Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
The comfortable beauty of the Haoha Valley and the arrival of Turala really made Marquis Pizarro feel like heaven. However, the death of Santos and the others made him feel like a bolt from the blue, and the new Inca king was poisoned to death, which made Pizarro feel the urgency of the situation. Therefore, he felt that he must talk to the Soto team and the others as soon as possible. Almagro's large forces merged so that they could concentrate their forces and reduce losses when attacking Cusco. Moreover, he had always wanted to execute Chalkuchma as soon as possible, but he still did not dare to execute the Indian general easily without meeting and discussing with Almagro.
Before leaving Haoha, Pizarro considered that it would be very unsafe to march with the treasures robbed along the way, so he decided to leave the treasures in Haoha. Therefore, he appointed Infantry Second Lieutenant Leonor to lead 40 infantrymen to stay in Haoha and take on the task of establishing a new Spanish colony. Then, he led the troops to chase Almagro's troops all the way.
A week later they had a smooth journey from Hoha to the camps where Soto and Almagro were stationed. After the troops reunited, they marched all the way to the Haquihaguana Valley, which is only dozens of kilometers away from Cusco. The terrain here is gentle, surrounded by mountains, with red flowers and green grass, and charming scenery. A large river flows through the valley. The land on both sides is fertile, the plants are lush, the temperature is suitable, and it is evergreen all year round. Among the river valleys, there are extremely luxurious villas built in the mountains and rivers, which are specially used for the royal family of Cusco to spend summer and escape the summer heat. There is also a large warehouse at the gathering place of the summer resort. The grain in it can be eaten by tens of thousands of people for a year. There are also all other valuable daily necessities that are inexhaustible. Therefore, every summer, a large number of princes and nobles come here to spend summer leisure and have fun.
Although there is a large swamp in the center of the valley that was formed when the river overflowed, and every time the rainy season comes, the swamp will be submerged by floods, which can easily cause floods and disasters. However, the Indians built the swamp with huge rocks A strong flood control embankment was built across the swamp area and connected to the Royal Avenue, which not only effectively prevented flooding, but also added a beautiful scenery and convenient access to the valley.
After Pizarro arrived here, he didn't bother to visit and admire the beautiful scenery here. The first thing he wanted to do was to execute General Chalkuchma. This was a decision he had already made when he was in Haoha. He just felt that it was not easy to make a move before joining Almagro's troops, for fear that he would encounter crazy revenge from the Indians on the way south. Furthermore, after the Inca King Huaypalcon was poisoned, the Spaniards could no longer hold the Inca King hostage to control the world, so they used Chalcuchima as a hostage or a trump card. In the event of an emergency, he can be moved out to bargain with the Indians. Now, he no longer needs this trump card, and he has long hated this stubborn and embarrassed old Indian. He has to use the most cruel means to kill him before he can let out his bad breath. .
On the morning of November 13, 1533, when the military bugle sounded, a table and several chairs had been placed on the grass in front of a luxurious villa that was used as a temporary military camp. This is the temporary and crude judgment seat set up for the trial. Opposite the judgment seat stood a pillar, and next to it was a pile of firewood and dry branches. This scene is very reminiscent of the scene during the trial of Inca King Atahualpa.
Not far from here, in the surrounding areas and on the high slopes of the valley, you can see the Spaniards with loaded guns and ammunition everywhere, standing guard every five steps and ten steps. Although the soldiers did not know that Commander Pizarro wanted to execute Chalkuchma, when they saw the scene, they knew that someone must be sentenced to death today. Moreover, those who were burned to death must be Indians, because according to Christian doctrine, only evil believers would be executed in this extremely cruel way.
When the bright and vivid sun appears from the top of Dongshan Mountain, the entire green valley seems to be sprinkled with a layer of bright golden light. Countless crystal dewdrops flashed on the grass in the river valley, and the mist left in the air slowly drifted away with the wind. Countless flocks of flying birds are flying from the valleys, circling leisurely in the valleys and swamps.
At this moment, a loud bugle sound passed over the silent valley and echoed in the surrounding valleys. There was a rush of noise around the villa that served as a military camp. Hundreds of soldiers quickly came out of the rooms with guns on their backs and swords on their shoulders, and ran in formation to gather at the venue set up as a trial location. In just a few minutes, hundreds of Spanish soldiers were already standing neatly in front of the trial stand. Antonio stood in front of the judgment seat, shouted to the soldiers to stand at attention and take a break, and then told the soldiers to sit down.
As soon as the soldiers sat down, the presiding judges Pizarro and Algiguero came to the court and sat down together. Later, the treasurer Riquelme, a royal official who serves as inspector general, and the bishop Father Vicente de Valverde also came to sit in the front row. But unlike Atahualpa's trial, there was no defense attorney.
Soon, the person on trial was carrying a cane and wearing heavy shackles, and was escorted by a team of soldiers from a room not far away. He was immediately startled when he saw the formation in front of him, but he immediately calmed down, assumed a calm attitude of being awe-inspiring and resigned to death, smiled, and walked towards this side step by step calmly.
His fearless demeanor made the Spaniards present feel surprised, puzzled, and even incredible. Because he faced the extremely cruel punishment of fire in the world. How frightening it must be to be burned alive by a fire!
The trial began after the subject was tied to the pillar by soldiers with ropes. The Inspector-General read out a brief list of charges. But in fact it was mainly rebellion and conspiracy against the Spanish army, and resulted in dozens of casualties among Spanish soldiers. After the prosecutor has finished reading, the person under trial will defend himself. Chalkuchma immediately asked the prosecutor, "I have been detained by you and have no contact with the outside world. Why do you accuse me of treason and conspiracy?"
