The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
As Prince Bescarra, the chief of Tungula Province, reported to Inca King Atahualpa, in the next few days, all kinds of gold and silver objects were carried on people's shoulders or on llamas. Shipments continued to Cajamarca from Cusco and other places. Moreover, these days, the Spanish Marquis Pizarro has not come to question the Inca King again because of Huascar's murder, which makes Atahualpa's mood and mood slowly improve.
His table was filled with exquisite gold plates, silver lamps and emeralds. These are the tributes presented to him by princes and ministers. Every time he had a meal, he no longer had more than a dozen concubines to serve him and eat alone as in the past. Instead, he called the concubines and children to eat together, and everyone was happy and happy. He also started to dress more carefully. He wore the red-tasseled Bora crown, with two extraordinarily long and gorgeous feathers swaying gracefully on the top of his head, and the crown was tied with gold ornaments. Wearing an extra large emerald necklace on her neck and shin. The kind of clothes made of man-eating spider down can be changed almost every day. At the same time, his energy and complexion were much better than the previous days.
On this day, he played several games of chess with Peterya. Because he won two games, he was very happy and immediately gave Peterya a very exquisite gold plate. It's not that Petya couldn't beat Atahualpa, but that he had a wild night with the Inca girl named Chichnina last night and didn't get a good rest. He didn't have enough energy and concentration when playing chess, so he lost consecutively. Got two sets. Unexpectedly, he was rewarded by the Inca King for this.
Then, the two began to play chess again and continued fighting. However, before the game of chess was played, the Spanish Marquis broke in with Hernando, Robert and the translator Martin, regardless of the prince guarding the gate. Seeing the aggressive look of Marquis Pizarro, Atahualpa quickly stood up respectfully and gave up his seat to the Marquis. Others have always given up their seats to him, and this is the first time that he has given up his seat to others.
Pizarro didn't hesitate and sat on the chair. When Peter saw the Marquis coming, he quickly saluted and prepared to hide away. But the Marquis waved his hand and asked him to stay. He gave the stool to Captain Hernando and stood aside.
Not knowing what happened again, Atahualpa asked Pizarro, "What does the Marquis want from me?"
Pizarro pointed at Martin and said, "Let him speak."
Martin told Atahualpa, "We went to Bambamarca a few days ago to investigate the murder of Huascar. In the local area and in the military camp, we heard that the Incas were gathering in Bambamarca and were preparing to launch an attack on the Spaniards. Uprising." In fact, this rumor came from Martin. Because the Inca King locked his beloved lover, Princess Gina, in that hut and refused to let her out, and even sued him in front of the Marquis. He knew that if Atahualpa did not die, then he would not be able to meet Princess Gina again, let alone fall in love together, and Princess Gina would even encounter something unexpected. Therefore, when he saw the Inca troops performing formations and military performances in the Bambamarca Castle military camp that day, he thought about posing some problems for Atahualpa and asking the Spanish Marquis to put pressure on the Inca King again.
When the Inca king heard this, he immediately became anxious and said, "This is absolutely impossible."
But Martin said, "Now there are such rumors not only in Bambamarca, but even the Incas in the Spanish military camp have different opinions about it."
Of course Atahualpa did not know that there were Inca soldiers in the Spanish camp, but he retorted to Martin in an angry tone, saying, "This is completely impossible. I can assure you that without my order, there would be no possibility." An Inca would take up arms against the Spanish.”
Pizarro said, "I don't want something like this to happen, but with this kind of legend spreading everywhere, I think it's better to have no smoke without fire."
The Inca King explained to Pizarro, "Dear Marquis, I am being imprisoned and controlled by you. If I plan a mutiny or an uprising, wouldn't I be the first to be unlucky?" Then, the Inca King added, "This is a completely baseless fabrication and rumor. Do you think I would risk my own life?"
Pizarro was obviously stuck by the words of the Inca King, but he said, "I heard from your people that there is a large-scale demolition and removal of gold in Cusco, but there are very few people dragging their feet these days. Ladi came over from Cusco. Obviously, you are deliberately stalling for time or dealing with it passively."
In fact, he saw large numbers of Indians coming from the south carrying large amounts of gold on their backs every day, and the amount of gold in the room where the Inca king was imprisoned was increasing day by day. He had never seen so much gold, and he never thought that there was so much gold in this country. Therefore, he regretted that the price he asked for when signing the agreement with the Inca King was too low. Therefore, he wanted to continue to put pressure on the Inca King.
However, because Atahualpa could not leave the monastery, he did not know the progress of the Golden Fortune Collection. After hearing Pizarro's dissatisfaction and blame, he explained, "Dear Marquis, you must know that a letter passed through here. The fastest delivery time from the inn to Cusco is five or six days. How long would it take for a large piece of gold to be transported here on people's backs? I think it would take at least two or three weeks. . Therefore, I advise the Marquis not to be anxious, I will definitely collect enough gold within the stipulated time."
In order to convince the Spaniards of his loyalty, Atahualpa even said, "If the Marquis has doubts about my words, you can send a few people you trust to Cusco or other places to have a look. On the one hand, you can supervise As for the progress of the gold and silver transportation work, on the one hand, you can check whether anyone is preparing to take hostile actions against you. I can issue you a safe pass. With this pass, you will be welcomed and entertained wherever you go without having to Worried about personal safety.”
