Kill the Shogun

CHAPTER 3

It was a sign from heaven,” Toyama said. “The divine hand of the Gods, sparing Ieyasu-sama like that.”

“Ha! It was just a bad shot. If it was a sign from heaven, heaven was a bit hard on Nakamura-san,” Honda said.

Ieyasu entered the teahouse that had been constructed especially for this inspection tour. It was designed to allow the Shogun to rest and take some refreshments. He looked as phlegmatic as ever, although now he had a guard around him that waited at the door. Honda, Toyama, and Okubo were already in the teahouse, but, unlike the Shogun, they were still agitated by the incident.

“Are you all right, Ieyasu-sama?” Toyama asked.

“Of course,” Ieyasu said. Toyama’s excitement reminded Ieyasu that Toyama had relatively little battle experience. Ieyasu had been in over ninety battles and had survived several assassination plots.

Yoshida entered the teahouse and knelt on one knee in salute.

“Well?” Ieyasu said.

“I mobilized my men,” Yoshida said. “They’re already starting a search for the assassin.”

“Is Nakamura-san dead?”

“I’m sorry, Ieyasu-sama, but Nakamura-san has gone to the void. But we will find the assassins. My men are already talking to the soldiers who were guarding that portion of the crowd.”

“I appreciate your efficiency, Yoshida-san,” Ieyasu said.

Toyama said, “It must have been someone in the crowd. Surely they must have caught him. It was at least eighty paces from where we were to the edge of the crowd.”

“I shoot three shots with a musket every day for practice,” Ieyasu observed. “I agree an ordinary gun would not carry much beyond eighty paces, but I have killed a crane at one hundred twenty paces using a gun made by Inatomi Gaiki. If the assassin used such a gun, he could hide on the roof of the houses or the yagura. Have someone check this.”

Honda, who had been disturbed by Yoshida’s willingness to take charge, jumped in and said, “Of course, Ieyasu-sama. I’ll have my men look into this.”

Ieyasu noticed Honda’s willingness to be of help, but he said, “Yoshida-san’s men are already investigating. It would be best to let them finish the investigation, instead of having two groups do it.”

Clearly displeased, Honda said, “Yes, Ieyasu-sama.”

“I appreciate your standing in front of me to block any additional bullets,” Ieyasu said to Honda. “You and Yoshida-san acted quickly to shield me. It is the duty of every retainer to die to protect the life of his lord, but you two had presence of mind and acted quickly.” This was a rebuke to Toyama and Okubo, and Ieyasu could see their faces turn red.

“But Ieyasu-sama-” Toyama started.

“I don’t want to discuss it now.” Ieyasu said this in a calm voice, but Toyama was stopped in mid-sentence by the Shogun’s tone. Ieyasu noted with satisfaction that Okubo had enough sense to keep his mouth shut.

Yoshida excused himself to check on the housetops, and Ieyasu said, “Call the chief architect in to see me.”

The architect was hurriedly summoned. When he arrived, Ieyasu said, “I’ve decided we should expand the size of the castle. We should also publish decrees that no building or tower may be constructed which looks down into the castle.”

The architect was surprised that Ieyasu could be so calm after an assassination attempt and so interested in discussing military matters. Ieyasu was famous for always mulling over political and military matters. Once, during a dramatic moment in a Noh performance, an art Ieyasu was enough interested in to actually participate in performances, he leaned over to a daimyo and remarked, “I’ve been thinking, it’s just about time to cut the bamboo for military banners.”

“How much bigger do you want the castle?” the architect stammered.

“I think fourteen thousand paces for the outer wall will do.”

“Fourteen thousand! Ieyasu-sama, that is many times bigger than the current plans!”

“I think today’s events justify changing the plans,” Ieyasu said coldly.

“Yes, Ieyasu-sama,” the architect stammered.

“When you get the new plans done, tell me. I’ll have to alert the daimyo that they will be contributing to this project.”

Ieyasu dismissed him with a wave of his hand; then he ordered tea and relaxed, as if totally oblivious to the attempt on his life and the death of one of his chief counselors.

I have news,” Yoshida reported.

Ieyasu raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, waiting for Yoshida’s report. Ieyasu had an undistinguished face, with jowly cheeks and a thin mustache. His eyes were close-set but intense, and his pate was shaved in the standard samurai fashion. His hair was now mostly gray, with only a few stray strands of black.

“We found the fire observer killed in the yagura across from the wall. His throat was slit. So the assassin must have been waiting in the fire watchtower. It’s around one hundred and forty paces from the watchtower to the wall, so you were correct that no ordinary gun was used. More importantly, we know who the assassin is.”

Ieyasu sat impassively, waiting for Yoshida to finish, but the other daimyo in the teahouse couldn’t keep excitement and surprise off their faces.

“One of the guard captains was patrolling the crowd when he saw a street entertainer. The entertainer looked familiar to him, but he couldn’t place his face. Then we appeared on the wall and the guard was busy making sure everyone in the crowd was showing proper obeisance.

“After the shot was fired, there was pandemonium in the crowd. The common people were very concerned about your safety, Ieyasu-sama. The guard said he started a search immediately, because, like us, he thought the shot must have come from the crowd. The excited crowd made such a search difficult, but the guard captain swears the street entertainer who caught his eye was no longer in the crowd. Obviously, he had left the crowd to go to the yagura to try to assassinate you, Ieyasu-sama.”

