Guan Zhong
Though he was now secure on the throne, the question that remained for Duke Huan was what to do with Guan Zhong who had so prominently supported his rival brother. Bao Shuya asked his newly crowned ruler to not just spare Guan Zhong, but to even employ him as chief minister due to his great talents. Duke Huan followed this advice, and Guan Zhong became his most important and capable advisor. The two went on to reorganize Qi's government and society, dividing both the land as well as the people into regulated units and enforcing a meritocratic system of governance. This greatly strengthened Qi, as it allowed the state to "mobilize human and material resources more effectively than other Zhou states, which remained loosely structured." As Qi had already been a powerful polity in a favorable strategic situation before, these reforms managed to bring Qi to "an unprecedented status of leadership in the entire Zhou world". Together, Duke Huan and Guan Zhong worked toward achieving dominance over the other Zhou states, and as time went on ever more of them became followers of Qi.