129: Chapter 129 The Way of the King and the Way of the Hegemon Go Hand in Hand

The door opened silently.

Zhu Wenhao stepped into the study and bowed slightly toward Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming.

"Principal Zhou, I have some urgent personal matters to attend to, so I must take my leave now."

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming set down the teapot. "General Manager Zhou Shutong, see Zhu Wenhao out."

General Manager Zhou Shutong followed immediately.

The two walked out, one after the other.

Upon reaching the bottom of the apartment building, Zhu Wenhao walked toward the black Audi.

"Zhu Wenhao."

General Manager Zhou Shutong stopped on the steps, her hands tucked into her coat pockets.

"This morning, a background check report on you was placed on my desk."

She was accustomed to holding the initiative at the negotiating table. "The son of the Deputy Secretary of the Linjiang Municipal Party Committee, the iron-fisted figure of the Party School's Spark Class. This resume is impressive enough for the local level, but in the provincial capital, it still lacks a bit of seasoning."

Zhu Wenhao did not stop his hand from opening the car door.

"The capital market doesn't look at background; it looks at returns." General Manager Zhou Shutong offered an olive branch. "The only truth I learned on Wall Street is that everyone has a price. Are you interested in becoming a special consultant for my company? You can fill in your own annual salary."

An attempt to win him over.

Using the arrogance of capital to measure the weight of power.

Zhu Wenhao turned around.

"Ms. Zhou, venture capital emphasizes hedging risks. But by placing your chips on the table of power, you have made a fundamental mistake."

"What mistake?"

"Capital pursues profit; those in power plan the landscape. No matter how meticulously you calculate, you cannot calculate the fate of the nation."

Zhu Wenhao opened the door and sat in the driver's seat.

"The pool of venture capital is too shallow; it cannot nurture the landscape I seek."

The car door closed.

General Manager Zhou Shutong stood where she was, the taillights casting a red glow on her gold-rimmed glasses. As arrogant as she was, for the first time in her life, she felt that the chips in her hand were as light as a feather.

A month later, the atmosphere in the Spark Class at the Provincial Party School suddenly became heavy in these past few days.

A notice from the Academic Affairs Office was posted on the hallway bulletin board.

The final graduation examination was changed to a public "leaderless group discussion."

The end of the document stated in bold type: Relevant leaders will be present as observers.

Once the notice was out, the students had mixed thoughts.

Class Monitor Liu Yu stood before the bulletin board, finished reading the last word, and turned to leave.

Ever since the last class committee meeting, he had been acting extremely low-key, but this notice gave him a glimmer of hope.

Deputy Secretary Yang Jianhua had made his move.

After Executive Deputy Minister Liao Changxing fell from grace, control over the Organization Department had loosened. Using the pretext of examining the Party spirit and cultivation of young cadres, Deputy Secretary Yang Jianhua forcibly inserted his hand into the Party School's graduation assessment.

Debates are the easiest places to dig traps.

One wrong word, and it becomes a question of ideological style.

In the dormitory.

Zhou Xu closed the black leather notebook and looked at Zhu Wenhao, who was flipping through a book nearby.

"A leaderless group discussion—it's like swords and daggers." Zhou Xu pushed up his glasses. "Three department-level cadres from provincial agencies have been added to the list of examiners. Two of them are protégés promoted by Deputy Secretary Yang Jianhua in his early years."

Zhu Wenhao turned a page, without even lifting his eyelids.

"When the soldiers come, block them; when the water comes, cover it with earth."

"The exam questions won't be simple." Zhou Xu reminded him. "I heard it's to test the bottom line of grassroots governance. You've been too prominent lately; that internal reference report on the Red Star Machinery Factory offended some people in Jingjiang City deeply. They are waiting to see you make a fool of yourself in the exam hall."

"Good." Zhu Wenhao closed the book. "Then let's see who ends up being the joke."

Two days later.

The auditorium of the Provincial Party School.

In the first row below the stage, five chief examiners were seated.

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming sat on the left, and in the middle was Minister Qi, Vice Minister of the Provincial Organization Department.

The two unfamiliar faces on the right were exactly the department-level cadres planted by the Yang faction that Zhou Xu had mentioned—Deputy Director Wang Qiang of the Provincial Policy Research Office, and Deputy Director-General Li Guodong of the Provincial Department of Justice.

The curtain behind the rostrum was half-drawn, and a figure was seated in the shadows.

Secretary Lao Liguo.

He did not sit in the front row with great fanfare, but instead chose this position where he would not disturb anyone.

The Spark Class students sat in a semicircle in the discussion chairs on the stage.

Minister Qi cleared his throat and set the tone into the microphone.

"Today's graduation examination has no standard answers and no fixed order of speaking. Everyone, please feel free to speak your mind."

Beside him, Deputy Director Wang Qiang directly threw out today's debate topic.

"In the new era of grassroots stability maintenance and governance, should the rule of law take priority, or should rule by man be the bottom line?"

As soon as his voice fell, the entire auditorium was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

This was a life-or-death question.

Leaning toward the rule of law would lead to accusations of being out of touch with grassroots reality, reciting from books, and lacking flexibility; if one said rule by man was the bottom line, that was a grave error, directly violating the major policy of governing the country according to law.

This was a desperate situation where neither side could be pleased.

Study Committee Member Cao Rui kept his head down, pretending to take notes on paper. With this kind of question, the more you said, the more mistakes you made.

Class Monitor Liu Yu did pick up the topic.

Speaking in bureaucratic jargon, he tried to smooth things over between the two, saying a few clichés such as "The rule of law is the foundation, and humanistic care is the supplement."

