The Heike Story (40 page)

Juro and Tota slapped their saddles and exclaimed: "Of all things! We shan't be going to Eguchi with Jiro again. We didn't know he was on such friendly terms with Ko-Kannon. But, look here, was she telling the truth? This is serious gossip to be retelling about someone so influential."

"Serious, perhaps, and not quite improbable. Even General Yoshitomo himself, they say, was the son of a beautiful dancing-girl."

"That's it. I remember—the stories about Kiyomori's real father."

"Anyway, we did have a good time at Eguchi."

"Yes, but what will it be like in the capital?"

"There's no predicting about tomorrow, and not much point in mere warriors like us trying to guess. It's certain, however, that the general has been anxious to know the exact date of Kiyomori's departure for Kumano, and we had strict orders to return when it became known."

"Look, it's hailing! Let's whip up our horses and get warm." Behind them, road, paddies, and hills were soon a white blur.

A PILGRIMAGE TO KUMANO

Tsunemunй, the courtier, was again spending the day at the Vice-Councilor's suburban villa. Nearly everyone in court circles knew of the close friendship between the two, but for appearance's sake Tsunemunй explained that his frequent visits were to give Fujiwara Nobuyori lessons in football. Those who knew that the courtier was adroit at putting people to his own uses carefully avoided involvement in Tsunemunй's affairs, but he, none the less, never lacked a following. The ex-Emperor Goshirakawa favored him as a partner at football, and the Emperor Nijo was partial to him, while Nobuyori, the Vice-Councilor, made Tsunemunй his boon companion and confidant.

"Tsunemunй, what could be keeping General Narichika and Councilor Moronaka?"

"They should be here soon. I can't think what would delay them, except they may come late and separately to make themselves inconspicuous. . . . And have you sent word to Korekata?"

"My uncle promises to come tonight, his duties with the Police Commission understandably keep him busy during the day."

"If that's the case, we might as well go on practicing."

"No, I'm tired and have had enough for today. If I'm overtired, my head won't be clear for the discussions later on."

Tsunemunй and Nobuyori were in the football enclosure, where for a time the thwacking of a football resounded with unusual sharpness in the wintry air. They were now resting at the foot of a tree and conversing in low tones. Some of the younger courtiers had been meeting here lately with increasing frequency on the pretext of holding poetry contests and football matches, and the subject for talk at these gatherings was Shinzei.

For almost three years, since the end of the Hogen War, Shinzei's authority had gone unchallenged. He had risen from an obscure court post to one of undisguised absolutism, and this not unnaturally earned him enemies. In power he was bold, as he once had been self-effacing, dispensing policies with a sure hand. There was nevertheless a growing belief among some courtiers that if he were not soon curbed, there would be no telling to what lengths he would go. With the end of the fighting, Shinzei had seen to it that peace was restored without delay. Sweeping reforms were carried out in rapid succession at his direction. New laws governing provincial taxes were enacted, and the carrying of arms in the city precincts prohibited. At his orders the ablest were picked for office, and to him was given the authority to mete out punishment and dispense rewards. His achievements notwithstanding, Shinzei's measures were not acceptable to all, and there were some who questioned his dictatorial powers.

Whether it is the tyrant who creates conflict, or conflict that breeds the tyrant, there was no denying that a despot arrogating extraordinary privileges to himself had appeared overnight and placed himself at the head of the state. Though circumstances were in his favor and his astuteness unquestioned, those who were dissatisfied argued that Shinzei owed his success largely to Kiyomori's military backing; this alone was enough reason for the Genji to take umbrage, and it began to be said that the interests of the state made it imperative to oust Shinzei and his ally eventually.

Out of these frequent meetings and secret talks at Nobuyori's villa there emerged a fantastic plot aimed at Shinzei. It was to be realized within a year or two. Toward the end of November 1159, however, when there were rumors that Kiyomori planned to go on a pilgrimage to Kumano Shrine, a seven-day journey from the capital, the malcontents agreed that the chance to strike had come— an opportunity which might not recur later.

Nobuyori's villa had been the scene of a gathering on the previous day, and the leaders in the plot—Tsunemunй and Nobuyori—had called for another meeting today.

The afternoon sun slanted ruddily across the football enclosure, where five or six men were seated on the ground near the goal post. General Narichika and Councilor Moronaka had now joined the group, which appeared to be engaged in a harmless discussion of football. But they were occupied with something more urgent.

". . . So the 4th of December is the date of Kiyomori's departure for Kumano Shrine?"

"There's no mistake about that, for I got it from one who is to be trusted and who is a frequent visitor at Rokuhara," General Narichika replied.

"The 4th—that means we have little time left. . . ."

The plotters shivered unconsciously at the thought of what lay before them. There was no question now of wavering or withdrawing.

"We had every reason to believe that the pilgrimage would take place in early spring, but this change in plan means we shall have to hurry with our preparations. In any case, further discussions will have to be carried on indoors."

The company withdrew to the house; the shutters were closed and guards posted along the corridors and galleries to prevent any intrusions. With the appearance of Nobuyori's uncle, Korekata, former Captain of the Bodyguard of the Right, after sundown, the talks took on a more definite character. As an officer of the Police Commission, Korekata was charged with the maintenance of peace and order in the capital. His authority and Yoshitomo's Genji soldiers, the conspirators argued, were an invincible combination.

