Chapter 213: Gun in hand, follow me!

Chapter 214: Gun in hand, follow me!

When the scholars' gathering came to an end, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a middle-aged man with deep eyes and a bookish air walked in under the leadership of a servant.

Everyone turned around to look, and immediately let out excited and surprised shouts:

"Shilada Celebi! Why are you here?"

"Celebi, we are reading your masterpiece."

"You wrote so well! There are some parts that we don't quite understand. Please help us interpret it."

"Please sit here quickly..."

The scholar named Hilada socialized a little tiredly, sat down on the carpet, smiled and talked to several people in the room about the relationship between Tunisia and Rome.

This is the third "scene" he has attended today. For him, this was supposed to be a business - he took a fee and published "Analysis of the Origins of Tunisia" in his own name.

The fee is quite high, as much as 1,000 rials. You must know that this book did not have any religious approval, and it severely criticized the Imperial Guards. He took a great risk.

However, after repeatedly studying the pamphlet, he became more and more aware of its contents and began to actively promote it throughout Tunisia.

"There is no doubt that we originated from the powerful Eastern Roman Empire." Giralda soon became the core of the discussion, and according to the point of view in the pamphlet, "Now there is a gap between us and civilization and prosperity. , those Ottomans!

"They killed our ancestors and brutally oppressed us descendants of Rome for more than a hundred years!"

The Ottomans he was talking about were the Tunisian Janissaries. In fact, as for the hatred towards the Imperial Guards, everyone in the room was already nodding their heads without him inciting them. More than a hundred years ago, when the Ottoman Guards invaded Tunisia, they were naturally accompanied by a lot of looting and killing.

Someone asked cautiously:

"But, Celebi, our fellow Romans are the French... They believe in Christianity. If they force us to convert..."

"Don't worry, this kind of thing won't happen." Shilada said confidently, "To tell you the truth, I have been in contact with high-level officials in France. They are very nice people, very civilized and tolerant. They want to help us achieve autonomy. , promise not to force us to make any changes..."

"This is really great!"

While the "Jingfa" were discussing excitedly, Joseph was riding his ship-shaped carriage to the north of Susa.

In the carriage, Qiao An, the consul in Tunisia, reported to him the status of the "identity recognition" propaganda, and reminded him with some concern:

"Your Highness, we have been busy for so long, but it seems that no Tunisian dares to resist the Guards. I mean, there are still frequent attacks on the French by the Guards everywhere. You see, can we send troops first? To intimidate them?"

According to the crown prince's plan, the first thing is to make the Tunisian natives feel that they are supported by their "compatriots in Rome", and then let them recall their hatred for the Praetorian Guard class, and then "rise up" to rebel against the Praetorian Guard.

Joseph shook his head and said:

"We must not fall into a security war, which will drag us down. The Guards have ruled Tunisia for so long, and it is not surprising that ordinary people will be afraid of them. Therefore, we need to give them some 'incentives'."

"excitation?"

"People may not challenge the strong for revenge, but they will take risks for gold coins." Joseph smiled and looked at the mosque in the distance, "This is the purpose of my search for Elder Ala'yi."

Elder Ala'i is a very influential leader in Tunisia's religious circles and has many believers who serve him. Most importantly, he was not Ottoman but of indigenous Tunisian origin.

An hour and a half later, in a villa outside the mosque, Joseph said earnestly:

"This is also of great benefit to you and your faction - now that the religious world is controlled by the Ottomans, drive them away, and you will definitely become the supreme leader of Tunisia's religious world."

The kind-looking old man still hesitated to refuse, and after politely saying goodbye, he led his entourage back to the tall mosque.

Although he was somewhat interested in calling on the Tunisian natives to drive away the Ottomans, he still felt that the risk was too great and did not agree to the young French big shot's suggestion.

Qiao An looked at Ala Yi's leaving figure and whispered:

"Your Highness, do you want to... threaten him?"

Joseph immediately shook his head: "No need. Let's try again tomorrow."

Although Qiao An felt that judging from the old man's attitude, no matter how many times he tried to persuade her, it would be useless, but since His Highness the Crown Prince had said so, he would not say anything more.

