Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
Hernando stayed in Limado for a few more days, gathering with friends every day, either treating guests to dinner or gathering to gamble. Pizarro sent people to prepare a large sailboat, select some Indian boatmen, and load the gold and silver items to be transported back to the country, before sending Hernando to leave Peru and return to the country.
It was a calm summer day, and a large sailboat was docked at the port pier on the outskirts of Lima. There was a lot of excitement on the port pier, and the whole pier was packed with people seeing him off. Because besides Hernando, there were also some Spanish soldiers and businessmen returning to the country by boat. More than thirty soldiers brought by Hernando from Cusco served as escorts and escorts.
When all the people on the boat got on board, Pizarro led a cavalry squadron of soldiers and many officials surrounded Hernando and rushed to the dock. The other people who were seeing them off quickly made way for them. Hernando got off the horse and looked deeply at the sea and the blue sky for a while, then turned to Pizarro and said, "I'm leaving, and I can't be by your side to protect you. However, you must pay attention to your own safety and establish a guard force as soon as possible to guard you day and night."
Pizarro nodded affectionately and said, "Don't worry, brother."
In order to really attract the attention of the Marquis, he said loudly and with emphasis, "Please do not allow these Chilean soldiers to gather within a radius of fifty kilometers, otherwise, they will definitely harm you. If you are killed, I will Unable to explain, the Marquis’s reputation also disappeared.”
Pizarro nodded repeatedly and said, "I know."
With that, Hernando hugged his brother tightly and strode onto the boat.
In fact, Marquis Pizarro still didn't want his brother to return to the country. Because Almagro was killed by Hernando, and the king was pursuing the matter. If Hernando returned to the country, wouldn't he have fallen into a trap? However, besides Hernando, who else can take on this important task?
In his army, there were only two people he could trust. One was Soto, who was a cavalry captain in the army and had been serving as the vanguard of their army. However, he had already served as the leader of Almagro before his expedition to Chile. Back home. The other one is Hernando. Since Soto had left them long ago, he could only delegate his brother.
Hernando is the only legitimate child in their family. He and his two younger brothers Juan and Gonzalo are all illegitimate children. Moreover, Hernando was the only one of their brothers who had gone to school, was well-educated, and knew etiquette. The other two younger brothers are good at fighting, but they have little understanding of civil, military, and polite diplomacy. Therefore, he has always respected his brother and almost obeyed his words. However, before leaving, his brother repeatedly told him to beware of Almagro's remnants and asked him to form a guard to protect himself. However, he laughed it off because he felt that in Peru, who would dare to resist him? And this fatal neglect ultimately led to his demise.
The discovery of the New World in America opened up the Atlantic Ocean route, inspiring many European explorers and immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to the American continent in search of new treasures and a new life. An adventurous life is easy to say, but without experiencing the reality, who can know the hardships and dangers involved? If you sit on a sailboat and sail for several months, experiencing countless storms and waves and narrow escapes from death, will you still think that this kind of adventure is full of romance and legend?
Hernando took more than thirty soldiers to escort the ship and sailed in the ocean on a large sailing ship. The journey from Spain to Peru takes at least three or four months, and from Lima to Valencia takes almost half a year. They left the port of Lima in July 1539, planning to stop in Panama City, unload the cargo from the ship, rest there for a week, and then hire people to carry the cargo through dozens of miles of steep and rugged trails in the mountains. Delivered to the port of Nombre de Dios. Then, take a boat back home from there.
However, when the ship arrived in Puerto Viejo, Hernando decided to rest here for a day or two, so he got off the ship, left the port, and stayed in a hotel. While out shopping, he met a friend who had returned from Panama. This friend's name is Leonardo, a well-known aristocrat and government official in Panama City, who is responsible for the freight business in Spanish ports, and has had a relationship with him for many years. Hernando had received great help from him in Panama City when he returned to the country two years ago to escort the gold. As soon as Hernando saw him, he hugged him and then, surprised, asked, "Why are you here?"
Leonardo replied, "I am going to transport a batch of goods to Tumbes City. The ship came here yesterday and decided to rest here for a day or two." Then he said to Hernando, "What are you doing? Want to come here?”
Hernando said, "I'm going to escort a batch of goods back home."
Leonardo said, "Will it still be transferred in Panama City?"
Hernando said enthusiastically, "That's natural. I also said I was going to visit you in Panama City and make a good bet with you."
