The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
The Mantaro River in the early morning was very clear, the cool breeze blew quietly, and the sun was still blocked by half of the mountain peaks. Therefore, half of the valley was illuminated by golden light, and the other half was shaded. Standing by the river and looking towards the valley, I saw white military camp tents, at least a thousand of them, set up in the flat and wide valley.
When the suburbs within more than 20 kilometers of the capital city of Cusco were in extreme terror, King Atahualpa of Quito, who carefully planned and personally directed this retaliatory massacre, was taking his queen and The concubine enjoys the tranquility and tranquility of the small town of Haoha.
After breakfast that day, King Atahualpa took his queen and concubines for a tour and walk on the banks of the Mantaro River as usual. King Quida was surrounded by his concubines and supported by his two favorite young concubines, Kuta and Maka, as he walked slowly along the green grassy bank.
Yina and Uga are also two sisters. Although they were the favored concubines of Atahualpa's father, King Huayna Capac, after King Capac's death, the sisters became the favored concubines of Atahualpa. Because in the Inca Empire, a prince could not only inherit his father's throne, but also inherit his father's concubines. The same is true for the common people of Inca. Not only can a son inherit his father's wife, but if one of his brothers dies, the older brother or younger brother will inherit his brother's wife.
In fact, sisters Yina and Wuga are not very old, only in their early twenties at most. Moreover, they are all daughters of the prince of Quito. Not only are they extremely talented, but they are also very individual and are deeply favored by the young king.
When they accompanied the king on a meadow full of purple flowers by the river, Wuga picked a few small flowers on the ground, placed them in front of the king's nose, and asked him, "Do you smell good?"
The king didn't even smell it and said, "It smells good."
Uga said, "I heard people say that the flowers in the Cusco Valley are the most fragrant."
The king raised his eyes towards her and asked, "Who did you listen to?"
Uga said, "King Wayna Capak said that to me."
When the king heard this, he remained silent.
At this time, the youngest Concubine Maca boldly asked, "Your Majesty, I have heard people talk about Inca and Cusco all day long, but what do they mean?"
The king said, "Inca and Cusco are both Quechua languages. Inca means descendants of the sun, and Cusco is the navel of the world, that is, the center of the world."
As soon as Uga heard the king talking about Cusco, he asked the king, "How far is it from Cusco?"
The king said, "It seems that there are still four hundred kilometers. If I let you go, it will take at least seven or eight days to walk."
Uga said, "Even if it takes me forty to fifty days, I'm willing to do it." Then he said, "Has your Majesty been to Cusco?"
The king shook his head and said, "No." Because he was born in Quito and grew up in Quito.
Uga said, "The Incas have a saying that it is a great regret in life that you have not been to Cusco."
The king was startled and asked, "What regrets do you have?"
Uga said, "The late king told my sister and me many places of interest and architecture in Cusco. There were many palaces of emperors, the Temple of the Sun, the Sacsayhuaman Round Castle, and megalithic buildings. There are the Sacred Valley of the Incas, man-made terraces, green gardens, mountains, plateaus, canyons and rivers. The scenery is beautiful and the climate is cool. In the mountains north of Cusco, there are many Inca ruins. The most famous of them This is the Sacsayhuaman Stone Village. The stone village is divided into three floors, each of which is composed of pleated stone walls that can be used as combat shelters. The stone walls here are made of larger stones, and some are as big as a yard. . Not far from the stone village, there are also stone wall relics such as the royal cemetery, the clear spring where noble women bathed, and the altar for worshiping gods, which show people the height reached by the civilization of the ancient Inca Empire. And in the northwest of Cusco, there are 100 stone walls. On a plateau more than kilometers away, there is the ruins of an ancient city called Machu Picchu, which means ancient mountaintop, on a very high mountain. The ancient city is surrounded by cliffs and abyss on both sides. At the foot of the mountain, the Urubamba River flows rapidly and the surrounding mountains are steep. Surrounded by ridges, densely covered by jungles, and hidden in clouds and mist, Shicheng gives people a sense of mystery. These are fascinating places. Don’t you want to go and have a look, your Majesty?”
For Atahualpa, Cusco was a place that was both familiar and very strange. That place can be said to be the capital of his father and ancestors. However, he has never been to this place, but he has never felt any regrets. Because he is only half Inca and half Quito. His maternal grandfather had been King of Quito. When his father, Emperor Huayna Capac, fought a life-and-death battle with his maternal grandfather in Quito, his mother was only sixteen years old and the princess of the king of Quito. After that war, the Inca king conquered the Kingdom of Quito, and his grandfather died in hatred. Later, my father married the princess of the Kingdom of Quito. That princess is his mother. After he was born, he followed his father in the war and counterinsurgency in the north of Quito. Therefore, my father never returned to Cusco, and he never went to Cusco. But many princes and relatives from Cusco told him about Cusco. Originally, he was still full of curiosity and yearning for Cusco. However, the fight for the throne made him have extreme hatred and contempt for Cusco. Therefore, after listening to Uga talking so highly about Cusco, he couldn't express his hatred and contempt for Cusco. He just said, "Actually, it's not as good there as you think."
But Wu Ga said, "That's because you haven't been there and don't know how beautiful it is there."
Of course, her sister Yina understood the king's inner feelings towards Cusco. Seeing that her sister did not know the world and the etiquette, she was afraid of making the king angry, so she scolded Uga and said, "How can you talk to the king like this? You are not afraid of the king. If you are angry, will you be punished?"
