Yamafu Military Affairs

Chapter 383: Talking about the Past

Seeing that his master had already taken his seat, Huo Dian Ge, the second-in-command among the sixth generation of disciples of Baji Sect, immediately took two steps forward and walked in front of the crowd.

Today, almost six years have passed since the Yi Si Year, and A Ge is no longer the young man who had just started out during the martial arts performance in Beijing. Not only has his boxing skills improved by leaps and bounds, his stature has also become much taller, and even the demeanor of a master can be vaguely seen.

Over the years, Huo Dian Ge had often traveled to Beijing and Tianjin to hone his skills, so even if the martial artists in the courtyard had never met him in person, they had heard of such a figure among the disciples of the Master Spear Li. They just didn't know how he compared to his senior brother Qin Huai.

Many people thought so and cast their eyes towards the front of the yard, looking at the second apprentice of the sharpshooter Li.

Huo Dian Ge had a fair complexion and regular features. He wore a long gown with wide sleeves rolled up and the lapels fitted tightly. His black python-like braid fell behind his neck, and his eyes, sparkling with light, looked around. He did not look like a rough warrior, but rather a scholar who was well-read in poetry and books.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Huo Dian Ge looked around and was not intimidated by the many martial arts seniors. He clasped his fists and said loudly, "Greetings, seniors!"

"Today, Baji Sect is entrusted to invite you all here. We want to follow the example of the Jingwu Athletic Association founded by the Yellow-Faced Tiger Huo Yuanjia in Shanghai and form a similar folk martial arts group to develop traditional martial arts, inspire the spirit of martial arts, teach the general public the art of strengthening their bodies, and research techniques that can cure the chronic diseases of China. Therefore, I hope you will speak freely and don't be too selfish."

After a heated discussion, this group of uneducated guys simply copied others and finally decided on the name and general framework of the martial arts group.

"The Chinese Warriors Association, what a great name."

"The name is indeed good, but isn't the money collected a little too little? The membership fee is fifty silver dollars per person, and after joining, you only need to pay one silver dollar per month to learn martial arts. The full annual training fee is twelve silver dollars, and any child over the age of fifteen with good conduct can join. If you add in the secret medicines and boxing manuals provided by the various sects, the various activities planned to be held in the association, and the venue rental fees, the major sects will probably soon be unable to make ends meet."

A shrewd middle-aged man holding an abacus just fiddled with it a few times and discovered several economic problems that could drag down the Chinese Martial Arts Association in the future.

You know, even a junior female worker in Zhili area could get a salary of three silver dollars a month. Although it was not much, it was undoubtedly a huge sum of money compared to the low membership fee of the Chinese Martial Arts Association.

If the men in the family are included, it would be easy to find a child to learn martial arts. In the long run, the purpose of promoting Chinese martial arts has been achieved, but how the Chinese Martial Arts Association and various martial arts schools can survive without any extra money will cause new problems.

"Senior Zhong's words are not without reason, but how to maintain the long-term operation of the Chinese Warrior Association, I would like to ask Mr. Ye from the Yan branch to give us a few words."

Huo Dian Ge raised his hand to signal a young man in his thirties, wearing glasses, with a crew cut and dressed in a Western style, stood up from beside Li Cun Yi, went on stage and cleared his throat.

"My humble self, Ye Jianxing, will not say any useless words in front of you, senior martial artists. I only hope to set an example for the martial arts community and do my best to contribute to the Chinese Martial Arts Association."

After saying this, he clapped his hands, and immediately two disciples carrying a large black box appeared in front of everyone.

When the lid of the box was opened, white silver coins were neatly stacked inside, and the bright silver color was very dazzling.

Considering the muffled sound of the heavy box falling to the ground just now, there must be at least tens of thousands of silver dollars in it.

"Ye Jianxing? Is he the Ye family member who travels all over the Buziya River?"

An old hand heard the name "Ye Jianxing" sound familiar, and after searching his mind, he remembered the Ye family who was engaged in water and land transportation business in Hongqiao, Tianjin.

"Yes, the only family that can sit next to Mr. Li and is willing to spend so much money to support the Chinese Warriors Association is the Ye family."

"Since Junior Brother Jian Xing has set an example for everyone, we old guys who claim to be masters of the martial arts industry cannot be stingy. So, Brother Hua Fu and I will contribute 5,000 silver coins together, just to give the Chinese Warrior Association some confidence."

A burly middle-aged man with a strong figure, broad shoulders and back stretched out his hand and shook it casually. A stack of banknotes flew over three to five meters and was accurately thrown into the black box.

"Mr. Bu Wu told me a long time ago that he is willing to contribute to the Chinese Warrior Association. Here are five thousand taels of silver. My dear nephew, take them first."

Sun Lutang, the "Tiger-Headed Young Guardian" who was the most skilled among all the heroes in the "Heroes of the World" a few years ago, saw his senior brother coming out and immediately followed him. He also took out a few Beiyang Silver Bank's silver bills from his arms and handed them to the Baji Sect member who was waiting on the side with a smile.

