The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
Within a few days, while King Atahualpa of Quito was drinking with Chalkuchma, the commander of the northern army, and Ruminawi, the commander of the central army, Haya came to report that an envoy from King Huascar had arrived. , waiting for the summons in the meeting hall. So King Atahualpa came to the council chamber.
When he entered the meeting hall and saw that the envoy was an Inca prince whom he did not know, he asked the envoy in a very rude tone and asked, "What is the purpose of your Majesty in sending you here to see me?"
Seeing the gloomy and angry look on King Quito's face, the messenger couldn't help but feel a little cold in his heart. He quickly replied, "King Huascar said that the late king had an explanation with you and the king before his death: the king gave the Kingdom of Quito to You come to rule, but you must surrender to the king, lead the army to conquer the land, and hand over the conquered territory to the Inca King to control and classify it as part of the Inca Empire. Now the prince has conquered a large area of land in the northeast, according to The legacy of the late king must be handed over to the Inca emperor, and at the same time, the prince must also pay tribute to the Inca king as a minister and obey the king's orders."
Atahualpa sat on a big chair, knocked the scepter in his hand hard on the chair, and said in a nasal and guttural drawl, "Have I not agreed to all of your king's requests? Are you done? Why, is there anything your Majesty is dissatisfied with?"
The envoy replied, "Yes, Prince Quito has already agreed to these requests to King Huascar, but Prince Quito only agreed but did not take any action. Prince Quito promised to go to the capital of Cusco to present to King Huascar the Inca. Many days have passed since I bowed my head and swore allegiance, but Prince Quito has not left. What’s more, Prince Quito led 30,000 elite troops on a parade in preparation for war. For this reason, our king is very grateful. Angry and annoyed.”
Atahualpa said, "So I have made your king angry again?"
The messenger said, "Yes, our king is very angry and warned that if you cannot leave for the capital city of Cusco immediately, Chief Chamul will be sent to the north with an army of 40,000 to conquer."
Originally, the envoy thought that these words would make the prince of the Quito Kingdom in front of him feel scared. However, Atahualpa smiled sarcastically and said, "Your king has a very hot temper. Just for such a trivial matter. Forty thousand troops traveled long distances and fought hard to defeat me. If so, would I still dare to go to Cusco? Go back and talk to your king, don't let him get so angry."
When the messenger heard this, he felt something was wrong. Originally, he was here to issue orders to Prince Quito on behalf of the supreme Inca King Huascar. However, he saw Prince Quito sitting crookedly on a chair, looking condescending and cold. Arrogant majesty and ridicule, as if he was not speaking on behalf of the supreme Inca emperor, but listening to the instructions of the Prince of Quito. So, the messenger said in a tentative tone, "So, the prince is not planning to go to Cusco to swear allegiance to King Huascar?"
Prince Quito crossed his hands, sat up a little straighter, and said to the envoy in a nonchalant but provocative tone, "Yes, you can go back and tell your king, just say I am Atahualpa." Since I was a child, I have been fighting life-and-death battles with my father in the north and south. It can be said that he has outstanding military exploits and hard work, but what battles has Huascar fought and what achievements has he made? Why does he always have to ask me to surrender to him and pay my allegiance and tribute? "
Then, without waiting for the messenger to answer, he added, "Besides, the Kingdom of Quito was originally my grandfather's kingdom. Although it was later conquered and occupied by my father, my father returned it to me and my mother before his death. How? Can we say that it was Huascar who gave it to me? He, Huascar, got the entire Inca Empire because he was lucky and did not work hard. What else is he dissatisfied with and wants to interfere in my Kingdom of Quito? "
At this point, he became angry and said, "Go back and tell your king that I, the King of Quito, will not obey his control and control, nor will I go to Cusco to swear allegiance to him."
The envoy was startled when he heard this and said, "As a prince of the Inca Empire, if you don't obey the control and instructions of the Inca King, you are committing treason and betrayal, and you will be beheaded and the entire clan will be exterminated."
