The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
Hernando and several cavalrymen came to the gate of the Temple of the Sun with the soldiers carrying the Charcuchi horse sedan, and said to Lieutenant Petya who was on duty, "Look, this is the man the Incas called The Chalkuch horse is the ever-victorious general.”
Petya and the guarding soldiers looked at the thin old man with very strange eyes and said, "Is he Chalkuchma?"
Hernando said grandly, "I called him here."
Petya said in an approving tone, "The captain is really amazing. He captured the commander of the Inca troops without firing a shot."
Chalkuchma got off the sedan in front of the temple, straightened his clothes, and asked his entourage and guards to wait in front of the woods in front of the temple. He entered the temple accompanied by Hernando. Entering the temple, he came to the door of King Inca's council room. The minister guarding the door asked him to wait outside and went inside to ask Atahualpa for instructions.
After a while, the minister guarding the gate said to Chalkuchma, "Go in, the king is waiting for you inside." Chalkuchma quickly took off his shoes, rolled up his trouser legs, and asked for a bundle from the minister guarding the gate. Carrying the firewood on his back, he carefully opened the door with an uneasy feeling.
The door opened, and the Inca King Atahualpa was sitting on the wooden chair, looking at him with a very cold expression, as if he didn't know him. When he entered the room, the king said, "Welcome, Charkuchma, welcome to your arrival."
Charkuchma saw that the supreme and noble king was staying in such a simple room, and he seemed much older and haggard than before. He couldn't help but knelt down towards the king, looking up to the sky and wailing, "My poor king, my noble king, if I were by your side, how could this happen?" As he said this, he burst into tears and knelt on the ground, kissing the king's hands and feet.
Compared with Chalkuchma's loyalty and reverence, Atahualpa seemed unusually cold and calm. He looked motionless like a mummy at his most trusted military commander, wondering whether he was happy or worried about his sudden arrival. After a long time, Atahualpa asked, "Why do you want to come to see me?"
"They said you wanted to summon me," Chalkuchma said. "So, I came from Joha."
Atahualpa couldn't help but frown, nodded, and said, "It's been a hard journey."
Charkuchma continued to kiss Atahualpa's feet with tears in his eyes, and howled with sorrow, "After the king was in trouble, the ministers never knew the king's situation or the king's will, so they never dared to send troops to rescue him. .”
Atahualpa said in a scolding tone, "Fortunately you did not raise an army to attack, otherwise, you would never see me again today. When you go back, you must tell others that without my order, no one can Don't act rashly, otherwise, all nine tribes will be killed."
Chalkuchma responded repeatedly, "Yes, my great king."
The king asked again, "How is it over there in Kiskis?"
Chalkuchma said, "After the king was captured, he and I discussed it. I would lead my troops close to Cajamarca and attack the Spaniards at any time to rescue the king. And he was stationed in Cusco, waiting for the king's arrival. As soon as there is a will and order from the king, troops will be quickly raised from Cusco to assist me."
The king nodded with satisfaction and asked again, "Do you know about Huascar?"
Chalkuchma said, "I heard about it, and I heard that he had contact with the Spaniards."
Atahualpa said, "I asked Usaca to check this matter. He said that the guard who helped Huascar pass the news had defected to the Spaniards. When I get out, I will ask Usaca to give this person to me. If I find out, I will destroy all nine of his tribes and burn his home."
Chalkuchma said, "The king has never been merciful or merciful to those who betrayed him."
Atahualpa said, "The traitors are worse than the Spaniards."
Chalkuchma said, "That's that."
The two chatted for a while, and Atahualpa asked, "Where are you stopping for the night?"
Of course Chalkuchma understood what the king meant, so he said, "Captain Hernando asked me to stay at his home for a few days." After saying that, he stood up and prepared to leave, saying, "It's time for the king to rest. I'm here." I plan to stay here for two days, and I will come over to visit the king before I leave. Don’t worry, the king. Once all the gold is collected, the Spaniards will release the king unconditionally. By then, our ministers from the Inca Kingdom will come to greet you. King."
Atahualpa nodded and said, "Captain Hernando is a good man. I feel relieved if you stay with him." So Chalkuchma turned around and said goodbye to the king.
When he left the king's meeting hall, he saw Hernando waiting for him, so he followed the captain out of the temple. However, as soon as he left the monastery, he saw his younger brother Gonzalo coming towards him with a group of cavalry.
Chalkuchma was startled and asked Hernando, "What's going on?"
Hernando also saw that something was wrong with the momentum, so he loudly asked his fourth brother, "What do you want to do?"
Gonzalo said, "The Marquis has an order to arrest Chalcuchima, the commander of the Inca army." Then he shouted to the soldiers, "Tie him up and take him to the military camp."
Hernando said, "Wait a minute, fourth brother, you see clearly, this is an honored guest I invited from afar."
Gonzalo didn't listen to this at all and said, "You can talk to the Marquis about this." After saying that, he asked the soldiers to tie up Chalkuch's horse and lead him towards the military camp. Hernando had no choice but to say to Chalkuchma, "General, please feel aggrieved for now. I will go and explain it to the Marquis, and he will definitely treat you like a friend."
What Chalkuchma was most worried about happened. He was bound and escorted like a prisoner, and followed the cavalry towards the Spanish military camp. At this time, the sun had already set to the west. Although he was riding in a sedan along the way, he felt exhausted from the whole day's hard work. After all, he was already an old man in his fifties.
After not walking far, we arrived at the Spanish military camp. But what surprised him was that there were more Inca men and women than Spanish soldiers in the Spanish military camp. When he walked past the gate of the military camp, many people recognized him and saluted and greeted him. Some of them looked familiar to him, but he couldn't remember their names or where they had met. However, he felt that he was shameless in front of others, so he lowered his head very low, not wanting to be recognized, let alone greeting acquaintances.
After a while, the Spaniards locked him in a small room made of stones. The room was empty, there was nothing, not even a bed. The exhausted leader of Quito's army entered the room and was untied from the ropes. He couldn't hold on any longer, so he suddenly lay down on the ground, gasping for air with his mouth open.
Looking at the high ceiling in this stone house, no one can find a way to escape from the solid stone house. Just now, he thought that the king's house was too simple, but now, his stone house was simply incomparable to the king's house. It could be said that this was a house he had never lived in before. He lay on the ground, hoping that Captain Hernando would speak kindly to his brother, the Marquis, and let him out. However, as hour after hour passed, this expectation slowly turned into disappointment. Before he knew it, he lay on the ground and fell asleep.
(Please pay attention to Zhang Baotong's signed work "Poetic Emotions", which includes short prose, life essays and short and medium-length novels. Today's release is the novella "Love Ladder" (10. Marry Only You))
