The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
Juan and Antonio took Martin, Santos, Letomundo and others to the stone house in the military camp where Chalkuchma was kept. Entering the stone house, Chalkuchma seemed a little nervous when he saw their menacing appearance, but he concealed his inner panic and calmly sat up from the bed, respectfully waiting for orders.
Because this was just a show-off, and everyone felt that the unlucky Indian general in front of them was more submissive, and they didn't intend to make things difficult for him. Therefore, Juan deliberately and seriously shouted at Chalkuchma, "Get up and follow us."
Chalkuch immediately stood up, holding his hands on the wall, and walked out of the house step by step. After leaving the house, maybe it was because I hadn't seen the sun for a long time. When I saw the bright light, my eyes seemed to be stimulated by the strong light and I couldn't open them for a long time. At this time, Antonio saw that the old man was walking with great difficulty, so he asked Letomundo to help Chalkuchma walk towards the small stone house next to him.
Entering the interrogation room, there was a table and a few chairs in the small stone room. On the table were two leather whips, two wooden sticks, and two thick ropes. Maybe it was because the door hadn't been opened for a long time, but there was a heavy moldy moisture in the whole room.
Because one of Chalkuchma's legs was broken, it was difficult to stand, so Antonio brought a chair over and asked him to stand up. Then, he sat on a chair and prepared to take notes.
Juan came to the table, blew the dust on the chair, then sat on the chair, and began to interrogate Chalkuchma, who was standing leaning on the back of the chair, "Recently, Bambamaka has gathered. Many Inca soldiers are preparing to march to Cajamarca to rescue the Inca King. In this regard, as the leader of the Inca army, you must honestly explain your rebellion and plans."
Chalkuchma looked at Juan inexplicably, and said in a very sincere manner, "I don't know what you said. You should understand that I have been locked up here by you, and I have no idea." I can't contact anyone. I don't know anything about what happened outside." Chalkuchma's words immediately blocked Juan's mouth, making it impossible for Juan to ask any more questions.
Juan seemed a little panicked, but he couldn't let the prisoner ask him down, so he yelled loudly, "No, you are their leader, how could you not know that they are rebelling?"
Chalkuchma said, "They were plotting rebellion and they didn't tell me. How could I know?"
Juan said, "In fact, you made this rebellion plan and action. Can you say you don't know?"
Chalkuchma asked, "If I made the plan to rebel, why didn't I implement the plan and come here with Captain Hernando? Don't I know that coming here with him is tantamount to Are you going to die yourself?"
Juan was speechless and shouted loudly, "You are dishonest and want to play tricks on us. Well, my whip will make you tell the truth." Then he said to Santos and the others, "Give it to me Hit hard."
Santos and another soldier picked up the whip and started beating Chalkuch's horse. Maybe it was an act in itself, or maybe everyone was eager to go back to gambling, so after a few whips, Chalkuchma stopped when he saw that Chalkuchma showed no signs of dodge or fear.
At this time, Juan asked again, "Is it time to tell the truth now?"
But Chalkuchma still said with a straight face, "Even if you beat me to death, I won't know."
Seeing that Chalkuchma was stubborn and refused to change, Juan felt that there was no point in continuing the trial, so he said, "I'll give you a day to think about it carefully. In short, you won't be able to pass the test if you don't tell the truth. We will have a way to prove that you participated in this rebellion." After that, he said to Letomundo, "Take him back and try again tomorrow." So Letomundo and two other soldiers took Chalku Qima was escorted back to the stone house.
The interrogation ended like this, and Antonio rushed back to the barracks headquarters to report the situation to Pizarro. Pizarro listened and said nothing for a long time. He even seemed not to be listening to his report. He continued to smoke, his eyes continuing to stare at the map.
Antonio felt strange, why was this illiterate commander always so keen on reading maps? He had seen this map many times. It was very simple. It was just a route from north to south. The route simply marked some mountains and rivers, as well as the names of some more important towns. He could draw these things again without even looking at them. However, Pizarro seemed to be able to dig out endless gold from it.
After a while, Soto came. Pizarro then raised his head, waved his hand for Soto to sit down, and then said to Antonio, "Please briefly explain the interrogation of Chalkuchma."