King Keta laughed loudly and said, "Who will kill whose head and whose clan will be destroyed? It is still uncertain." Then he solemnly said to the envoy, "Go back and say to your king, I am Ata King Valpa has nothing to do with him. If he doesn't understand the current situation and insists on having trouble with me, then don't think that I, Atahualpa, can't stand him." After saying this, he yelled, "Back off. Get off!" The envoy was so frightened that he crawled out of the meeting hall.
Driving away the envoy sent by Huascar was tantamount to an open break with Cusco. Because resisting the will of the Inca King was rebellion, and for the Inca Empire, rebellion was the most intolerable thing for them. Therefore, King Atahualpa decided to return to Quito immediately to mobilize and deploy in preparation for war.
But both Luminawi and Chalkuchma disagreed. Ruminawi frowned for a while and said, "It's raining heavily, the roads are muddy, and some sections of the roads have been washed away by floods, making it inconvenient to travel."
Chalkuchma also said, "Although the rain has just stopped, I don't know if it will rain again. If there is another heavy rain on the way, let alone the tens of thousands of troops who have nowhere to hide, even the king will suffer from the rain." Besides, the imperial marching road has just been flooded by rain for several days. It is muddy and slippery. If it is trampled by tens of thousands of troops, what will the road look like?"
But King Atahualpa said, "I know that the road is muddy and slippery and is not suitable for large armies to pass. But why can't we arrange for a few elite soldiers to escort and follow them to go first, and let the escort army and other followers wait until the weather clears and the road is clear before returning?"
Seeing that the king had made up his mind and could no longer insist on it, the two important ministers said, "Since the king has made up his mind, we will do as the king wishes." After that, the two of them knelt down and said goodbye to the king.
Early the next morning, the sky was dim, the fog was thick after the heavy rain, and the surroundings of Tumebamba were quiet and silent. At this time, a group of people was seen walking out of the city gate without anyone noticing. Walking in front were several tall camels, on which sat Chalkuchma, Ruminawi and several other high-ranking officials. Behind is a bamboo chair lifted by eight people. On the bamboo chair sits Atahualpa, the king of the Kingdom of Quito. Then came more than 200 palace guards walking on foot holding spears. The concubines and princes were completely unaware that their king had left Tumebamba and quietly returned to Quito.
This operation was so secretive that not even Queen Anna knew about it. Because every time King Atahualpa travels, he must be escorted by tens of thousands of elite soldiers to guard against unexpected events. However, I only brought a few followers and 200 guards with me on this trip. If I didn't keep it secret well and let the news come out, I might be attacked and plotted by alien parties and alien races. Although the north and the south both belonged to the Inca Empire, they had actually become two opposing kings. The province of Cañaris has always been a territory of the Kingdom of Quito, but it has been ruled by the Inca Empire for a long time and is located at the junction of the north and the south. Therefore, the pro-Southern dissident party still has great influence. Furthermore, although the foreign tribes in the north were conquered, they had ulterior motives and were determined to rebel, so they had to guard against them.
It has cleared up after the rain, but the fog has not dispersed. The roads are muddy and muddy, and many places have been damaged by rain. However, the team escorting the king was galloping without stopping. Moreover, just yesterday afternoon, the king had already sent people to notify the various stations and officials along the way to organize manpower to repair the road. Therefore, wherever the imperial team went, they could see that some roads had been repaired long ago, and some roads were being repaired. When the road construction officials and the people saw their king, they all put down their tools and knelt down in the wet mud to salute and worship the king. The king didn't say anything, he just waved lazily towards the road builders and hurried past.
However, when they had just reached the place between the two stations in the deep mountains, they saw the mist from the sky quickly chasing after them along the mountainside and forest edge, passing over their heads. As several thunders sounded on the nearby mountain top, petal-like raindrops began to rain down densely. So King Atahualpa had no choice but to let the royal team stop under a forest to take shelter from the rain.
The heavy rain fell heavily for a while, and then gradually lightened up. At this time, people's clothes were completely soaked. Since everyone's clothes were soaked through, taking shelter from the rain seemed unnecessary. Therefore, King Atahualpa ordered the imperial team to continue on their way.
