I dunno. Under Gramps, it seems to me that the Rat clan's excessive, ruthless pursuit of centralization was enforced by weakening the other clans, in some cases nearly destroying them. Plus, the enmity created made some of them willing conduits for outside enemies (eg. the big bad of this story, whoever it actually is). Overall, the zodiac got weaker under that approach.
Admittedly, this is not the most comfortable time to change course, but a course change is needed.