The next day, Joseph brought a few more people and met with Elder Ala'i again. The topic was still the same as yesterday - calling on believers to launch an attack on the Tunisian Guards. In the process, all wealth "recaptured" from the Praetorian Guards, except the land, belonged to the raiders.

You know, as the ruler of Tunisia, the Guards hold a huge part of Tunisia's wealth. Just copying a high-ranking official of the Imperial Guard would be enough to feed several large Berber tribes for several years! Driven by such huge interests and with the call of religious leaders, it is strange that the Tunisian natives could not risk their lives with the Guards.

Of course, although most of today's Tunisian Guards are fat and have low combat effectiveness, they still control the vast majority of Tunisia's weapons. If the indigenous people want to challenge them, they can only ask their "comatriots in Rome" for weapons and funds, thus creating a closer "bond" of emotions and interests.

This was Joseph’s “sacrifice” plan.

However, the cautious elder Alayi once again rejected his suggestion and politely hinted to the young big shot not to come again. As a Berber, he was able to survive in Tunisia's religious world controlled by the Ottomans because of his caution of not making a fuss or taking risks.

Qiao An watched the old man leave and looked at the Crown Prince in frustration. He was about to ask what to do next, but saw His Highness turning to ask the two "guards" behind him:

"How's it going? Are you sure?"

The two men nodded briefly, then immediately returned to the carriage, took out charcoal pencils and drawing folders and began sketching.

More than ten minutes later, Qiao An saw the lifelike appearance of Elder Alayi on their drawing paper.

"Your Highness, what do you want?!" He looked at the Crown Prince beside him in surprise.

"Since Elder Alayi doesn't agree, let's help him agree." Joseph smiled slyly at him, and then ordered the convoy to go to a house that had been prepared a few streets away.

The two painters entered the room, immediately got into position, picked up a full set of oil painting tools and continued their painting.

Joseph looked at the two busy figures and couldn't help but sigh:

"Her Majesty the Queen asked me to bring all the exclusive painters. She is really good at predicting things!"

A few days later, an oil painting of Elder Ala'i solemnly waving his hands and calling on believers to expel the Janissary bandits went viral across Tunisia.

There is also an oval frame with sharp angles at the top of the oil painting, which reads: Drive away the Ottomans, and the wealth taken back from them, except the land, will belong to the warriors who obey the call.

The tip of the sharp angle points to Alayi's mouth, making it clear at a glance that these are his words.

There are a large number of oil paintings circulating in every province, and there are tens of thousands of copies of The Elder of Ala'yi printed on stone tablets with monotonous colors.

Less than 10 days later, the entire Tunisia knew about Ala'i's "declaration of war" on the Ottomans.

For this method, Joseph got inspiration from the last "Last Supper".

Since the French, who are much more educated than Tunisians, firmly believe that what is in the oil paintings is the truth, then the Tunisians should be even more convinced.

Fortunately, starting from the 18th century, the entire Ottoman and North African religious circles no longer rejected portraits due to European influence, which allowed his plan to be implemented smoothly.

As for the Alayi Presbyterian Church’s denial?

Not to mention that the area around his home is currently under martial law and it is difficult for ordinary people to see him. Even if he can spread the news, will people believe more in a oral message or in an oil painting that looks like a real person standing in front of them? The results speak for themselves.

Unless Mr. Alai can teleport to Tunisia and declare in public that "that oil painting is not real", then this "declaration of war" will be considered solid.

…

Soon, the whole of Tunisia began to become restless under the call of religious leaders.

South of Bizerte, Andalusia.

More than a dozen members of the "Sword of Vengeance" organization in their forties or fifties were gathered in a dark cabin. There is an oil painting of Elder Alayi on the wall on the north side, and there is a circle of religious utensils around it.

They are a Berber organization that rebelled against the Janissaries and have a history of hundreds of years. It's just that after a long period of time, they have no hope of driving away the Ottomans. Young people are simply unwilling to join, and the organization is about to collapse.

At this time, the religious leaders' call to "declare war" came.

This oil painting helped them recruit more than 60 members in three days, all of whom were in their twenties and thirties. This made them absolutely delighted.

