The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
Amidst the prayers of hundreds of priests, the clergy sprinkled a beer made from corn on the alpacas that were slaughtered for sacrifice, and lit it with fire. As a result, a burning and pungent smell immediately filled the square. . By the time those poor sacrifices were turned into a pile of embers and ashes by the strong tongues of fire, the entire sacrificial ceremony was almost over. The clergy began to move the mummies of the former kings and the golden statues of the gods back to the Coricancha Sun Temple, and arranged and placed them one by one. At this time, Prince Huascar led everyone towards the Sun Temple following the mummy of the late king.
There are many sun temples in Cusco, and the Coricancha Sun Temple is a rectangular building 70 meters long and 60 meters wide built on a sacred land facing east. Not only is it the largest religious center in the city, it is also the royal palace and the residence of the priests. The entire temple is built with huge stones and has an exquisite and beautiful altar. The walls around the hall are covered with thick and pure gold pieces. Therefore, the temple is known as the Golden Palace. On the front wall is a solid gold statue of the sun god with a man's face painted on it and surrounded by light and flames. The Sun God faces the east and emits thousands of golden lights when he is directly illuminated by the rising sun. The statue is so huge that it occupies the entire inner wall between the two walls of the temple. The Incas, either in that temple or in any other temple, had no other idols of themselves or of anyone else except the Sun-god, for they worshiped only the Sun-god.
Opposite the statue of the Sun God are the remains of the deceased kings. The mummies of the late kings were arranged in a row facing each other. They were the sons of the sun, and they were placed in order of time. Their bodies were embalmed, and they were dressed in the gorgeous clothes they often wore during their lifetimes and were placed on golden royal chairs. They sat upright, with their heads lowered, their hands folded calmly on their chests, and their faces showed their natural dark color. Their hair was thick black, and some were silver-grey, and their expressions were exactly the same as when they died, just like living people. The golden chair is placed on the thick gold plate that was always placed during his lifetime, facing the subjects. Only Emperor Wayna Capac was different. From his youth he showed the talents and virtues of an emperor. He was worthy of being worshiped as a god during his lifetime. Therefore, as the favorite son of the Sun God, he had a superior position to others. The body was placed in front of a statue of the sun god, facing the god rather than the subjects.
There is also an allusion about this sun god statue later, that is, "One night before dawn, I lost a bet on a sun." It is said that when the Spaniards entered the city of Cusco, they divided the golden statue of the sun god among them by drawing lots. An officer named Mancio Serra de Leguizamo. He was a big gambler who was addicted to all kinds of gambling. After getting the statue, he used it to bet, and ended up losing the golden statue of the Sun God overnight. If the gambler brings this golden statue of the Sun God back to Spain, he can earn at least tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of gold pesos. He will be a very rich man in Spain. Because the average wealthy person at that time only had dozens or hundreds of gold pesos.
Later, before the Spanish entered Cusco, these remains, along with many other treasures, were hidden by the Incas, most of which have never been found. In 1559, Master Poirot of Spain discovered five of them, three of which were kings and two of which were queens. According to an Indian at the time, one of them was Inca Viracocha, the eighth generation king of the Incas. His body was covered with white hair like snow, which clearly showed that he lived a long life. The second was the great Tupac Inca Yupanqui, the great-grandson of Viracocha. The third was Huayna Capac, the son of Inca Yupanki and the great-great-grandson of Inca Viracocha. One of the female remains is Queen Mama Lentu, the wife of Inca Viracocha. The other is Queen Mama Okolio, the mother of Huayna Capak. The body was in a sitting position, just like how Indian men and women often sit, with their hands crossed on their chests, their right hands on their left, and their eyes lowered, as if looking at the ground. People were surprised to see that the body was still intact after so many years, and the facial skin looked like a living person.
After the clergy carried the mummies of the emperors of the Inca Empire in an orderly manner and placed them on the golden thrones on the left and right sides of the golden statue of the Sun God, the priests began to pray in unison. Prince Huascar led everyone to kneel down one by one to the previous kings. When he finally came to the mummy of his father, Emperor Wayna Kapac, he burst into tears and almost fainted to the ground. The two women beside him desperately picked him up and took him to a room next to the palace.