Antonio then realized that Pizarro wanted him to say this in front of Captain Soto. So Antonio explained the interrogation process very briefly.
After listening to the report, Pizarro lit another cigarette and said to Soto with a very solemn expression, "The situation over there in Bambamarca seems to be very serious. People who came from there said there are about 20,000 soldiers." Assembled there, ready to attack Cajamarca at any time; and the Inca king has been demanding his unconditional release. I think we must find out this matter. If his soldiers are really gathering there, waiting for an opportunity to rebel, we have to Be fully prepared and continue to imprison the Inca; if these rumors are pure rumors, we intend to release the Inca."
As soon as Soto heard this, he immediately said, "Mr. Marquis, I dare to vouch for my personality that the gathering of Inca soldiers is purely a rumor. However, in order to prove the innocence and sincerity of the Inca King, I am willing to lead the soldiers there to carry out the investigation." investigation."
Having said this, Soto emphasized in a very solemn tone, "Mr. Marquis, this is what you said. If there are no Inca soldiers gathering and rebelling in Bambamarca, you must release the Inca King."
Pizarro nodded and said, "That's right, Antonio can testify." Antonio knew that Pizarro was deceiving Soto, so he just smiled lightly and said nothing. Soto seemed a little excited and said very proactively, "Then I will inform my soldiers now and leave early tomorrow morning."
Pizarro nodded to him with great satisfaction and said, "Very good." Then he added, "This time I go to Bambamarca. I have to stay for two or three more days. Not only do I have to deal with the gathering of Indian soldiers, To find out, we also need to find out the number of troops there and the structure of the castle so that we can attack later."
Soto said, "Yes, Mr. Marquis."
After Soto left, Pizarro said to Antonio, "Immediately draft a speech for me to address all the soldiers tomorrow morning. The content of the manuscript is to cancel the Inca King's obligation to continue to pay gold and silver. Moreover, because of recent rumors, It is said that there is an Inca army gathering in Bambamarca, and there is a possibility of attack at any time, so the Inca king must continue to be imprisoned until more Spanish reinforcements arrive.”
It didn't take long for Antonio to finish such a manuscript, and he read it to Pizarro as usual. After Pizarro listened, he asked Antonio to read it again before nodding in satisfaction. He took the manuscript in his hand, read it for a while, and then said to Antonio, "After you have dinner, go and inform Juan, asking him to secretly take the Inca King into custody in the dead of night tonight." Go to the treasury and be detained alone." The so-called treasury is the original stone house filled with gold and where the Inca king was imprisoned. There are three stone doors in that stone house, which are very strong.
Antonio nodded and asked, "Who is in charge of the guardianship there?"
Pizarro said, "All security is assigned to Juan's men, and each shift must be guarded by twenty-four people day and night."
By this time, it was getting dark. Antonio had been hungry for a long time, so he ate some food in the canteen of the military camp and rode towards Juan's mansion. Arriving at Juan's big house, it was pitch dark inside. He knocked on the door for a long time, and then the Indian guard opened the door and said that Mr. Juan had gone to bed. Antonio asked the gatekeeper to take him to Juan's residence and knocked on the door. Juan asked inside, "What's going on? Is someone dead?"
Antonio replied, "It's me, Antonio."
After a while, the lights in the room came on, and a young woman opened the door and let Antonio enter the room. Antonio found it inconvenient to enter the house, so he asked Juan to come out. Juan had no choice but to come out wearing a blanket.
Antonio called Juan to a place far away from the door of the house and whispered, "The Marquis has an order, asking me to take people to the temple with you tonight to secretly take the Inca King to the treasury and hold him in solitary confinement. The sentries of fourteen men are guarded day and night to ensure there is no mistake.”
Juan looked very irritated and confused and said, "What is wrong with my second brother? Is he crazy or neurotic? Why do you keep messing around like this?"
Antonio said, "Why don't you ask your second brother?"
Juan asked Antonio, "When are we going?"
Antonio said, "First send someone to clean up the cell. Since you are imprisoning people, at least there must be a place to sleep. Then set up the sentry post. Then, we will go to the temple to arrest the Inca King."
Juan thought for a while and said, "How about you sit in my room for a while, and I will find someone to arrange it. Then, we will go to the temple together." So Juan asked the already dressed The Inca princess took Antonio into the living room.