Zhemele, the leader of the "Sword of Vengeance", led the top management of the organization to finish praying, and immediately looked at the nearest bearded man:

"What did the Fawaz tribe say?"

"Head Hasani agreed to join us in attacking the Janissaries in the town. They will account for 60% of the harvest."

Zhemele nodded. The Fawaz tribe has a large number of people and can dispatch at least more than 400 warriors, but there are only about 150 on our side, so it is acceptable for the other party to take the big head. Oh, no, the "Sword of Vengeance" is for revenge against the evil Praetorian Guards, not just for the gold coins!

The bearded man continued:

"It's just that the Hasani chief said that they only have a small number of scimitars, and the others are machetes. They are worried that they will not be able to defeat the Imperial Guards."

The machete he was talking about was a farm tool used for slaughtering livestock and chopping bushes.

Although there are only about 200 Praetorian Guards in Andalusian towns, they have dozens of muskets. If this really comes to a fight, it's hard to say who will win and who will lose.

Zhemele couldn't help but frown. The "Sword of Vengeance" has been assassinating and kidnapping the Guards all year round, but it only has less than 12 muskets in its hands, all of which are old-fashioned matchlocks, and is unable to provide assistance to its allies.

Another senior member of the organization clenched his fists and gritted his teeth:

"What are you afraid of? I can lead the warriors and drown those evil enemies with blood!"

Zhemele shook his head decisively and listened to the bearded man on the side:

"I heard that there is a gentleman from Tunisia who is willing to help the soldiers driving out the Ottomans."

He leaned forward and said in a lower voice:

"It is said that he has a lot of muskets and even cannons. Maybe we can go and meet him."

Everyone in the room suddenly brightened up.

…

Port of Bizerte.

Zhemele looked at the unprepossessing building across the street from a distance, and ordered his men to repeatedly confirm that there were no ambush around him, and then he carefully led the people inside.

This is the residence of the master who can provide them with weapons. It was the news he got from a French businessman.

They were met by Ishaq, a police intelligence agent under the pseudonym Zaganos.

In less than an hour, Zhemele came out of the old house happily. Just now, Mr. Zaganos just asked them to agree to accept the "Roman origin" statement - he had seen the pamphlet before and had no objection to recognizing the identity of Roman descendants - and then Mr. Zaganos promised that he would Give him a full 100 flintlock guns!

And these things will be transported directly to Andalucian for him.

He just felt dizzy and pinched his arm three times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. With this batch of weapons, he is confident that he will sweep away the Imperial Guards in the town!

Then they ransacked all the nearby Ottoman mansions one by one!

After Ishaq waited for Zhemele and others to leave, he immediately ordered his men to go to Andalucian to confirm the authenticity of these people's identities.

The "Sword of Vengeance" is a well-known anti-January Guard organization in Tunisia, so Ishaq specially allocated some more weapons to them, hoping that they can live up to their heavy expectations. Of course, the guns were captured from pirates and guardsmen before, and there were thousands of them, so they were given without any worries.

On the other side, Dhemele returned to the stronghold and soon connected with Mr. Zaganos's people, and five days later unloaded the batch of muskets from the cars of a group of "olive merchants".

However, what he did not expect was that although the Fawaz tribe had obtained weapons, they suddenly retreated from the battle and said that they needed to prepare for a while before attacking the Guards.

Similar situations unfold across Tunisia.

The natives were eyeing the Imperial Guards, and a large number of weapons were distributed to them through Agathon and the Chamber of Commerce. But because everyone was deeply afraid of the Imperial Guards, no one dared to take action.

Tunisia city.

Joseph frowned as he listened to Isaac's report, and couldn't help but think of the plot in "Let the Bullets Fly" - Zhang Mazi raised his arms and shouted "Gun in hand, follow me", but the people of Goose City only dared to huddle at home and peek their heads. , Even with a gun, he did not dare to touch Huang Silang's watchtower.

He really didn't expect the natives of Tunisia to be so cowardly.

He stood up irritably and walked around the room several times. He even spoke to the religious leaders, but why couldn't he still inspire them with courage?

Do they really need their master to show up before they dare...

Um? etc!

Joseph was suddenly startled when he thought of this, yes, that's it!