Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
News of Almagro's death sentence quickly spread throughout the cities of Cusco and Lima, causing great shock and repercussions. In Lima, many officers and soldiers came to the municipal building and wanted to intercede with Marquis Pizarro. Only he could persuade his brother Hernando. However, they did not know where Marquis Pizarro was because he had been staying out of town and had not returned to Lima. In Cusco, twenty or thirty officers and soldiers who had been incited by Skoda to write materials against Almagro suddenly rushed into Hernando's office and demanded that their accusations be withdrawn because they Little did he know that their accusation would lead to the death penalty for the elderly general. Diego Alvarado, who played a key role in protecting Hernando's life, also found Hernando again to intercede, asking Hernando to let Almagro go. Treasurer Espinal made similar attempts to persuade Hernando, but in vain. Even Almagro himself went to Hernando many times to intercede and beg for mercy. However, no one's words could change the determination of the top military commander in Cusco.
The day finally arrived for Almagro's execution. Originally, the plan was to take Almagro to the Plaza de Inca and behead him there. However, fearing that something might happen during Almagro's execution, Hernando changed the place of execution from the Plaza de Inca to the prison cell. Early in the morning, a large number of strict security guards and sentries were deployed around the entire Inca Square and the prison. Cavalry mobile sentries and patrol teams were even dispatched.
At about nine o'clock after breakfast, Hernando came to the prison early. All the work in the prison cell was ready last night. A simple, low gallows had been erected in the prison, and the ropes had been roped. Then the executioner and the priest also came to the prison secretly. So many people came at once, making the cell seem a bit crowded.
Hernando announced the execution. So the two soldiers stood in front of everyone holding Almagro. Skoda began to read out the verdict. The priest took a Bible and read a long paragraph toward Almagro. In fact, he didn't hear anything because he was frightened by the death penalty. If it weren't for someone Holding him, he had already collapsed on the ground.
The priest asked him to repent, and he said tremblingly, "I should not have ventured into this strange land, nor should I have killed so many Indians, nor should I have robbed the city of Cusco and killed the Pizarro brothers. They imprisoned me. I am guilty. May God forgive me because of my old age and frailty. Dear Heavenly Father: Through your words, I see my true nature and realize that I am a helpless sinner. . And you are the great creator and savior; because of your love and salvation, I now admit that I am a sinful child, and am willing to repent and accept you as the savior of my life. I beg you to forgive all my sins and use The blood cleanses me; I pray to the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!"
Christianity has the teaching that "the righteous go to heaven and the sinners go to hell", but how to judge whether a person is a righteous person or a sinner? It depends on the priest to control it. The church can determine whether a person is guilty based on whether he has violated these teachings. The clergy has the authority to forgive sins. No matter how many bad things a person has done, as long as you can repent to God before you die, tell the priest. The pastor will act as the representative of the Lord of faith, indicating that he will be forgiven by the Lord and will go to heaven after his death.
The pastor said, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, and your rod and your staff comfort me. Please give me the courage to accept that I cannot change." of; grant me the strength to change what I can change; and grant me the wisdom to distinguish between the two. Every day is different, and every moment is worth recalling. Treat suffering as the only way to peace. Like you, restore the world to its own appearance without imposing your own thoughts on it. I believe you will take care of everything. If I follow your wishes, then I will live a happy life without hesitation. And walk with you in the life to come. Amen.”
After listening to the priest's prayer, Almagro felt much calmer. He supported his body vigorously so that he could stand up straight, waiting for his fate to be pronounced. After Almagro's confession and the sacraments, he was hanged. Several soldiers tied him in a rope and hanged him. According to the order, his head was cut off from his body and brought to the Inca Square for public display.
At this time, thousands of Spaniards and Indians gathered in the Inca Plaza, and they surrounded the entire Inca Plaza. A herald walked into the square and read aloud Almagro's crimes. His head was then placed on a wooden plank and carried to the square by two soldiers. Looking at the bloody head, people screamed in fear. Some women even covered their eyes with their hands and did not dare to look. At this time, the herald pointed to the bloody head and said to the people, "This is the fate of rebels and betrayers."
