The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
It was the last day of the month in 1527, and the palace announced the death of the Inca king Huayna Capac. When the bad news came, more than 1,500 concubines from the Virgin Palace rushed into the palace hall and surrounded the palace where the king's body was placed, three floors inside and three floors outside. They fell on the ground and cried loudly, as if they were dead parents. But also sorrow and mourning. The heart-wrenching cries could be heard for miles, almost shaking the palace hall. Thousands of palace guards spent a lot of effort to drive the virgins out of the palace. However, immediately after, the attendants and slaves in the palace gathered in groups in front of the palace hall, crying and shouting to see their king and master.
Prince Atahualpa ordered increased security and no one was allowed to enter the palace without his permission. He then ordered his uncle, the high priest Chalkuchma, to hold a funeral as soon as possible because the king's body had been placed in the palace for two years. It's been three days.
The grand funeral was held in the square outside the palace at noon on the third day. The palace square had already been packed with men, women and children who came from nearby areas and towns in Quito after hearing the news, wanting to pay their respects to the king they admired. Suddenly, more than 100,000 people gathered, making the palace square, which was not very large, unable to accommodate them. Therefore, people from all provinces and ethnic groups wearing clothes of various colors not only crowded the square, but also blocked the open space and roads next to the square. Many people had no place to stand, so they stood near the square. On mountains, forest edges and meadows. In short, the area around the Palace Square was crowded with people.
Although these people in the Quito area regarded Emperor Huayna Capac as a conqueror, they also regarded him as their revered and beloved king. Because the king loved Quito even more than Cusco, and he spent his later years in Quito, and carried out large-scale renovation and expansion of the ancient city of Quito, making the ancient city of Quito become the northern Inca city. He is the political, economic and cultural center of Xinjiang. At the same time, he also formulated many preferential and stable laws for the people of Quito, which enabled the people of Quito, who had been in constant war in the past, to live a peaceful life. In particular, his respect and love for women won him the love and admiration of women, because he never refused any woman's request to him, regardless of their age or status.
In order to open up the passage from the palace to the sacrificial platform in the square, nearly a thousand soldiers of the palace guard used their bodies to separate a two-meter-wide passage among the crowd to allow the palace dignitaries to pass easily. With a long blast of cattle horns, dozens of palace guards carried a golden coffin from the palace, and then parked it in front of the sacrificial platform in the center of the square. Thousands of members of the Inca royal family lined up neatly around the golden coffin, crying loudly. The cries were so tragic and heartbreaking that people in and around the square were heartbroken and couldn't help crying. As a result, everyone present started crying, turning the entire square into a sea of mourning and wailing. Until someone loudly announced that Prince Atahualpa had arrived. Only then did people hold back their crying.
Prince Atahualpa, dressed in black with a sad expression, took his mother, Princess Paria, Prince Manco, Princess Anna Yama, and uncle Prince Kiskis through a narrow passage blocked by the palace guards. , Prince Ruminawi and his uncle, High Priest Chalkuchma, came to the golden coffin of their father and announced to the people in the square in a solemn and solemn tone, "Fellows of Quito, the Supreme Inca King He once led us to conquer the south and conquer the north, pacified and unified the north, and spread the glory of the sun god to every farmer. Now he is too tired and is going to rest with the father of the sun. Before we see him off, He asked us to take out his internal organs and bury him on the land of Quito to show his attachment to the hot land of Quito. Then, his body would be made into a mummy and sent to Cusco to share with his ancestors. The emperors lived together in the Palace of the Sun. For this reason, let us bid farewell to our supreme Inca King with great sincerity and admiration!"
The shrill and mournful horn sounded again, making a roaring sound that kept echoing over the city of Quito. An old priest walked up to the golden coffin and began to recite sacrificial words. At this time, several guards lifted the Inca king from the golden coffin and stood on a red carpet. The two maids took off the king's clothes, leaving the body of the supreme Inca king naked on the carpet. A strong man held a sharp short knife and slashed the belly of the Supreme King. He saw that the king's belly had been cut with a big hole, and the bloody internal organs were exposed. Seeing this tragic situation, many people covered their eyes or turned their faces away, screaming in terror, and many even fainted on the ground immediately.
