The plan set, Joseph immediately had Eman summon all the Crown Prince’s exclusive attendants.
Before long, looking at the painters, sculptors, pharmacists, acrobats, and other attendants standing in two rows before him, Joseph once again marveled, how wise his mother was to have him bring them all to Tunisia!
Without these people, his plan would indeed be a bit difficult to implement—even if one could find such masterful experts in Tunisia, keeping things confidential would be a big issue.
As for how to operate specifically, he didn’t rack his brains much. There were already mature plans from predecessors; he just had to copy directly.
First, he gave some simple instructions to the pharmacist and the ventriloquist, then arranged for the Police Affairs Department and the French-descended merchant Agadon to coordinate with them, before turning his attention to Mr. Brigette, the dedicated sculptor, who bore the brunt of this mission.
“It’s just over ten days until the traditional Islamic festival of Ashura,” Joseph said to the sculptor. “I need you to help me create a stone sculpture before then.
“Oh, considering transportation will take time, you actually only have about 8 days.”
Mr. Brigette bowed earnestly and asked:
“Your Highness, may I know what kind of artwork you require?”
“A stone figure dressed in common Arab attire,” Joseph pointed to the ceiling, “at least this tall, but of course, the taller the better.”
Mr. Brigette was taken aback; this luxurious hall was nearly 4 meters high!
He immediately displayed a look of difficulty. “Your Highness, if I may speak frankly, it would be quite difficult to complete such a large sculpture in 8 days.”
“It doesn’t need to be too exquisite. Just refine the facial features a bit, and as for other parts, as long as it resembles a person, that’ll be enough.”
“Even so, it’s still quite unlikely…”
Joseph smiled faintly and played his trump card:
“If you finish a day early, you’ll receive a bonus of 1000 livres. Two days early, 2000 livres. Three days early, 4000 livres. And so on, with the reward doubling for each additional day early.”
Filled with the clinking sound of silver coins, Mr. Brigette promptly nodded without hesitation:
“Rest assured, Your Highness, you will definitely see the stone figure you want within 8 days!”
He paused then cautiously added, “Your Highness, if you could allow me to borrow some engineers, that would make meeting the deadline even more certain.”
“No problem. You can go and choose some from the legion later.”
Joseph further instructed him on some detailed requirements, then cautioned:
“Oh, and by the way, make sure the stone figure is one-eyed, please do not forget that.”
Eager to waste no time, Mr. Brigette left the Crown Prince’s presence and immediately went to Bertier to request a few sappers responsible for blasting, then headed straight for the vicinity of the Oued Medjerda—that was the Crown Prince’s instruction for ease of transportation.
He quickly chose a large block of limestone, had the sappers drill holes in it, install gunpowder, and blast it.
Each of these sappers received 30 livres from the sculptor as a hardship fee; hence, they all brought out their best skills. They spent the better part of a day with very precise explosions to create a human outline from that massive stone…
Days later, a prophecy from Elder Aly began to spread throughout Tunisia: a divine oracle would soon descend on Tunisia, conveying the message through water or woods to the people…
Initially, people didn’t pay much attention to it until one day, a resident of Mejazba found a stone with white marks that vaguely resembled writing in a fish’s belly he had bought.
The letters were not carved, appearing very miraculous.
He immediately took the fish and stone to the local mosque, asking the clergy to decipher it.
Soon enough, the whole town was abuzz because the Imam recognized the inscription, which read “The descendants of Rome shall drive out the Ottoman Imperial Guard”!
In the days that followed, people along cities on the banks of the Oued Medjerda kept finding mysterious stoned with the same writing in fish bellies.
There was even a fisherman who scooped out an “Oracle Stone” right from the belly of a freshly caught fish, so astonished that he immediately knelt and prayed on the boat.
And in places further from the Oued Medjerda, such as the northeastern mountains, some people vaguely heard fox-like cries at night that sounded very much like “Drive out the Ottomans.”
Clearly, Elder Aly’s prophecy had come true! Tunisia was boiling with excitement once more. People started to gather openly, discussing how to drive out the Imperial Guard.
This was a divine oracle!
With the Lord backing them, what was there to fear from the fearsome Imperial Guard?
Of course, all of the oracles were actually the handiwork of the Crown Prince’s exclusive attendants.
They wrote on the stones with strong acid and then stuffed them into the bellies of live fish. To be efficient, they directly took them to sell at the market; to make them more believable, they managed to place them into fishermen’s nets.
Mass-produced “Oracle Stones,” ensuring that almost every large town got a piece.
The ventriloquist had it hard, though, traveling to several places each day to mimic the cry of foxes, only able to work at night, and lost no less than six or seven pounds after half a month of exhaustion.
However, the final catalyst for the natives of Tunisia to erupt was the astounding divine oracle that appeared on the day of Ashura.
Ashura is the day of repentance for Adam and Eve recorded in the scriptures, for their transgression of eating the forbidden fruit—yes, the records of these two human progenitors are the same in Islam and Christianity.
On that day, tens of thousands gathered in Utica City to celebrate the festival, when the oar of a huge ferry boat that had come here struck something in the center of the river.