Pizarro had always hoped to get relevant information about the Inca Kingdom's gold and silver reserves, military deployment, town distribution, national sentiment and geological features. After hearing what the Inca King said, he immediately nodded in agreement and said, "This is a good idea. .Then please ask the Inca King to prepare some safe passes for us."
The Inca king went into the hut next door, took out several identical knotted ropes and handed them to Pizarro.
This kind of knotted rope consists of several different colors of strings arranged with some small knots on the strings, which is very exquisite. In fact, this is the writing of the Incas. Different colors and knots represent different meanings and languages. Of course, this language is incomprehensible to Spaniards.
Pizarro got a safe pass and took the people away. Facing the unfinished game, Atahualpa had no intention of playing anymore. He was in a daze for a while, and then said to Petya, "Do you believe that I will plan an attack on the Spanish? "
Petya shook his head and said, "I haven't heard of it."
Atahualpa let out a long sigh and said, "This must be someone trying to frame me."
Petera said, "But who will frame you, my lord?"
"Yes," Atahualpa said, puzzled. So, he said to Peter, "Can you help me ask where this thing is?"
Petya thought for a while and said, "Okay, I'll go find Robert now. He is the Marquis' secretary and must know something about the situation."
Petera rode to the barracks to find Robert, and the sentinel said he had gone to the rescue house. The Salvation House was the house where the Inca King was imprisoned in the past. Because the Inca King signed a gold-for-freedom agreement with Pizarro there, the Spaniards called that house the Salvation House or the Treasury. So Petera came to the house of salvation. Although the Inca King is no longer imprisoned here, the original guard posts have not been reduced at all, because guarding the gold is as important as guarding the Inca King.
There were many Indians in front of the house. Some of them were carrying large pieces of gold on their backs waiting to be moved into the house; some were sitting on the ground, drinking mountain spring water from copper cans, and eating solid food; some simply lay on the cold ground, Breathing weakly. Each of them was covered in sweat and dust, with a bitter expression showing that they had endured a lot of hard work. Obviously, they came here from afar.
Robert was holding a pen and a notebook, going in and out, and kept registering the gold and silver items brought one by one. Because there were so many people coming in and out, he seemed particularly busy. Petya dismounted and walked to the front of the house. A sergeant on duty who had the same position as him stopped him politely and said, "The Marquis has an order. No one is allowed to enter without his permission."
Petya said, "I won't go in, so I'll just stand in front of the door and take a look." The sergeant let him go.
He walked to the door of the house and looked inside. This sight really shocked him. He had never seen so much gold. He thought that not only he, but also the King of Spain had never seen so much gold. The gold is almost piled up to the height of a person. The big ones weigh tens of kilograms, and the small ones only have dozens of grams. There are all kinds of gold. Every item is so exquisite and unique, incredible, golden and sparkling, which makes people's hearts wander. , unable to hold on to oneself.
Seeing that Robert was busy, he stood aside and waited. When he saw an Indian farmer sitting on the ground eating corn dumplings, he asked him in Quechua, which he was not very proficient in, "Where are you coming from?" of?"
When the man saw Petya asking him a question, he looked flattered and said, "I'm from Cusco."
Petya asked again, "Who sent you here to transport gold items?"
The man said, "He was sent by the village chief."
Petya nodded and said, "How many days did it take to get here from Cusco?"
The man did the math and said, "It took almost fifteen or six days of walking and resting."
Petya pointed to a large golden lion statue next to him and said, "You are carrying such a large gold object, aren't you afraid that others will snatch it?"
The man smiled and said, "No one will rob it." Because gold is only used to decorate temples and palaces, and is of no use to the Inca people. Just as Petya was about to lift the golden lion with his hands to see how heavy it was, he saw the sergeant on duty coming over and shouting to the farmer, "Move it into the house quickly."
The farmer put the corn rice balls on the cloth bag on the ground, stood up, picked up the golden lion, and walked in line towards the house.
After a while, Robert finally finished his work and asked the sergeant on duty to lock the three doors one by one. Then he walked towards Peterya and asked, "What do you want from me?"
Peterya said, "Let me ask you something."
Robert nodded and asked, "What's the matter?"
Petera said, "What's the matter with saying that the Inca king is planning to raise an army?"
Robert touched his head and said, "I don't know too well. Martin said he heard the news from Bambamarca. He also said that there were three thousand Inca soldiers gathered in Bambamarca, and there were still many It continues to increase. They are all clamoring to come and rescue their king."
Peterya asked again, "You also said that there are such rumors in our barracks?"
Robert said, "Those Indian soldiers in our barracks used to be from Huascar, and they hated Atahuallpa and kept shouting, lest the world be in chaos and lest Atahuallpa would die a good death. .”
Petera nodded and said, "Do you think what Martin said is credible?"
Robert smiled unconvincingly and said, "Who can explain this clearly to Martin? I heard that the Inca King imprisoned his sweetheart, do you think he can't gnash his teeth with hatred?"
Petya said, "The Marquis should know that Martin's words are not true, so why do you still believe him?"
Robert said, "Maybe the Marquis has his own ideas, and I can't tell you more about that." Then, Robert asked, "Did Atahualpa ask you to ask me?"
Petya nodded and said, "He was very panicked by these words and wanted me to understand what was going on."
Robert said to Peter in a warning tone, "You play chess with the Inca King all day long. It's okay, but there are some things you can't say to him casually. If something is wrong, the Marquis will have to do it." Hold you accountable.”
Petya said, "I understand that."
