The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
Early the next morning, Captain Hernando led six cavalrymen including Antonio and Santos to the gate of the temple courtyard. The captain asked everyone to wait outside the door and entered the Inca King's meeting room. At this time, Atahualpa had just gotten up and was being washed and gargled by his two beloved concubines. When he saw Hernando coming, he pointed to a colorful knotted rope on the table. Hernando knew that the Incas had no writing and that their road was a kind of knotted rope. The knotted rope is made very delicately, and it looks like it is only used by members of the royal family. The Spaniards couldn't understand the rope-knot writing at all, so they picked up the road sign from the table and put it in their pocket. Then left the temple.
The Spaniards had not been to Bambamarca, but they rode their horses along the marching road leading to Bambamarca. The royal marching road was relatively flat at first, but when it entered the mountains, it began to go up and down. It went up from the deep valley to the top of the high slope, and then went down from the top of the high slope to the deep valley. But the scenery along the way is very clear and beautiful. Under the sun, the hills are covered with flowers, grass and green trees, and streams sometimes flow along the roadside, sometimes falling from the cliffs. There are groups of goats grazing leisurely on the hillside, and eagles are circling silently in the sky. From time to time, you can see some low farmhouses and Inca people on the roadside and in the valley. These Inca people are very simple and hospitable. When they see outsiders, they smile at them with curiosity and friendliness. The Spaniards also waved and gestured towards them in a friendly way. Seeing that the Spaniards were very friendly, they invited the Spaniards to their homes. However, the Spaniards were busy on their way, so they had to wave to them and ride away in a hurry. It was dusk when they reached the small town of Bambamaka.
The town is not very big, with narrow and winding streets lined with low and simple bungalows. These bungalows are built of mud and wooden boards. Under the afterglow of the evening sun, you can see some people wearing shabby clothes squatting in front of the door eating dinner, and some farmers are driving three or two goats back from outside. Perhaps they saw the Spaniards coming on their tall horses, so people came out of their houses to watch and discuss them curiously.
Walking through the short street of the town, you can see a castle. The castle is built with large stones and is very solid and impressive. The castle is very large and surrounds a military camp. As soon as the Spaniards arrived at the city gate, they saw Usaka, the highest commander in the castle, and Supaipa, the deputy chief, waiting here.
Hernando and the soldiers did not dismount, but showed Usaka and the others the route given by King Atahualpa. After seeing the road signs, they showed great enthusiasm and said, "Welcome, guests of our king."
Martin rode on his horse and introduced to the Incas, "Captain Hernando is the brother of the Marquis Pizarro, the commander of our Spanish Expeditionary Force."
After hearing these words, the Inca officer seemed more enthusiastic and polite, bowing and nodding to Hernando, and then led the Spanish cavalry towards the castle. Entering the castle from the castle gate is a large playground. There are several long military barracks buildings around the playground. But the whole castle seemed quiet, except for some soldiers standing guard on the castle and on the playground.
Hernando asked Usaka, "I heard that you have more than 3,000 soldiers here. Why don't you see any of them?"
Usaka said, "In order to welcome you, our king's distinguished guests, we asked the soldiers to stay in the barracks and keep quiet to show our respect for you."
But Hernando shook his head and said, "If you really show respect for us, you should let the soldiers conduct a formation training on the playground and line up to welcome us."
Usaka immediately nodded and said, "It's already a little late today. Tomorrow morning, I will ask all the soldiers to line up to show you the high respect of our Inca soldiers."
Hernando said, "Good."
At this time, they came to a house next to the playground. Maybe they were a little hungry, but the Spaniards could smell the smell of meat from a distance. They dismounted in front of the room and tied the horses to the big tree next to the playground. Then, along with the Inca, they entered the house. The lamps were lit in the house, and wolf meat, rabbit meat, and mutton were already laid out on the table under the lamps, as well as tomatoes, potatoes, and boiled corn.
The Spaniards had walked all day and only ate some dried venison and tortillas at noon. They were already hungry now. They sat at the dining table and prepared to eat. However, the Incas did not attend the table. Hernando asked Usaka and the others to eat together. However, Martin told Hernando that when the Incas invited others to dinner, the host usually did not attend. After hearing this, the Spaniards were not polite and began to eat hungrily.
After dinner, Hernando asked the Incas to show them the cell where Huascar was imprisoned. Usaka, Supaipa and others took the Spaniard out of the restaurant, walked through the playground, went up the stairs to the top of the castle, and came to a round tower-shaped stone house. Usaka asked the soldiers to open the iron door.
Because the room was dark, the soldiers entered and lit oil lamps. Before Hernando entered the house, he smelled a very unpleasant stench. When they entered the house, they saw that there was only a small bed in the hut. There was only a felt and an animal skin on the bed, and a piece of dirty and torn clothes, which were covered with specks of blood. That's the blood spurted from squeezing lice. There are two silver pots on the ground beside the bed, one for eating and one for defecation. Look at the blood-streaked phlegm stains everywhere on the ground.
Hernando couldn't help but get angry and asked loudly, "Is this the residence of your Inca king? Didn't you say that he lived like the Inca king?"
