Taiko. Part 47

From any spot in the town, the traveler could look up and see the towering walls of Gifu Castle. Holding the rim of his low, conical hat, he gazed at them for a while in fascination.

Suddenly a pa.s.serby, probably a merchant's wife, turned and stopped to look at him. She whispered something to the clerk accompanying her, and then hesitantly approached the swordsman. "Excuse me. It's rude of me to stop you in the street like this, but aren't you Master Akechi's nephew?"

Caught off guard, the swordsman quickly responded, "No!" and walked off in great strides. After going ten or so steps, however, he turned and looked at the woman, who was still staring at him. That's Shunsai the armorer's daughter, he thought. She must be married by now.

He wound his way through the streets. Two hours later he was near the Nagara River. He sat down on the gra.s.sy riverbank and gazed at the water. He could have stayed there forever. The reeds rustled in desolate whispers under a pale, chilly autumn sun.

"Master Swordsman?" Someone tapped him on the shoulder.

Mitsuhide turned around to see three men-most likely a patrol of Oda samurai on police duty.

"What are you doing?" one asked casually. But the faces of the three men were tense and suspicious.

"I was tired from walking, and stopped to rest a bit," the swordsman answered calmly. "Are you from the Oda clan?" he asked, standing up and brushing the gra.s.s from his clothes.

"We are," the soldier said stiffly. "Where have you come from, and where are you going?"

"I'm from Echizen. I have a relative at the castle and have been looking for some way to get in touch."

"A retainer?"

"No."

"But didn't you just say that it was someone at the castle?"

"She's not a retainer. She's a member of the household."

"What's her name?"

"I hesitate to say it here."

"What about your name?"

"That too."

"You mean you don't want to talk in the open?"

"That's right."

"Well then, you'll have to come with us to the guardhouse."

They probably suspected him of being a spy. Just in case he was going to put up a struggle, one of the men called out toward the road, where a mounted samurai, who appeared to be their leader, and another ten foot soldiers were waiting.

"This is just what I'd hoped for. Lead on." With that, the swordsman started off quickly.

In Gifu, as in every other province, security checks at the river crossings, in the castle town, and at the borders were strict. n.o.bunaga had only recently moved to Gifu Castle, and with the complete change of administration and laws, the duties of the magistrates were numerous. Although some complained that the patrolling was too strict, there were still many former retainers of the deposed Saito clan in the town, and the plots of enemy provinces were often at an advanced stage.

Mori Yoshinari was well suited to the post of chief magistrate, but like any warrior, he preferred the battlefield to civilian duties. When he went back home in the evening, he would heave a sigh of relief. And he would show his wife the same weary after-work expression every night.

"A letter came for you from Ranmaru."

When he heard the name Ranmaru, Yoshinari smiled. News from the castle was one of Yoshinari's few pleasures. Ranmaru was the son he had sent as a child to serve in the castle. It was clear from the very beginning that Ranmaru would be of no real service, but he was an attractive boy and had caught n.o.bunaga's eye, and so he had become one of his personal attendants. Recently he had been mixing with the pages and seemed to be performing some sort of duties.

"What was the news?" Yoshinari's wife asked.

"Nothing, really. Everything is peaceful, and His Lordship is in a good mood."

"He didn't write anything about being sick?"

"No, he said he was in excellent health," Yoshinari replied.

"That boy is cleverer than most. He's probably being careful not to make his parents worry."

"I suppose so," Yoshinari said. "But he's still a baby, and it must be a strain for him be at His Lordship's side all of the time."

"I imagine he'd like to come home from time to time and be spoiled a little."

At that point a samurai appeared and announced that soon after Yoshinari had returned home something had occurred at his office, and that some of his subordinates had come to confer with him even though it was late at night. The three officers were waiting at the entrance.

"What is it?" Yoshinari asked the three men.

The leader made his report. "Toward the end of the day, one of our patrols arrested a suspicious-looking swordsman near the Nagara River."

"And?"

"He acted very obediently all the way to the guardhouse. When we questioned him he stubbornly refused to give his name or native province, and said that he would only do so if he could speak to Master Yoshinari. He went on to say that he was not a spy, and that a relative of his-a woman-had been working in the Oda household from the time His Lordship resided in Kiyosu. But he would not say any more unless he could meet with the man in charge. He was very stubborn."

"Well, well. How old is he?"

"About forty."

"What kind of man is he?"

