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"Breaking news! Breaking news! The French consul visited Master Gong Ying of the Bagua School to learn Baguazhang, calling it the number one fist style in Tianjin!"

"Give me a newspaper."

Early in the morning, on a street in Tianjin, Zheng Xuan was eating a meat bun he bought from a street vendor when he called out to a newsboy and asked for a newspaper.

The front-page headline was about French Consul Fontaine-François Fontaine-François visiting the Baguamen School, the head of the thirteen martial arts schools in Tianjin. Its master, Gong Ying, was known as the number one boxer in Tianjin.

He was also the biggest conservative in Nanjinmen and a close friend of County Magistrate Sun.

Magistrate Sun was a member of the conservative faction of the imperial court, also known as the Empress Dowager's faction.

Liu Jie, the magistrate of Nanjinmen, and Song Jin'ao were members of the Baoguo Society, which were reformists and members of the imperial party.

The two were irreconcilable enemies in Tianjin, each wanting to defeat the other and seize power in southern Tianjin. Tianjin was the gateway to Beijing, and the Empress Dowager's faction and the Emperor's faction were vying for power in the capital. Whoever controlled Tianjin would have the upper hand.

That's why the Emperor's faction sent Liu Jie to Tianjin to seize power. However, Magistrate Sun had been deeply entrenched in the area for over a decade, with strong connections in both the legitimate and underworld circles.

Liu Jie could still hold his own in official circles, but he was isolated and helpless in the martial arts world. That's why the Baoguo Society sent Song Jin'ao to Tianjin to open a martial arts school there and make a name for himself in the martial arts world, so as to support Liu Jie.

That would create a balanced situation in officialdom, with Magistrate Liu facing Magistrate Sun, and in the martial arts world, Song Jin'ao of the Bajiquan sect facing Gong Ying of the Baguaquan sect. Although it couldn't be said that he could completely control Tianjin.

This will also ensure that Nanjin Gate is not lost. Now the Empress Dowager faction and the Emperor's faction are vying for supremacy over a single city.

However, since Liu Jie and Song Jin'ao wanted to attack the city, how could Magistrate Sun and Gong Ying of the Bagua Sect not accept the challenge? This is why Gong Ying, according to the rules of the Tianjin martial arts world, had only two paths to establish his own sect.

One in literature and one in martial arts.

The "wen" part means preparing a generous gift and then, in the future, acting like a junior, visiting Gong Ying at the Bagua Sect, bowing your head and showing deference, and from then on, following the lead of the Bagua Sect. Once Gong Ying gives you his approval, you can open a martial arts school in Tianjin.

But if that's the case, how can he help Liu Jie fight for power in Tianjin? He would have no need to establish an embassy in Tianjin.

Secondly, there's martial arts. Martial arts is simple: there are thirteen martial arts schools in Tianjin. If you can defeat nine of them in a row, you can establish your own school.

However, if you want to challenge the school, there is a prerequisite: you must be qualified to challenge. That is, in the martial arts examination a year later, one of Song Jin'ao's five personal disciples must be able to enter the top four in the martial arts examination and obtain the title of martial arts scholar, proving that your teaching ability is not a problem.

Then you can challenge them normally.

Song Jin'ao wasn't afraid of being challenged. He had fought his way up from the battlefield and had already reached the seventh level of martial arts, the Transformation Realm, which was comparable to Gong Ying, the number one martial artist in Tianjin. However, he was still quite troubled to teach five disciples who could achieve good results in the martial arts examination.

Therefore, as soon as the church case came to an end, he rushed back immediately, because he couldn't let his five personal disciples' martial arts studies fall behind.

Zheng Xuan arrived at Song Jin'ao's residence at dawn. At this time, there was no plaque on the house because Song Jin'ao was not yet qualified to establish a school in Tianjin. Once he completed the establishment, he could hang the signboard with the three characters "Bajimen" above the door.