The rain stopped only when the team arrived at the station at the mountain pass ahead. As soon as the rain passed, the sky cleared up, and a huge arc-shaped rainbow dazzled across the sky above the mountains. The post officer had already made lunch and stood on the rock in front of the post station, eagerly waiting for the king's arrival. Seeing that the king and the royal team were in a state of distress due to the mountain rain, the post officer and the soldiers invited to help hurriedly helped the king into the room that had been prepared in advance. The king's clothes are soaked and must be changed. However, where are the king's clothes in the inn?
So, Haya helped take off the king's soaked clothes, let the king lie on the bed, and covered him with a quilt. Then he brought over a set of civilian clothes that the post officer had found and asked the king to change into it. Unexpectedly, when the king saw that the clothes he brought were not his own, he threw the clothes on the ground angrily.
Haya couldn't help being surprised, and immediately realized that the king had always been very particular about his clothes. The clothes he wore were neither made of fine alpaca wool nor ordinary cotton, but were made of the fine down of a man-eating giant poisonous spider found in the seaside forests of Tumbes. This kind of clothes is not only smooth and soft, but also has a strong texture, is straight and stretched, and has deep colors. In order to please the King of Quito, local officials in Tumbes specially organized a group of farmers to risk their lives to catch giant venomous spiders, and then removed the velvet from the spiders to make clothes for the king. His clothes were always worn once and then thrown away, and he would never wear them a second time. So, how could he wear such a rustic civilian uniform? So, he quickly picked up the clothes from the ground, left the house, called the post officer, and whispered a few words to the post officer.
The post officer immediately called a "Chasky" over. "Chasky" was actually a postman who carried urgent messages between post stations. This young man looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old, short in stature, with dark complexion. He was wearing a uniform and a pair of thin cloth shoes. It is said that they are all specially selected from young people who are fast, loyal and reliable, and have received special professional training. Because the distance between each station is not very far, and there is enough time to rest within the station, they run very fast, and messages or urgent messages can be transmitted on the road at a speed of 240 kilometers per day. On the 1,500-kilometer marching road from Quito to Cusco, there is a post station every few kilometers. The post officer at each station will run as fast as possible to deliver urgent messages and items to the next station. Therefore, it only takes five or six days at most for an urgent message or item to be sent from Quito to Cusco. It only takes two or three hours to get the king's clothes from the city of Tumebamba, which is dozens of miles away. Of course, in addition to news or urgent messages, they are also responsible for delivering aquatic products from coastal areas, fruits from southern areas, and game from remote areas to the capital, so that they can be placed freshly on the royal dining table.
The young postman bowed to Haya and said, "Greetings to the palace attendant."
Haya said, "You must go to the emperor's palace in Tumebamba City as quickly as possible and bring two sets of clothes that the king likes to wear. There must be no mistakes."
The courier said, "Yes, palace attendant, you want me to go to the imperial palace in Tumebamba City as quickly as possible to bring King Atahualpa two sets of clothes that he likes to wear, right?"
Haya said, "Yes."
The postman asked again, "Who should I look for when I go to the emperor's palace?"
Haya said, "You can go to Queen Anna or Princess Ina, remember?"
The postman said, "Remember."
Haya asked again, "When can you come back?"
The postman said, "It's only about thirty kilometers from here to Tumebamba, and it takes about two or three hours to get there and back."
Haya said, "Well, you have to do it as quickly as possible."
The postman said, "Yes." After saying that, he got off the road from the post station and ran south quickly.
Haya returned to the house and said to the king, "Sir, please be patient. Your clothes will be brought from Tumebamba soon."
The king didn't even open his eyes, he just said, "Bring me the food, I'm hungry."
Haya said, "Yes, Your Majesty." Then he personally brought a large plate to the King's bedside and placed it on a small table. These dishes include rabbit and pig's trotters, which the king likes to eat, as well as corn and potatoes. Moreover, these meals were prepared by the palace chef who rode a camel here in advance.
Perhaps the king was really hungry, so he ate all the rabbit meat, pig trotters, corn and potatoes that were served, and then lay on the bed and fell asleep. When he woke up, he saw that the clothes he usually liked to wear were neatly placed beside his bed. He was not surprised at all that the post officer could fetch his clothes from Tumebamba, a city dozens of miles away, so quickly.
