Hikoemon had gone to Kiyosu to persuade Nobuo that his brother Nobutaka's secret maneuvers were more and more threatening and that Katsuie's military preparations were at present quite clear. Nobutaka had not moved Lord Samboshi to Azuchi, in breach of the treaty signed after the Kiyosu conference, but had interned him at his own castle in Gifu. That amounted to kidnapping the legitimate Oda heir.
Hideyoshi's petition went on to explain that in order to bring the affair to an end it would be necessary to strike at Katsuie—the ringleader of the plot and the cause of the instability—while the Shibata were unable to move because of the snow.
Nobuo had been disaffected from the very beginning, and it was obvious that he disliked Katsuie. Certainly he did not believe he could rely on Hideyoshi for his future, but the latter was a far better choice than Katsuie. So there was no reason for him to deny Hideyoshi's petition.
'Lord Nobuo was really quite enthusiastic,' Hikoemon reported. 'He said that if you, my lord, would personally take part in a campaign against Gifu, he himself would join you. Rather than granting us the petition, he seemed to be actively encouraging us.'
'He was enthusiastic? Really, I can almost see him.'
Hideyoshi pictured the pitiful scene to himself. Here was the noble sire of an illustrious house but also a man whose character made him difficult to save.
Nevertheless, it was a piece of good luck. Before Nobunaga's death, Hideyoshi had never been the kind of man to proclaim his own aspirations or grand ideas, but after Nobunaga died—and especially after the battle at Yamazaki—he had become aware of the real possibility that he was destined to rule the nation. He no longer concealed either his self-confidence or his pride.
And there was another remarkable change. A man who aims at becoming the ruler of the nation is usually accused of wanting to expand his own power, but recently people were beginning to treat Hideyoshi as Nobunaga's natural successor.
Suddenly, very suddenly, a small army seemed to come together at the front gate of
the Sokoku Temple. The soldiers arrived from the west, south, and north to gather under the standard of the golden gourds, until a fair-sized force had assembled in the center of Kyoto.
It was the seventh day of the Twelfth Month. The morning sun shone down through a dry, sweeping wind.
The people had no idea what was going on. The great funeral service held during the Tenth Month had been conducted with magnificence and pomp. It was easy for the people to be caught up in their own petty judgments. Their expressions showed that they had fooled themselves into believing that there would not be another war for the present.
“Lord Hideyoshi himself is riding at the very front. The Tsutsui forces are here, and so is Lord Niwa's army.'
But the voices at the side of the road were puzzled about the destination of this expedition. The meandering line of armor and helmets passed very quickly through Keage and joined the forces waiting at Yabase. The warships ferrying troops split the white waves in close formation, heading northeast, while the army taking the land route camped for three nights at Azuchi, arriving at Sawayama Castle on the tenth.
On the thirteenth Hosokawa Fujitaka and his son, Tadaoki, arrived from Tamba and immediately requested an audience with Hideyoshi.
“I’m glad you've come,' Hideyoshi said warmly. 'I imagine you were troubled a good bit by the snow.'
Considering the situation they were in, Fujitaka and his son must have spent the last six months feeling as though they were walking on thin ice. Mitsuhide and Fujitaka had been steadfast friends long before either had served Nobunaga. Tadaoki's wife was Mitsuhide’s daughter. Beyond that, there were many other bonds between the retainers of the two clans. For those reasons alone, Mitsuhide had been sure that Fujitaka and his son would side with him in his rebellion.
But Fujitaka had not joined him. If he had allowed himself to be swayed by his own personal feelings, his clan would probably have been destroyed with the Akechi. Certainly he must have felt as though he had been balancing eggs one on top of another. To have with prudence outwardly and avoided danger within must have been painful beyond words. He had saved Tadaoki's wife, but his clemency had created internal strife within his clan.
By now Hideyoshi had absolved him and recognized the loyalty shown by the Hosokawa. Thus they were receiving Hideyoshi's hospitality. As Hideyoshi looked at Fujitaka, he saw that his sidelocks had turned the color of frost over the last half year. Ah, this man is a master, Hideyoshi thought, and at the same time recognized that for a man to take a stand in the general trend of things and make no mistakes, he would have to whittle away at his flesh and the blackness of his hair. In spite of himself, he felt sorry for Fujitaka every time he looked at him.
“The drum is being beaten from over the lake and from the castle town as well, and you appear to be ready to attack. I hope you will honor us by placing my son in the vanguard,' Fujitaka began.
“Do you mean the siege of Nagahama?' replied Hideyoshi. He seemed to be speaking off the point, but then responded in a different vein. 'We're attacking from both land and sea. But you know, the real focus of the attack is inside the castle, not outside. I'm sure Katsutoyo's retainers will come here this evening.'
As Fujitaka considered Hideyoshi's words, he meditated once again on the old saying 'He who rests his men well will be able to employ them to desperate efforts.'
As Fujitaka's son looked at Hideyoshi, he also remembered something. When the Hosokawa clan's fate had stood at a great crossroads, and its retainers had all met to deliberate a course of action, Fujitaka had spoken and directly indicated the position to take: 'In this generation, I have seen only two truly uncommon men: one of them is Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu, the other is unmistakably Lord Hideyoshi.'
Recalling those words now, the young man could only wonder if they were true. Was this what his father called an uncommon man? Was Hideyoshi really one of the two truly great generals of his generation?
When they had withdrawn to their quarters, Tadaoki expressed his doubts.
'I guess you don't understand,' Fujitaka mumbled in response. 'You're still lacking in experience.' Aware of Tadaoki's dissatisfied look, he guessed what was on his son's mind and said, 'The closer you get to a large mountain, the less its great size can be perceived. When you start to climb, you will not understand its size at all. When you listen and then compare everyone's comments, you can understand that most men will speak without having seen the entire mountain and, having seen only one peak or valley, will imagine they have seen everything. But they'll really be doing nothing more than making judgments on the whole while having seen only one part.'
Tadaoki's mind was left with its former doubts, despite the lesson he had received. He knew, however, that his father had experienced far more of the world than he had, and so he could do nothing more than accept what his father was saying.
Surprisingly enough, two days after their arrival, Nagahama Castle passed into Hideyoshi's hands without injury to a single soldier. It had been exactly as Hideyoshi had predicted to Fujitaka and his son: 'The castle will be captured from within.'
The envoys were three of Shibata Katsutoyo's senior retainers. They brought a written pledge in which Katsutoyo and all of his retainers swore to obey and serve Hideyoshi.
'They have acted with discrimination,' Hideyoshi said with apparent satisfaction. According to the terms of the pledge, the castle's territory would remain the same as before, and Katsutoyo would be allowed to continue as its possessor.
When Hideyoshi gave up the castle, people commented on how quickly he had resigned himself to the loss of such a strategic location. Retaking the castle had been executed as easily as passing something from the left hand to the right.
But even if Katsutoyo had asked for reinforcements from Echizen, they could not have come because of the heavy snows. In addition, Katsuie would only have treated him harshly, just as he had done before. When Katsutoyo had fallen ill on his mission to Hideyoshi, Katsuie had made his anger plain to the whole clan.
'To take advantage of Hideyoshi's hospitality under the pretense of illness, and then to return after spending several days as his guest—that man is a fool beyond words.'
Reports of Katsuie's harsh words eventually reached Katsutoyo.
Now, surrounded by Hideyoshi's army, Nagahama Castle was isolated, and Katsutoyo had nowhere to