When Zheng Xuan arrived, the martial arts school's disciples had already begun practicing. There were ten nominal disciples in total, all of whom were sons of wealthy families in Tianjin who came to learn martial arts for self-defense, similar to his younger brother Zheng Jin, who had spent 150 silver dollars to obtain a basic qualification.

The same applies to Song Jin'ao's school. These nominal disciples need to pay 100 silver dollars a year for tuition, which is one-third cheaper than a formal martial arts school.

Therefore, some children of merchants, attracted by the low cost, came to learn martial arts.

Song Jin'ao only had his eldest disciple, Chen Shouyi, teach him the small frame of Bajiquan.

Generally speaking, boxing styles are divided into large frame and small frame. The large frame is the real skill that can be used to fight for one's life on the battlefield, while the small frame is more for physical fitness and looks very powerful. It is also called the fancy frame.

The phrase "This person is all show and no substance" used by later generations may have originated from this.

Of course, this kind of thing is not a secret. Many martial arts masters have done this kind of thing. For example, Tai Chi master Yang Luchan once taught some princes and nobles in Beijing to practice Tai Chi. He taught the small frame, and the fee was said to be not cheap.

Of course, Zheng Xuan didn't come here to learn the small frame. He found Chen Shouyi, who then took him to see Song Jin'ao.

At this time, Song Jin'ao was instructing his four personal disciples on martial arts moves in the backyard. Song Jin'ao had a total of five personal disciples.

The eldest disciple, Chen Shouyi, was honest and kind. He was Song Jin'ao's son disciple and had been with Song Jin'ao for more than ten years. However, he had limited talent and only entered the ninth level of the Ming Jin rank two years ago. Song Jin'ao predicted that he would never be able to reach the eighth level of the An Jin rank in his lifetime.

Therefore, Chen Shouyi usually did miscellaneous tasks within the manor, such as instructing nominal disciples in their martial arts practice.

Song Jin'ao's true core disciples numbered four: his second disciple, Zhang Mingde, and his third disciple, Zhang Mingliang, who were brothers.

The fourth apprentice was Chunping, and the fifth apprentice was Li Ziping.

Among them, Li Ziping has the best talent, and Song Jin'ao called him a top-notch talent: ape arms, wasp waist and mantis legs!

However, since they started learning too late, having only started two months ago, Song Jin'ao's real chances of achieving a top-four finish in the martial arts examination eleven months later and passing the exam to become a martial arts scholar are his second disciple Zhang Mingde and his third disciple Zhang Mingliang.

Although these two are not as naturally gifted as Li Ziping, they started learning earlier and are now at the ninth level of the Ming Jin martial arts.

Song Jin'ao hoped that they could use these eleven months to try to advance to the eighth level of Dark Force martial artist. Even if they couldn't advance, they could at least consolidate their Ming Force strength.

"Uncle-Master Song!"

Led by his senior brother Chen Shouyi, Zheng Xuan arrived and greeted him.

Song Jin'ao was correcting Zhang Mingde's movements at that moment, and said without turning his head, "Go wait aside for a while, I'll come find you later."

After saying that, Song Jin'ao continued to correct him. After a while, he had almost finished correcting him and went over to Zheng Xuan and said, "Xuan, let's get straight to the point. When we were in Shandong, I tested your aptitude. It was only considered above average. So the path of martial arts cultivation is not easy. You may have practiced for many years, but you may not have improved as much as you have by studying the Corpse Retriever sequence."

"And as you've seen, I've already used up all my personal teaching slots. If you learn from me, I can't teach you some of the Bajiquan's deadly techniques; I can only teach you the basics. Have you thought it through? Do you still want to learn from me?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xuan nodded firmly and said, "Yes, I want to learn."

Although each sequence has its own unique skills, the literary and martial arts paths have indeed produced great figures from the first sequence, while the future of the other sequences is uncertain. Zheng Xuan wants to gamble on one that he can be sure of success.