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 turn.
His senior retainers, who had already guessed his intentions, announced, "Those retainers who have family in Echizen should go back. Those who feel like staying here with Katsutoyo and aligning themselves with Lord Hideyoshi may stay. His Lordship understands, however, that many of you may feel it would be difficult to remain true to the Way of the Samurai by leaving the Shibata clan and turning your back on Lord Katsuie. Those who feel that way may withdraw without hesitation."
For a moment the atmosphere was filled with tension. The men simply hung their heads in bitterness, and there were few objections. That night sake cups were raised in an honorable separation of lord and retainers, but fewer than one out of ten returned to Echizen.
In this way Katsutoyo cut his ties with his stepfather and allied himself with Hideyoshi. From that time on he was officially under Hideyoshi's command, but it had only a matter of form. Long before these events, Katsutoyo's heart had already been like a bird being fed in Hideyoshi's cage.
At any rate, the seizure of Nagahama was now complete. To Hideyoshi, however, it had been nothing more than a passing event on the way to Gifu—Nobutaka's main castle,.
The pass over Fuwa was famous as a place that was difficult to cross in winter, and conditions on the plain of Sekigahara were especially severe.
From the eighteenth to the twenty-eighth day of the Twelfth Month, Hideyoshi's army marched across Sekigahara. The army was divided into corps, and those corps were further broken down into divisions: packhorses, gunners, spearmen, mounted warriors, and foot soldiers. Defying the snow and mud, they pushed on. It took Hideyoshi's force of about thirty thousand soldiers two days to cross into Mino.
The main camp was set up at Ogaki. From there, Hideyoshi attacked and took all of the smaller castles in the area. This was immediately reported to Nobutaka, who spent several days in complete confusion. He hardly knew what strategy to take, much less how to fight a defensive battle.
Nobutaka had thought only of grandiose schemes but had had no idea how to accomplish them. Until then he had allied himself to men like Katsuie and Takigawa and submitted schemes for attacking Hideyoshi, but he had never expected to be attacked by him.
At his wits' end, Nobutaka left his fate to the discretion of his senior retainers. But after arriving at the current pass, they had nothing left that could be called "discretion."
There was nothing the senior retainers could do but kowtow at Hideyoshi's camp just Katsutoyo's retainers had done. Nobutaka's mother was sent as a hostage, and his senior retainers had to send their own mothers as well.
Niwa begged Hideyoshi to spare Nobutaka's life. Hideyoshi, as might be expected, pardoned him. Granting them peace for the time, he smiled at Nobutaka's senior retainers and asked, "Has Lord Nobutaka come to his senses? It will be a blessing if he has."
The hostages were immediately sent to Azuchi. Immediately thereafter Samboshi, who had been kept at Gifu, was turned over to Hideyoshi and moved to Azuchi as well.
After that, Nobuo was put in charge of the young lord. Having delivered that trust, Hideyoshi made a triumphal return to Takaradera Castle. New Year's Eve was celebrated two days after his return. Then came the first day of the eleventh year of Tensho. From morning on, sunshine glittered on the snow that had recently fallen on the trees just planted on the grounds of the renovated castle.
The fragrance of the New Year's rice cakes drifted through the grounds, and the sound of the drum reverberated through the corridors for more than half a day. But at noon an announcement rang out from the main citadel: "Lord Hideyoshi is going to Himeji!"
Hideyoshi arrived at Himeji around midnight on New Year's Day. Greeted by the flames of bonfires, he quickly entered the castle. The greatest joy, however, was not Hideyoshi's, but his people's, as they watched the flourish of the grand spectacle: all his retainers and their families were assembled at the main gate of the castle to welcome him.
Dismounting, he handed the reins to an attendant and, for a moment, looked up at the keep. In the Sixth Month of the previous summer, just before his forced march to Yamazaki and his great victory to avenge Nobunaga, he had stood at the same gate and wondered whether he would come back alive.
His last orders to his retainers had been clear: "If you hear that I have been defeated, kill my entire family and burn the castle to the ground."