When the others saw that Xingyi Sect took the lead in supporting Ye Jianxing, they also donated generously after thinking about it and participated in this major event that would go down in history. The courtyard was bustling with activity for a while.

"With the great support of all the seniors, I believe that no matter what problems the Chinese Warriors Association may encounter in the future, its foundation will never be shaken. Now that the worries have been resolved, do you have any questions?"

Huo Dian Ge held in his hand the list of manpower and materials provided by various sects, and stood with Ye Jianxing in front of many martial arts masters, speaking earnestly.

"Since ancient times, there has been no first in literature and no second in martial arts. After this meeting, the framework of the Chinese Martial Arts Association has been barely established, but there is no definite decision on which instructors should be invited in the future and who will be in charge. In order to prevent you from causing unpleasantness in the future, it is better to take advantage of today's gathering to finalize these positions."

The person who spoke was an old man with a silver beard and looked energetic. He sat in the middle of the front row of chairs with his hands on his knees. He did not stand up, but his voice echoed in the courtyard.

"This"

Everyone looked embarrassed, looking at each other, no one dared to speak first, but focused their eyes on Li Shuwen, the leader of Tianjin's martial arts industry.

"Master's meaning is my meaning."

Li Shuwen opened his eyes and saw electricity in the air. He picked up a Botou pear from the fruit plate, twisted and shook the pear with both hands, and then pulled the stem, and the core of the pear was taken out, leaving only the juicy flesh and gave it to his teacher Zhang Jingxing.

"Since Master Li has spoken, we have no objection."

"Senior Gongchen is highly respected. Why don't you recommend more talents to save us the trouble of searching for them?"

"In my opinion, it would be better to consider the reputation in the martial arts world, financial resources, human resources, and industry relations comprehensively, and have each sect and school select a few heroes who are willing to participate in the election. It would be better for you seniors to be witnesses here, rather than being criticized outside."

Facing the martial arts heroes gathered together, Ye Jianxing spoke freely and expressed his thoughts.

"Money and fame are external things. If you want others to recognize you, you have to fight! Fight to make a name for yourself, distinguish the superior and the inferior, and naturally there will be no gossip outside."

Hearing this, everyone in the courtyard looked over, and many of them not only showed approval, but also wanted to see who had spoken the truth that touched their hearts.

They are all people from the martial arts world. In terms of money and connections, they are indeed not as good as the leading figures in the political and business circles. However, what is being established today is the Chinese Martial Arts Association, so the thing to be compared is naturally kung fu!
The person who spoke was an old man with white hair and beard, thin build, wearing a black cotton robe. He was gentle and polite, with a plain appearance. But judging from his face, one could tell that he was at least sixty years old.

Tai Chi School, Yang Jianhou, the second generation master of Yang Style Tai Chi, is quite famous in the capital.

"Lord Jianhou is right. If we martial artists want to compete with each other, there is really nothing better to do except using fists and feet. My brother Tongchen's Bajiquan gym has a lot of space, so why not set up a competition here and let the younger generations show off their boxing skills first?" Li Cunyi, who had returned to Zhili and restored his original name, nodded, representing that the Xingyi and Bagua schools approved of the method of setting up a competition arena to compete and award positions by boxing skills.

"I have no objection either."

Zhang Jingxing glanced at his disciple Huo Dian Ge standing beside him, nodded slightly, and agreed to this matter.

The rest of the people, seeing that the three major internal martial arts in the northern martial arts world, Tai Chi, Xingyi, and Bagua, had reached a consensus, and the host Baji Sect had no objection, naturally would not be stupid enough to jump out at this time to offend the masters.

"Feng Tu, you go up later. It doesn't matter if you win or lose, just don't hurt yourself."

Ye Jianxing came down, patted his good friend Ma Fengtu on the shoulder, pointed at the arena in the room and whispered.

"Brother Jianxing, don't worry. This is our own place. We have our master and brothers to look after us. Nothing will go wrong."

Ma Fengtu grinned, his almond-shaped eyes shining brightly. He looked around, wondering who his opponents would be.

Similar instructions were also given to other sects. Before long, several lists of talented people under the age of 30 who wanted to participate in the Chinese Martial Arts Association's coaching were presented to the martial arts masters in the front row.

Taiji School's Yang Chengfu, Xingyi School's Xue Dian, Bagua School's Ma San, Baji School's Huo Dian Ge.
Most of the sects on the list only sent out one or two people, or no more than three people at most, so there is no need to worry about anyone using rogue tactics like a round-robin battle.

"It's a pity that Jianqiu traveled all over the world two years ago, otherwise he could have saved a lot of effort by sparring with the heroes of various families today."

Li Cun Yi was leaning aside, chatting with his honest and dull-looking eldest disciple [Iron-footed Buddha] Shang Yunxiang.

