The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

At this point, Jia Huan certainly wasn't someone who could command a huge following in the martial arts world. But if he were to give a shout, there would still be quite a few righteous and honorable heroes willing to step forward and help him.

There are also the ideas put forward by the outer sect elders.

Master Chongxu also wanted to see if the Beggars' Sect could help coordinate the many external forces of Wudang and make money together through commercial interests.

If feasible, the Wudang Sect could naturally establish strongholds in various places and reap the benefits along the way.

Jia Huan was naturally unaware of the thoughts of Chongxu, the leader of the Wudang Sect.

Even if I knew, I wouldn't care.

Once the Beggars' Sect has established a firm foothold, whether Wudang can reap the rewards later is another matter entirely.

He went to the Junshan Island headquarters immediately and informed the gang leader, Jie Feng, as well as the deputy gang leader, Zhang Jinbie, and a group of eight-bag and nine-bag elders about the situation.

"Is this true? Wudang has actually relented?"

Jie Feng, his face beaming with excitement, exclaimed, "If that's the case, that would be wonderful!"

Although the Beggars' Sect still claims to be the number one sect in the world, its influence is far from what it once was.

With the rise of the Five Mountains Sword Sect, the Beggars' Sect's space for operation was severely compressed.

As for Jiangxi Province, Zhejiang Province, and Nanjing, there are no first-class martial arts sects there. This is because these are the most prosperous provinces in the Ming Dynasty, and they are the territory of powerful families.

Don't be fooled by the arrogant appearance of Shaolin, Wudang, and the Five Mountains Sword Sects. They would likely be no match for those powerful and established families with deep roots, in terms of pure martial prowess.

Do you really think that powerful clans don't have hidden formidable military strength? No fool would believe that!

When Ren Woxing was the leader of the Demonic Sect, with his extremely arrogant nature, how could he not target those key southern provinces? Wasn't it because his strength wasn't formidable enough?

The fact that even Ren Woxing had to turn a blind eye shows that the powerful families in the south are far more complex than they appear on the surface; it's just that this wasn't revealed in the story of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.

Similarly, when Jia Huan planned to expand the power of the branch, he did not consider the most prosperous provinces in the south.

The area was so wealthy that the number of beggars was also a factor.

Without a sufficient number of beggars, it would be a joke for the Beggars' Sect to establish a stronghold with enough power; they simply wouldn't be able to gain a foothold.

If things go wrong, you might not only fail to get a good deal, but also get into a lot of trouble.

The arrogance of the powerful families in the south can be seen from their actions.

Even the mining supervisors, who were subordinate to the emperor, didn't dare to come down and collect taxes without his permission.

Otherwise, Yangzhou and the Huai River region are all about salt profits, which are enormous wealth!

If the gangs in the martial arts world were really that powerful, how could they just stand by and watch the territory of Lianghuai go uncontested?

In fact, none of the Five Sacred Mountains Sword Sects are located in prosperous areas.

Which of the following is a truly prosperous city: Huayin, where Mount Hua is located; Dengfeng, where Mount Song is located; Datong, where Mount Heng is located; Hengyang, where Mount Hengshan is located; and Tai'an, where Mount Tai is located?

Leaving aside other matters, Xie Feng, the leader of the Beggars' Sect, was quite excited and even thrilled when he learned that he could expand into Hubei Province.

What does this mean?

This shows that under his leadership, the Beggars' Sect not only did not continue to decline, but was also able to expand outwards.

The other deputy gang leader, Zhang Jinbie, as well as the eight-bag and nine-bag elders, were all quite happy.

However, when it came to practical issues, they started arguing again.

"Hehe, you all don't need to be like this!"

Jia Huan quickly spoke up, interrupting the elders' argument: "Let's first send people to establish a solid stronghold before discussing this matter. Wudang is watching too!"

"Let the disciples from Wuyi's side handle it!"

"After all, they are all beggars, so it's easy to blend in with the local beggars!"

"Once a base is established, we will send clean-clothed disciples there to establish a foothold and make contact with various parties!"

He spoke slowly, unabashedly exuding the aura of a top-tier martial arts master.

At this moment, all the eight-bag and nine-bag elders present, whose strength did not reach the first-class level in the martial arts world, felt their bodies sink, as if a heavy stone was pressing on their hearts, and felt an indescribable sense of oppression and suffocation.

In fact, his aura could be even more ferocious and violent, but there was no need to scare people.

At this time, the Beggars' Sect's high-ranking members only had two first-rate masters: the sect leader, Xie Feng, and the vice sect leader, Zhang Jinbie. The rest, including the Nine-Bag Elder, were all second-rate masters.

Originally, to become a Nine-Bag Elder, one had to make great contributions to the Beggars' Sect; otherwise, one's strength had to reach the first-class level in the martial arts world to be able to serve as a Nine-Bag Elder.

Unfortunately, the Beggars' Sect is currently in such an awkward situation!

The so-called Nine-Bag Elders are not appointed because of their great achievements or because they have reached the required level of strength, but because they have been senior enough to be appointed.