The Inspector General did not expect that the person under trial would ask such a question, and these charges were all drawn up by Pizarro and Antonio, but the Treasurer who served as the Inspector General was not very clear about this. Therefore, when Chalkuchma asked him this question, He immediately didn't know how to answer, so he had to turn his attention to Pizarro, who was the presiding judge.
Pizarro stood up immediately and said in a strong and suppressed tone, "Do you think that if you don't admit what you have done, it will be over?" Then he said, "You are being held by us, but you can send someone or pass through Knotted rope to contact the outside world." Chalkuchma sneered, "You are just guessing, what evidence do you have for my contact with the outside world?" Pizarro was also asked. Although he was able to confirm that Chalkuchma was guilty of this crime, he was unable to actually produce facts and evidence.
However, he said, "You don't have to admit these things, but you can't deny the poisoning of the Inca King Vaipalcon, right?"
Chalkuchma nodded and said, "I don't deny this, because I don't want you to use him anymore. Without him, you will encounter a lot of trouble once you enter the capital city of Cusco. Moreover, the Inca Empire The people and nobles will not listen to you."
Pizarro suddenly realized this and couldn't help but became a little angry. He slammed the table and said, "This is why you poisoned Vaipalcon. You cunning conspirator, we treat you as our friend, but you They are betraying us." Chalkuchma curled his lips disdainfully and said, "Dear Mr. Marquis, do you think we can be friends?" Pizarro said, "Of course, it depends on whether you are willing. I'm willing." Chalkuchma asked, "What are the conditions?" Pizarro said, "As long as you are willing to persuade your former subordinates and soldiers to come to me and surrender." Chalkuchma just smiled and said, Said, "Forget it, I won't tell you so much. It's useless no matter how much I say. Just do whatever you want."
Seeing that Chalkuchma did not want to plead guilty, Pizarro had no choice but to pronounce the sentence, "Based on the various crimes committed by Chalkuchma, it is hereby pronounced that Chalkuchma, the commander of the Indian army, will be burned at the stake and executed immediately."
At this time, it was time for the bishop, Father Vicente de Valverde, to appear. He always seems to appear at the most terrifying moments, using this extreme fear to persuade people to change their beliefs. He took the old Bible, came to the person on trial, and said to Chalkuchma, "May God bless you, General Chalkuchma. Before you suffer the most severe punishment of fire, I want to The name of the Lord urges you to surrender to Christ. If you will, kiss the Bible, and the Lord will forgive you and spare you the great pain of this capital punishment, but the much less painful hanging.”
He smiled coldly and said, "I don't understand this religion of your white people. Because it has only brought pain and disaster to me and us Incas. I only believe in the sun god, and only the sun god can make me feel light and warm." "The bishop was very disappointed with his answer, because no one had ever answered him in this way under his persuasion. So, he had no choice but to sigh, pretend to be helpless, and walk away from Chalkuchma who was piled with firewood.
At this time, the soldiers had already lit the firewood in front of Chalkuch's horse. The fire burned quickly and grew bigger and bigger, and the scalding heat rushed straight at him, making the person under trial couldn't help but hide back. However, he couldn't escape as he was tied to the pillar. The raging fire will soon burn Chalkuchma's body.
At this time, Pizarro walked up to him again and persuaded him in a very pertinent tone, "General Chalkuchma, I will give you another chance now. As long as you are willing to persuade your soldiers to surrender to me, I will immediately Let you go and let you hold an important position." However, Chalkuchma just shook his head and did not answer. Pizarro saw that the old Indian man was still so stubborn even when he was about to die. New and old hatreds could not help but surge into his heart. He shouted at the soldiers, "Burn me hard." Then he returned to his chief judge angrily. On the seat of the banquet.
The fire quickly burned Chalkuchma's body, and Chalkuchama shouted loudly, "The Sun God and General Kiskis will avenge me!" He gritted his teeth at first and wanted to hold on, but he simply couldn't. Unable to hold on, he started shouting "Ahhh, ohhhh", and finally screamed at the top of his lungs. However, this sound only lasted for about a few minutes or ten minutes. In the end, only the crackle of burning firewood and the whirring of wind and fire could be heard. People could only see the fire rising higher and higher, burning more and more fiercely, reaching more than a person's height, but they could never see that figure again. Chalkuchma, who died generously, made the Spaniards shudder. If the Inca Empire had more such dead warriors and fewer people like Atahualpa who were greedy for life and fearful of death, how could they be conquered?
Finally, when the fire gradually extinguished, the pillar and the human body were no longer visible. Among the pile of charcoal that had turned into ashes, there was a skeleton that looked like it had been burnt to carbon black, scattered among the remaining ashes.
The soldiers present witnessed the entire process of burning at the stake, and their whole body and mind seemed to have been severely tortured and tortured. Many of them had never witnessed the cruel scene of a person being burned alive in a fire. Many soldiers closed their eyes on the spot and did not dare to look; many others felt nausea and vomiting immediately, and some even He fainted and fell to the ground on the spot. Therefore, when the burning torture ended, the soldiers felt as if they had suffered a serious illness, feeling discouraged and weak. They even felt respect and sympathy for the victims, and felt sincere disgust and disgust for their presiding officer. At the same time, they couldn't help but wonder, if the Indians had more tough guys like Chalkuchma, how could the country be in the current situation.
