SakaiTadatsugu suddenly whipped his horse to the castle, having traveled overnight from Kuwana.
It was unusual for a commander at the front lines to leave his battle position and Kiyosu unannounced. Moreover, Tadatsugu was a sixty-year-old veteran. Why had this old man traveled all night with only a few attendants?
It was before breakfast, but Ieyasu came out of his bedroom, sat down in the audience chamber, and asked, "What is it, Tadatsugu?"
“Lord Nobuo met with Hideyoshi yesterday. The rumor is that they made peace without consulting you, my lord."
Tadatsugu could see the repressed emotion on Ieyasu's face, and, unexpectedly, it lmade Tadatsugu's own lips twitch. He could hardly hold his feelings back. He wanted to shout that Nobuo was a great fool. Perhaps that is what Ieyasu was holding down in his heart. Should he be angry? Should he laugh? No doubt he was repressing all those things inside of himself at once, almost as though he could not accept the violent emotions raging inside him.
Ieyasu appeared to be dazed. He was dumbfounded. That was all his expression said. The two men sat in that way for some time. Finally, Ieyasu blinked two or three times. Then he pinched his large earlobe with his left hand and rubbed the side of his face. He was puzzled. His round back began to move a little from side to side. His left hand dropped back to his knee.
"Tadatsugu, are you sure?" he asked.
"I wouldn't come to report such a thing lightly. But dispatches will arrive later with more detailed information."
"You still haven't heard anything from Lord Nobuo?"
"We heard the report that he had left Nagashima, passed through Kuwana, and stopped at Yadagawara, but I thought he was just looking over the defenses and the disposition of his troops. Even when he returned to his castle, we had no idea of what his intentions had been."
Subsequent reports confirmed the rumors of Nobuo's separate peace agreement, but no word came from Nobuo himself throughout the entire day. The truth was soon known generally among the Tokugawa clan's retainers. Each time they met, their excited voices rose as they confirmed together what they could hardly believe. Gathering at Kiyosu, they accused Nobuo of lacking integrity and wondered aloud how the Tokugawa could face the nation with dignity after the predicament in which they had been placed.
"If this is the truth, we're not going to let him be, even if he is Lord Nobuo," the hot-blooded Honda said.
"First we should take Lord Nobuo out of Nagashima and investigate this crime," Ii added with a furious glare. "After that we should fight a decisive battle with Hideyoshi."
"I agree!"
"Isn't it because of Lord Nobuo that we mobilized in the first place?"
"We advocated the upholding of duty and rose up only because Lord Nobuo came begging for Lord Ieyasu's help and crying that Lord Nobunaga's descendants would perish because of Hideyoshi's ambitions! Now the banner of that war of duty—the embodiment of justice—has tumbled over to the enemy's side. The stupidity of that man is beyond words!"
"As the situation is now, it's an affront to His Lordship's dignity, and we've become a laughingstock. It's also an insult to the spirits of our comrades who died at Mount Komaki and Nagakute."
"They were made to die tragically meaningless deaths, and there's no reason why the living should have to bear such painful thoughts. What kind of decision can our lord have made by now?"
"He stayed in his living quarters all morning. He called a meeting of the senior retainers, and it seems that they've been deliberating all day."
"How about someone here delivering our opinion to the senior retainers?"
"That's right. Who would be good?"
They all looked around at one another.
"What about you, Ii? And Honda, you should go too." Honda and Ii were just about to leave the room as representatives for the others when a messenger came in with specific information.
"Two envoys from Lord Nobuo have just arrived."
“What! Envoys from Nagashima?"
The news made the men's indignation boil up again.
As the envoys had already been taken into the large audience chamber, however, it was very likely that they were already face to face with Ieyasu. Calmly reassuring each other that their lord's intentions would now be made clear, the men decided to wait for the result of the meeting.
Nobuo's envoys were his uncle, Oda Nobuteru, and Ikoma Hachiemon. As might be imagined, it was extremely awkward for those men to face Ieyasu, let alone try to explain Nobuo’s thoughts, and they waited in the room, withering at the mere thought of the meeting.
Soon enough, Ieyasu appeared with a page. He was dressed in a kimono, without armor, and seemed to be in a good mood.
He sat down on a cushion and said, "I've heard that Lord Nobuo has made peace with Hideyoshi."
The two messengers responded in the affirmative as they prostrated themselves, unable even to raise their heads.
Nobuteru said, "The sudden peace talks with Lord Hideyoshi were surely both unexpected and mortifying to your clan, and we can only respectfully appreciate what your thoughts must be, but in fact, His Lordship put much deep thought into the situation before him, and—"
“I understand," Ieyasu replied. "You don't need to give me some long explanation."
“The details are fully explained in this letter, so, ah, if you would read it—"
“I’ll take a look at it later on."
“The only thing that pains His Lordship is the thought that you may be angry," Hachiemon said.
“Now, now. That's not worth his consideration. From the very beginning, these hostilities had nothing to do with my own desires or plans."
“We understand completely."
“That being so, the hope I entertain for Lord Nobuo's well-being is unchanged."
“His Lordship will be relieved to hear it."
“I’ve had a meal prepared for you in another room. That this war has been terminated so quickly is the greatest blessing of all. Have a leisurely lunch before you go."
Ieyasu went back into the interior of the castle. The messengers from Nagashima were entertained with food and drink in another room, but they ate hurriedly and soon left.
When Ieyasu's retainers heard about this, they were outraged.
“His Lordship must have some deeper thoughts. Otherwise, how could he so easily approve of this monstrous alliance of Lord Nobuo and Hideyoshi?"
During this time, Ii and Honda went off to the senior retainers to inform them of the young retainers' opinion.
“Secretary!" Ieyasu called out.
After meeting with Nobuo's envoys in the audience chamber he had returned to his own quarters and sat quietly alone for a while. Now his voice rang out.
The secretary brought out an inkstone and waited for his lord's dictation.
I want to sent congratulatory letters to both Lord Nobuo and Lord Hideyoshi."
As he dictated the letters, Ieyasu looked off obliquely and closed his eyes. Indeed, as he polished the sentences to be written down, he seemed first to absorb thoughts in his breast that must have been like draughts of molten iron.
When the two letters were finished, Ieyasu gave an order to a page to summon Ishikawa Kazumasa.
The secretary left the two letters in front of Ieyasu, bowed, and withdrew. As he left, a personal attendant came in carrying a candle and quietly lit two lamps.
At some point the sun had set. Looking at the lamps, Ieyasu felt that somehow the day had been a short 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.