Seeing that the Spanish governor was so angry, the Incas lowered their heads and did not dare to say anything.
Hernando immediately asked, "Where did you get Huascar?"
Usaka asked sternly at Supaipa, "Speak, what did you do to Huascar?"
Supaipa said tremblingly, "We heard that his men were going to riot in the southern provinces and came to rescue Huascar, so we hurriedly executed him, because once their king was executed, they would be gone." hope."
Usaka cursed, "You are so brave. Why didn't you report it to King Atahualpa and execute his brother?"
Supaipa said very aggrievedly, "The king was captured by the Spaniards. How can we report it?"
Usaka looked very helpless and said to Hernando, "It's only because I went to Cusco and I wasn't here that they caused such a big trouble for me. Let King Atahualpa scold me." Damn it, he only blamed me for executing his brother. Do you think I was unjust or not?" As he said that, he looked very pitiful and painful.
The ridiculous Incas didn't know that the Spaniards were much smarter than them. If this were not the case, then it was not the Incas who were imprisoned, but the Spaniards. Therefore, how could they deceive the Spaniards with this drama.
Looking at their very stupid double acts and performances, the Spaniards felt irritated and ridiculous. Hernando put his hands on his hips, eyes wide with anger, and said to Usaka, "Since you said Huascar was executed by you, I want to see his body. Otherwise, your words are lies."
Usaka was panicked when he heard this, because he did not expect the Spaniards to see Huascar's body. He turned to Supaipa and asked, "General, where did you dump Huascar's body?"
Supaipa was also very frightened. He couldn't speak for a long time without saying anything.
Usaka was annoyed and said, "You are just talking!"
Supaipa, almost crying, said, "I sank him in the river."
"No way, it's a complete lie," Hernando said.
Supaipa said again and again, "I really sank him in the river."
But Hernando still didn't believe it. In order to make Supaipa tell the truth, he suddenly thought of a way. This method was used by him when dealing with a fight between two Indian soldiers in the military camp. At that time, the two Indian soldiers who were fighting each had their own opinions and argued on their own side. Hernando listened for a long time without figuring out who was responsible. Later, it was Martin who yelled at the two soldiers, "You two promise to King Inca that you are telling the truth." After hearing this, the two soldiers began to tell the truth with fear. Because they did not dare to lie to the Inca King. Lying to the Inca King would be punished, and this punishment was often the death penalty. So Hernando said to Supaipa, "General, you promise the Inca King that everything you say is the truth."
General Supaipa said very seriously and solemnly, "I swear to our supreme and respected Inca King that if anything I say is a lie, the earth will open and swallow me alive."
But Hernando still had doubts and said to General Supaipa reluctantly, "Bring the body up immediately and let me see it, otherwise I will not believe it."
General Supaipa had no choice but to say, "Yes, I will send people to salvage it immediately."
So General Supaipa immediately asked General Utahama behind him to lead the soldiers to the river to recover Huascar's body.
Usaka asked the Spaniard to go inside and rest for a while, but Hernando insisted on waiting by the river. By this time, it was getting dark. Usaka led the Spaniards out of the castle gate and followed a path to the river. The wind by the river is very strong, making people feel a little cool and chilly. The river is not very wide, but it is roaring and the waves are rumbling. If a person falls into the river, he will be swept away instantly.
Soon, some soldiers were seen following General Utahama with torches. General Utahama asked a soldier to take off his clothes, tied a rope around his waist, and asked several soldiers to pull him slowly into the water. However, the soldier lurked in the water for a while, but did not find Huascar's body. Seeing that the soldier was shivering from the cold, Hernando waved his hand and said, "Forget it, I won't look for him anymore."
At night, Usaka arranged for five other Spanish soldiers to stay in a large room in Supaipa's house. General Supaipa first gave each Spanish soldier a silver pot. This kind of silver jar is the same one used as a lunch box and bedpan for Huascar. There are many such silver jars in many castles. Moreover, the Incas did not regard gold and silver as very precious. Then, he asked two young and beautiful concubines to carry wine bottles and pour wine for them, so that they could drink to their heart's content before resting.
Hernando was arranged by Usaka to spend the night in his own home. Usaka knew that the Spaniards liked gold, so he took out a very exquisite gold plate and gave it to Hernando. The plate is carved with a puma playing with several butterflies, which is very interesting.
Hernando had never seen such a delicate and beautiful gold plate, and was amazed at the Inca's exquisite craftsmanship. Usaka was very pleased to see Hernando like it so much. He said to Hernando in a pleading tone, "To tell you the truth, Huascar was actually sunk into the river and executed by General Supaipa and several other generals. Not only did our king not know about this in advance, , even I didn’t know about it in advance. So, please ask the captain to say something nice in front of the commander after he goes back, and don’t let the commander pursue this matter anymore. Because once the matter is investigated, not only will the king be in trouble, but I am afraid that I will be too. Life is at stake.”
While Hernando kept looking at the gold plate, he replied, "General, please don't worry too much. I will explain it clearly to the commander. I believe that after listening to my words, he will not trouble your king again." .”
Usaka said gratefully, "Thank you, Captain." Then he called his favorite concubine to come over and accompany the Captain to drink and have fun.