Leonardo frowned and said in a warning tone, "You still dare to go to Panama City? Isn't that a self-inflicted trap? Because of Almagro's murder, the Spanish authorities are waiting to detain you in Panama City."
When El Edo heard this, he was shocked. He never expected that the king would take such harsh action against him. Therefore, this matter made him uneasy and frightened. After breaking up with Leonardo, he hurried back to the hotel and told several trusted people that the Spanish authorities wanted him in Panama City, hoping to discuss with them what to do.
Hearing this, everyone was shocked and looked at each other in silence for a long time. After a while, someone said to Hernando, "Otherwise, let's not go back to the country and turn the bow of the ship back to Lima."
Others also felt that returning home this time would be very unlucky and dangerous, so they advised Hernando, "That's right, let's go back to Lima and not go back to the country."
However, Hernando pondered for a long time, thinking that he had brought back three large wooden boxes of gold for the king. It was too late for the king to be happy, and he would be lenient to him anyway. Therefore, he calmed down and said, "There is no turning back when you open your bow. Since we have left Lima and are here, wouldn't it be a waste of all our efforts to turn the ship back?"
After hearing what he said, someone immediately suggested, "Otherwise, we won't transship the ship in Panama City, and we won't stop the ship in Panama City. We can take a roundabout route through Mexico and land in Tecoantepec Bay."
Everyone had been away from home for many years and was eager to return home. When they heard that this method was good, they all agreed. Hernando also felt that this method was feasible, so he said, "Then we will not stop in Panama City, but sail the ship all the way to the Gulf port of Tecoantepec in Mexico, and then have a good rest for a week or two." Everyone. Everyone said, "Okay."
That night, Hernando wrote a letter to the king. On the one hand, he wanted to win over the king, and on the other hand, he wanted to find out what the king meant. He wrote in the letter, "Peru has now returned to calm and is developing in the direction of prosperity. Moreover, local residents are constantly discovering new gold and silver deposits, and the mining areas are taxed every day with the May Day tax system and the royal tax system. We are paying taxes to His Majesty and the Royal Family. We recently discovered a large silver mine in Potosi. The mountainous area is covered with dense shrubs. An Indian pulled up a shrub from the ground and found that the roots were stained with A lot of small silver balls. The silver mine is very rich and has a very high silver content, and we are mining it. Moreover, in order to increase the number of immigrant settlements, the government is constantly building houses for the residents, and their lives are improving day by day, so , they regard this as their new home.”
After three or four months of difficult sailing, they finally arrived at the Mexican Gulf port of Tecoantepec. This is a transfer station for shipments from Peru to Spain. Tecoantepeche Bay was the base for Spanish colonists to enslave American Indians and the center for religious activities. It was also a distribution center for Spanish colonists to search for wealth and sell black slaves in the Americas. The Spanish colonists gathered here a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry looted from all directions, and then transported them to the Spanish mainland. Therefore, walking in the streets and alleys of Tecoantepec Bay, you can see Spaniards and local Indians everywhere, as well as a large number of Indo-European mixed-race people.
Tecoantepec Bay is a beautiful city, and various buildings have the simple and fresh Spanish style. On weekdays, the sky above the city is always blue and the sky is blue. After every rain shower, the streets and houses washed by the rain are refreshing and have a unique mood. The ripples of mountains and blue waves in the suburbs echo each other; the novel and unique castles and antique churches are beautiful and elegant; the straight and wide streets are shaded by green trees and surrounded by flowers and plants; it is like a natural picture unfolding before people's eyes.
Hernando and the soldiers escorting the ship rested for only two days in this beautiful city. Then they stored the large sailboat they had brought in at a company in the port, and hired more than twenty local people to move the sailboat on board. Dozens of large wooden boxes were unloaded and loaded on horse-drawn carriages. Under the escort of more than thirty soldiers, they were transported through the rural dirt roads between the isthmus in Mexico to the port of Veracruz facing the Atlantic Ocean.
An isthmus is a narrow strip of land that separates two oceans. Because the Panama Canal had not yet been opened at that time, if you did not pass land from the Pacific to the Atlantic, you would have to travel on rough oceans for a year or two. From the port of Tecoantepec Bay on the Pacific Ocean to the port of Veracruz on the Atlantic Ocean, it is only one or two hundred roads away. It can be reached in almost a day by horse-drawn carriage.
