one. He wondered if that was why—even with all the pressure of work—he was still feeling an emptiness in his heart.
As though from far away, he could hear the sound of the sliding door opening softly.
Kazumasa, dressed in civilian clothes like his lord, was bowing in the doorway. Almost none of the warriors of the clan had yet untied their armor. Nevertheless, Kazumasa realized that Ieyasu had been dressed in plain clothes since the morning and had quickly changed into a kimono.
'Ah, Kazumasa? You're too far away over there. Come a little closer.'
The man who had not changed at all here was Ieyasu. As Kazumasa came before him, however, he seemed almost to have been disarmed.
'Kazumasa, I'd like you to be my envoy tomorrow morning to Lord Hideyoshi's camp and Lord Nobuo's headquarters at Kuwana.'
'Certainly.'
'Letters of congratulation are right here.'
'Congratulations for the peace accords?'
'That's right.'
'I think I understand what's in your mind, my lord. You won't be showing your dissatisfaction, but when he sees such magnanimity, even Lord Nobuo will probably be embarrassed.'
'What are you saying, Kazumasa? It would be cowardly of me to embarrass Lord Nobuo, and a declaration to continue fighting from a sense of duty would look a little strange. Whether it's a false peace or whatever it is, I have no reason to voice dissatisfaction about peace. You are to explain earnestly and even happily that I think it is splendid from the bottom of my heart, and that I rejoice together with all the subjects of the Empire.'
Kazumasa was someone who knew his lord's heart well, and now Ieyasu had given him careful instructions concerning his mission. But for Kazumasa, there was yet one more pain he had to bear. That was the misunderstanding the other retainers had had about him from the very beginning—that he and Hideyoshi had some intimate connection. The year before, after Hideyoshi's victory at Yanagase, Kazumasa had been selected as Ieyasu's envoy to Hideyoshi.
At that time Hideyoshi's joy had been extraordinary. He had invited the various lords to a tea ceremony at Osaka Castle, which was still under construction.
After that, whenever there was occasion for some communication with the Tokugawa clan, Hideyoshi would inevitably ask for news of Kazumasa, and would always talk about Kazumasa to the lords who had friendly relations with the Tokugawa clan.
That Kazumasa was quite popular with Lord Hideyoshi was deeply carved into the mindss of the Tokugawa warriors. During the standoff at Mount Komaki, and again during Niwa's attempt at reconciliation, the eyes of his allies would be scrutinizing Kazumasa’s actions, regardless of the situation.
As might be expected, Ieyasu was not affected by that at all.
“Well, it's pretty noisy out there, isn't it?'
Animated voices were coming from the hall, which was a number of rooms away from where Ieyasu and Kazumasa were sitting. It seemed that the retainers who were dissatisfied with the peace accords were expressing their doubts and indignation at Kazumasa's being called before their lord.
Ii and Honda, who were acting as representatives, and some of the others had surrounded Tadatsugu a while before.
Didn't you lead the vanguard and stay in the castle town of Kuwana? Aren't you abashed at not having known that Lord Nobuo and Hideyoshi were able to meet at Yadagawra? And what about the fact that Hideyoshi's messengers came right into Kuwana Castle? What's happened now that you've found out about their illicit peace treaty and have come running here?'
They grilled Tadatsugu. First of all, it was Hideyoshi, a man who was little likely to make a plan that would leak out ahead of time. For Tadatsugu, that was justification enough. In the face of the concentrated dissatisfaction, however, he could only receive indignation and abuse with resignation and apologize to them with the forbearance becoming an old general.
But it was the purpose of neither Ii nor Honda to persecute the old man. Rather, they wanted to deliver their own opinions to their lord and to repudiate the peace accords. And they wanted to tell the world that the Tokugawa clan had nothing to do with Nobuo's peace talks.
“Would you please intercede for us? You're a respected elder.'
“No, that would be a serious breach of etiquette,' Tadatsugu answered.
But Honda insisted. 'These men have not loosened their armor and are dressed for the battlefield. Everyday etiquette does not apply in this situation.'
“There's no time for that,' Ii said. 'We're burning up with the fear that something may happen before he talks to us. If you won't be our intermediary, then it can't be helped. We'll have to appeal directly through his personal attendants and meet him in his quarters.'
“No! He's in the middle of a conversation with Lord Kazumasa right now. You must not intrude on him.'
“What! Kazumasa?'
The fact that Kazumasa was alone with their lord at this time only added to their uneasiness and discomfort. From the beginning of the campaign at Mount Komaki, they had viewed Kazumasa as a man playing a double game. And when Niwa Nagahide initiated a reconciliation, it was Kazumasa who had been involved in the negotiations. They suspected that Kazumasa was somehow in the shadows of the most recent maneuvers, too.
When those feelings suddenly broke into a noisy commotion, it reached Ieyasu's ears, even though he was some distance away. A page now hurried down the corridor toward the retainers.
'You're being summoned!' the page announced.
Taken by surprise, they looked around at each other in awe. But the expression on the faces of the obstinate Honda and Ii revealed that a summons was just what they wanted. Urging on Sakai Tadatsugu and the others, they filed into the audience chamber.
Ieyasu's room was soon filled to overflowing with samurai in full armor.
Everyone's attention was focused on Ieyasu. Next to him sat Kazumasa. Sakai Tadatsugu was next, and behind them the very backbone of the Tokugawa clan was represented.
Ieyasu started to speak but, suddenly turning toward the lowest seats, he said, 'The men in the lowest seats are a little too far away. My voice isn't very loud, so come up a little closer.'
The men all packed in more closely together, and those in the lowest seats all gathered around Ieyasu as he began to speak.
'Yesterday Lord Nobuo made peace with Hideyoshi. I am thinking of sending out an official notice of this to the entire clan tomorrow morning, but apparently you've all heard the news and it's worried you considerably. Please forgive me. I was not trying to keep the facts from you.'
All of them hung their heads.
'It was my mistake to mobilize in response to Lord Nobuo's plea. It was also my fault that so many good retainers were killed in the battles at Mount Komaki and Nagakute. Once again, the fact that Lord Nobuo secretly joined hands with Hideyoshi and rendered your righteous indignation and loyal anger meaningless is by no means his fault. Rather, it is due to my own oversights and lack of wisdom. You have all been completely and unselfishly sincere, and as your lord, I cannot find the words to apologize properly. Please forgive me.'
At some point, everyone there had lowered his head. No one looked at Ieyasu's face. Shivers of unmanly weeping undulated from shoulder to shoulder like waves.
'There's nothing we can do, so please endure this. Strengthen your resolve and wait for another day.'
After they had sat down, neither Ii nor Honda had said a word. Indeed, both men had taken out handkerchiefs and, looking aside, wiped their faces.
'This is a blessing. The war is over, and tomorrow I'll return to Okazaki. All of you should soon be on the road home, too, to see the faces of your wives and children,' Ieyasu said, as he too blew his nose.
On the following day, the thirteenth of the month, Ieyasu and the greater part of the Tokugawa army withdrew from Kiyosu Castle and returned to Okazaki in Mikawa. On the morning of the same day, Ishikawa