"Speaking of asking about boxing, I heard people talking about how Master Uncle met a friend of different ages when he was avoiding disaster in Kowloon? I wonder if he taught him some of his martial arts and took him in as a registered disciple to learn from him?"

Gong Baotian sat behind Li Cunyi and took the initiative to start a conversation.

"Haha, my friend of different ages is not someone else, but the eldest disciple of my colleague. When he came to me to exchange skills, he was only one step away from becoming a master. Now four years have passed, and I don't know where this kid has gone."

Li Cunyi thought of the father and daughter of the Xiang family who saw him off when he returned to Zhili from Kowloon a few years ago, and his eyes could not help but droop: "It is said that the land of gentleness is the tomb of heroes. That boy was able to travel far away after tasting the marrow and getting to know the taste. Tsk tsk, this kind of character. Tongchen really accepted a good disciple~"

Hearing Li Cunyi's joke, the usually serious Li Shuwen's lips curled up slightly: "A few months ago, Ah Huai sent a letter saying that he would be returning home soon. Calculating the time, it will be almost these few days."

Just as he finished speaking, he heard some sounds of horses neighing and galloping in the distance, which came closer and closer.

"drive!"

"drive!"

The shouts of urging horses rang out like thunder, and the horses' hooves flew, breaking the ice and snow on the ground.

There were two riders coming, one riding a yellow horse and the other riding a black horse, and they were dressed differently.

In the snowy Tianjin, the man in the lead was wearing only a thin military uniform with golden patterns and a magnificent figure. There was no trace of snow on his shoulders and head, not even wet. Even if snowflakes were about to fall on his head, they would disappear inexplicably without a trace. The man tied his sleeves wildly and casually, and his strong and powerful arms looked like cast iron in the cold frost. He held the reins with one hand, and the unruly horse under his crotch was like the most docile cat.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the warrior's thick black hair fluttered wildly with the ups and downs of the galloping horse, as if it could break up the frost and snow in the sky.

The other man wore a straw snow hat and a black cloth covering his face, leaving only his eyes exposed. He was dressed in a black tights and leggings, with a thick-backed broadsword slung around his waist and a medicine basket woven from old vines on his back. His shoulders were covered with snow petals and he exuded an air of poverty and desolation.

"He didn't grow his hair or keep a braid, yet he dared to ride a horse wildly in Ruyi Temple. Could he be..."

"Brother!"

The door of the boxing gym opened, and Huo Dian Ge, the host of the meeting, just went out to see who dared to disturb the peace of Ruyi Temple, when he saw the thin face whose facial features seemed to have not changed much, but whose temperament was very different from a few years ago.

The two of them left Taihang and headed north to Tianjin at Qinhuai and Wushan.

After several days of traveling, they were both covered in dust and looked very shabby. But now they were finally back in Tianjin and could take a good rest.

"Hahaha, A Ge, it's been a while since we last met. How have you been these days?"

Qin Huai laughed, dismounted, and handed the reins to Wu Shan. The hot steam from the yellow horse's mouth and nose forced the people standing outside the door to take two steps back. Wu Shan was not surprised. He casually shot out a few balls of red light, and the spiritual energy entered his body. After massaging the tendons and muscles of the two horses, he did not enter the main gate, but walked to the stable behind the boxing gym with the Baji Sect members who came to lead the way.

"Everything is fine. Brother, you have been wandering outside for a long time. You must have suffered a lot, right?"

Huo Dian Ge looked at Qin Huai, who had only a few pieces of luggage on him, and thought that he was practicing asceticism and tempering his character, so he couldn't help but speak with a little more admiration.

"The river is not so stormy, but it is difficult to travel on the earth. When you leave Tianjin and travel far and wide for a long time, you will slowly understand."

Qin Huai walked into the temple, raised his chin and looked at the people from all walks of life outside, and asked curiously: "I went to Yanshan this morning. My master's wife said that Master and you were not here and had come to Tianjin. So I rushed to Ruyi Temple. There are so many people waiting outside, but what big thing happened inside the temple that attracted so much attention?"

"Brother has a close relationship with those people in Honolulu, so he should know."

Huo Dian Ge led Qin Huai to the martial arts hall. He felt a little strange at first, but when he thought about Qin Huai's homelessness in the past few years, he was relieved and said, "Senior Brother Ye Jianxing from the Yan branch has called together the northern martial arts community to establish the Chinese Martial Arts Association. They are now discussing it in the courtyard!"

"Honolulu? Chinese Warriors Association? Yan branch?"

Before he could think about it, the two of them entered the yard. Qin Huai subconsciously raised his eyes and what appeared in his vision at this moment was a wave of black, red and blue mixed together.

At the forefront of this rolling wave is a black divine spear as deep as ink, stabilizing the sea and supporting the sky, making people have no desire to resist.

In a trance, Qin Huai seemed to have returned to the small courtyard in the rocky mountains where he practiced martial arts and learned skills.

(End of this chapter)