The blood-stained body of the deceased was wrapped in clothes by one of his junior officers and friends, Ponce De Leon, and brought back to his home, where he was placed in the cemetery of Notre Dame Church with great ceremony the next day. A conqueror of the Inca Empire passed away like this. The Pizarro brothers Hernando and Gonzalo were also among the mourners. This calls attention to the similar tribute paid by their brothers in mourning for Atahualpa.
The conqueror of the Inca Empire, who was as famous as Francisco Pizarro, was an outcast who had been without parents since childhood, relying on friends or teachers for guidance since childhood. He had many excellent qualities and many shortcomings, but during the conquest of Chile, he committed a cruel atrocity against the indigenous people. He is gentle and easy-going, kind and gullible, never malicious, but he often becomes the victim of conspiracies and schemes. He was generous and spent money like water, because waste more easily won the favor of his soldiers than thrift and prudent calculation. When he marched into Chile, he lent the poorer knights 100,000 gold coins to equip themselves. Later, because he could not repay, the debt was completely forgiven. Therefore, as commander, he is deeply respected and loved by the officers and soldiers.
But his relationship with the chief, the Marquis of Pizarro, could hardly be considered a blessing in his career. Partnerships between individuals formed for the purpose of discovering new lands and conquering new lands are unlikely to be observed with strict conscientiousness, especially by those who are more accustomed to dominating others than to regulating themselves. Even if there have been no previous incidents of discord with each other, they are bound to have disputes over the distribution of spoils. The union between them is a particularly mismatched union. Because Almagro's easy-going, enthusiastic and open-minded character are no match for Pizarro's ruthlessness and scheming tactics; whenever their respective interests conflict with each other, he is bound to be harmed by the tricks of his partners.
Almagro himself was to blame for his final destruction. He made two major mistakes. The first was that he resorted to force to capture Cusco. The demarcation line cannot be determined by force. That is a question submitted to arbitration and, if the arbitrator cannot be relied upon, to the Crown for adjudication. But if he once resorted to force, he should not have recourse to negotiations, and above all, not to negotiations with Pizarro. This was his second and biggest mistake. He had seen enough of what Pizarro had done to know that he could not be trusted. Almagro believed him and paid the price with his life.
Before Almagro was executed, Marquis Francisco Pizarro had been staying in the palace of the Inca king in the small town of Haoha, about 150 kilometers away from Cusco, but everything in Cusco was under his control. within control. Just as Chalkuchma and Kiskis led the Quito army to attack the capital city of Cusco, all military and violent activities carried out in the capital city of Cusco were conducted by troops stationed in the small town of Haoha. King Atahualpa personally commanded the same.
Pizarro returned to Lima just as his brother set off in pursuit of Almagro, and had been anxiously awaiting the outcome of the battle. After receiving the good news of the victory in the Battle of Las Salinas, he immediately embarked on a journey to Cusco. Because the situation was quite chaotic at the time, he had no choice but to stay in the small town of Haoha and remotely control the operations in Cusco. While awaiting the outcome of Almagro's trial.
Soon, he received a letter from Hernando. The letter read, “Dear Mr. Marquis, I heard that you have arrived in Haoha from Lima and are going to have a rest in Haoha before coming to Cusco. We are all eagerly looking forward to it and waiting. Since you prepared enough men, horses and weapons for us and formulated a strategy to annihilate the enemy, the battle went very smoothly and we achieved a decisive victory. Orgonez was killed and Almague was defeated. Luo was captured alive. But I would like to ask you to make the final decision on how to deal with this 'one-eyed general'. According to your opinion, I have sent people to send little Almagro to Lima, and you will take care of him. Maybe we can arrive in Haoha tomorrow. I look forward to your coming to Cusco soon."
After Pizarro listened to his secretary Picardo read the letter for him, he said to Picardo, "You should reply to Hernando immediately and say that the treatment of Almagro is very important and that he must be dealt with in the most severe manner." We must deal with him so that he can no longer cause us trouble. We must not let the tiger go back to the mountain, otherwise, if he makes a comeback one day, he will definitely pose a serious threat to us. Tell him again that I will stay in Haoha until Almagro After being dealt with, go to Cusco, otherwise, they will ask me to let Almagro go. Almagro must be dealt with in accordance with legal procedures, and manpower must be organized to expose and accuse him of his crimes. Prosecute him legally. Let people see that we dealt with Almagro through legal and fair means. And Almagro was a sinner who betrayed this country and the Spanish royal family. His death is It is a matter of course and an unforgivable crime. This matter must be carried out as soon as possible. I will wait until he has dealt with Almagro and then rush to Cusco."
