Shogun - Clavell James - Страница 161
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We'll need a great harvest this year, thought Toranaga.
"Naga! Naga-san!"
His son came running. "Yes, Father?"
"At the first hour after dawn fetch Yabu-san and his chief advisers to the plateau. Also Buntaro and our three senior captains. And Mariko-san. Bring them all to the plateau at dawn. Mariko-san can serve cha. Yes. And I want the Anjin-san standing by at the camp. Guards to ring us at two hundred paces."
"Yes, Father." Naga turned to obey. Unable to contain himself he blurted out, "Is it war? Is it?"
Because Toranaga needed a harbinger of optimism throughout the fortress, he did not berate his son for the illdisciplined impertinence.
"Yes," he said. "Yes - but on my terms."
Naga closed the shoji and rushed off. Toranaga knew that, although Naga's face and manner would now be outwardly composed, nothing would disguise the excitement in his walk or the fire behind his eyes. So rumor and counterrumor would rush through Anjiro to spread quickly throughout Izu and beyond, if the fires were fed properly.
"I'm committed now," he said aloud to the flowers that stood serenely in the takonama, shadows flickering in the pleasant candlelight.
Kiri had written: "Sire, I pray Buddha you are well and safe. This is our last carrier pigeon so I also pray Buddha guides her to you - traitors killed all the others last night by firing the coop and this one escaped only because she's been sick and I was nursing her privately.
"Yesterday morning Lord Sugiyama suddenly resigned, exactly as planned. But before he could make good his escape, he was trapped on the outskirts of Osaka by Ishido's ronin. Unhappily some of Sugiyama's family were also caught with him - I heard he was betrayed by one of his people. Rumor has it that Ishido offered him a compromise: that if Lord Sugiyama delayed his resignation until after the Council of Regents convened (tomorrow), so that you could be legally impeached, in return Ishido guaranteed that the Council would formally give Sugiyama the whole of the Kwanto and, as a measure of good faith, Ishido would release him and his family at once. Sugiyama refused to betray you. Immediately Ishido ordered eta to convince him. They tortured Sugiyama's children, then his consort, in front of him, but he still would not abandon you. They were all given bad deaths. His, the final one, was very bad.
"Of course, there were no witnesses to this treachery and it's all hearsay but I believe it. Of course Ishido disclaimed any knowledge of the murders or participation in them, vowing that he'll hunt down the 'murderers.' At first Ishido claimed that Sugiyama had never actually resigned, therefore, in his opinion, the Council could still meet. I sent copies of Sugiyama's resignation to the other Regents, Kiyama, Ito, and Onoshi, and sent another openly to Ishido and circulated four more copies among the daimyos. (How clever of you, Tora-chan, to have known that extra copies would be necessary.) So, from yesterday, exactly as you planned with Sugiyama, the Council is legally no more - in this you've succeeded completely.
"Good news: Lord Mogami safely turned back outside the city with all his family and samurai, Now he's openly your ally, so your far-northern flank is secure. The Lords Maeda, Kukushima, Asano, Ikeda, and Okudiara all quietly slipped out of Osaka last night to safety - also the Christian Lord Oda.
"Bad news is that the families of Maeda, Ikeda, and Oda and a dozen other important daimyos did not escape and are now hostage here, as are those of fifty or sixty lesser uncommitted lords.
"Bad news is that yesterday your half brother, Zataki, Lord of Shinano, publicly declared for the Heir, Yaemon, against you, accusing you of plotting with Sugiyama to overthrow the Council of Regents by creating chaos, so now your northeastern border is breached and Zataki and his fifty thousand fanatics will oppose you.
"Bad news is that almost every daimyo accepted the Emperor's 'invitation.' "Bad news is that not a few of your friends and allies here are incensed that you did not give them prior knowledge of your strategy so they could prepare a line of retreat. Your old friend, the great Lord Shimazu, is one. I heard this afternoon that he's openly demanded that all lords should be ordered by the Emperor to kneel before the boy, Yaemon, now.
"Bad news is that that Lady Ochiba is brilliantly spinning her web, promising fiefs and titles and court rank to the uncommitted. Tora-chan, it's a great pity she's not on your side, she's a worthy enemy. The Lady Yodoko alone advocates prayer and calm but no one listens, and the Lady Ochiba wants to precipitate war now while she feels you're weak and isolated. So sorry, my Lord, but you're isolated and, I think, betrayed.
"Worst of all is that now the Christian Regents, Kiyama and Onoshi, are openly together and violently opposed to you. They issued a joint statement this morning deploring Sugiyama's 'defection,' saying that his action has put the realm into confusion, that 'we must all be strong for the sake of the Empire. The Regents have supreme responsibility. We must be ready to stamp out, together, any lord or group of lords who wish to overthrow the Taiko's will, or the legal succession.' (Does this mean they plan to meet as a Council of four Regents?) One of our Christian spies in the Black Robes' headquarters here whispered that the priest Tsukku-san secretly left Osaka five days ago, but we don't know if he went to Yedo or to Nagasaki, where the Black Ship is expected. Did you know it will be very early this season? Perhaps within twenty or thirty days?
"Sire: I've always hesitated about giving quick opinions based on hearsay, rumors, spies, or a woman's intuition (there, you see, Tora-chan, I have learned from you!) but time is short and I may not be able to speak to you again: First, too many families are trapped here. Ishido will never let them go (as he will never let us go). These hostages are an immense danger to you. Few lords have Sugiyama's sense of duty or fortitude. Very many, I think, will now go with Ishido, however reluctantly, because of these hostages. Next, I think that Maeda will betray you, also probably Asano. I tally of all two hundred and sixty-four daimyos in our land, only twenty-four who are certain to follow you, another fifty possibly. That's not nearly enough. Kiyama and Onoshi will sway all or most of the Christian daimyos and I believe they will not join you now. Lord Mori, the richest and greatest of all, is against you personally, as always, and he'll pull Asano, Kobayakawa, and perhaps Oda into his net. With your half brother Lord Zataki against you, your position is terribly precarious. I counsel you to declare Crimson Sky at once and rush for Kyoto. It's your only hope.
"As to the Lady Sazuko and myself, we're well and content. The child quickens nicely and if it's the child's karma to be born, thus will it happen. We're safe in our corner of the castle, the door tightly locked, the portcullis down. Our samurai are filled with devotion to you and to your cause and if it is our karma to depart this life then we will depart serenely. Your Lady misses you greatly, very greatly. For myself, Tora-char, I long to see you, to laugh with you, and to see your smile. My only regret in death would be that I could no longer do these things, and watch over you. If there is an afterlife and God or Buddha or kami exist, I promise I will somehow bend them all to your side . . . though first I may beseech them to make me slender and young and fruitful for you, yet leave me my enjoyment of food. Ah, that would indeed be heaven, to be able to eat and eat and yet be perpetually young and thin!
"I send you my laughter. May Buddha bless thee and thine."
Toranaga read them the message, except the private part about Kiri and the Lady Sazuko. When he had finished they looked at him and each other incredulously, not only because of what the message said but also because he was so openly taking them all into his confidence.
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