259, Zhao Douan: What are you all standing around for? Why haven't you captured this thief yet?

"Of course, it's martial artists clashing."

Zhao Douan sat in the tea house, looking down upon the crowd below that was embroiled in a fight, paused, then critiqued:

"A pretty bad one at that."

As recent days passed, the number of Jianghu people in the Capital had increased, leading to more friction and conflicts.

The saying "It's better to guide than to block" held true; simply suppressing and stopping them would not provide relief but might instead build up to greater chaos.

Therefore, the court, following past precedents, set up an "arena" in a specific section of the Capital.

If two Jianghu people started a conflict and wanted to come to blows, they could fight within a designated area.

Nearby imperial guards were responsible for control and would not take sides.

But if there was a fight or strife outside the permitted area, that would be a violation of the court's explicitly forbidden laws and would incur a thunderous strike.