

"How about a game of hand-talk?"

"Very well."

Thus, the first thing they did after meeting was to play chess.

Li Fei was the guest and played the black pieces first.

He said he knew a little, and that was not out of modesty.

He truly only knew a little, and had not even memorized a few standard opening patterns.

After only a few moves, Ye Ze saw through Li Fei's chess skill.

This Grand Secretary remained calm and continued to place his pieces steadily.

Inside the study, there was only the sound of pieces being placed continuously.

Li Fei rarely pondered for long; most of the time, he played by feeling.

By the mid-game, he resigned.

Ye Ze looked at the calm-looking Li Fei and smiled slightly:

"The Marquis of Jing'an does not seem to care much about winning or losing?"

Li Fei looked at Ye Ze at close range for the first time, looking at that pair of double pupils that were famous throughout the world, and also smiled:

"I have never cared much about winning or losing on a chessboard."

While lowering his head to tidy up the chessboard, Ye Ze said in a casual tone:

"Today in the imperial court, I proposed the establishment of the Blue Patrol Pavilion, having all Blue Patrol Envoys join on behalf of the imperial court. If the Blue Patrol Pavilion is truly established in the future, it will be tantamount to an unprecedented martial arts alliance.

Have you ever thought about becoming the person who can decide the affairs of the pugilistic world with a single word in the future?"

(End of chapter)