"Katsutoyo is so irresolute," Katsuie complained. "He never does anything with real clarity and decision. He doesn't even have the proper disposition to be my son. Katsutoshi, on the other hand, has no trace of malice in him at all. He's really taken to me as his father."
But if Katsuie preferred Katsutoshi to Katsutoyo, he favored his nephew, Genba, even more. His love for Genba went beyond that felt naturally for a nephew or son, and he had an inclination to indulge the emotion. Thus Katsuie kept a watchful eye on Genba's younger brothers, Yasumasa and Katsumasa, installing each of them in strategic castles while they were still only in their twenties.
In the midst of all that deep affection between family members and retainers, only Katsutoyo felt dissatisfied with his foster father and the Sakuma brothers.
Once, during the New Year's celebrations, for example, when Katsuie's family and retainers had come to congratulate him on the New Year, the first toast was offered by Katsuie. Katsutoyo had naturally assumed that it would be offered to him, and had advanced respectfully on his knees.
"It's not for you, Katsutoyo, it's for Genba," Katsuie said, holding the cup back.
It became known in other quarters that this slight was a matter of discontent for Katsutoyo, and the story was doubtless heard by spies from other provinces. Certainly such information reached Hideyoshi's ears.
Before surrendering Nagahama to Katsutoyo, it was necessary for Hideyoshi to move his own family to a new home.
"We'll be moving to Himeji in just a little while. It's mild in winter, and there's fish from the Inland Sea."
With these orders, Hideyoshi's mother, wife, and the entire household moved to his castle in Harima. But Hideyoshi himself did not go.
There was no time to waste. He had the castle at Takaradera near Kyoto completely renovated. It had been Mitsuhide's stronghold at the time of the battle of Yamazaki, and there was a reason Hideyoshi did not send his mother and wife to live there. He went from Takaradera Castle to the capital on alternate days. When he returned, he supervised construction; when he was absent, he was seeing to the government of the nation.
He was now taking the responsibility upon himself for safeguarding the Imperial Palace, for the administration of the city, and for overseeing the various provinces. According to the original decision of the Kiyosu conference, all phases of the government of Kyoto were to be managed equally by the four regents—Katsuie, Niwa, Shonyu, and Hideyoshi—and were never supposed to be Hideyoshi's responsibility alone. But Katsuie was far away in Echizen, carrying on some secret maneuvers with Nobutaka and others in Gifu and Ise; Niwa, though close by in Sakamoto, seemed already to have given over his responsisibility entirely to Hideyoshi; and Shonyu had quite gallantly declared that, although he had been given a tide, the problems of dealing with the administration and the nobility were beyond his abilities, and he would have nothing more to do with either.
It was in just these areas that Hideyoshi had true ability. His talents were far more administrative than anything else. Hideyoshi knew that battle was not his main talent. But he understood clearly that if a man held high ideals but was defeated on the battlefield, great administrative works would not go forward. Thus he risked everything on a battle, and once he had started a campaign, he fought to the bitter end.
In rewarding his martial accomplishments, the Imperial Court informed Hideyoshi would be given the rank of Lieutenant-General of the Imperial Guard. Hideyoshi declined, protesting that his merits did not deserve such an honor, but the Court graciously insisted, and he finally accepted a lesser title.
How many there are who are quick to find fault when they witness those who do good in the world! How many of the mean-spirited ones talk against those who work with upright hearts!
This is always true, and whenever great changes occur, the flood of gossip is liable to be especially violent.
“Hideyoshi is exposing his arrogance quickly. Even his subordinates are grasping authority.
“They're ignoring Lord Katsuie. It's as though there were no one else to serve."
“When you look at the influence he's gained recently, it's as though they're proclaiming that Lord Hideyoshi is Lord Nobunaga's successor."
The criticism aimed at him was noisy indeed. But, as always in such cases, the identies of the accusers remained unknown.
