The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
When we reached the top of a mountain, it suddenly started raining heavily. The soldiers hurriedly looked for shelter from the rain. However, there is no shelter from the rain in this barren mountain and wilderness. Therefore, I could only hide under the big tree, listen to the thunder in my ears, and watch the lightning flash in front of my eyes. After a while, the soldiers' clothes were soaked by the rain. However, the rain in the mountains came and went quickly. After a while, the clouds and fog dispersed, the sun rose and the sky cleared, and a huge rainbow appeared in the sky above the forest and barren mountains.
The soldiers continued on their way, climbing one mountain after another in the roadless mountains, crossing one stream after another. About dusk in the afternoon, they finally saw a clear path leading to the front. Walking forward along the path, you will come to a deep valley. The valley is not wide, and a stream blocks the path. The stream is fast and bottomless, and a rope bridge made of thick rattan is flying between the two banks. The rattan is covered with many wooden boards, and there is a guardrail on each side. Tashiguye asked the soldiers to pass over the bridge one by one. The rope bridge was shaking badly, but the soldiers were all battle-hardened veterans and had been on many rope bridges like this, so they didn't feel worried.
Soon, the entire army reached the other side of the deep valley. The school officer immediately led the team along the path towards the village. Only half a mile away, I saw a valley dotted with simple and dilapidated thatched cottages and farmhouses.
The school officer asked the man, "How big is the village and how many families live there?"
The man replied, "The village stretches along this valley and both sides of the stream for about five or six miles. There are probably more than a hundred families living in it, with about three to four hundred people."
So, Tashiguye asked the troops to set up tents on a flat grassland, and then sent Lieutenant Walizaka and translator Gawo to take the local man to the village to conduct reconnaissance. Within an hour, the scouts came back and reported to Tashiguye that the village had about a hundred households with simple houses and scattered residences, stretching for about five or six miles along the mountains and streams. He also said that everyone in the village was naked, and men and women lived together in promiscuity. Not only did they pierce their lips, they also divided their faces into four parts and painted them in four different colors: yellow, blue, red and black. And both men and women keep their hair long and curly. Their long curly hair seemed to have never been combed and was covered with grass clippings, dust and lice.
As soon as Tashiguye heard that they were facing such inferior and barbaric tribes, he sent the three of them into the village again to persuade them to surrender. Because before the Incas attack a tribe or village, they always send people to persuade or negotiate with the chief or leader there. If they are willing to submit to the Inca King, then the Inca King will announce to them the plans of the Inca Empire. Law, regarded the sun god as their idol of worship, and sent people to instill and implement the civilized rule of the Inca Empire, so that their way of life was slowly integrated into the way of the Inca Empire. If the other party refused to surrender, then the Inca King would command his troops to attack and force him to surrender to the Inca King. As long as they were not stubborn or cruel, the Inca King would not fight them to the death and kill them all.
In the evening, Colonel Tashiguye was taking a nap in his tent when someone came to report that the people sent to persuade him to surrender had returned. Tashiguye got up from the camel skin blanket spread on the grass, sat on a wooden chair, and then asked Walizaka and others to come in.
The men came in and brought an elderly man with them. This man is about fifty years old, dark and skinny, naked, with four colors on his face, a small hole in his mouth, and a small hole in the cartilage above his nostril, with a gold earring hanging on it. Ornaments. Wearing a very thick gold collar around his neck. There are tiger designs tattooed on his chest and arms. It is said that this is the idol worshiped by their tribe. He only wears a crown made of gorgeous and slender pheasant feathers on his head, which makes people know that he is the local leader or the chief of the tribe.
Seeing Colonel Tashi Guye, the leader quickly knelt down and kissed his feet with his mouth. Tashiguye was not used to this kind of etiquette. As soon as he sat on the stool, he pointed to the stool opposite and asked the leader to sit down. Although the leader was sitting on the stool, he bowed and bowed as if he was still saluting the conqueror.
Tashi Guye asked, "Are you the leader here?"
After Gavo translated, the old man nodded.
Tashiguye asked again, "Are you willing to surrender to the King of Quito and make the bright and brilliant sun the idol of your tribe?"
The old man said, "Yes. As long as you can ensure the safety of our people, I am willing to make the sun our idol."
Tashi Guye said it was very good, and then asked the guard to bring two glasses, fill them with wine, handed one to the old man, and said, "Come and drink to our covenant."
