Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
Huelva and Gonzalo insisted on their own opinions and quarreled endlessly, neither of them willing to give in. The city councilors could not afford to offend either party, and they did not want to offend either party, so they finally made a decision: It was impossible to determine whether Cuscu was within 270 leagues (1,500 kilometers) southward from the Santiago River at the northern end of the meridian. There is a huge controversy, so the Cusco Municipal Council decided to seek the opinions of professional and authoritative navigators as soon as possible before making a final decision.
Gonzalo immediately agreed. But Huelva felt that this ruling was unfair, because he felt that Cusco should belong to Almagro. Therefore, he was not satisfied with the result. However, he could not prove that Cusco must belong to Almagro. Out of desperation, he had no choice but to accept the city council's recommendations.
In order for both parties to maintain the status quo pending a final decision, the municipal council demanded guarantees from Huelva and Gonzalo not to harass and intrude into each other's jurisdiction. Gonzalo gave assurances to the committee, and Huelva had no choice but to give assurances. The municipal committee felt that the pledge was not serious and solemn enough, so it asked both parties to solemnly swear an oath.
Therefore, Gonzalo swore on behalf of Pizarro, "I swear that we will never invade or harass the other party's jurisdiction before the Cusco Municipal Council makes a final decision."
Huelva swore on behalf of the other party, "Before the municipal committee's ruling, on behalf of General Almagro, I solemnly swear that I will maintain restraint and calmness, stay still, and will never invade the area where the other party is stationed and under the jurisdiction of the other party."
Bartos asked both parties to sign the oath as an agreement that neither party could violate.
Huelva returned to the suburban valley more than 20 kilometers away from Cusco with such a result, which made Almagro very angry. He knew that this was another hole dug for him by the Pizarro brothers. Made a plan. However, he also felt that Huelva could not be blamed for this, because the royal appointment letter did not clearly state that Cusco was within the 270 leagues, let alone that Cusco belonged to Almagro. Obviously, he had underestimated the Pizarro brothers in advance.
With a long sigh, he threw the municipal committee's resolution on the table, then opened the door, stood under the eaves and looked towards the rolling hills around the valley. It has entered May, which is the local late autumn and early winter season. The cold wind blowing from the endless mountains of the Andes comes in waves with a sharp whistle. It has been raining non-stop for half a month in the cold wind. It never ends. No more ground. The cold wind blows, the ground is muddy, the old and dilapidated, low and airy Indian houses cower in this small valley in the mountains. Because the roofs of the houses were all made of mud and grass and had not been repaired for many years, the roofs of some houses were blown open by strong winds and the houses were flooded with rain. The soldiers complained and complained all day long, shouting at him to attack. The city of Cusco, but instead of bringing Cusco back, his secretary Huelva brought him a solemn oath. How could this not make him feel torn and extremely annoyed?
After a while, the cavalry captain Orgonez came to his room with the two lieutenants Saavedra and Francis. Orgonez said to Almago, "Commander, I heard that Huelva didn't help us get Cusco back?"
Almagro rolled a cigarette, sighed while smoking, and said, "They do not admit that Cusco is within the range of 270 leagues. Therefore, both parties are required to put aside their disputes, non-aggression against each other, and wait patiently." The municipal council consulted the most professional navigators before making a ruling.”
Lieutenant Francis said, "But which most professional navigator will they seek advice from? Will that most professional navigator be bribed by them? Since the Cusco Municipal Council is headed by Pizarro If the brothers control it, they will try every means to prove that Cusco is not within that damn 270 leagues range.”
Lieutenant Saavedra also said, "Mr. Commander, this is a trick of the Pizarro brothers. If we follow the resolution of the Cusco Municipal Council, we will lose the capital city of Cusco forever."
Their words made Almagro silent for a long time. After a long time, Almagro asked Orgonez, "Then what should you do?"
Before Orgones could speak, Francis said, "There is no other way but to ask them for it with the barrel of a gun."
Orgonez also said, "I told you a long time ago that we will have to fight Pizarro sooner or later, otherwise, we will always be oppressed by them."
However, Almagro immediately rejected this suggestion and said, "It can't be like this. We are all Spaniards, and the Incas have not been eliminated yet. Why did our two partners get angry first? This is not to let the Incas look at us. joke?"
Orgonez said, "If we don't fight, we will have to follow them and continue like this. However, they live in Cusco, but we live in these farmhouses with drafts and leaks on all sides. Winter will soon It's almost here, but the place where we live is about to be flooded, and the food is about to run out. Otherwise, the soldiers are looking for us all day long, asking us to attack the city of Cusco."
Just as he was talking, three soldiers came and reported to the commander, "Commander, our house leaked too much due to rain. The house has been flooded and no one can enter the house. Please." Commander, please take care of this."
When Almagro saw that these three soldiers were all members of Francis's squadron, he said to Lieutenant Francis, "Go and find a way to find another room for them."
Francis immediately replied, "But there have been no rooms for a long time. In the past few days, more than 20 people have asked me for rooms. However, I am not a house builder, so where can I get a room?"
Almagro refused to listen to Francis and said to him, "I don't care anyway, you have to help them find a way." With that, he pushed Francis and the three soldiers out of the room.
However, in less than a minute, several more soldiers came to report, "Commander, all my stables are flooded. The horses must be moved to other places, otherwise, the horses will get sick."
Horses were very important to these Spanish soldiers, second only to their lives. Once lost, they would not be able to be supplied. Almagro had no choice but to say to Lieutenant Saavedra, "It's better for you to help them find a solution for this matter."
Saavedra hesitated for a while, then said, "Okay, let me find a way." Then he left with the soldiers.
After Francis and Saavedra left, Almagro said to Orgonez worriedly while smoking a cigarette, "On one side, our soldiers are suffering from cold and starvation, and on the other side, the capital city of Cusco is about to be destroyed." If we don’t come back, what should we do if this continues?”
Orgones thought for a while and said, "There is no other way but to seize it by force."
Almagro still shook his head and said, "No, I don't want to get the reputation of betrayal and murder."
Orgonez said, "Although no one can figure out whether Cusco is within the 270 league range, Lima and Haoha are both on the latitude north of Cusco, and they should definitely be in Is this within the range of 270 leagues? How about we ask them for Lima and Haoha?"
Almagro snorted through his nose and said, "Maybe not? Pizarro doesn't even want to give us Cusco, so how can he give us Lima? That's such a wishful thinking. The city of Cusco is in Peru. The interior has been basically burned by fire. But Lima is right on the seaside, and it was built by Pizarro with good intentions and painstaking efforts. Can he give Lima to us for free?"
Orgones said, "But we have the king's letter of appointment. We can ask him to leave the area that does not belong to him."
Almagro waved his hand and said, "He will not listen to the king on everything. You didn't listen to their soldiers who said that in Peru, Marquis Pizarro is the king."
Orgonez added, "But if we don't argue with him, Pizarro will not think that he is disobeying the king's order, nor will he think that he is occupying our land."
Almagro felt that what Orgonez said was reasonable. After thinking for a while, he said, "That's it. Otherwise, let Huelva write a letter to the Marquis of Pizarro and ask him to abandon Cusco." , otherwise we will ask him for Lima and Haoha?”
Orgonez said, "This should be done. We can't let Mr. Marquis take advantage of everything and then bite back and say that we want to compete with him for land."
So Almagro immediately asked the guards to call Huelva, and asked Huelva to write a letter orally. After the letter was written, Huelva repeated his belief. Almagro expressed satisfaction and asked Huelva to find someone to send the letter to Lima immediately.
