The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
When he opened the door, he saw about twenty princes and ministers kneeling on the ground. However, the Inca King Atahualpa had a gloomy face and sat motionless on a chair, as if thinking about something. It was obvious that they were continuing. Discussing something more important. Otherwise, how could this be the case? Therefore, Pizarro thought it was inconvenient to disturb him, so he waved his hand to the Inca King who raised his head in his direction, telling him to hurry up. Then, he quickly closed the door again.
Standing outside the door, Pizarro said, "They seem to be discussing something big."
But the duty officer Petera snorted disapprovingly and said, "It's such a big deal, what big deal can they do? You don't know, they have to play this kind of trick several times every day, for fear that people won't know that he is the Inca King." .”
As soon as Pizarro heard this, he said to Martin, "Go and call Atahualpa and tell him that I will take him to the church for mass and ask him to get ready immediately."
Martin responded, then immediately kicked the door open and shouted into the room in a very impatient tone, "The Marquis wants you to go to the church. You should move faster."
Martin's method really worked. Then he saw the Inca king wearing a very elegant brocade dress and going out. When he saw Pizarro, he timidly said, "Mr. Marquis, do you have anything to do with me?"
Pizarro pretended to be very kind and generous, and said, "Your Majesty, the church has been built for several days, and I would like to invite you to go to mass together, but you have been very busy, and the weather is nice today, so I took the liberty to Come and invite you to go see the church together, and by the way, see how we Spaniards say mass."
The Inca Empire has been fighting for hundreds of years. The purpose is to make all tribes and races change their worship beliefs and believe in the Inca worship sun god. Now some people want the Inca king to abandon his idol worship and accept the worship and beliefs of foreigners. What a hard truth this must have been for Atahualpa to accept! However, for some purpose and helplessness, he reluctantly agreed.
So, everyone formed a team in the courtyard and left the small gate of the temple. On the way to the church, Spanish soldiers had one post every five steps and one sentry every ten steps, guarding the entire road tightly. The Spanish commander Pizarro rode in front on a tall horse with his secretary and translator. Behind him was the Inca king, who was surrounded by more than a dozen princes and ministers and closely guarded by dozens of Spanish soldiers with live ammunition.
The church is located outside the city square, opposite and echoing the three-story fortress not far away. The church was originally the main hall of the Palace of the Virgin of the Sun in Cajamarca. In the Inca Kingdom, there were not only Virgin Palaces of the Sun God in the capital of Cusco and the Royal Palace of Quito, but also in many provinces and regions. It's just not as grand, tall and crowded as the Palace of the Sun God Virgin in the capital. There are at least 1,500 virgins in the Virgin Palaces in Cusco and Quito. There are only more than a hundred virgins in the Cajamarca Virgin Palace. Therefore, the main hall of the Virgin Palace here is only thirty meters long, more than ten meters wide, and more than ten meters high. The Palazzo Vecchio was originally a flat-roofed palace. After renovation and construction by the Spanish, it has become a spire with a square base, completely like a new Christian-style building. The temple is not far from the church, and we walked there in a short time.
The church has been renovated and decorated solemnly. I heard that the Spaniards were celebrating mass, and many locals came out of curiosity to watch the fun. When they saw their king being held at gunpoint by many Spaniards, walking from the nearby temple, they all knelt on the ground and cried bitterly. This made their king's face look very ugly. With his head lowered and a very stern look on his face, he walked quickly into the church surrounded by princes and soldiers.
The space and area in the church are not very large, but the layout inside is very solemn and sacred. A very large cross hangs on the main wall of the podium, and rows of white long-back chairs are neatly placed under the podium. The chairs were filled with Spanish officers and soldiers wearing black suits and ties. When they saw their marquis leading people in, they all stood up and applauded warmly. Let's wait for them to take their seats in the front row.
After Pizarro took Atahualpa and others to sit in the armchairs in the front row, someone rang a loud bell on the top of the tower. After the bell rang, Father Vicente de Valverde, the bishop who presided over the mass, announced the start of the ceremony. He asked everyone to stand and began to sing a religious song familiar to Spaniards. After singing the song, the bishop made the sign of the cross on his chest and recited, "May the love of Heavenly Father, the grace of Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit be with you." People present also spoke in a very pious tone. He replied, "It is also with your soul."
Then, the bishop said, "Dear brothers, now we all confess our sins and celebrate the Holy Sacrifice devoutly." Then, the people in the audience began to say in a very sincere tone, "I confess to Almighty God and to all the brothers that I I implore the Virgin Mary and the angel saints to intercede for me." Then, the bishop said, "May the Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive our sins, and grant us eternal life."
Pizarro asked Martin to translate and explain every ritual and sentence in the mass to the Inca King Atahualpa carefully. However, the Inca king did not seem to care about this, nor was he interested. It can even be said that he was very resistant in his heart. He even asked Martin, "Since the Spaniards are so pious and faithful to their Lord, why do they violate His will and come from thousands of miles away across the ocean to kill our men, rape our women, and rob us?" property?” This left Martin speechless and he didn’t know how to answer.
The bishop, Father Vicente de Valverde, said to King Atahualpa, "Our Lord Christ created the world, rules over everything, bestows grace on you, and shows love to you." But Atahualpa said to the priest , "Actually, you don't understand anything. No one created anything. Everything was created by the sun. Therefore, we regard the sun as God and the earth as mother. In the final analysis, everything in the world was created by Pachacamac."
After a while, he asked Martin again, "They have sincerely repented of their crimes. Will they soon change their ways, be merciful, and let us all go?"
Martin seemed a little impatient and said, "No way, this is a mass, not a discussion. Don't give you a stick, you will be a gunman."
The Inca King said, "So, what they did is all a show, all fake?"
Martin felt that this Inca king was particularly difficult and annoying, so he simply turned his head to that side and ignored him.
After the bishop asked everyone to sit down, the reading of the sacred text began. Martin was too lazy to translate for the Inca king anymore, because he didn't quite understand some of the words and meanings, let alone explain them. Atahualpa saw that Martin refused to pay attention to him and seemed bored, so he lay down on the chair and dozed off. Therefore, he did not know when the mass ended.
When Pizarro woke him up, there was silence, and he realized that everyone present was waiting for them to leave. He got up and walked out with Pizarro.
(Please pay attention to Zhang Baotong's signed work "Poetic Emotions", which includes short prose, life essays and short stories. Today's release is the life essay "Can You Believe What the Experts Say")
