Though the Fists of Harmony and Justice did exist during the mid-1890s, they proved only to be a minor inconvenience to any official Qing or foreign affairs due to the group's small size, lack of influence, and mostly local actions taken by bands of around 50 men each.

[1] In 1899, a compatriot of Zhang, Zhao Sandu set out to establish order in the Fists of Harmony and Justice's ranks during a conference at the Yaoli Yaowang Temple in Wangkou.

Both Zhang Decheng and Cao Futian would develop the creation of the First Heavenly Regiment, along with the structure of their organization, which was as follows: Though a central structure for the organization was formed, the Boxers still relied on a system of small groups of men under local leaders, which were to be replaced (in some capacity) by the new First Heavenly Regiment.

To acquire more members for the newly-created group, Zhang began trying to convince Boxer followers that he had magical abilities.

His followers then dug up the area and found the knife, and were convinced that Zhang did indeed possess supernatural powers.