Master Red-Nose, the owner of an imposing establishment at the entrance to the city markets near the gate to Fifth Avenue, was a parvenu, people said. He employed a large number of assistants —men and women—in his warehouses, which were well stocked with cotton goods, dyestuffs, combs, cosmetics, and perfumes from China. Master Red-Nose was no less than a merchant trader to the ladies of the Court. Bamboku was his real name, but he had come by his nickname because of that feature, the color of an overripe strawberry, which embellished the center of his face. A depression at the side of his nose—the scars left by the pox with which he had been afflicted in childhood—caused his nose to tilt upward, and what might have been a damaging hallmark in any other man in his forties proved to be otherwise for Bamboku, for his nose gave him an air of disarming amiability. Had it been a well-shaped nose with no nonsense about it, it might well have made the beholder wary by allowing his eyes to stray over a face that was decidedly cunning. He was rarely addressed by his real name, but passed as Master Nose among his fellow traders, who even more frequently spoke of him as Red-Nose, or just simply the Nose—so much so, that it was not unusual to find people who were ignorant of his real name.

"Bamboku, you seem to grow more and more prosperous."

"Ah, the honorable Tsunemunй! Have you come for a morning stroll through the markets?"

"Oh, no, I was at the Vice-Councilor's villa last night—the usual poetry contest, you know."

"On your way home, then?"

"You already seem busy at this early hour. Let me speak to you inside—a request to make. . . ."

"No need for apologies. . . . Now, this way, please."

Bamboku led the way through the open shop front to a narrow passage, past a stableyard and a row of warehouses, to an inner court

"You might have come through the gate to the courtyard."

"I found it locked."

"Now, that was very careless of me. . . . Here," Bamboku called in passing his wife's bedchamber, "we have a caller, the honorable Tsunemunй” and continued to lead his guest across the court to a room that received the full light of the winter morning's sun.

"You merchants have fine houses—sunny and cheerful."

"Not at all, sir, nothing like your fine mansions."

"You're mistaken there. Tradition, social position, this keeping up of appearances, complicate our lives, and the less chance we have of seeing the sun. The Emperor and the court ladies spend their days in candlelit rooms. Better not get any richer and build a larger house."

"Ah, no, sir, I can hardly be counted among the wealthy merchants here on Fifth Avenue. I have a few ambitions, though. . . . You need not be concerned for me, sir, and I certainly hope to continue receiving your patronage."

"I heard you made quite a fortune right after the war."

"That's how it seems to people, sir, but far from it."

Tsunemunй laughed. "No fear, Bamboku, I haven't come for a loan."

"But, sir, should you ask for the impossible, I shall be only too glad to try to meet with your wishes."

"Just flattery, I suppose?"

"How could I to my benefactor?"

Just then Bamboku's comely wife, younger than he by some twenty years, appeared, having completed her morning toilette.

"Welcome, indeed, sir! You come early for a cold morning."

"Well, well, Umeno! How are you—getting on nicely together, I hope?"

Umeno blushed charmingly and Bamboku gazed at his wife with a fatuous, doting look.

"Some nice little cakes or something—and some herb tea?" Bamboku said to his wife, who departed with a demure air.

Bamboku's wife, the granddaughter of a councilor who had come down in the world, had been employed in Tsunemunй's household until the past year, when Tsunemunй had arranged a match for her. Bamboku, at one time a petty clerk at the Court, a post offering at best little advancement beyond a stewardship over the lower order of menials, had resigned from his position ten years before, bought a small shop in the market-place, and turned merchant, and through his former connections did business with the Court and the ladies. Tsunemunй, who first met Bamboku at the Regent's villa, took a fancy to the droll merchant, who always accepted good-naturedly the constant jesting at his expense. Finding him ambitious and energetic like himself, Tsunemunй patronized the shrewd Bamboku and at the end of the war, when there was a demand for numerous commodities, quietly saw to it that Bamboku was commissioned to supply the Court with building-materials for the new palace. These business transactions had resulted in Bamboku's erecting a fine house and a row of warehouses at the gate by Fifth Avenue.

His establishment completed, Bamboku found he needed a wife to manage his household. As he claimed descent from the nobility, Bamboku aspired for the hand of one from the higher circles of society—say, the daughter of a courtier who had seen better days. Moreover, his long years at the Court had kindled in him secret ambitions to live like a gentleman. The desired spouse, as it happened, was provided by Tsunemunй, whom Bamboku in his gratitude declared was his lifelong benefactor. Bamboku, however, anticipated paying dearly for this particular favor, and this morning it came to him instantly that the day of reckoning had come. "You had a request. Now tell me what it is. I'm more than willing to give all I own to accommodate you."

"No, Bamboku, I'm not here for money or anything of that nature. On the contrary, I'm proposing that you make some large profits."

"Well, that sounds too good to be true at this time of the year."

"Not too good to be true. But you will have to promise to agree to this, or refuse before I even disclose the matter."

"Naturally, I cannot refuse. Is it a highly secret matter?"

"Bamboku, will you first see that the shutters are closed so we shan't be interrupted?"

Tsunemunй proceeded to disclose a part of the plot to Bamboku. Detecting the gleam of interest in the Nose, he added, as he fixed him with a searching look, "If you go through with this, I assure you you shall receive whatever you ask for. Bamboku, will you let us have the use of your house? We cannot risk a meeting outside the city gates. I believe this bustling market quarter is the safest place for us. And, furthermore, most of us will come in disguise."

Tsunemunй had a further proposal to make. "In these years since the end of the Hogen War, there has been a strict ban on arms, and we lack the necessary weapons, so you are to get hold of all we require. All very secretly, you understand."