Whether or not he heard the rumors, Hideyoshi was unconcerned. He had no leisure to listen to gossip. In the Sixth Month, Nobunaga had died; in the middle of that month, the battle had been fought at Yamazaki; in the Seventh Month, the conference at Kiyosu had been held; at the end of that month, Hideyoshi had withdrawn from Nagahama, moving his family to Himeji; and in the Eighth Month, he had begun construction on Takadera Castle. Now he continued to go back and forth between Kyoto and Yamazaki. If he was in Kyoto, in the morning he would be bowing at the Imperial Palace; in the afternoon he would be inspecting the city, in the evening he would look over governmental matters, send out replies to letters, and greet guests; at midnight he would review letters from distant provinces; and at dawn he would make decisions concerning the petitions of his subordinates. Every day he would whip his horse off somewhere while still chewing the food from his last meal.
He frequendy had a number of destinations—the mansion of a court noble, meetings, unspections—and recendy he had been heading off repeatedly toward the northern part of Kyoto. It was there that he had ordered an enormous construction project to be started. Within the grounds of the Daitoku Temple, he had begun to build yet another temple, the Sokenin.
“It must be completed by the seventh day of the Tenth Month. Finish clearing the area by the eighth day, and complete preparations for all the ceremonies by the ninth day. There should be nothing left to be done by the tenth day."
This he said very firmly to Hikoemon and to his brother-in-law, Hidenaga. No matter what construction project Hideyoshi undertook, he would not change the time limit.
The memorial service was held within a lamplit shrine that was one hundred eighty-four yards wide. The brightly colored canopy sparkled, the thousands of lanterns looked like stars, and the smoke from the incense drifted among the fluttering banners, creating purple clouds above the heads of the crowds of mourners.
Among the priests alone, venerable scholars from the five major Zen temples and priests from the eight Buddhist sects attended. People of the time who observed the service described it as though the five hundred arhats and the three thousand disciples of the Buddha were all before their very eyes.
After the ceremonies of reading from the sutras and scattering flowers before the Buddha had taken place, the Zen abbots paid their respects. Finally, Abbot Soken recited the parting gatha and, with all of his strength, yelled "Kwatz!" For an instant all was hushed. Then, as the solemn music was played once again, the lotus flowers fell, and one by one the participants offered incense at the altar.
Among the mourners, however, about half of the Oda relatives who undoubtedly should have attended were absent. Samboshi had not appeared, neither had Nobutaka, Katsuie, or Takigawa.
But perhaps most unfathomable of all were the intentions of Tokugawa Ieyasu. After the Honno Temple incident, he was in a unique position. What his thoughts were, or how his cold eyes regarded present events, no one was able to judge.
9 TENTH YEAR OF TENSHO 1582 WINTER
Characters and Places
Fuwa Hikozo, senior Shibata retainer
Kanamori Gorohachi, senior Shibata retainer
Sassa Narimasa, senior Oda retainer
and ally of Shibata Katsuie
Sakuma Yasumasa, Genba's brother
Menju Shosuke, Shibata Katsuie's page
Yamaji Shogen, retainer of Shibata Katsutoyo
Maeda Toshinaga, Inuchiyo's son
Echizen, province of the Shibata clan
Kitanosho, main castle of the Shibata clan
Fuchu, Maeda Toshinaga's castle
The Snows of Echizen
Day and night, the
snow fell on wintry Echizen, leaving no opening through which a man could free his heart. But within the castle walls of Kitanosho, it was warmer than usual that year. That uncommon state of affairs was due to the presence of Lady Oichi and her three daughters. The lady herself was rarely seen, but her daughters could not bear to be confined to their apartments. The eldest, Chacha, was fifteen, the middle sister eleven, and the youngest only nine. To these girls, even falling leaves were a cause for wonder, and their laughter rang through the corridors of the citadel.
Katsuie was drawn by their voices to the women's quarters, where he hoped to forget his many cares amid their gay laughter, but whenever he appeared, the expressions on the faces of the girls darkened, and they neither laughed nor smiled. Even Lady Oichi was solemn and quiet, beautiful and cold.
"Please come in, my lord," she would say, inviting him to sit by the small silver fretwork brazier.
Even after their marriage, they spoke to each other with the formality of a retainer addressing a member of his lord's family.
