The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
On the evening of August 29, 1533, when the summer sun set behind the tall Andes Mountains, the vast twilight began to fall on the peaceful mountainous area of Cajamarca. At this time, a loud bugle sounded from the sky above Plaza de Armas, breaking the tranquility of the entire town of Cajamarca and the surrounding areas. At this time, Plaza de Armas was filled with heavily armed Spanish sentries. They tightly surrounded the Plaza de Armas at five and ten posts, and conducted strict interrogations of the Indians who entered the square.
In the middle of the front of the square, a temporary podium was set up with a large square table in the middle of the podium. On both sides of the stage stood two rows of Spanish soldiers with guns and live ammunition. Shortly after the bugle sounded, a group of soldiers, led by Captain Juan, escorted the Inca King Atahualpa towards the square. He was wearing heavy handcuffs and shackles, and he walked very heavily and slowly.
Only then can people clearly see his figure and face. This Inca emperor, who usually looks quite handsome, has a well-proportioned and tall figure, and a deep and majestic appearance, is now looking melancholy, frowning, and looking tragic and pitiful, about to cry without tears. When he was escorted into the square with heavy and slow steps, all the Indians knelt on the ground, their faces pressed against the loess, and made a sound of reverence and sorrow that moved the earth.
However, their king still looked miserable and indifferent, walking past his subjects with his head slightly lowered. As a king, he always showed himself in front of his subjects with a noble and dignified demeanor, but now, he was a prisoner being taken to the execution ground. He really wanted to hold his chest up, hold his head high, and appear braver, nobler, and majestic in front of his subjects. However, facing the heavy pressure of the death penalty, he felt that he had collapsed.
At this time, the sky was getting dark, but the torches held by the Spanish soldiers illuminated the entire square brightly. On the side of the rostrum that people are facing, the presiding judge, the prosecutor general, the defendant's lawyer, the church bishop, etc. have all taken their seats at the front desk.
After another loud blast of trumpets, the trial began. The soldiers held the Inca king on the rostrum. After reading a large piece of testimony, the Inspector General proposed the five major crimes of the Inca King: practicing cults, polygamy, incest, arbitrarily giving public property to relatives and subordinates, and conspiring to plot a rebellion against the Spanish. Among them, conspiracy to plot a rebellion against the Spanish can be said to be the most unforgivable felony.
After the prosecutor general confirmed the guilt of King Inca with many evidences and testimonies, the defendant's lawyer came on the stage. While admitting that King Inca was indeed guilty, he also said that King Inca also did some things for the Spaniards during his imprisonment after his arrest. Good thing, so I asked the judge to give the Inca king a lighter sentence.
However, the presiding judge Pizarro announced in the final verdict, "Based on the various crimes committed by the Inca King, this court sentenced the Inca King Atahualpa to be burned at the stake and executed immediately."
As soon as the verdict was announced, the Indians in the entire square burst into tears. The sound of crying and mourning was even more shocking than the thunder and lightning on a rainy day. For a time, the entire square was shaken and drowned by this cry.
This made all the Spaniards feel panic and fear, because they were afraid that the Indians would cause riots out of grief. Therefore, all the Spaniards had their guns in their hands and were always ready to suppress the riots and rioting Indians. However, this worry was unnecessary. Although the Indians were mourning and crying for their king and country, no accidents happened to them because no one organized and called them.
In order to calm down the crying Indians, the Spaniards blew another loud trumpet. After the trumpet sounded, the grieving Indians slowly suppressed their cries. They stood up from kneeling on the ground with their faces facing the soil, wiped away the tears on their faces, endured the incomparable sadness and grief, and raised their heads. At first, it was a good thing that they had a good look at the King in his last moments. Because the execution of the Inca king was about to begin.
The soldiers escorted the Inca king to a large wooden stake erected in front of the rostrum and tied him tightly to the wooden stake with ropes. There was a lot of firewood piled around the pile. At this time, although the Inca King was wearing handcuffs and shackles, he held his head high and his chest straight, with a very cold and calm expression. He was completely righteous and heroic, and he looked down upon death. He was able to do this because he already knew that no matter how much he pleaded, the Spaniards would not let him go. for his sentence has been decided.
Father Vicente de Valverde came to him and began to pray for him, trying to comfort him. Although this teacher taught him many times about Christian doctrine and persuaded him to give up his ignorant superstitions and convert to Christianity. However, although the Inca King patiently listened to his explanation every time, the Inca King still refused to give up the worship and belief of his ancestors. But now it was the last moments of the Inca king, and the bishop of Santo Domingo wanted to use this last opportunity to save the victim's soul.
Father Valverde placed a large cross in front of Atahualpa and asked him to embrace it as a baptism. But Atahualpa sneered and ignored him. But the priest said to him, "Poor Inca king, embrace the cross, so that you can lessen your sins, and your painful torture of fire can be turned into a light hanging."
For the Indians, burning is a very terrible death penalty, because the body of a person burned to death cannot be preserved intact, and without a complete body, it cannot be mummified. Because Indians have maintained the traditional custom of mummy worship for hundreds of years. No matter who dies in the family, they must be mummified so that the soul of the deceased can be reborn and become like a living person. Otherwise, except for Huascar, all the Inca kings were mummified after their death. Not only did they have fields and land, slaves and servants, but they also had concubines and maids. They were looked after during the day and slept with at night. In other words, the Inca king could not be burned to death, because then he could not be mummified and would perish forever. But he forgot how he ordered his men to deal with Huascar, the legitimate Inca king.
When Atahualpa heard this, he called Pizarro and asked the bishop whether he meant what he said. Pizarro nodded and said, "It's true."
Atahualpa immediately expressed his willingness to give up his religion and beliefs and accept the baptism of the bishop. So Bishop Valverde began to baptize him. The bishop asked Atahualpa to hold the cross in his hands, prayed for him, and then asked him to receive a Christian name: Juan de Atahualpa. Juan means "John the Baptist".
(Please pay attention to Zhang Baotong's signed work "Poetic Emotions", which includes short prose, life essays and short and medium-sized novels. Today's release is "The Realistic Sadness of Chinese Wine Culture (Part 1)")