"He's rather impressive. It's difficult to think of him as being just one of these wandering swordsmen."

A few moments later the arrested man was brought in. He was led to a room at the back of the house by an elderly retainer. A cushion and some food were waiting for the guest.

"Master Yoshinari will be with you soon," said the old retainer, taking his leave.

Incense smoke drifted into the room. The swordsman, his clothes stained from the journey, realized that the incense was of such quality that had the visitor not been cultivated enough to have a refined sense of smell, it would have been wasted. He waited silently for some sign of the master of the house.

The face that had been obscured by the sedge hat that afternoon was now silently contemplating the flickering light of the lamp. No doubt, he was too pale for the patrol to believe that he was a wandering swordsman. Also, his eyes were peaceful and mild-not what you would expect of a man whose daily life was the sword.

The sliding door opened, and a woman, whose clothes and demeanor showed that she was not a servant, gracefully brought him a bowl of tea. She placed the bowl in front of him without a word, then withdrew, closing the sliding door behind her. Once more, if the guest had not been important, such courtesy would not have been extended.

A few moments later the host, Yoshinari, came in and, by way of greeting, excused himself for having kept his guest waiting.

The swordsman shifted from the cushion to a more formal kneeling position. "Do I have the honor of addressing Master Yoshinari? I'm afraid I created a bit of trouble for your men with my thoughtlessness. I have come on a secret mission from the Asakura clan in Echizen. My name is Akechi Mitsuhide."

"So it is you. I hope you'll excuse the rudeness of my subordinates. I was surprised myself by what I heard a little while ago, and I hurried to meet you."

"I didn't give my name or home province, so how did you know who I am?"

"You spoke of a certain lady-your niece, I believe-who has served in His Lordship's household for some time. When this was reported to me, I guessed it must be you. Your niece is the Lady Hagiji, I believe. She has served Lord n.o.bunaga's wife since she accompanied Her Ladyship from Mino to Owari."

"Indeed! I am impressed by your knowledge of such details."

"It's only my job. We routinely look into such things as the home province, lineage, and the relatives of everyone from the senior ladies-in-waiting to the servant girls."

"That's sensible enough."

"We looked into Lady Hagiji's family background as well. At the time of Lord Dosan's death, one of her uncles fled Mino and disappeared. She always spoke sadly with Her Ladyship about a certain Mitsuhide from Akechi Castle. This much has come to me. So when my subordinates informed me of your age and appearance, and told me that you had been walking around the castle town for half a day, I put it all together and guessed that it was you."

"I must congratulate you on your powers of deduction," Mitsuhide said with a relaxed smile.

Yoshinari glowed with satisfaction. More formally he asked, "But, Master Mitsuhide, what business brings you so far from Echizen?"

Mitsuhide's expression turned grave, and he quickly lowered his voice. "Is anyone else here?" He looked toward the sliding door.

"You don't need to worry. I've sent the servants away. The man on the other side of the door is my most trusted retainer. Other than a man keeping guard at the entrance to the corridor, there is no one else here."

"The fact is that I have been entrusted with two letters for Lord n.o.bunaga, one from Shogun Yoshiaki, and the other from Lord Hosokawa Fujitaka."

"From the shogun!"

"This had to be kept secret from the Asakura clan at all costs, so I'll leave you to imagine how difficult it's been to come this far."

The previous year, Shogun Yos.h.i.teru had been a.s.sa.s.sinated by his vice-governor-general, Miyoshi Nagayoshi, and Miyoshi's retainer, Matsunaga Hisahide, who had usurped the shogun's authority. Yos.h.i.teru had two younger brothers. The elder, the abbot of a Buddhist temple, was murdered by the rebels. The younger brother, Yoshiaki, who was then a monk in Nara, realized the danger he was in and escaped with the help of Hosokawa Fujitaka. He hid for a while in Omi, renounced the priesthood, and took the t.i.tle of fourteenth shogun at the age of twenty-six.

After that, the "wandering shogun" approached the Wada, the Sasaki, and various other clans for a.s.sistance. From the very beginning, his plan was not to live on other people's charity. He planned to defeat his brother's murderers and restore his family's office and authority. He sought help, appealing to distant clans.

This was, however, a great matter involving the entire nation, because Miyoshi and Matsunaga had seized the central government. Although Yoshiaki was shogun in name, he was in fact nothing more than a penniless exile. He had no money, much less an army of his own. Nor was he particularly popular with the people.

