many green standard army troops of the imperial army were hui. according to some historians, one of the many brawls and riots that contributed to the revolt was initiated by a fight triggered over the price of bamboo poles that a han merchant was selling to a hui. afterwards, hui mobs attacked han and other hui people who had not joined them in revolt. it was this seemingly trivial and unimportant dispute over bamboo poles that set off the full-scale revolt. however, according to historical records from the era, bamboo poles were bought in large quantities by the hui to make spears as weaponry. moreover, there had already been attacks on han counties prior to the shengshan bamboo incident. historical records from the era show that prior to the conflict over the price of bamboo poles, there had already been plans among the hui community to set up an islamic state in the west of china. organized through mosques and mullahs, the hui people in shaanxi started purchasing bamboo poles in large volumes. these poles were then used to make spears. before the shengshan bamboo incident, there had already been attacks on han in dali county and weinan county. fearing persecution, the shaanxi han populace fled the hui or hid underground in cellars. manchu official noted that there were many non-rebellious muslims who were loyal citizens, and warned the qing court that exterminating all muslims would force loyal ones to support the rebels and make the situation even worse. he said, "among the muslims, there are certainly evil ones, but doubtless there are also numerous peaceful, law-abiding people. if we decide to destroy them all, we are driving the good ones to join the rebels and create for ourselves an awesome, endless job of killing the muslims".