As the scholar gathering was nearing its end, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a middle-aged man with a profound gaze and an aura of erudition, led by a servant, entered the room.
Everyone turned to look and immediately let out excited and surprised exclamations:
“Xilada Ceilabi! How did you come here?”
“Ceilabi, we were just admiring your masterwork.”
“You’ve written so well! There are some parts we didn’t quite grasp, so please help us understand.”
“Please have a seat here…”
The scholar named Xilada engaged with them somewhat wearily. He sat down on the carpet, smiling, and began discussing with a few people in the room about the relationship between the Tunisians and Rome.
This was the third such gathering he had hurried to that day. For him, this should have been a mere transaction—he had taken a considerable sum of money to publish “Tunisian Origins Analysis” under his own name.
The fee was quite steep, amounting to 1000 riyals. It’s worth noting that the booklet had not been approved by the religious authorities, and it was particularly critical of the Imperial Guard. He had taken a big risk.
However, after repeated studies of the booklet, he found himself more and more in agreement with its contents and began to actively promote it all around Tunisia.
“Our origins from the mighty Eastern Roman Empire are beyond doubt,” Xilada quickly became the center of discussion, voicing the perspectives from the booklet, “What now stands between us and civilization, prosperity, are those Ottomans!
“They slaughtered our ancestors and brutally oppressed us Roman descendants for over a hundred years!”
The Ottomans he spoke of were the Tunisian Guard. In fact, in terms of the animosity toward the Guard, people in the room already agreed without his incitement. Over a hundred years before, when the Ottoman Imperial Guard invaded Tunisia, their coming was naturally accompanied by great plunder and slaughter.
Someone cautiously inquired:
“But, Ceilabi, our Roman compatriots, the French people… they are Christians. What if they force us to convert…”
“Don’t worry, that won’t happen.” Xilada assured confidently, “I have been in contact with high-ranking French officials. They are all good people, very civilized and tolerant. They want to help us achieve self-government, and they guarantee not to force us to make any changes…”
“That’s really fantastic!”
Meanwhile, as the “Francophiles” were excitedly discussing, Joseph was traveling in his horse-drawn carriage towards the north of Sousse.
In the carriage, the consul stationed in Tunisia, Joan, reported the status of the “identity propaganda” to him, then added with some concern:
“Your Highness, we have been busy for so long, but it seems no Tunisians dare to resist the Guard. I mean, French people are still being attacked by the Guard frequently. Should we not deploy troops to intimidate them first?”
According to the Crown Prince’s plan, the first step was to make the indigenous Tunisians feel supported by their “Roman compatriots,” then remind them of their hatred for the Guard, and finally, encourage them to “rise up” against the Guard.
Joseph shook his head:
“We absolutely cannot get embroiled in a public order war; it would drag us down. It’s normal that common people would be afraid of the Guard after they’ve ruled Tunisia for so long. Thus, we need to provide them some ‘incentive.’
“Incentive?”
“People might not challenge the powerful for the sake of revenge, but they might risk it for Gold Coins.” Joseph smiled as he looked toward the distant Mosque, “That’s the reason I went to see Elder Aly.”
Elder Aly was a highly influential religious leader within the Tunisian religious community, with many devoted followers. Most importantly, he was not an Ottoman, but a native Tunisian.
An hour and a half later, at a villa outside the Mosque, Joseph pleaded earnestly:
“This will be greatly beneficial for you and your faction—right now, the religious sector is dominated by the Ottomans. Expelling them, you would undoubtedly become the top religious leader in Tunisia.”
The kind and benevolent-looking elder still hesitated and declined, and after politely saying goodbye, he returned to the grand Mosque with his entourage.
Although he was somewhat moved by the idea of calling on the Tunisian natives to drive out the Ottomans, he ultimately felt the risk was too high and did not agree to the young Frenchman’s suggestion.
Watching Elder Aly’s retreating figure, Joan said in a low voice:
“Your Highness, should we try threatening him?”
Joseph immediately shook his head, “No need. Let’s try again tomorrow.”
Although Joan felt that no matter how many times they tried, it would be useless with the old man’s attitude, he said no more, since the Crown Prince had spoken.
The next day, Joseph brought a few more people and met with Elder Aly again. The topic was still the same as the day before—calling on the followers to launch attacks on the Tunisian Guard. In this process, all the wealth “recovered” from the Guard, except for land, would belong to the attackers.
As rulers of Tunisia, the Guard held the vast majority of Tunisia’s wealth. Simply raiding a high-ranking Guard official could feed several large Berber tribes for years! With such significant incentives, coupled with the call of a religious leader, it would be no surprise that the Tunisian natives would risk their lives against the Guard.
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Of course, although the current Tunisian Guard, mostly bloated and weak in combat, still controlled most of the weapons in Tunisia. If the natives wanted to challenge them, they could only seek weapons and funding from their “Roman compatriots,” thus creating a closer emotional and financial “bind.”