The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
While Hernando led a squad of twenty cavalry into Pachacamac, Alonso took Alvarez and Pedro to Cuzco. The journey they had to take was of course much longer than the journey to Pachacamac, but the road was smoother. There were only three of them in the group, so they walked slowly and leisurely along the Royal Avenue towards Cusco. Because they held the security passes issued by Atahualpa, they were warmly received by local officials and people wherever they went.
As they walked, they recorded the villages and towns along the way, as well as the inns and grain depots along the Royal Road. Therefore, they walked leisurely for more than twenty days before arriving in Cusco. In their minds and imaginations, Cusco should be a capital city full of gold and prosperity. However, when they actually arrived in Cusco, they discovered that not only was there no gold everywhere, nor was it as prosperous as they imagined, on the contrary, it looked like it had experienced a major disaster not long ago. The burnt remains of many places are still there, and in some places even entire villages have been reduced to ashes and rubble, deserted and deserted. Even on the spacious street, there were very few pedestrians, which was not at all consistent with the bustling city they had heard about in the past. Obviously, this is the residual scene caused by the massacre and purge of the Cuzco people by Quido after the Civil War.
When the three of them walked through the street on their tall horses, the Indians wearing different colors and styles of clothing looked at them with curiosity and surprise. But they put on a condescending posture like conquerors, scanning everything in front of them with condescending and contemptuous eyes.
The weather was clear and sunny, and the mountain wind from the distant mountains blew along the street, making it very refreshing and cool. The further you go into the city, the more solid and tall the houses become. However, the high thatched roofs and solid stone walls more and more highlight the typical features of Inca architecture. This kind of building seems to be very solid, but just setting a fire on the roof can destroy the house. This makes people inevitably have this feeling: This seemingly powerful empire can be so vulnerable. This may be the connotation of the Inca Empire culture.
When they came to the square in front of the palace, they saw that there were few pedestrians in the huge square, and there were only a few Inca soldiers holding tomahawks and spears guarding the gate of the palace. Alonso walked up to the soldiers with two attendants, handed the Inca King's safe pass to the soldiers, and said, "I want to see your commander." Although the soldiers could not understand his words, they could understand him. So he took him to the room of an officer on duty. The officer on duty immediately sent someone to report to the commander.
After a while, Quiskis sent an adjutant named Taluca to greet the three Spaniards coming from Cajamarca. The adjutant welcomed the three distinguished guests of the Inca king to the residence of Quiskis. Quiskis lived on the outskirts of town in a house belonging to an Inca nobleman. The house is large and made of stone, much like a castle. There are sentries of Quito soldiers in red military uniforms everywhere in front of, behind, and in front of the house. The three Spaniards dismounted in front of the stone house and followed the Inca adjutant into the castle-like house.
They entered a large room, but it was empty. There was nothing except a table and a few chairs. This made the Spaniards feel that this place was nothing like the houses of Inca nobles or Inca army commanders, because they felt that even the homes of ordinary people were not so poor and simple.
In fact, in the Inca Empire, except for the extreme luxury of the king, the lives of the other Inca people were still very simple. They had no worries about food and housing, and they were not particular about other supplies. For the aristocracy, they were just richer in terms of housing, land, women, clothes and accessories. In other aspects, they were not as luxurious and luxurious as the Spaniards imagined. However, the people of the Inca Empire could be said to be quite poor. Although they will not go hungry, the house they live in is not big, and there is a sheep pen next door, so the house is full of urine. Moreover, most Indians have few beds in their homes, and their families sleep on the ground covered with hay at night. Some families with better families may have a piece of animal skin that can be used as a bed. Therefore, having a table or chairs in your own home is not an ordinary home.
After a while, a stout old man wearing ordinary cloth and with long hair entered the room, nodded and bowed to the three Spaniards sitting on the chairs, and said something. Because they had stayed in the Inca Empire for such a long time, the Spaniards could still understand the locals to some extent. Alonso immediately understood that he was Chiskis, the commander of Quito's army. So he showed Quiskis the safe pass issued by Inca King Atahualpa. Kiskis took the knot, looked at it carefully for a long time, then nodded and returned the knot to Alonso.
Alonso obviously saw his thoughts and doubts, so he took out a small piece of gold and made some gestures in front of him, and then said, "Your Inca King signed a contract with our commander, Marquis Pizarro. A gold-for-freedom deal.”
Huayna Capac's biological brother and Atahualpa's biological uncle nodded quickly, indicating that he understood the true intention of the Spaniards coming here. He told them, "King Atahualpa has sent ministers here to remove all the gold objects in the palace and temples. Now the gold objects in the palaces and temples are almost finished."
Listening to this, Alonso said, "I heard that the city of Cusco is full of gold. However, our Marquis said that there is not much gold shipped from Cusco so far, so he sent us here to supervise. Moreover, You also know that if you cannot fill that room with gold within two months, your king will not be released. Then the gold you have transported will be useless. Therefore, your king Atahualpa We also want us to tell you that you must find ways to transport the gold there quickly, and those who passively disobey will be severely punished."
