100 Historical Stories That Unlock Teenage Wisdom

Chapter 90 7 Pizarro's Shameless Killing of the Inca Emperor

Chapter 97 Pizarro shamelessly murdered the Inca emperor

——It is impossible to believe that the condescending "goodwill" fate comes from hard work, not from others' charity.

After Columbus discovered the American continent, the Spaniards had a strong desire to make a fortune in America.At the beginning of the sixteenth century, with the beginning of the Age of Discovery, the Kingdom of Spain ushered in unprecedented prosperity. The prosperity of overseas trade and the expansion of colonies brought a wealth of wealth into the country.At the same time, the Inca Empire in South America across the Atlantic from Spain, an empire shrouded in the light of the sun god, also reached its heyday.This empire has no writing, no knowledge of metal smelting, but has developed farming technology and superb masonry skills.At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the empire reached the Andes Mountains in the east, the Pacific Ocean in the west, Ecuador in the north, and Chile in the south. The land area reached more than 400 million square kilometers and the population was more than 1000 million.

In 1528, a Spanish adventurer Pizarro and his partner Almagro discovered Peru.Because they were severely understaffed at the time, they were unable to carry out adventure activities, and only had initial contact with the Indians. He also took away a few locals, trained them to speak Spanish, and trained them to become translators.After that, Pizarro returned to Spain to report this discovery to the king. The king was moved by the wealth of the mysterious Inca Empire, and appointed Pizarro as governor, commander-in-chief, and advance officer, and was fully responsible for conquering the Inca Empire.So Pizarro recruited troops in Spain and re-landed in South America in 1532.This team of less than 180 people wanted to conquer the huge Inca Empire, as if they were dreaming of ascending to heaven.But the fanatical desire for gold inspires everyone to overcome many difficulties and go deep into the hinterland of the mysterious empire.

Pizarro had learned that a brutal civil war had just broken out in the Inca Empire, and this civil war was an opportunity for him.He led the team to trek across mountains and rivers, and strictly required his subordinates to restrain their greed and treat the Indians kindly for the benefit of tomorrow.And the news was released along the way that the reason why they came was to help Atahualpa fight the civil war, and the Spaniards were completely friendly.

When the Spaniards arrived at the city of Cajamarca, where the victorious Atahualpa was located, Pizarro sent a small team to visit him, and brought an invitation from Pizarro, inviting Atahualpa to visit the Spaniards barracks.Atahualpa immediately agreed to return to the Spaniard the next day.But he never dreamed that Pizarro had already planned to transfer him away from the base camp, and then set up an ambush to capture the Inca emperor alive, and then control the entire Inca Empire by controlling him.

The next day, Saturday, November 1532, 11.Pizarro's barracks had already sharpened their knives, while Atahualpa left most of his men outside Cajamarca, and only brought a few entourages into the city without weapons.At sunset, Atahualpa entered Cajamarca surrounded by a large number of his subjects and retinue.His team entered the town square, and there was not a single Spanish soldier in the square.So Atahualpa stopped.At this time, Pizarro's military priest came towards him with a Bible in one hand and a cross in the other.The priest preached Christianity to Atahualpa, asking him and his subjects to convert to Catholicism.Atahualpa felt insulted. He took the Bible and flipped through a few pages before throwing it on the ground.All this was expected by the Spaniards. The priest picked up the Bible and ran to Pizarro all the way, asking him to act immediately and declaring that Pizarro was innocent.So Pizarro issued a signal to attack, and the Spanish soldiers who had already ambushed rushed to the square from all directions, deafening cannons and muskets sounded, and the square was billowing with smoke.The Indians, dumbstruck with fright, fell under the arms of the Spaniards.The massacre began, and the unarmed Indians swarmed around their emperor, blocking the Spanish cavalry from approaching Atahualpa with their flesh and blood.

It was getting dark, and Atahualpa was finally captured. In this massacre, [-] to [-] Indians were killed, and the corpses piled up like mountains. Among the Spaniards, only Pizarro was injured—he wanted to protect Atahuallpa. Tahuallpa was slashed by one of his own people instead of being hurt.

Atahualpa was imprisoned in a room.News of his capture quickly spread throughout the country, overwhelming the Inca troops.Pizarro ordered Atahualpa to be treated kindly, so that he could continue to issue orders to his courtiers in his cell and communicate his orders to the outside world.The imprisoned Atahualpa soon discovered the greedy attitude of the Spaniards towards gold, and he hoped to satisfy the greed of the Spaniards in exchange for freedom, so he told Pizarro that if he could be released, he would order people in the house Pizarro piled up gold and made a gesture on the wall with his hand, indicating that the gold piled up to the position he gestured. Pizarro ordered someone to draw a line at the position he gestured.

Therefore, the Spaniards and Atahualpa signed an agreement, the content of which was roughly that if a room full of gold could be piled up according to the above conditions, the Spaniards would release Atahualpa.

As gold continued to flow in from across the country, getting closer and closer to that line, Atahualpa seemed to see hope.But he miscalculated, because even if all the gold in the Inca country was shipped, it would not be able to satisfy the greedy appetite of the Spaniards.Days passed, and when the gold was about to fill up, the naive Atahualpa thought that the actions of the Spaniards would be bound by a paper agreement, and he would be released soon.But the Spaniards couldn't wait any longer. They tore up the agreement, divided the loot on the spot, and announced that Atahualpa would be executed.He was accused of usurping the throne, assassinating his brother, idolatry and lust, and attempting to incite an uprising against the Spaniards, and was found guilty and burned at the stake.

On August 1533, 8, Atahualpa was led to the execution ground in handcuffs and shackles.The priest followed him and told him that if he would be baptized and converted to Christianity, his painful death sentence would be reduced to a less painful hanging.Atahualpa compromised again at the last moment and was baptized.Before he died, he actually entrusted several young sons to Pizarro for their upbringing—this was his last will.

Wisdom Interpretation:

Pizarro held the Inca emperor in his hand, and he seemed to express such a meaning: I pity you, as long as your subjects give me enough gold, I can let you go back.The dizzy Inca emperor actually believed his "goodwill", and ended up losing his gold and his life.We should understand from this story that when our own destiny is already in the hands of others, it is actually very dangerous, and under the overturned nest, when there are no eggs and people are not free, don't expect that we are still strangled. The strong man who lives by the throat of fate!
So don't believe in the condescending "goodwill" of others, because this kind of "goodwill" is not sincere, and the destiny depends on ourselves. We should believe in our own struggle.

(End of this chapter)