“For goodness’ sake! Who was this entertainer?” the blunt Honda broke in. Years of friendship made Ieyasu indulge his companion’s lack of proper protocol.

Yoshida said a name. “He’s still on the list of men we are looking for after Sekigahara,” Yoshida added. Ieyasu took a quick glance at Okubo, and he saw the tall daimyo’s thin, scarred face cloud over with hate. Interesting.

“Who is that?” asked Toyama. Ieyasu had already decided that Toyama was a fool and that he would be sending him to a new, remote fief in Shikoku or Kyushu to get rid of him. Although Ieyasu hoped to ensure peace, Toyama’s ignorance of military matters was still unacceptable.

“He’s the one who won the sword contest Hideyoshi-sama had many years ago,” Honda said. “Okubo-san has reason to know him!” Honda’s braying laughter filled the small teahouse.

Even Toyama understood this reference. Okubo was crippled because he was a finalist in Hideyoshi’s sword contest. Although they used wooden swords for the contest, one samurai was killed because every man tried his utmost to win. In the final match, Okubo was defeated by the overall winner. In the course of this match, the winner had maimed Okubo for life, putting a scar on his face and damaging his left leg.

Okubo tightened his jaw but controlled his anger, something Ieyasu saw and approved of. Many times in his life, Ieyasu had controlled his anger and every other emotion, when he found it beneficial.

“I have some information about that man,” Okubo said tightly. “He no longer goes by that name. He now calls himself Matsuyama Kaze, Wind on Pine Mountain.”

“What a weird name,” Honda said. “How do you know this?”

“After Sekigahara, that man made trouble for me; then he disappeared,” Okubo said. “I thought he had taken the honorable way and killed himself, but recently my men spotted him in Kamakura. They couldn’t capture him, but they made inquiries in the town and were able to learn his new name. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to locate him before he slaughtered a prominent merchant and his entire household. He’s obviously become an outlaw of the worst order and now he’s dared to try and kill the Shogun! He must be hunted down like a dog and killed.”

“Okubo-san, Honda-san, why don’t you both try to find this ‘Wind on Pine Mountain’ for me,” Ieyasu said.

“Hai! Yes, Ieyasu-sama,” both lords said.

“Good. Yoshida-san will be joining you in this search. In fact, I want him to lead the search.” Both daimyo showed considerably less enthusiasm when Ieyasu mentioned Yoshida. With Nakamura gone, perhaps Yoshida would make a good substitute. He dismissed the daimyo with a motion of his hand. They left the teahouse, making the proper bows to the ruler of Japan. Trading on his friendship and status as a hatamoto, a direct vassal of the Shogun, Honda lingered after the rest had left.

“You know, I don’t think I can be killed with a musket ball,” Ieyasu mused.

Honda looked at him with surprise. “Why do you say that?”

Honda counted on his long relationship with Ieyasu to leave off Ieyasu’s tide, not addressing him as “Ieyasu-sama” when they were together.

“Well, in one battle I was shot twice by musket balls,” Ieyasu said. “Both times, the musket balls lodged themselves in my armor and didn’t kill me or even wound me. Now I’ve been shot at again, but this time the ball hit Nakamura-san by mistake, killing him and leaving me totally untouched.”

“It’s all well and good to believe in your own destiny,” Honda said. “But destiny or no, a man is dead if a musket ball hits him in the right spot.”

Ieyasu laughed, looking fondly at his old camp companion and fellow warrior. “It’s a shame that my new responsibilities take me away from talking to you and my other generals,” Ieyasu said. “But my life is changing, and I must take care to establish my rule and my family’s rule, and that takes time. I miss the old days, when we would share the warmth of a campfire, talking frankly about any topic that comes up.”

Honda looked at Ieyasu, thinking that Ieyasu’s words paralleled his own feelings and thoughts. He hated the way life was turning and much preferred the path of war, where he understood the rules. The new age they were moving into disturbed Honda and made him feel like an outsider whose skills were no longer needed.

Ieyasu picked up a cup of tea and took a sip. “So, Honda, what have you been up to?”

Honda looked at Ieyasu and almost blushed. Sitting with his old lord, swapping opinions just as they would do on military campaigns, Honda almost weakened and was ready to confess to Ieyasu what he was doing. But Honda knew that his customary bluntness was not always beneficial.

“I’ll be spending my time looking for your would-be assassin, so that we don’t have to put to the test your theory that you can’t be killed with a musket ball,” Honda said. “What do you think? Is this ronin, Matsuyama Kaze, the man who tried to shoot you today?”

Ieyasu, who rarely told people what he thought, answered Honda’s question with some questions of his own.

“Do you think this Matsuyama Kaze is a true samurai?”

Honda thought a minute. “He’s a dangerous man. That’s why he’s still on our list of men we want captured. Still, he had a reputation for courage and honor before the war, so I suppose he is probably a true samurai.”

“And what are the weapons of the true samurai?”

“The sword and the bow,” Honda said without hesitation.

“Exactly,” Ieyasu answered.