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Chapter 13: Lies, Damn Lies, and Treaties made by Conquistadores.


As word reached Panama that Belalcázar had worked out a deal with the great southern empire, Spaniards rushed to head south and claim a piece of the pie. Some were spurred by the tales of how valued common items were to the Southern Empire, others mistakenly heard that Belalcázar had succeeded where others had failed and conquered the land. This later group was understandably quite surprised when they found the restrictions placed on them by the treaty Belalcázar signed. Some clamored for another go at total conquest, but they found no support from the Governor of San Miguel. Prospective ringleaders found themselves harassed when in San Miguel and attempts to organize were quashed. Anyone foolish enough to attempt a conquest without a carefully organized force was generally also foolish enough to begin their "conquest" by causing a ruckus in Tumbez. Though close proximity to the Spanish habitually killed huge segments of the army under Rumiñavi's command there the turnover was slow enough that new forces nonetheless quickly ceased to be impressed by the technology of the old world. Without the luster of unknown powers charging at a wall head on is a very risky preposition.

Tumbez itself was also in a state on continual flux thanks to the rolling plagues killing thousands as they came and went. Its population cratered, and had it not been for the Spanish traders the city might have been deserted. But it would pull through as Spanish products flowed through it out of San Miguel and into the Empire upon what the Spanish called "La Carretera". Trade was an odd thing in Tumbez, as officially speaking there was only one buyer. This buyer was the Tawantinsuyu themselves, offering gold and, increasingly often, silver. In the beginning the Tawantinsuyu were desperate for gunpowder, steel and horses and were willing to pay what to the Spanish were exorbitant prices. This had a side effect of keeping the Spanish happy during those crucial early years when the Treaty was solidifying into the status quo.

To his credit Belalcázar realized that the Tawantinsuyu would want more then just the goods themselves and tried futilely to keep the natives dependent on Spanish goods, and to an extent it worked, being well placed in San Miguel almost guaranteed wealth beyond what could be found in Spain. But once merchants began to travel inland they slipped out of Belalcázar's grasp, and that is where secrets were lost. Traders could simply not be trusted to keep complex ideals of balance of power in mind. When all that was requested was a simple explanation of horse breeding explaining it to some curious natives seemed trivial, especially if the natives were offering a bit of silver. Any Blacksmiths who wandered into the mountains often found themselves making more money then they knew what to do with. Gunpowder was harder to come by, as Belalcázar did his best to monopolize control over it in San Miguel, but it was a must have for entering the mountains and so it too fell into the hands of the Tawantinsuyu. However, mass production gunpowder and iron is not going to happen overnight, and for the time being any product the Tawantinsuyu needed en masse had to pass through the hands of the Spanish.


Due to the central planning the Tawantinsuyu utilized the Treaty of Cajacamara theoretically created what some in another time and place might call a bilateral monopoly. There was only one buyer, and only one seller. However this ideal broke down in the face of reality.

The plagues had decimated the population of the empire, even with central planning hard choices had to be made about what areas got what. And if locals got felt that they had not gotten their due then a peasant revolt, something recognizable to the Spaniards, might break out. Revolts tended to revolve around attempts to remove supplies from local storehouses and move them to areas more valuable to the empire. This often sparked anger amongst peasants who feared that the support they had known from the government was being cut off. The peasants would either grumble and move on or revolt. The locals, sometimes only the farmers but the local officials occasionally got involved, would seize control of storehouses and the fields and refuse to give it to anyone out of the community. These revolts were generally put down by nearby garrisons of soldiers without the need for assistance from unites with calvary or guns. Occasionally however the revolt would be widespread enough or the leaders savvy enough that the attention of Cusco had to be brought to it, at which point the rebels would be soundly crushed. However the murders or population movements that sometimes accompanied revolts in the past never occurred. The plagues had drastically reduced the labor supply and so the farmers of the empire had more influence then they knew.


If the central authorities did not require something from an area and said area did not actively oppose the Imperial regime then the area was often left to its own ends. Local leadership was free to do whatever they wanted so long as the Sapa Inka received his due.
Imperial rule was still maintained directly over La Carretera, the north, the lands in the Andes surrounding Cusco and key locations scattered elsewhere, namely the newly conquered lands in the south. Outside of these areas local leadership enjoyed a fair amount of freedom. This freedom inadvertently included trade with the Spanish who were not content to stay on La Carretera. With Imperial rule so thin it wasn't hard for small bands to slip off the road from time to time. Some pillaged, with those who were captured and those who escaped breaking up about half and half, but some traded and found that despite the lack of a pre-existing internal economy there was still value to be found in the mountains. The Textiles found were valued and a new food or two was always profitable in Europe, though this sort of illegal trade was small potatoes compared to what was occurring on the coast.

The Tawantinsuyu had a navy, and a fairly capable one for a nation whose roots lay far above sea level, but it was no real match for the Spanish. Even with a superior knowledge of the coast the Tawantinsuyu fleet, which was of course reeling from the death of the majority of its manpower, proved unable to seriously stop Spanish sailors from doing whatever they wanted. Spanish ships loaded up with all manner of new and exciting goods, rather by giving locals goods that the Tawantinsuyu proper would never accept as payment or simply stealing everything that wasn't nailed down.

Such was the odd equilibrium that persisted from 1539 until 1542. The 3 years were a period of flux, but never to a point of the peace breaking. However a couple events occurred in 1542 that would upset the fragile peace that had remained in place since the Treaty. First was the death of Rumiñavi of typhus. Second was the Mapuche.