Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
November 15, 1533, which was the third day after General Chalcuchima and Manco, the commander of the Inca army in Quito, were burned to death and became the Inca king, also happened to be the first anniversary of the Spanish landing in the Inca Empire. The Spaniards finally entered the capital city of Cusco. In order to make the entry into the city grand and influential, Pizarro carefully organized the entry ceremony and divided the 500-man troops into three square formations to begin entering the city.
The first formation was led by Captain Soto and Captain Alonso of Almagro, including Soto's cavalry squad and Alonso's cavalry squad, with a total of more than 200 cavalry warriors. They rode tall horses, wore long swords, and carried matchlock guns. They lined up in a neat square and walked with their heads held high along the Royal Avenue from the suburbs to the city center.
The second phalanx was the squadron, composed of Juan and Hernando's cavalry squads and some infantry, and was led by General Pizarro himself. The third party was composed of all Almagro's cavalry and infantry except for Alonso's cavalry squad, and was of course led by General Almagro himself.
As the sound of bugles echoed over and over again in the city during the march, the neat and majestic Spanish team marched neatly and vigorously along the very spacious royal road towards the city. The hard and neat sound of the cavalry's horseshoes stepped on the ground, making A very crisp and heavy "stomp" sound made the whole street tremble.
Both sides of the avenue were crowded with tens of thousands of onlookers. Although the Indians in Cusco came from the entire empire and had seen many worlds and situations, this was the first time they had seen such a grand and novel scene. Because there were strict regulations on the color of clothing in each province of the Inca Empire, and Cusco was where the palace and provincial nobles gathered, so the men wore brightly colored clothes from each province, and the women wore floral skirts and hair. Wear a colorful round fedora hat. This colorful flow of people makes the crowds on the entire street form a colorful picture. Perhaps due to being exposed to ultraviolet rays near the equator for many years, their faces are dark and red, covered with vicissitudes of time. Their skin color and face are very similar to those of people living on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China. But these people who come from all directions are very orderly and polite. They had smiling faces and curiosity. They seemed not to be worried about the country and the people and the sorrow of the country and the family. Instead, they were watching the excitement with a fresh and curious attitude, as if they were participating in an imperial tour. Major sacrifices or celebrations.
The loud and melodious bugle sound made them feel like a sound from outside the sky, making them feel mysterious and curious, but also in awe, as if the gods were conveying an instruction to them. They looked at the majesty and majesty of the Spaniards, looked at their tall figures and handsome faces, and looked at their weapons and horses with very curious eyes. They felt that everything about them had the character of gods, so they found out In my heart, I regard these tall white men as gods. Moreover, the deeds and bravery of these white Spanish people have long been spread to all corners of the empire. In particular, many events have been exaggerated or mythized. Therefore, it is easy for these simple and honest Indians to regard these Spaniards as Coinciding with Contic in their oracle.
As they marched from the outskirts of Cusco to the city center, the soldiers were amazed by the scale of the city and the prosperity of the scene. The streets are paved with large stones and are very neat and flat. Buildings made of boulders can be seen from time to time on both sides of the street. These Inca-style buildings are not only elegant, simple and beautiful, but also exquisite in craftsmanship and solid. In particular, there is not even a trace of gray sand and mud visible in the joints between the stones. Even a knife cannot be inserted into the tight joints. This cannot but surprise and admire these foreign Spaniards.
They walked for about an hour, but they still didn't know how far they were from the city center. They just felt that the closer they got to the city center, the more exquisite and luxurious the houses on both sides of the street looked, and the more wealthy and gorgeous the people's clothes became. Moreover, during their march, in addition to many spacious and straight streets, there were also many rivers and stone bridges. The river is clear to the bottom and flows slowly. The stone bridge was built very firmly. There are many stone sculptures or paintings by the river.
Although this capital, called the City of the Sun by the Inca Empire, was not like the paradise on earth as the Spaniards had imagined, they were surprised to see the magnificent buildings, row upon row of houses, long and neat streets and luxury as they traveled. A prosperous urban area. The entire city was full of sights that excited and intrigued them, far exceeding anything they had ever seen in the New World. They heard that there were more than 200,000 Indians living in this city, and they were amazed by this population figure alone.