Then, the middle-aged man put his hand and knife into the king's belly and cut, and soon he took out a bunch of internal organs from his belly and put them in a gold box. This scene made the people present miserable. Many people howled and ran away like crazy towards the outside of the venue. More people had already burst into tears and cried into a ball. They didn't even notice this short and tragic moment. .
The eviscerated body was placed in a golden coffin and carried to the palace to be mummified, while the internal organs placed in the gold box were buried on Loaf Mountain on the southern outskirts of Quito. The funeral procession was very large, and the funeral was very spectacular and grand. Thousands of members of the royal family and priests, led by Prince Atahualpa, dressed in black and plain clothing, walked behind a gold box containing the king's entrails carried by palace guards. Behind them were nearly a thousand virgin concubines and palace attendants. They were all concubines and slaves who relied on the king for survival and prosperity. They received special care from the king and were the most loyal and loyal to the king. Dependent people. Therefore, the death of the king made them feel that they suddenly lost their life support and spiritual sustenance. After that, tens of thousands of Quito people came to see the king off with respect, admiration and sadness.
The road leading to the outskirts is winding and narrow, paved with hard cobblestones. People walked slowly along the winding path, and as dozens of horns blew mournful sounds one after another, people's cries gathered into a wave of sorrow and despair. Rows of children of all sizes stood in front of the low and simple houses on both sides of the road. They looked at the funeral procession and the mourning people with helpless eyes.
Walking out of the city into the suburbs, Loaf Mountain, where the Inca people worshiped their gods, stood high in front of people's eyes. A path wound around the side of the mountain and slowly climbed up to the top of the mountain. Not far away, the tall Pichincha volcano is covered in white snow and stands majestically, reaching into the sky.
At this time, many citizens walked to the fields separately, carrying the royal emblem, royal flag, weapons and clothing of the Inca king, kneeling on the grass in the fields and crying sadly. They cried and spoke loudly The heroic deeds created by the Inca kings in the war and the favors and benefits bestowed on the local people. There are even many men who are crying and singing hymns like widows, singing about the nobility and virtues of the Inca King.
The nobles of the palace and the lords and chiefs of the provinces who followed the funeral procession also knelt down on the grass at the foot of Loaf Mountain respectfully like the citizens, crying amidst the shrill and high-pitched sound of the horn horns that continued unabated. The sound was mixed with the shouts of people telling about the favor and favor given to them by the king. Some of them even tore their clothes into long strips, like mourning flags, fluttering in the wind.
The palace guards blocked the narrow entrance to the mountain, and the large group of people stopped at the foot of the mountain. Prince Atahualpa, with a small number of his family and some of the priests, began to climb up the steep slope behind the escort carrying the golden box containing the king's entrails. But those who were not allowed to go up the mountain looked at the gold box containing the king that was gradually going away, and they were heartbroken and cried loudly. Many concubines and slaves even sought death and were hanged on the spot in the woods beside the mountain road so that they could enter the Palace of the Sun and continue to accompany and serve the king they admired and respected.
Dozens of people who went up the mountain walked slowly along the steep slope until they reached the top of the mountain, which is 183 meters high. The top of the mountain is a gentle slope. In the center of the slope, a grave pit has been dug, and dozens of priests dressed in black are waiting here neatly and solemnly. When the king's gold box was carried to the top of the mountain, dozens of horns sounded sad and shrill music in unison.
The gold box lay beside the pit, and the palace priest announced the beginning of sacrifices for the dead king. A priest killed a male llama and placed it on the altar. Then, all the priests began to chant sacrificial words. After singing the sacrificial words, the palace guards slowly and carefully placed the gold box into the tomb, then filled it with earth and erected a monument. The relatives of the deceased knelt down and put their heads on the ground and cried loudly.
After the ceremony, everyone began to go down the mountain. When they got down the mountain, the people who had just calmed down began to cry loudly again. Dozens of horn horns began to sound again, and the solemn funeral procession began to walk towards the Quito Palace amid cries and cries. The team returned to the palace square. After all the royal family members entered the palace, people slowly dispersed. Thus, the funeral of the supreme Inca king ended like this.