Wu Ga said disapprovingly, "The king has always been magnanimous and does not consider the faults of villains. How can he be so stingy as you said?"
The king also said, "Only Wuga dares to speak to me like this. However, I like her innocent and straightforward personality."
After hearing this, Uga became more and more bold and said to the king, "You have been the king for a long time, so it is time for you to go on a tour in Cusco and take us to see the scenery and customs there. It’s really not easy for us and the king to climb mountains and wade all the way to get here, so why don’t you take us to Cusco?” Several concubines beside them also begged and said, “Your Majesty, please take us to Cusco. Ke?"
King Atahualpa was really not interested in Cusco and was even a little disgusted. However, seeing that his concubines were pleading with him, he said, "Let me think about it." Then he said to the concubines, " Return to the palace."
The palace the king is talking about is not a royal palace, but a palace located beside the river and the main road. The palace is a small courtyard surrounded by walls, with two or three rows of houses in the courtyard. The room in the middle of the front row is the meeting room of King Qui. That was the place where the king spent the most time in a day. Especially in the past month or two, I have been locked in a room with some princes and ministers almost every day to discuss and talk about some major events.
As soon as he returned to the small courtyard surrounded by his concubines, Haya ran over and said, "Report to the king, the palace guard Usaka has returned from Cusco."
When the king heard this, he immediately threw away the concubines and walked quickly towards the meeting room. When he entered the meeting room, Usaka was already kneeling on the ground waiting for him. Before he sat down on the chair, he hurriedly asked, "Is there any news about that damn Prince Manco?"
Prince Manco and Prince Huascar were the legal heirs to the throne of the Inca Empire. Huascar was the son of Huayna Capac the Great and his biological sister Rava Oculo. Prince Manco was the son of Emperor Huayna Capac and his cousin Mama Lentu. King Tupac Inca Yupanqui, father of Huayna Capac the Great and the eleventh king of the Inca Empire, and all members of his Senate issued an order to declare Rava Oculo and Mama Lun The two wives in the picture are both the legal wives of King Huayna Capak, namely Kaya. It is precisely because Manco has such a pure and noble identity that his slipping through the net made Atahualpa feel very worried and uneasy.
Usacca timidly replied, "However, there is no news about Prince Manco. Both Huascar and his assistant minister, Prince Barbara Palca, said that Manco went to the province of Ayacucho to mobilize troops. . However, I sent people there, and the people there said that Manco had indeed been there to mobilize troops, and had recruited almost 10,000 soldiers. However, when he heard that Huascar was captured, he We rushed back to Cusco that night. We arrested his family and interrogated him, and their family members said he never returned to Cusco.”
Usaka added, "Later, some people said they had seen him in the Yucai Valley, so I sent someone to go there with Huascars's false letter, but the people there said he was We left the Yukai Valley and went to Urubamba. I sent people to Urubamba again, but the people over there said that Prince Manco had never been here at all."
When King Atahualpa heard this, his brow suddenly knitted into a knot, because he knew that although Huascar had been captured and imprisoned by him, he could be executed at any time. However, after Huascar's death, someone would immediately elect Manco as king. Therefore, this Manco may be a big worry for him in the future. So, he asked sternly, "Why don't you send someone to look for it elsewhere?"
Usaka said, "I sent people to all the provinces to inquire, but no one knew his whereabouts."
King Quida pondered for a moment and said, "I don't think he is a young boy who can make big waves. However, I still have to continue to inquire about his whereabouts. Once I find out his whereabouts, I will find some way to capture him alive. I will kill all members of the Inca royal family without leaving any further trouble."
Usaka immediately echoed and said, "Please don't worry, Your Majesty. I have sent many people to investigate. As soon as there is news, we can quickly capture him and bring him to justice."
Atahualpa nodded, and then continued to ask, "How many ministers in the Inca palace, governors and chiefs of various provinces and regions have not been captured?"
Usaka thought for a while and said, "Prince Cucabala, the general manager of the Cusco Palace, Ubaru, the chief of Tacna Province, and Prince Hualakabua, the governor of Pasco Province, have not been found yet."
The king said very displeasedly, "You didn't ask where they all went?"
The palace guard said, "We conducted strict interrogations on Huascar and other ministers. They all said that Huascar was sent to recruit soldiers. However, I sent people to the place where they recruited soldiers to arrest them. Those who were sent came back and said that no one there knew where they had gone.”
The king said, "You didn't ask their families?"
The guard officer said, "I asked, but they said they were sent to other provinces by the king."
The king shook his head and said, "No, we must re-interrogate them, and we must find every way to make them tell the truth."
The guard said dumbfounded, "But they have all been executed."
The king finally came to his senses, because he had personally given these orders. He thought for a moment and then said, "Those ministers and provincial governors are nothing. What I am most worried about is Prince Manco. If he is not caught, he may cause trouble in the future."
The guard said, "Before Manco is caught, it is best not to execute Huascar. As long as Huascar does not die, Manco will not be able to become the king of the Incas, and no one will elect him as the king of the Incas. "
The king nodded and said, "Even if Manco is captured, I will not execute Huascar immediately, because as long as the Inca people are not extinct, Huascar cannot be executed. Although I killed almost all the Inca royal family members and princes and nobles, It's gone, but the Incas still exist all over the country, and they will not be willing to accept the rule of me, a king who is not an Inca exile. Therefore, whenever there is trouble or rebellion among the Incas, I can use Huascar's Discipline them.”
The guard said, "Your Majesty is wise and far-sighted."
