The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
So, everyone left the big house, mounted their horses in the courtyard, and together they came to the stone house in the military camp where Chalkuch horses were 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 relatively obedient, 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, so when I saw the bright light, my eyes seemed to be strongly stimulated 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's because the door hasn't been opened for a long time, but the whole house exudes a strong smell of mold and moisture.
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 there is nothing I can do about it." Contact anyone. I don’t know anything about what happened outside.” Chalkuchma’s words immediately blocked Juan, 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 anxious to go back and gamble, so after a few whips, Chalkuchma stopped showing 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 one 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 There will be 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 Chalkucci The horse 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, facing Antonio, said, "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."
Soto said, "Mr. Marquis, I dare to guarantee with 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 investigate."
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 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.”
(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 novella "Love Ladder" (35. Sad Aunt))