Mitsuhide took up the story from Yoshiaki's arrival at Asakura Yoshikage's castle in Echizen. Just at that time, there was an ill-fated man in the service of the Asakura who had not been admitted as a full retainer of the clan. This was he himself, Akechi Mitsuhide. It was there that Mitsuhide had met Hosokawa Fujitaka for the first time.

Mitsuhide went on, "The story is a little long, but if you'll do me the favor of listening to me, I'll ask you to tell it in detail to Lord n.o.bunaga. Of course, I must hand the shogun's letter to Lord n.o.bunaga in person."

Then, in order to make his own situation clear, he talked about events from the time he left Akechi Castle and fled to Echizen from Mino. For over ten years, Mitsuhide tasted the hardships of the world. An intellectual by nature, he was easily drawn to books and scholarship. He was thankful for the reverses he had suffered. The time of his wandering, the period of his distress, had certainly been long. Akechi Castle had been destroyed during the civil war in Mino, and only he and his cousin, Mitsuharu, had escaped to Echizen. In the years since Mitsuhide had dropped from sight, he had lived as a ronin and made a scanty living by teaching farm children to read and write.

His only desire was to find the one right lord to serve, and one good opportunity. As he looked for a way to come up in the world, Mitsuhide studied the martial spirit, economics, and castles of various provinces with the eye of a military strategist, preparing for a later day.

He traveled far and wide and visited all the provinces of western j.a.pan. There waa a good reason for this. The west was always the first place to receive foreign innovation and it was there that he was most likely to gain new knowledge on the subject he had made his specialty-guns. His knowledge of gunnery had led to several episodes in the western provinces. A retainer of the Mori clan, Katsura by name, arrested Mitsuhide in the town of Yamaguchi on suspicion of being a spy. On this occasion he spoke openly of his origins, his situation, and his hopes, and even revealed his evaluations of the neighboring provinces.

While he questioned Mitsuhide, Katsura was so impressed by the depth of his knowledge that he later recommended the traveler to his lord, Mori Motonari. "I think he is quite clearly uncommonly talented. Were he given employment here, I suspect he would accomplish something later on."

The search for talented men was the same everywhere. Certainly such men who 1eft their homes and served other provinces would someday end up as the enemies of their former lords. As soon as Motonari heard of Mitsuhide, he wanted to see him. One day Mitsuhide was summoned to Motonari's castle. The next day Katsura visited Motonari alone, and asked him for his opinion of his guest.

"As you said, there are very few men of talent. We should give him some money and clothes, and send him courteously on his way."

"Yes, but didn't he impress you in some way?"

"Indeed. There are two kinds of great men: the truly great and the villain. Now, if a villain is also a scholar, he is liable to bring ruin upon himself and harm to his lord." Motonari went on, "There is something shifty about his appearance. When he speaks with such composure and clarity in his eyes, he has a charm that's very enticing. Yes, he's truly a captivating man, but I prefer the stolidity of our warriors of the western provinces. If I put this man in the middle of my own warriors, he'd stick out like a crane in a flock of chickens. I object to him for that reason alone." And so Mitsuhide was not taken in by the Mori clan.

He traveled through Hizen and Higo, and the domains of the Otomo clan. He crossed the Inland Sea to the island of Shikoku where he studied the martial arts of the Chosokabe clan.

When Mitsuhide returned to his home in Echizen, he found that his wife had taken ill and died, his cousin, Mitsuharu, had gone to serve another clan, and after six years his situation had not improved. He still could not see even a flicker of light on the road that lay ahead.

At this low point, Mitsuhide went to see Ena, the abbot of the Shonen Temple in Echizen. He rented a house in front of the temple and began to teach the children of the neighborhood. From the very beginning, Mitsuhide did not see schoolteaching as his life's work. Within a couple of years he had become conversant with the administration and problems of the province.

During this period the area was regularly disturbed by uprisings of the warrior-monks of the Ikko sect. One year, when the Asakura troops were wintering in the field during a campaign against the warrior-monks, Mitsuhide asked Ena, "It's just my own humble thought, but I'd like to present a strategy to the Asakura clan. Whom do you suppose it would be best to see?"

Ena immediately understood what was in Mitsuhide's mind. "The man most likely to listen to you would be Asakura Kageyuki."

