The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
Pizarro said, "That's because you are short-sighted and can't see the seriousness of it." As he said that, Pizarro finished smoking a cigarette, immediately rolled up another cigarette, lit it, and said, " Let me ask you, without Almagro’s reinforcements, can we attack the capital city of Cusco with just over 160 people? If we don’t capture the capital city of Cusco, can we count as occupying the entire Inca Kingdom?”
Hernando said, "Without Almagro's assistance, we would have defeated the Inca army, captured the Inca king alive, and obtained so much gold. I don't believe that without him Almagro, we would have been Nothing can be done."
Pizarro said, "Then are we going to stay in Cajamarca forever? Don't do anything?"
Hernando said, "Isn't it just to capture Cusco?"
Pizarro said, "Not to mention capturing Quito and Chile, even Cusco is not something we can capture. Let alone capturing Cusco, even if we continue to stay in Cajamarca, it is very unsafe. , Just imagine, now that the Inca army has not come to attack us, once their tens of thousands of troops come towards us, what do you think we should do? You are not a master, and you don’t know how difficult it is to be a master. Our current treasury contains more than 10,000 pounds of gold. And the Inca King is imprisoned in that small temple. If the Incas come to hijack it, it will be very easy. It can be said that because we have the Inca King as a trump card, there does not seem to be any problem with our safety. But can we continue like this? That house will soon be filled with gold shipped from all over the world. By then, will we let King Inca go? Let him go and we will let the tiger go back to the mountain; if we don't let him go, , that means we are not keeping our word. What will the Incas do to us? I think this should be conceivable."
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 said, "Forget it, it's over, let's not talk anymore." But Pizarro glanced at Hernando and asked him to speak.
Hernando said, "I didn't know much about the general just now. After listening to Mr. Marquis introducing your deeds, I realized that he is a knight full of mysterious legends and adventures. Therefore, I am not familiar with the general's meeting 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.
(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 "Endurance of Marriage")