"Your loneliness must be all the greater when you see the snow and feel the cold of this place for the first time, my lady," Katsuie said sympathetically.
"Not so much, my lord," Oichi replied, but it was clear that she longed for a warmer land. "When do the snows of Echizen begin to melt?" she asked.
"This is not Gifu or Kiyosu. When the rape flowers are blooming and the cherry blossoms are beginning to fall there, these mountains are still patched with melting snow."
"And until then?"
"It's like this every day."
“You mean it never melts?"
“Just snow a thousand feet deep!" Katsuie replied sharply. Upon being reminded of the length of time the snow would cover Echizen, his heart was filled with bitter resentment. Thus he was unable to spend even a moment's leisure with his family. Katsuie returned to the citadel as quickly as he had left. Accompanied by his pages, he walked off in great strides along the roofed corridor through which the snowy wind was blowing. As soon as he had gone, the three girls went out to the veranda to sing songs, not of Echizen but of their native Owari.
Katsuie did not look back. Before entering the main citadel, he ordered one of his pages, "Tell Gozaemon and Gohei to come to my room at once."
Both men were important retainers of the Shibata clan, and elders upon whom Katsuie relied.
'Did you send a messenger to Maeda Inuchiyo?" Katsuie asked Gozaemon.
“Yes, my lord. He left a little while ago," the man replied. "Did you want to add something to it, my lord?"
Katsuie nodded silently; he seemed to be lost in thought. The previous evening a council of the entire clan had discussed a weighty matter: Hideyoshi. And their decision not been a passive one. They had the whole winter to carry out a plan: Takigawa Kazumasu was to rally Ise; Nobutaka was to persuade Gamo Ujisato to join them, and to request assistance from Niwa Nagahide; Katsuie himself would write to Tokugawa Ieyasu to sound out his intentions; and a messenger had already been sent to the scheming old shogun, Yoshiaki. Finally, it was hoped that when the moment came, the Mori would attack Hideyoshi from the rear.
That was the plan, but Ieyasu's attitude was totally unclear. And although it was easy to tempt Yoshiaki's inconstancy, there seemed to be little hope of persuading the Mori to unite with their cause. Not only that, but Gamo Ujisato, the man to be drawn in by Nobutaka, was already allied to Hideyoshi, while Niwa stood tactfully in the center, declaring that he could not take sides with any of his former lord's retainers, and that he would only stand in the defense of the rightful heir, Lord Samboshi.
During this time, Hideyoshi was holding in Kyoto the magnificent memorial service for Nobunaga that had attracted the attention of the entire nation. Hideyoshi's increasing fame was making the proud Katsuie think about whether he should act and how fast. But nountains of Echizen responded to Katsuie's scheming with snow. He planned great campaigns, but he could not move his army to fight them.
During the conference, a letter had arrived from Kazumasu, advising Katsuie that the best strategy was to wait until spring and complete their great undertaking in one campaign. Until then, Kazumasu said, Katsuie was to make peace with Hideyoshi. Katsuie had considered his advice and decided it was the correct way to handle the situation. "If there is something else you would like to say to Lord Inuchiyo, I will send another messenger," Gozaemon repeated, observing Katsuie's worried expression. Katsuie confided his doubts to these men. "At the conference I agreed to send two trusted retainers along with Inuchiyo to negotiate peace with Hideyoshi, but now I don't know."
What do you mean, my lord?" one of the retainers asked.
"I don't know about Inuchiyo."
"Are you worried about his abilities as an envoy?"
"I'm well acquainted with his abilities. But when Hideyoshi was still a foot soldier, they were close friends."
"I don't think you have anything to worry about."
"You don't?"
"Not in the least," Gozaemon declared. "Both Inuchiyo's province in Noto and his son's in Fuchu are surrounded by your own estates and the castles of your retainers. So not only is he geographically isolated from Hideyoshi, but he will have to leave his wife and children as hostages."
Gohei was of the same opinion. "There has never been any discord between the two of you, my lord, and Lord Inuchiyo has served you faithfully throughout the long northern campaign. Many years ago, when he was a young samurai in Kiyosu, Lord Inuchiyo had a reputation for being wild. But he has changed. These days his name is associated with integrity and honesty, and people are quick to acknowledge their faith in him. So, rather than worry, I wonder if he isn't the most suitable man we could send."