After the two drank wine, the leader invited Tashi Guye to be a guest in the village. Tashiguye was originally curious about the weird things in this tribe, so he happily accepted the leader's invitation and immediately took Jiawo and seven or eight soldiers to the village with the leader.
A path stretches between the stream and the mountains. The roadside is full of dense forests and deep grass. The clear stream rushed all the way, and the cool evening breeze blew silently, making people feel somewhat cool. Along the road, you can see extremely simple and narrow huts built with grass and pine leaves scattered sparsely on the side of the road. And whenever they pass by these huts, they can see some naked women and children standing on the roadside in front of the houses with smiling faces painted in four colors, looking at them with strange eyes. As they watched, it seemed that what was strange and surprising was not themselves, but these people in clothes they had never seen before.
Seeing that there were only women and children here but no men, Tashiguye asked, "Why don't they see any men here?"
Gavo explained, "When I heard that the Quito army was coming to the village, the men were so frightened that they hid."
Tashiguye asked the leader to say to the women and children, "Tell them that the Quito army is not here to attack them, but to give them the brilliance and warmth of the Sun God."
After walking for about two or three miles, I saw four or five larger huts on the edge of a relatively spacious and flat forest between mountains and streams. These huts are made of pine tree trunks of the same size buried in the ground to form a circular house shape, and the gaps between the trunks are sealed with mud. The roof is also an umbrella shape made of pine tree trunks, and is covered with mud and weed leaves. Therefore, the house looks very low and narrow. This is the house of the local chieftain.
When we arrived at the leader's house, it was already dark. Tashiguye asked the soldiers to stand guard around the house, and he took Jiawo and the leader towards a lighted room. As soon as he entered the house, he saw three women of different ages and a man in his thirties lying on the ground covered with several animal skins under the light of a lit pine tree. The man was hugging a girl who was fifteen or sixteen years old.
Seeing the leader coming with a strange guest, they stood up from the ground and made room for the guest. Zhaxiguye stood in front of the door and looked at the room, which was less than ten square meters. Most of it was covered with animal skins, and he knew that this was their bedroom. However, with so many people sleeping in one bedroom, and men and women living together, it felt a bit overwhelming.
He really didn't want to sit with these dark and dirty savages, but before he could hesitate, the two women had already stood up from the animal skins, came to him, and then hugged him one by one. , almost sitting him down on a large piece of animal skin. Watching him sit down, Gavo also sat on another animal skin next to him.
After being introduced by the leader, Tashi Guye found out that the older woman was called Geba, and she was the leader's sister. The young woman named Maori next to her is her sister's eldest daughter. The man in his thirties was called Pitika, and he was the son of the leader's sister. But to the men here, their sisters' children are their own children. Because people here do not have marriage, although men and women live together with their mothers, men and women can live together at will after they become adults. Therefore, if a child born to a woman does not have a father, the woman's brother is the child's father. And the thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl is called Mama, the youngest daughter of the Geba woman. Therefore, the leader is also the father of the three of them.
Listening to the leader's introduction, Tashi Guye was very surprised and puzzled by the scene of a family of young and old living together. However, he knew that these tribes and foreigners had lived in this primitive and barbaric state for generations. They don't understand civilization and decency at all, so they can only slowly educate and transform them.
The two women sat next to Tashiguye, holding his shoulders while moving their faces painted in four colors towards him, making all kinds of affection and showoffs towards him. This made Tashi Guye feel unable to sit still, but the leader seemed very happy, as if these two women had won him so much face and glory. He asked the little girl named Mama to fetch several large pieces of meat from the nearby room. He gave the largest piece to Tashiguye first, and then gave a piece to Jiawo, himself and his son.
Tashiguye looked at the firelight and saw that it was a piece of raw meat with blood on it and a strong fishy smell. Tashiguye felt unable to eat it at first sight, and even felt a little nauseous. But Jiawo told him that giving meat to guests is the most noble courtesy for locals. If you don't eat it, the leader will feel that you are not close to him or sincere.
After listening to Jiawo's words and watching the leader and his son chewing large pieces of raw meat with gusto, Tashiguye felt like vomiting and felt very embarrassed. Jiawo saw him holding the raw meat with a troubled expression on his face, so he went out and brought a pile of pine branches, lit them in the open space next to him, and asked Tashiguye to roast the meat on the fire and eat it. The meat is cooked, and you realize it is venison when you eat it, and it is very fragrant.