The next morning, little Almagro, who was sent to Lima by Hernando, arrived in the small town of Haoha and came to the Inca Palace to meet Marquis Pizarro. The Marquis received little Almagro warmly. Little Almagro said to the Marquis of Pizarro, "My father was imprisoned by Hernando. He is old, weak and sick. I am really worried about him. I ask the Marquis not to carry out any form of torture on him." Violence."
Marquis Pizarro patted the young man on the shoulder and said, "Young man, don't worry, I will not harm your father, because we are old friends and partners for many years. As the Governor of Peru, my only wish is to see This kingdom can be peaceful and peaceful. Regarding your father, my old friend and partner, not only will I not carry out any form of violence against him, but I will definitely restore old friendship with him." After appeasing the young man, Pi The Marquis of Salo said to little Almagro again, "I asked them to send you to live in my home and treat you as my nephew."
Little Almagro was very grateful and said, "Thank you, Mr. Marquis."
Pizarro said, "I will ask them to send you to Lima first. I will stay here for a while. After I finish handling some matters, I will rush back to Lima immediately."
In fact, Marquis Pizarro has been staying in Haoha, not to deal with any important matters, but to wait for Hernando to rush to Cusco after disposing of Almagro. He has not been to Cusco for a long time. In the current chaotic situation, he feels that he must return to the city of Cusco to handle some important matters personally and stabilize the current turbulent situation.
A few months ago, in order to force Almagro to lead an expedition to Chile, he personally came to Cusco and tried every means to persuade Almagro to leave Cusco and conquer Chile. After that, there was a great uprising organized by the Inca King with hundreds of thousands of Indians participating. His brother Captain Juan died in the war; and then Almagro attacked Cusco and captured and imprisoned him alive. Hernando and Gonzalo et al. Now, his old partner and old rival Almagro has also been executed, so he really wants to come to Cusco to boost the morale of his brothers and consolidate the power of Cusco.
Half a month later, when news spread that Almagro was to be executed, Bishop Valverde rushed over from Cusco. He was a good friend of Francisco Pizarro and Almagro. As soon as he saw Pizarro, he said, "Hernando insisted on executing Almagro, which is illegal and unthinkable. I persuaded him many times, but I could not change his decision. So, I I can only come to you, only you can make Hernando’s criminal behavior stop.”
Pizarro was startled and said, "Is it impossible? Why did Hernando execute Almagro? This is so unbelievable and incomprehensible."
Bishop Valverde shook his head and said, "If Hernando wants to execute Almagro for such a big thing, he can't possibly not ask you first, right?"
Pizarro said seriously, "I really don't know."
Bishop Valverde said, "In this case, you should go to Cusco immediately, stop this from happening immediately, release Almagro, and restore the marshal's freedom."
Pizarro thought for a moment and said, "That's what I should do."
However, Pizarro only said this and did not rush to Cusco immediately, nor did he stop Hernando from executing Almagro. Three days before Almagro was executed, Marquis Pizarro rushed from Haoha to Cusco with a cavalry squad of more than 100 people. However, when he arrived at the small town of Abancay, which was only more than 50 kilometers away from Cusco, someone came over to report to him that Almagro had been executed by Hernando.
At that time, he was riding a horse and walking on the high mountains. After hearing the news, everyone around him was stunned and looked at their governor. The Marquis of Pizarro was startled at first, and then showed great shock, causing his whole body to tremble. He said in a very angry tone to the secretary Picardo next to him, "Hernando is so irrational. I have repeatedly told him that I cannot treat my old friends and partners in such a violent way. However, he said that Al Magro committed treason and must be punished with death. I asked him to wait until I arrived in Cusco, but he executed Almagro before I arrived in Cusco. He sounds handsome."
After speaking, he remained silent for a long time, staring at the ground. He seemed very excited and could not calm down for a long time. It was only after Picardo and everyone's persuasion that he let out a long sigh and said, "I must punish Hernando seriously."
