Shogun_ A Novel of Japan - James Clavell [147]
Yabu suddenly tired of the cat-and-mouse game and the talk about the Amida. “You’ve decided to take my head, Lord Toranaga—very well. I’m ready. I thank you for the dawn. But I’ve no wish to spoil such elegance with further talk, so let’s be done.”
“But I haven’t decided to take your head, Yabu-san,” Toranaga said. “Whatever gave you the thought? Has an enemy poured poison in your ears? Ishido perhaps? Aren’t you my favored ally? Do you think that I’d entertain you here, without guards, if I thought you hostile?”
Yabu turned slowly. He had expected to find samurai behind him, swords poised. There was no one there. He looked back at Toranaga.
“I don’t understand.”
“I brought you here so we could talk privately. And to see the dawn. Would you like to rule the provinces of Izu, Suruga, and Totomi—if I do not lose this war?”
“Yes. Very much,” Yabu said, his hopes soaring.
“You would become my vassal? Accept me as your liege lord?”
Yabu did not hesitate. “Never,” he said. “As ally, yes. As my leader, yes. Lesser than you always, yes. My life and all I possess thrown onto your side, yes. But Izu is mine. I am daimyo of Izu and I will never give power over Izu to anyone. I swore that oath to my father, and the Taikō who reaffirmed our hereditary fief, first to my father and then to me. The Taikō confirmed Izu to me and my successors forever. He was our liege lord and I swore never to have another until his heir became of age.”
Hiro-matsu twisted his sword slightly in his hand. Why doesn’t Toranaga let me get it over with once and for all? It’s been agreed. Why all the wearing talk? I ache and I want to piss and I need to lie down.
Toranaga scratched his groin. “What did Ishido offer you?”
“Jikkyu’s head—the moment that yours is off. And his province.”
“In return for what?”
“Support when war begins. To attack your southern flank.”
“Did you accept?”
“You know me better than that.”
Toranaga’s spies in Ishido’s household had whispered that the bargain had been struck, and that it included responsibility for the assassination of his three sons, Noboru, Sudara, and Naga. “Nothing more? Just support?”
“By every means at my disposal,” Yabu said delicately.
“Including assassination?”
“I intend to wage the war, when it begins, with all my force. For my ally. In any way I can to guarantee his success. We need a sole Regent in Yaemon’s minority. War between you and Ishido is inevitable. It’s the only way.”
Yabu was trying to read Toranaga’s mind. He was scornful of Toranaga’s indecision, knowing that he himself was the better man, that Toranaga needed his support, that at length he would vanquish him. But meanwhile what to do? he asked himself and wished Yuriko, his wife, were here to guide him. She would know the wisest course. “I can be very valuable to you. I can help you become sole Regent,” he said, deciding to gamble.
“Why should I wish to be sole Regent?”
“When Ishido attacks I can help you to conquer him. When he breaks the peace,” Yabu said.
“How?”
He told them his plan with the guns.
“A regiment of five hundred gun-samurai?” Hiro-matsu erupted.
“Yes. Think of the fire power. All elite men, trained to act as one man. The twenty cannon equally together.”
“It’s a bad plan. Disgusting,” Hiro-matsu said. “You could never keep it secret. If we start, the enemy would start also. There would never be an end to such horror. There’s no honor in it and no future.”
“Isn’t this coming war the only one we’re concerned with, Lord Hiro-matsu?” Yabu replied. “Aren’t we concerned only with Lord Toranaga’s safety? Isn’t that the duty of his allies and vassals?”
“Yes.”
“All Lord Toranaga has to do is win the one great battle. That will give him the heads of all his enemies—and power. I say this strategy will give him victory.”
“I say it won’t. It’s a disgusting plan with no honor.”
Yabu turned to Toranaga. “A new era requires clear thinking about the meaning of honor.”
A sea gull soared overhead mewing.
“What did Ishido say to your plan?” Toranaga asked.
“I did not discuss it with