After walking through countless streets, the Spanish army finally arrived at the Inca Palace Square, the center of the city. The Inca Palace Square is very spacious, with a high tower standing in the middle, and on the high tower stands a full-length statue of Pachacutec, the founder of Cusco. Pachacutik was the father of the former King Huayna Kabak, which literally means "renovation of the world". This former king also managed the empire with his talent for economic development, literary and military skills, and his lenient and strict laws. He not only expanded the territory of the Inca Empire, but also managed the country in an orderly manner. Therefore, the era he ruled was called the Inca Era by the Incas.
Standing on the high tower, you can see the beautiful scenery of rocks, forests, waterfalls and other natural features on the mountains near Cusco city intertwined with the green valley. The narrow streets can be seen neatly constructed and arranged under the blue tropical sky. Four main streets lead from the square and connect with this royal avenue. A clear river flows through the city, and both sides of the river are paved with stones. There are stone bridges of the same width built at regular intervals on the river.
In Cusco, all the better buildings are built of stone or paved with stones, and are exquisitely decorated and eye-catching colors. Although the stone house has no tiles like a flat-roofed fortress and is roofed with thatch, it looks beautiful because of the good roofing. And every king has to build a new palace for himself. Although some palaces are not tall and majestic, they occupy a large area. The walls of the palace are painted with very colorful paint. There are many palaces around the Inca Palace Square, the most magnificent of which was built by Huayna Kabak. The door of this building is made of colorful marble with red and white as the main colors. The palace hall is very spacious and can accommodate thousands of people. Whenever it rains or snows, the Inca princes gather in the hall to have fun. The Virgin Palace, which can accommodate nearly a thousand people, is also one of the famous sights around the square. Several narrow stone-paved streets radiate to the surroundings, lined with pointed huts built of adobe. Northeast of the square, the Temple of the Sun with five halls has a towering pyramid top. There are also the Temple of the Moon and the Temple of the Star. In the southeast of the square are the Temple of the Sun Goddess and the Temple of the Snake. There is a small square called "Cusipata" in the southwest of the square, which was a place specially used by the Incas to celebrate the triumphal return of the imperial army.
At this time, it was noon, and the sun was shining right in the middle of the city of Cusco, and its clear and twinkling light shone on the city, as if a layer of golden foil had been spread over the entire city. The streets and alleys are filled with the breath of the sun, and people's faces show the color of their skin radiated by the sun. The stars, sun, moon, and daily scenes all change with the sunrise and sunset. Perhaps after experiencing and viewing these on-the-ground scenes, an outsider will truly feel and understand why the Incas worshiped the sun and regarded the sun god as the supreme god of all things.
The Inca Palace Square can be said to be an excellent barracks and residence for these Spanish expeditionary forces. However, perhaps because of fear of attacks and attacks by the Inca army, Pizarro did not allow the soldiers to live in these spacious and comfortable palaces and halls. The troops were ordered to set up tents and camp in the square. The soldiers had no choice but to follow the commander's order, set up tents, live in the tents, and tie their horses outside the tents. The square was surrounded by sentries and patrol teams, loaded with guns and ammunition, ready to face Indian attacks and rebellions.
However, for several days, there was no disturbance in the city of Cusco, not even a single criminal case involving violations of law and discipline. Moreover, news from all sources said that Kiskis had withdrawn from the capital with his troops a few days before the arrival of the Spaniards and hid in the mountains to the north. As a result, the Spaniards moved from the tents in the square into the spacious and comfortable palace.
But they didn't come here for sightseeing and pleasure, they came here to grab gold. In their minds, nothing can make them burn with such intense desire and enthusiasm like gold. After the situation stabilized, they set about realizing their dream wish. Before arriving in Cusco, they sang the war song of marching into Cusco, filled with endless dreams of gold everywhere. However, when they actually arrived in Cusco, they discovered the huge gap between this dream and reality. However, they will do whatever it takes to realize their golden dream.