Now he was back in Himeji Castle, having arrived exactly at midnight on New Year's Day. If he had faltered for a moment and wasted time by thinking about his wife and mother in Nagahama, he would have been unable to fight with the desperation of a man who expects to meet his death in battle. He would have been pressed by the power of the Mori in the west and watched the Akechi grow stronger in the east.
In the case of both the individual and the entire country, the border between rising and falling is always a wager based on life or death—life in the midst of death, death in the midst of life.
Hideyoshi, however, had not returned to rest. As soon as he entered the main citadel, and even before changing from his traveling clothes, he met with the officials of the castle. He listened attentively to the report on subsequent events in the west and the situation in his various estates.
It was the second half of the Hour of the Rat—midnight. Although unconcerned about their own exhaustion, Hideyoshi's retainers were worried that perhaps the strain might begin to affect their lord's health.
"Your honored mother and Lady Nene have been waiting for you since this evening. Why don't you go inside and show them how well you are?" Hideyoshi's brother-in-law Miyoshi suggested. As he walked on inside, he found his mother, wife, nieces, and sisters-in-law waiting for him. Though they had not slept at all, they greeted him in a line, kneeling with their hands to the floor. Hideyoshi passed by each of their bowed heads with sparkling eyes and a smile. Finally he stood before his old mother and said, "I have a moment of leisure this New Year's and have returned to be with you for a little while."
While he was paying his respects to his mother, Hideyoshi looked the image of what she so often called him—"that boy."
From within a large white silk hood, his mother's face beamed with a joy beyond words. "The road you have chosen was filled with extraordinary hardships," she said.
“And the last year in particular was not an easy one. But you endured everything."
“It's been colder this winter than any other year I can remember," Hideyoshi said, “but you look very well, Mother."
"They say that age is something that slips up on you, and somehow I've already gone past my seventieth year. I've lived a long life—much longer than I expected. Never did I think I would live this long."
“No, no. You have to live until you're a hundred. As you can see, I'm still a boy."
“You're going to be forty-six this New Year's," the old lady said with a laugh. "How can you say you're still a boy?"
“But, Mother, aren't you the one who's always calling me 'that boy' from morning to night?”
"That's just a habit, you know."
“Well, I hope you'll always call me that. To confess the truth, even though I keep getting older, the development of my mind just can't keep up with the years. More than that, Mother, if you weren't here I'd lose my greatest motivation and might stop growing altogether.
Miyoshi, who had appeared behind him, saw that Hideyoshi was still there, engrossed in conversation with his mother. Surprised, he said, "Haven't you taken off your traveling clothes yet, my lord?"
“Ah, Miyoshi. Why don't you sit down?"
“I'd like to, but why don't you take a bath first?"
“Yes, you're right. Lead on, Nene."
Hideyoshi was surprised at the cock's crow. He had spent most of the night talking and had only slept for a short while. At dawn, Hideyoshi put on a ceremonial hat and kimono and went to pray at the castle shrine. He then ate rice cakes and soup in Nene's room. After that he went to the main citadel. Today, the second day of the new year, the line of people who had come up to the castle to wish him New Year's greetings seemed endless.
Hideyoshi greeted each one of them, offering each a cup of sake. The well-wishers then walked by any number of groups of preceding visitors, their faces bright and cheerful Passing through the main and west citadels, one could see that every room was filled with guests—here was a group chanting Noh verses, there was a group reciting poetry. Even after noon, more well-wishers came before Hideyoshi.
Hideyoshi took care of all business in Himeji until the fifth, and that evening he startled his retainers by announcing that he would be leaving for Kyoto on the following day. They rushed to get things ready in time. They had thought that he would be staying in Himeji until the middle of the month, and indeed until noon Hideyoshi had showed no inclination to leave at all.
It was only much later that people understood the motives behind his actions. Hideyoshi moved quickly and never lost an opportunity.
Seki Morinobu commanded Kameyama Castle in Ise. Although nominally one of Nobutaka's retainers, he was now on friendly terms with Hideyoshi. During the holidays,
Seki came to Himeji in secret to offer his congratulations for the New Year.