The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
Listening to this, Hernando also felt that his brother's words were indeed profound, but he still said, "But he must be here for our gold. What if he proposes to divide our gold?" This is not a worry for me alone, almost all our soldiers are worried about this."
Pizarro thought for a while and said, "You don't have to worry about this. I have already considered this. I will not let them get something for nothing. Anyway, the gold is in our hands, and it is up to us to decide whether to give it to them or not." .”
Hernando lowered his head, but he said, "I really don't like him at all. He is short, old, ugly, and blind in one eye. Why did you find him?" Such a partner?"
Pizarro said, "Please don't judge a book by its cover. He is a very brave and witty knight. His eye was also blinded by a poisonous arrow when he fought with the Indians with me. For such a wise, brave and experienced man, Knight, you must respect it."
These words left Hernando speechless, and then Pizarro said solemnly, "Now, let's go to Almagro's residence, and you must sincerely apologize to him."
Hernando was obviously unhappy and said, "Isn't this unnecessary?"
But Pizarro said, "As the commander of the Spanish Expeditionary Force, I order you to apologize to General Almagro."
When Hernando heard this, he could only say, "Since you have said all this, what can I say?"
Immediately, Pizarro took Hernando to Almagro's residence. Almagro's residence is located on the other side of the military camp far away from Pizarro. There are two small cabins, one is used as an office and the other is used as a bedroom. The office is still empty, but the bedroom has been decorated with all kinds of daily necessities very comfortably. When they arrived at Almagro's house, Almagro was rummaging for something in a leather bag. The oil lamp was dim, and there was a large pile of messy things on the bed.
Seeing the Pizarro brothers arriving, he stopped what he was doing and offered his seat to them. Pizarro sat down, looked into the room, and asked, "I don't know if there is anything else the general needs. Please tell me and I will definitely find a way to solve it."
Almagro said, "No need, everything is arranged well."
But Pizarro said, "It's too empty and lonely for you alone in this room. Tomorrow I will ask someone to select two young and capable women for you to be your helpers and take good care of your life. You can Just calm down and think about big things while you are busy with big things.”
Almagro said politely, "The Marquis is really thoughtful."
Pizarro said, "We brothers have been through life and death in the past, and now we share a great cause. Do you think I can not think about my brother?" At this point, he added, "Captain Hernando, you are disrespectful to my brother at noon today." , Just now, I told him about your adventures and your sincere cooperation with me. He thinks that you are a rare general and knight worthy of the respect of the entire Spanish people. Therefore, I am offensive and rude to you. , I want to express my apology.”
Almagro immediately said, "Forget it, it's over, no more talk."
But Pizarro glanced at Hernando and asked him to speak.
Hernando said, "I didn't know anything about the general before. After hearing Mr. Marquis introduce your deeds, I found out that he is a knight full of mysterious legends and adventures. Therefore, I am proud of my visit to the general at noon today." I feel very guilty and sorry for the rude remarks, and I specifically ask the general for your forgiveness."
Almagro was a soldier who spoke quickly, had a rough temperament, and was forthright. When he heard Hernando say these words, he immediately forgot about the anger he had been holding in for a long time, and pulled Hernan affectionately. Du Duoshou said, "You are the Marquis' brother, and the Marquis and I are brothers, so we will be brothers from now on."
Seeing that Almagro did not forget his past grudges, Pizarro said happily, "Very good, we are actually a family of brothers." Then he said to Almagro, "Come to my place. At noon The food and wine prepared for you haven’t been touched yet, let’s celebrate properly now, which can be regarded as a blessing for your brother.” With that said, the three of them got up together and walked towards the headquarters.
As soon as the three of them walked to the door of the headquarters, they saw Soto and several soldiers waiting in front of the door to find the Marquis. Pizarro asked Soto, "What's wrong with you?"
Soto said, "These soldiers have urgent matters at home and are preparing to return home. I want to ask the Marquis when the gold will be distributed."
Pizarro thought for a while and said, "After the orders are taken, the distribution plan will be determined, and then the gold will be cast into gold ingots of a certain size and purity."
Soto said, "Didn't Robert already count the amount of gold?"
Pizarro looked unhappy and said, "Let's talk about this later. I have guests today."
Soto said to the soldiers behind him, "You should go back first and wait until the Marquis is free."
A soldier who was a sergeant said, "The Marquis has guests, so we won't bother him. Please consider our matter as soon as possible. My mother is sick and waiting for me to get money to go back to see a doctor."