Kiskis nodded respectfully and said, "The king's words are our imperial edict and orders. Recently, I have been directing the soldiers to dismantle the gold artifacts in the palace hall and temples, and all the gold artifacts have been transported. As far as Cajamarca. There is almost no gold left in the city now."
Alvarez waved his hand and said, "I have heard that Cusco is full of gold. Your king also said that the Incas have transported gold to Cusco for hundreds of years, and also said that the Cusco Palace The main halls and temples are almost paved with gold bricks, and the walls are covered with gold. Except for the roofs of the rooms, they are all made of gold. However, it has been a month and a half, and the gold shipped from Cusco is not even a room. It’s not filled up, so we don’t believe it.”
Quiskis explained pitifully, "In the past, Cusco did have a lot of gold objects, but before Quito's army entered Cusco, Huascar had already moved and hid all the gold."
When Alonso heard this, he said, "Since they hid all the gold items, why didn't you look for them?" Kiskis said in a sincere tone, "I looked for them, but I couldn't find them at all." Alonso Said, "Tomorrow you send some people to follow me to look for it. I don't believe that we can't find gold." Kiskis immediately pointed to the adjutant Taluka who brought them here and said, "Let him find it tomorrow." I’ll take a small group of soldiers to follow you.”
The next day, Taluka led more than thirty Quito soldiers and followed three Spaniards on horseback to the Inca Palace first. Because this palace is the grandest, tallest and most majestic building around Cusco Square, and the most famous and greatest palace in the history of the Inca Empire. The palace is very spacious and grand, but the floors and walls inside are empty, and many places clearly show traces of excavation and excavation. Alonso and the others spent most of the day in the palace hall, walking around in a big circle, but they didn't find any valuable gold objects at all. So, they asked the taluka to take them to the largest temple of the Sun God in Cusco.
The Temple of the Sun is the most magnificent and sacred building in the Inca Empire. The entire hall is made of solid and smooth granite. All buildings and items are carefully crafted and very sophisticated and luxurious. The walls and roofs around the hall are all inlaid. There is a thick layer of pure gold plates, and the ground is covered with a thick layer of gold bricks. Sunlight shines in from the wall holes in different directions, reflecting the hall with patches of dazzling golden light. Walking into the main hall, you feel like you are in the golden glow of the radiant sun. On the altar of the main hall, there is a huge golden statue of the sun god, surrounded by countless golden threads, representing the rays of the sun. It faces the east, and when the rising sun shines into the hall, it emits thousands of golden lights.
Being illuminated by such intense golden light, the Spaniard could hardly hold himself back and almost fainted. Alonso howled like crazy, "Oh my God!" He threw himself to the ground and wanted to hug all the golden palaces, but the golden palaces were too big for him to hug. He lay on the ground, closed his eyes in an intoxicating manner, and then opened them wide to make sure that the scene in front of him was not a dream.
Alonso was so surprised that his eyes almost popped out, but he still couldn't believe what he was seeing, so he asked Taluka in a very skeptical tone, "Are these really gold?" the Indian adjutant told him Said, "Yes." "Ah, that's great!" he shouted, almost fainting with excitement.
Alonso got off his horse and shouted to the Indian soldiers following behind him, "Tear them all down for me." Taluca, the Inca adjutant next to him, hurriedly came over and said to Alonso, "Sir, you can't do this. But the Temple of the Sun is a sacred place for us Inca people to worship and worship gods. It must not be offended." Alonso pushed the Indian aside and cursed, "Fuck you, the old man is here just to offend you today. Let’s see what he can do to me.” Then he shouted to the soldiers, “Do it and tear it apart for me.” However, no soldier took action.
Seeing that the soldiers were unwilling to take action, Alonso drew out his long sword, swung it in front of their eyes, and said, "This is your king's order. Anyone who dares to violate it will be punished with death." Then, he grabbed the adjutant's arm. The collar threatened, "Give them an order quickly to remove all the gold. Otherwise, you will be punished with death, do you hear me?"
Alvarez and Pedro also drew their swords and placed them on Taluka's neck. The poor Indians had no choice but to give orders to the soldiers.
There were many onlookers inside and outside the main hall of the Temple of the Sun. They were very angry when they saw the Spanish forcing the soldiers to demolish their temple. Because they want to know why the government and officials do not stop them, but instead help them. However, they are ordinary citizens and can only watch the aliens destroying their temples without any way to stop them.
And when they walked into the temple from the main hall, they were stunned by another scene. They saw rows of mummies arranged neatly in the temple. These mummies were dressed in noble and gorgeous imperial clothes, which were studded with precious ornaments, and the base of each mummy was a chair made of pure gold. When the Spaniards asked the soldiers to break the mummies and take away the solid gold seats, the poor Indian adjutant quickly prayed to Spain and said, "Sir, you can't help it, these are the mummies of our late king. Not to mention us, even any Inca king would not dare to offend."
As he spoke, he pointed at these mummies and introduced them to the Spaniards, "This is the ancestor King Manco Capac, this is the fifth generation King Capac Yupanqui, and this is the King Inca Viracocha." , and finally King Wayna Kabak."