Under the comfort of his assistant ministers and relatives, Prince Huascar gradually calmed down. He wiped his tears with a piece of velvet and said to the palace priest who was presiding over the sacrifice, "Go to the Five Temples." So, the palace priest led everyone out of the Sun Temple and walked towards the Five Temples.
Although Cusco had five temples, the Incas actually had only one god, the sun. They worshiped the sun and built magnificent temples to it because of its brilliance and its blessings in nature. Although they also regard the moon as the sister and wife of the sun, and as the mother of King Inka, they do not respect her as a god, do not offer sacrifices to her, and do not build temples for her. Therefore, the Five Temples here are actually just a room, not as grand and solemn as the Sun Temple.
After passing the temple, there is a temple surrounded by walls, one of which is the temple wall. There is a rim made of a very wide gold sheet above the entire temple, which serves as the crown of the temple. There are five large square rooms around the temple. They are independent and not connected to each other, and the top is pyramid-shaped. These rooms form the other three walls of the temple.
The first was a palace dedicated to the moon, the wife of the sun god. All the objects inside are made of silver. The moon statue is a woman's face painted on a pure silver disk. People believe that she is the sister and wife of the sun, and the mother of the Inka kings and Inka people, so she is called Mother Moon. People went into the temple to admire her appearance and ask for her blessing, but they did not offer sacrifices like they did to the sun. On both sides of the moon statue are placed the remains of the late queen in chronological order. Huayna Capak's mother, Mama Okoluo, faced the moon because she gave birth to a wise king of the country and had a higher status than other queens.
Next to the Temple of the Moon are temples dedicated to Venus, the seven Pleiades, and all the other stars. Like the moon, the walls and doors of this temple are also inlaid with silver, and the entire roof is covered with stars, large and small, like a starry sky. Venus is the servant of the sun, closest to the sun, sometimes in front and sometimes behind, so the Incas respected it. They respected the Seven Pleiades because of their strange shapes and different sizes. The Incas believed that the stars were servants of the moon, so they built their palaces near their master's palace so that they could serve her at their side. Because the Incas believed that stars could only be seen in the dark and not during the day, they said they were servants of the moon and did not travel with the sun.
Next to the Hall of Stars is a temple dedicated to lightning, thunder and thunderbolts. The Incas regarded the thunderbolts as tools and weapons of Hercules, and treated the three as servants of the sun. They built a small temple for the three in the Sun Palace, and the entire temple was inlaid with gold. There is also a small hall dedicated to the rainbow in the sky. The rainbow originated from the sun, and King Inka claimed to be the son of the sun, so he adopted the rainbow as the symbol and emblem of the royal family, and the entire small hall was inlaid with gold. On the gold plate on one wall, a huge rainbow is painted very realistically, spanning the entire wall, with all seven colors, bright and dazzling. The fifth small temple is exclusively for priests, for the use of the highest priest and other priests who are responsible for temple affairs. These priests must all be Incas of royal blood. They occupy this small hall not to sleep and eat there, but to use it as a meeting hall, distribute the sacrifices that need to be offered, and handle various matters in worshiping the gods in the temple. The entire wall is decorated with gold, silver and precious stones, which can be said to be extremely noble and magnificent.
Entering the Sun Temple is also a privilege. No matter how big the lord is, no one is allowed to enter as long as he is not an Indian. Women, not even the daughters and wives of the king himself, were off limits. The priests took turns to perform duties in the temple on a weekly basis, with one quarter of the lunar month as one week. During their duties, they did not leave the temple day and night, and were not allowed to have sex with their wives.
The five temples are located around the Sun Temple and are connected to the Sun Temple to form a courtyard called Sun Square. In the courtyard is a large cornfield and five fountains. The corn in the fields was cultivated, sown and harvested by the Inca emperors and princes and nobles personally, and was dedicated to the Sun God during grand sacrificial activities. The fountain here was not only used for the Inca emperor's concubine to bathe before marriage, but was also used to water the cornfields.
After worshiping all the gods, the entire worship ceremony is over. At this time, it was already afternoon. Prince Huascar returned to the palace surrounded by everyone, began to host a banquet for Prince Manco, and discussed with the ministers the matter of ascending to the throne.