Pizarro said, "Don't worry."
After sending the soldiers away, Pizarro took Almagro into the house. At this time, the Inca princess had prepared the wine and food and placed them on the table. So, the three of them sat at the table and started drinking and eating.
After a few drinks, Almagro asked Pizarro, "Brother, how much can you give me when you divide the gold this time? Don't forget, we are partners, and the agreement stipulates that you and Luke will each get One-third. Now that Luke is dead, should we divide his property in half?"
Of course, Pizarro had already considered this issue. He smiled easily and said, "Brother, just don't worry about this. I won't lose anything to you, brother." As he said that, he picked up the wine glass and said with a smile. , "Let's not talk about this today, let's drink and drink."
When Almagro heard what Pizarro said, he happily raised his glass, and he and the Pizarro brothers began to drink one cup after another.
Near noon the next morning, Pizarro, accompanied by Hernando and Martin, took Almagro to the Temple of the Sun to visit the Inca King Atahualpa. Because Atahualpa had been clamoring for Marquis Pizarro to fulfill his promise and release him immediately, Pizarro had been hiding from the Inca king. However, because the new one-eyed general had heard many legends about the Inca King, he wanted to see the imprisoned Inca King with his own eyes. Therefore, Pizarro had no choice but to take him to see the Inca King.
Arriving at the Inca King's meeting room, Atahualva was talking to several Spanish soldiers guarding the temple. He wrote the three characters "King of the Incas" he learned from the guard soldiers on his nails, and when he met people, he would show the words on his nails for people to see and read them. At this time, he was showing the words on his fingernails to two soldiers. One soldier looked at it, shook his head and said, "I never went to school, I can't read." And another soldier said, "This is the Inca king."
He raised his thumb to express his praise. Because the Incas themselves did not have writing, Atahualpa found it very novel to be able to recognize a few Spanish words, and regarded it as a very proud and great thing.
At this time, Pizarro brought Almagro into the house. When he saw Atahualpa, he greeted him, "What games have you learned recently?" because he knew that Atahualpa had been learning from the soldiers recently. He played chess and dice, and even taught the concubines how to play together.
Atahualpa said, "I'm learning your language."
When Pizarro heard this, he smiled and said, "You are so easy to learn!"
The praised Inca king showed Pizarro the words written on his nails and said, "Marquis, how do you read the words on my nails?"
Pizarro stared at the words on the Inca King's nails for a while with his eyes wide open, but he neither reacted nor answered. Instead, he smiled and said, "Very good, you can study abroad in our country."
When Atahualpa saw that Pizarro did not read the writing on his fingernails, he said in a surprised tone, "Mr. Marquis, have you never been to school and can't read?"
Pizarro was an illegitimate child and was abandoned by his father after he was born. He worked as a pigherder and raised pigs since he was a child. Naturally, he never went to school and was illiterate. However, he did not want the Inca King to know about this, and he did not want the Inca King to regard it as a joke. Therefore, these words made him feel very disgraceful, and his face turned red to the root of his neck.
Hernando, who was standing next to Pizarro, came over and read the words on Atahualpa's nails and said, "This is the Inca King." Hernando was the only one of the Pizarro brothers who had gone to school. . Their father was a Spanish officer who fought in the Italian war. He had affairs with many women, so he had five sons in total, but only Hernando was a legitimate son, and the other four were illegitimate. Apart from the four of them, there was another son who did not come out with them.
Atahualpa said to Hernando with great admiration, "You have gone to school and are literate. It is not easy!"
Although this incident made Pizarro very unhappy, he still forced a smile and introduced Almagro to Atahualpa, "This is General Almagro, my partner and old friend. . He just came over by boat from Panama."
Atahualpa had long heard that a team of more than 200 people was coming, and now they really came. He knew that the more Spaniards came, the less likely he would be released, so he looked at the general introduced by Pizarro with a very hostile look.
Atahualpa was the Inca king. He was tall, handsome, noble in manner, elegant in temperament, and had a strong Inca aristocratic style. The general in front of him was not only short, ugly, and poorly dressed, but he was also one-eyed. Therefore, he did not make a good impression at first glance, so he just nodded without saying a word of welcome or giving up his seat.
Originally, Almagro wanted to reach out and shake the hand of the Inca King, but he didn't take a close look at him and started talking to Hernando. This made both Almagro and Pizarro very annoyed and uncomfortable.