Katsuie began to believe that they were right. Now he could laugh, knowing that his own suspicions was nothing more than that. But if the plan did somehow go wrong, the entire situation could quickly turn against Katsuie. Moreover, he was uneasy because his army would be unable to move until the spring. Nobutaka's isolation in Gifu and Takigawa's in Ise troubled him even more. Therefore the envoy's mission was crucial to the success of the entire strategy.
A few days later Inuchiyo arrived at Kitanosho. He would be forty-four that year—a year younger than Hideyoshi. He had been tempered by his years on the battlefield, and even with the loss of one eye, he looked cool and self-possessed.
When he received Katsuie's warm reception, he smiled at its excess. Lady Oichi was also there to greet him, but Inuchiyo said gallantly, "It must be unpleasant for you to be in this cold room with a group of coarse samurai, my lady."
Urged to withdraw, Lady Oichi left for her own apartments. Katsuie mistook this for deference, but Inuchiyo had intended it as a gesture of sympathy for Oichi, in whom he saw Nobunaga, her dead brother.
"You're living up to your old reputation. I've heard you were an old hand at this," Katsuie said.
"You mean sake?”
"I mean a lot of sake"
Inuchiyo laughed heartily, his one eye blinking in the light of the candles. He was still the handsome man Hideyoshi had known in his youth.
"Hideyoshi was never much of a drinker," Katsuie said.
"That's true. His face turned red right away."
"But I recall that when you were young, the two of you often spent the whole night drinking together."
"Yes, as far as debauchery went, that young Monkey never got tired. He was an expert. Whenever I drank too much, I would just fall down and sleep anywhere."
"I imagine you're still close friends."
“Not really. No one is less reliable than a former drinking partner."
“Is that so?"
“Surely you must remember, Lord Katsuie, those days of eating, drinking, and singing until dawn. Friends will put their arms around each other's shoulders, revealing things they wouldn't even talk to their own brothers about. At the time, you think that person is the best friend you ever had, but later you both get involved in the real world and you have a lord
or a wife and children. When you both look back at the feelings you had when you were living together in the barracks, you find that they've changed quite a bit. The way you see the world, the eyes with which you look at others—you've grown up. Your friend is not the same, and neither are you. The really true, pure, and devoted friends are the men we meet in the midst of adversity."
“Well then, I've been under the wrong impression."
“What do you mean, my lord?"
“I thought that you and Hideyoshi had a deeper relationship, and I was about to ask you do me a favor."
“If you're going to fight with Hideyoshi," Inuchiyo said, "I will not raise my spear against him, but if you're going to hold peace talks, I'd like to take it upon myself to be in the vanguard. Or is it something different?"
Inuichiyo had hit the mark. Without saying anything further, he smiled and raised his cup.
How had the plan leaked out to him? Katsuie's eyes showed his confusion. After thinking it over for a moment, however, he realized it had been he himself who had been testing out Inuchiyo on the subject of Hideyoshi from the very beginning.
Even though he was living in the provinces, Inuchiyo was not the kind of man who lived in a corner. Certainly he would know what was going on in Kyoto, and he would have a clear understanding of the trouble between Hideyoshi and Katsuie. Furthermore, Inuchiyo had received Katsuie's urgent summons and come quickly, despite the snow.
As Katsuie reflected on the matter, he had to rethink his view of Inuchiyo, in order to know how to control him. Inuchiyo was a man whose power would grow with the years Like Sassa Narimasa, he was under Katsuie's command on Nobunaga's orders. During the five years of the northern campaign, Katsuie had treated Inuchiyo like one of his own retainers, and Inuchiyo had obeyed Katsuie. But now that Nobunaga was dead, Katsuie wondered if the relationship would continue unchanged. It came down to this: Katsuie's authority had depended on Nobunaga. With Nobunaga dead, Katsuie was only one general aong many.
TAIKO: AN EPIC NOVEL OF WAR AND GLORY IN FEUDAL JAPAN Page 116