It was mediocre, but safe.

A few students echoed with some empty words, and the scene was tepid.

Deputy Director Wang Qiang watched the students on stage playing Tai Chi with a cold eye; he had received instructions from above, and today his goal was only one.

He directly called out a name.

"Comrade Zhu Wenhao." Deputy Director Wang Qiang's voice pierced through the speakers. "Your research report was written very well. Rampant grassroots organized crime is often accompanied by cover-ups. As the Party Branch Secretary of the Spark Class, what are your high insights on this question?"

He forcefully shoved the problem into Zhu Wenhao's hands.

Deputy Director-General Li Guodong followed closely behind, blocking any retreat: "Zhu Wenhao, don't give us those double-sided answers. If there is a violent conflict between the rule of law and the complex human society at the grassroots level, and you can only choose one, what do you choose?"

In the audience, Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming's expression darkened.

Zhu Wenhao stood up from his chair.

He walked to the podium, his posture upright, like a solitary peak standing tall.

"Principal Zhou, Minister Qi, Director Wang, Deputy Director-General Li."

Zhu Wenhao began.

"To set the rule of law and rule by man in opposition and force a choice between them is, in itself, a false proposition."

Once these words were spoken, the whole hall was in an uproar.

To directly deny the examiner's question—what arrogance.

Deputy Director Wang Qiang's face turned cold. "Zhu Wenhao, watch your language! This is a serious graduation examination!"

"It is precisely because it is serious that we cannot use this black-and-white logic to impose shackles on the grassroots."

Zhu Wenhao completely ignored his reprimand.

"Do you all know what the Kingly Way is? What is the Hegemonic Way?"

"Emperor Xuan of Han once said: The Han family has its own system, originally based on a mixture of the Hegemonic and Kingly Ways."

"The rule of law is the Hegemonic Way. It is the sharp blade of national law hanging over everyone's heads; it is the bottom line. Those who cross the line shall be executed without mercy."

Zhu Wenhao's voice echoed in the auditorium.

"At the Red Star Machinery Factory, organized crime encroached upon state assets. To speak of rule by man at such a time is to cover up, to be complicit. One must use thunderous means to sweep away the dens. This is the Hegemonic Way where the rule of law takes priority!"

Before he finished speaking, Deputy Director-General Li Guodong interrupted: "Since you support the Hegemonic Way where the rule of law takes priority, then why speak of rule by man at all?"

"Deputy Director-General Li Guodong, please calm down."

Zhu Wenhao looked down at the group of examiners. "If there is only the rule of law, only cold articles, the grassroots will become a big prison. In order not to make mistakes, cadres will only execute mechanically. The collapse of the Qin Dynasty in its second generation is a cautionary tale."

"What is rule by man as a bottom line? It is not about human relationships, nor clan rules. It is about moral education; it is the Kingly Way!"

Zhu Wenhao braced his hands on the podium, his presence grand and expansive.

"During the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng's reforms promoted the 'Kao Cheng Fa' (Performance Assessment System), using strict laws to assess officials—this is law. But at the same time, he rebuilt academies and spread education—this is virtue."

"In grassroots governance in the new era, the rule of law is the skeleton, and rule by virtue is the flesh and blood. The two are not in opposition, but are to be coordinated."

"When encountering die-hard organized crime and corrupt elements, one must use the Hegemonic Way to crush them without leaving any room for sentiment; when facing the neighborhood disputes and livelihood difficulties of ordinary people, one must use the Kingly Way to comfort them and solve practical difficulties."

"Use the Kingly and Hegemonic ways together; combine kindness and severity."

Zhu Wenhao's gaze pierced directly at Deputy Director Wang Qiang and Deputy Director-General Li Guodong.

"Since the two leaders insist on forcing grassroots cadres to make a multiple-choice question between law and people, may I ask, is this testing our ability, or is it deliberately creating opposition and severing the flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the masses?"

A lethal blow to the heart!

A big hat of damaging the Party-masses relationship was backhanded onto the heads of the two cadres.

Deputy Director Wang Qiang's face instantly flushed red, blood rushing to the top of his head; he opened his mouth, but couldn't squeeze out a single word for a long time.

Deputy Director-General Li Guodong was sweating on his forehead, battered and bewildered by this powerful policy argument filled with classical references.

The cadres observing from the audience all gasped in cold air.

Using Emperor Xuan of Han's "mixture of Hegemonic and Kingly ways," combined with Zhang Juzheng's "Performance Assessment System," and finally perfectly fitting it into the new era's coordination of the rule of law and rule by virtue. The logic was so tight that there wasn't a single loophole, and the scope was grand enough to make people look up in awe.

In the face of this eternal policy argument of the Ming Dynasty emperors, the linguistic traps set by the Yang faction were like clay chickens and pottery dogs, vulnerable and weak.

Executive Vice President Zhou Zhengming picked up his teacup, using the act of drinking water to hide the smile at the corner of his mouth.

This kid is truly a freak.

Behind the curtain.

Secretary Lao Liguo sat in the shadows.

Listening to Zhu Wenhao's words, "Use the Kingly and Hegemonic ways together; combine kindness and severity," a certain string in his heart was struck heavily.

In the great chess game of Jiangnan Province, what is missing is precisely this kind of operator who has both thunderous means and an educational vision.

He reached out his hands and clapped forcefully three times.

The crisp applause came from behind the curtain, appearing exceptionally abrupt in the silent auditorium.

Immediately after, Secretary Lao Liguo stood up, lifted the curtain, and strode out.