Mitsuhide entrusted the temple school to Ena and went off to Asakura Kageyuki's camp. Because he had no intermediary, he simply walked into the camp, carrying his plan written down on a single piece of paper. He was arrested, not knowing whether the plan had been given to Kageyuki, and he heard nothing for two months. Although he was a prisoner, Mitsuhide inferred from the movements in the camp and the morale of the troops that Kageyuki was carrying out his plan.

At first Kageyuki had been suspicious of Mitsuhide, which was why he'd been arrested; but since there was no way to break the deadlock in the fighting, he decided to test Mitsuhide's plan. When the two men finally met, Kageyuki praised Mitsuhide as a warrior with an extensive knowledge of the cla.s.sics and of the martial arts. Giving Mitsuhide the freedom of the camp, Kageyuki summoned him from time to time. It seemed, however, that Mitsuhide was not going to be so easily granted the status of retainer, and so one day he spoke out rather forcefully, even though he was not given to boasting: "If you loan me a firearm, I'll shoot the enemy general in the middle of his camp."

"You may take one," Kageyuki said, but, still harboring some doubts, he secretly appointed a man to watch Mitsuhide.

It was an age when, even for the wealthy Asakura clan, a single firearm was extremely precious. Thanking him for the favor, Mitsuhide took the gun, mixed in among the troops, and went to the front lines. When the fighting started, he vanished deep behind enemy lines.

Hearing about the disappearance, Kageyuki later demanded to know why the man who was watching Mitsuhide had not shot him in the back. "Perhaps he was an enemy spy after all, feeling out the internal conditions here."

But a few days later it was reported that the enemy general had been shot by an unknown a.s.sailant as he inspected the battle lines. The morale of the enemy was said to have been thrown suddenly into confusion.

Soon afterward, Mitsuhide returned to camp. When he appeared before Kageyuki he was quick to ask him, "Why didn't you call out the entire army and rout the enemy? you call yourself a general when you let an opportunity like this slip by with your arms folded?"

Mitsuhide had done what he had promised: he had gone into enemy territory, shot the general, and returned.

When Asakura Kageyuki went back to Ichijogadani Castle, he told the story to Asakura Yoshikage. Yoshikage took one look at Mitsuhide and asked him to serve him. Later, Yoshikage had a target put up in the castle grounds and asked for a demonstration. Mitsuhide, though he was by no means a skilled marksman, demonstrated his skill putting sixty-eight out of one hundred rounds into the target.

Mitsuhide was now given a residence in the castle town and a stipend of one thousand kan, one hundred sons of retainers were put under his instruction, and he again organized a gunners' regiment. Mitsuhide was so grateful to Yoshikage for rescuing him from adversity that for several years he worked tirelessly with no other intention than torepay him for his blessings and good fortune.

His devotion, however, finally brought objections from his peers. They accused him of being conceited and putting on highbrow airs. No matter what the topic of conversation or the activity, his refinement and intellect shone brilliantly for all to see.

This att.i.tude did not sit well with the retainers of this provincial clan, who began to complain about him: "He's plainly conceited."

"He's just a sn.o.b."

Naturally, these complaints reached the ears of Yoshikage. Mitsuhide's work also began to suffer. Cold by nature, he was now the target of equally cold looks. It might have been different if Yoshikage had protected him, but he was held back by his own retainers. Winding its way even through Yoshikage's many favorite concubines, the dispute twisted through the castle. Mitsuhide himself was without connections and had just found temporary shelter. He was miserable, but there was nothing to be done.

I made a mistake, Mitsuhide thought. He had food and clothing but was now bitteerly regretting his decision. Having been in such a hurry to escape adversity, the bank he had crawled out on was the wrong one. Such were his despondent thoughts after spending nothing but unhappy days. I've wasted my entire life! This depression seemed to affect his health, and he began to suffer from a scablike skin disease, which, in time, became serious. Mitsuhide asked Yoshikage for a leave of absence to go for a cure at the spa town of Yamashiro.

While he was there, travelers reported that rebels had attacked the Nijo Palace and murdered Shogun Yos.h.i.teru. Even there, in the mountains, people were shocked and unsettled.

"If the shogun has been murdered, the country's going to fall into chaos again."

Mitsuhide immediately made preparations to return to Ichijogadani. Confusion in Kyoto meant confusion in the whole country. Quite naturally, this event would have aftereffects in the provinces. Undoubtedly, hurried preparations were being made at that very moment.