"The Inca Lesson" (Fiction) "The Demolition of the Inca Empire" Volume 2 Zhang Baotong

Looking down from the mountain, a small path spiraled upwards, very steep and dangerous. Due to the fog, it is impossible to see the buildings on the mountain. However, you can see the huge stone walls and huge stone barriers everywhere. It is very difficult to carry a sedan chair upwards, even walking upwards. Therefore, everyone walked up step by step by step on the path paved with stones. When they reached the mountainside, they saw corn planted in many farmlands. The Inca King was surprised and asked the people around, "There are no people around here, why are there still people farming here?" The person next to him told him that people have always lived here because there was a palace of Sun God Virgin Palace. At most one or two hundred virgins were there.

Entering the clouds and mist on the mountain, the scenery of Machu Picchu is unfolding one after another. Below the two peaks of Machu Picchu and Huinna Picchu, ancient stone buildings are embedded between the green Andean peaks, and clusters of stone buildings and grassy courtyards are arranged in sequence. One or two hundred stone houses are connected to each other, in an orderly manner. On the south are residential houses and palace temples are palace temples. Around the house buildings are green farmlands. There is a garden platform made of dense stones in the farmland, and a winding and steep path passes through it, leading to a huge stone gate tower. Through this gate tower, you can see a building like a horseshoe-shaped tower. This building is called "Tong Sun Stone", because it can tie the sun's light on the winter solstice and leave the light and warm sun in the sky forever.

Inca King Manco and Princess Okoro had heard of this place in the past, but this was the first time I came here. I saw the buildings and fields on the top of the mountain, especially the palaces and temples, a feeling of holiness and mystery that I had never experienced before fell and rose in my heart for a long time.

The Inca king took everyone to a larger house and stopped. When he entered the house, he saw that there was only a loom and some women's fabrics. He knew that there were single women living in the house. Then he entered the next few houses, and it seemed that the same was true. He immediately realized that there might be virgins of the Sun God or the palace maids of the former king Vainakabak.

He felt that this place was always regarded by Indians as the closest place to the sun. In order to worship the sun god, the former king built the Virgin Palace here, which was very reasonable and easy to understand. However, he was a little unaware of why the former king Vainakabak built the harem here. Because it was at least more than 100 kilometers away from the capital of Cusco, and the roads were difficult and the rainy season was long, especially during the May to September, the rain continued, not only muddy roads, but also encountered natural phenomena such as floods and landslides from time to time. Therefore, he felt that the former king really did not need to build the harem here.

Moreover, he also heard that there were many women living in the harem of Vainakabak. However, after the completion of this palace, Vainakabak has been leading soldiers in the north and never returned to the capital of Cusco, so he has never been here. Especially after Vainakabak was arrested, this place was basically forgotten.

At dusk and evening, several women came back from the ground. They were frigid, silent, and looked numb before they were old. Seeing so many men coming to their door, they looked happy, surprised, and at a loss.

Princess Okoro brought them to Manco and said to them, "This is our Inca king." They were stunned at first, and then hurriedly knelt down to Manco. Manco asked them what their name was. A woman in her thirties answered first, "My name is Sumanika, we are all palace maids in the harem of the Great King." A woman of thirty-seven or eight years old said, "My name is Takama." Another woman of 26 or seven years old introduced herself and said, "My name is Selinawa." Two women of 27 or eight years old also claimed their names respectively.

The Inca king asked them, "When did you come here?" said Serinava, the youngest, "I was only eleven when I came here. Takama was only twenty-one or twenty-two years old at that time." Princess Okoro said, "You have been here for fifteen or sixteen years?" The woman couldn't help but say sadly, "Yes. At that time, King Vainakabak said he wanted to come to stay here for a summer, but later he said that the Inca army fought in the north with the army of the Quito country in a difficult situation. It was very cruel. The king had no choice but to lead his troops on an expedition, so he did not come again. Many years later, I heard that Vainaka

Buck died and his eldest son Wascar succeeded the Inca. But he only came once, and he arrived at noon that day and left in the afternoon. After that, he brought all the virgins in the Virgin Palace of the Sun God back to Cusco, but left all the maids of the harem here. He heard that the king was very angry about the fact that the former king gave the entire land of the Kingdom of Quito, so he used this method of abandoning us to revenge the former king. That is, since then, King Wascar never sent anyone here again, so our place was slowly forgotten by the world."

As he said that, he pointed to the corn and vegetable fields around the mountain and said to the Inca King, "Look, if we hadn't grown crops and vegetables ourselves, we would have starved to death." The princess asked, "Are you hundreds of people here?" Serinava said, "At the earliest, there might be more than three hundred people here, more than one hundred Virgins of the Sun God, more than one hundred princesses, and dozens of priests. However, after the death of King Vainakabak, he no longer transported goods and food to the place. So a shortage of food broke out soon. The priests went out to find food in batches, but they all went there and never came back."

"Although that famine did not starve many people to death, not long after, smallpox occurred here, and many people died of illness. In the end, only twenty or thirty people were left. Many years later, some women were taken away by men who went up the mountain to worship around them, and a few people died of illness. So, only a few of us are left now."

The Inca nodded with great sympathy and asked, "How many houses are there for housing?" Sumanika said, "There are many houses here, but they have not lived in it for many years, and they are almost abandoned. But just repair and sort out, you can live in it." The Inca asked again, "How much food is there?" The woman pointed to the houses next to her and replied, "There are all food piled up in those rooms, which can be enough for one or two hundred people to eat for a year or two." The Inca said very satisfiedly, "Very good, let's live here, so that we can wait for General Mokwa's arrival."
Chapter completed!