TAIKO: AN EPIC NOVEL OF WAR AND GLORY IN FEUDAL JAPAN

From the New Year into the summer, Kenshin moved his men into Kaga and Noto, and began to threaten the Oda borders. A relief army was dispatched from Omi with the speed of lightning. With Shibata Katsuie in command, the forces of Takigawa, Hideyoshi, Niwa, Sassa, and Maeda chased the enemy and burned the villages they would use as protection as far as Kanatsu.

A messenger came from Kenshin's camp and shouted loudly that the letter he brought should be read only by Nobunaga.

'This is undoubtedly written in Kenshin's own hand,' Nobunaga said as he broke the seal himself.

I have long heard of your fame and regret that I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting you. Now would seem the best opportunity. If we should miss each other in the fighting, we would both regret it for many years to come. The battle has been set for tomorrow morning at the Hour of the Hare. I will meet you at the Kanatsu River. Everything will be settled when we meet man to man.

It was a formal challenge to battle.

'What happened to the envoy?' Nobunaga asked.

'He left right away,' the retainer replied.

Nobunaga was unable to conceal a shudder. That night he suddenly announced that he would strike camp, and his forces withdrew.

Kenshin got a big laugh out of this later on. 'Isn't that just what you'd expect from Nobunaga! If he had stayed where he was, the next day he could have left everything to my horse's hooves, and along with meeting him, I could have done him the favor of cutting his head off right there at the river.'

But Nobunaga quickly returned to Azuchi with a squad of his soldiers. When he thought about Kenshin's old-fashioned letter of challenge, he couldn't help grinning.

'That's probably how he lured Shingen at Kawanakajima. He certainly is a fearless man. He has great pride in that long sword of his, fashioned by Azuki Nagamitsu; I don't think I'd want to see it with my own eyes. How sad for Kenshin that he wasn't borrn during the colorful olden days when they wore scarlet-braided armor with gold plates. I wonder what he thinks of Azuchi, with its mixture of Japanese, Southern Barbarian, and Chinese styles? All of the changes in weaponry and strategy in the last decade have brought us into a new world. How could anyone say the art of war hasn't changed too? He's probably laughing at my retreat as cowardice, but I can't help laughing at the fact at his outdated thinking is inferior to that of my artisans and craftsmen.'

Those who truly heard this learned a great deal. There were those, however, who were taught, but never learned a thing.

After Nobunaga returned to Azuchi, he was told that something had occurred during the northern campaign between the commander-in-chief, Shibata Katsuie, and Hideyoshi. The cause was unclear, but a quarrel had been brewing between the two of them over strategy. The result of it was that Hideyoshi had collected his troops and returned to Nagahama while Katsuie quickly appealed to Nobunaga, saying, 'Hideyoshi felt it unnecessary to comply with your orders and returned to his own castle. His behavior is inex­cusable, and he should be punished.'

No word came from Hideyoshi. Thinking that Hideyoshi must have had some plau­sible explanation for his actions, Nobunaga planned on handling the matter by waiting until all the generals had returned from the northern campaign. Rumors, however, came in one after another.

'Lord Katsuie is extraordinarily angry.'

'Lord Hideyoshi is a bit quick-tempered. Pulling out one's troops during a campaign is not something a great general can do and keep his honor.'

Finally, Nobunaga had an attendant look into the matter.

'Has Hideyoshi really returned to Nagahama?' he asked.

'Yes, he seems to be quite definitely in Nagahama,' the attendant replied.

Nobunaga was provoked to anger, and sent an envoy with a stern rebuke. 'This is insolent behavior. Before anything else, show some penitence!'

When the messenger returned, Nobunaga asked, 'What kind of expression did he have when he heard my reprimand?'

'He looked as though he were thinking, ‘I see.''

'Is that all?'

'Then he said something about resting for a while.'

'He is audacious, and he's becoming presumptuous.' Nobunaga's expression did not show real resentment toward Hideyoshi, even though he had censured him verbally. Nevertheless, when Katsuie and the other generals of the northern campaign had finally returned, Nobunaga became truly angry.

First of all, even though Hideyoshi had been ordered to remain under house arrest in Nagahama Castle, instead of manifesting his penitence, he was having drinking parties every day. There was no reason for Nobunaga not to be angry, and people conjectured that at worst, Hideyoshi would be ordered to commit seppuku, and at best he would probably be ordered to Azuchi Castle to face a court- martial. But after a while Nobunaga seemed to forget all about it and later never even mentioned the incident.

*  *  *

In Nagahama Castle, Hideyoshi had gotten into the habit of sleeping late. Certainly, by the time Nene saw her husband's face every morning, the sun was high in the sky.

Even his mother seemed worried and commented to Nene, 'That boy just isn't him­self these days, is he?'

Nene had trouble finding an answer. The reason he was sleeping late was that he was drinking every night. When he drank at home, he would quickly turn bright red after four or five small cups, and hurry through his meal. Then he would gather together his veterans and, as everyone's spirits rose, would drink late into the night, unmindful of the hour. The result was that he would fall asleep in the pages' room. One night, when his wife was walking down the main corridor with her ladies-in-waiting, she saw a man walking slowly toward her. The man looked like Hideyoshi, but she called out, 'Who is that over there?' pretending not to know him.

Her surprised husband turned around and tried to hide his confusion, but succeeded only in looking as though he were practicing some sort of dance. 'I'm lost.' He lurched over to her and steadied himself by grabbing her shoulder. 'Ah, I'm drunk. Nene, carry me! I can't walk!'

When Nene saw how he was trying to hide his predicament, she burst out laughing. She spoke to him with feigned ill temper. 'Sure, sure, I'll carry you. Where are you going, by the way?' Hideyoshi got up on her back and began to giggle.

'To your room. Take me to your room!' he implored, and kicked his heels in the air like a child.

Nene, her back bent at the weight, joked with her ladies, 'Listen, everyone, where shall I put this sooty traveler I just picked up on the road?'

The ladies were so amused they were holding their sides as tears streamed down their cheeks. Then, like revelers around a festival float, they surrounded the man Nene had picked up, and amused themselves all night in Nene's room.

Such events were rare. In the mornings, it quite often seemed to Nene that her role was to look at her husband's sullen face. What was it that he was concealing inside of himself? They had been married for fifteen years. Nene was now past thirty, and her husband was forty-one. She was unable to believe that Hideyoshi's bitter expression every morning was simply a matter of mood. While she dreaded her husband's bad temper, what she earnestly prayed for was the ability to somehow understand his afflictions—even just a little—and to assuage his suffering.

In times like this, Nene considered Hideyoshi's mother to be a model of strength. One morning her mother-in-law rose early and went out into the vegetable garden in the north enclosure while the dew was still heavy on the ground.

'Nene,' she said, 'it'll be a while before the master gets up. Let's pick some eggplants in the garden while we have the time. Bring a basket!'

The old lady began to pick the eggplants. Nene filled one basket, and then carried over another.

'Hey, Nene! Are you and Mother both out here?'

It was the voice of her husband—the husband who so rarely got up early these days.

'I didn't realize you were up,' Nene apologized.