Sure enough, forced by Jia Huan's fierce momentum, they all revealed their true colors.

After Xie Feng gave him a signal, Jia Huan slowly withdrew his fierce aura.

Now, no one dared to refute it.

"Then it's settled!"

Xie Feng made the decision directly: "Elder Jia will be in full charge of this matter. No one should try to play the game of double-dealing. If you lose an opportunity because of this, don't come to me to complain!"

In fact, when Jia Huan first arrived, he had already reached a tacit understanding with the two gang leaders.

As for the eight-bag and nine-bag elders present, they were merely given a perfunctory response, and were not allowed to interfere arbitrarily.

After Jia Huan left, the elders of both the dirty and clean clothing factions surprisingly united and gathered around Jie Feng to speak ill of Jia Huan: "Elder Jia is only an eight-bag disciple, yet he dares to show such disrespect to the gang leader. What will happen when he becomes a nine-bag elder?"

"So what do you think we should do?"

Jie Feng said irritably, "Are we going to turn against Elder Jia directly? What future will the Beggars' Sect have then?"

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Jia Huan acted swiftly, and the Yuezhou branch quickly dispatched capable personnel across the river.

Across the river, the Wudang peripheral forces, who had already established stable business partnerships with the branch, not only refrained from causing trouble but also openly offered their assistance.

There was no other reason; the establishment of the Beggars' Sect's strongholds did not directly conflict with the interests of these local bullies.

The Beggars' Sect disciples mingled in such low-level circles that even local strongmen were reluctant to get involved, so a group of beggars had no reason to be too wary.

Furthermore, Jia Huan had previously guaranteed that the Beggars' Sect's stronghold would primarily focus on information gathering, communication, and some simple production and livelihood activities.

Just like what Jia Huan did when he led the Hua Rong Xiang Tang to rise up.

No matter how dirty or tiring the work is, as long as it's a job that requires hard work and can earn money, the brothers in the Beggars' Sect stronghold don't mind. Collecting wild fruits, vegetables, and common medicinal herbs in the wild will not affect the core interests of the local tyrants.

Even if they gather enough disciples and followers, they will be transported by ship to the Yuezhou branch for training, and they will not cause trouble on the Jiang side.

Such performance naturally reassured the local bullies to some extent.

However, the local bullies soon realized the benefits of having a Beggars' Gang stronghold in their territory.

Their information network is truly impressive!

The Yuezhou branch has a printing workshop, and it's quite large.

Simple information was printed onto paper using movable type printing, then compiled into booklets, which were delivered to various locations at regular intervals.

Although they are all simple matters, the areas and scope involved are extremely large.

It encompasses the entire Hunan province's underworld, and any sensational events that occurred in the past period will be clearly recorded in the booklet.

This is an excellent way for local bigwigs to understand the underworld of Hunan Province.

Every time a branch sent a summary booklet of information, the local bigwigs would gather at the Beggars' Gang's stronghold, where a storyteller would read the contents aloud, and they would even bring their underlings to help record some things they were deliberately paying attention to.

Indeed, with the establishment of the Beggars' Sect stronghold and its rapid establishment, storytellers and various peddlers who specialized in traveling to rural areas naturally followed.

Then, the Beggars' Sect Yuezhou branch and the reputation of the chivalrous beggar Jia Huan rose rapidly throughout Hubei Province, becoming a familiar presence to many martial arts figures and ordinary people.

You should know that, apart from the Jianghu forces along the river, how many ordinary people in Hubei Province had ever heard of the Yuezhou branch or the name of the Hero and the Beggar?

The situation is the same along the Yangtze River, and it goes without saying that it is even worse in the inland hinterland of Hubei Province.

That is, Jia Huan's reputation as a chivalrous beggar was only somewhat known in the local martial arts world.

However, with the establishment of Beggars' Gang strongholds in various parts of Hubei Province, the Yuezhou branch and the reputation of the Heroic Beggars are spreading to the heart of Hubei Province like a tide.

In the past, it was just superficial, at most a reputation in the martial arts world!

But now, in less than three months, it has truly become a household name in Hubei Province.

Jia Huan had anticipated this!

In the Hubei and Hunan regions of the Ming Dynasty, where productivity was low and transportation was extremely inconvenient, news spread very slowly.

Moreover, entertainment options are also quite limited.

Otherwise, how could legendary mythological stories such as "Water Margin", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and "Investiture of the Gods" have spread so widely among the people and have such a long and tenacious vitality?

Unlike Jia Huan, who directly organized a group of storytellers to make a name for himself and his branch.

As long as there is a wonderful story, who would care whether the storyteller's content is true or false, or whether he has any personal agenda or not?

In this process, the reputation of the chivalrous beggar became deeply ingrained in people's minds.

Then, some wronged commoners or martial arts practitioners would come to the local Beggars' Sect stronghold and ask the Beggars' Sect brothers there for help.

The news reached Jia Huan's ears at top speed.