Bloody Sunrise Page 7

  Lord Shimadzu of Satsuma was thin-faced and surprisingly long-nosed for a Japanese. He was also quite old, Nicholas estimated; he wore a beard and moustache, both long and straggling and streaked with gray, and sniffed constantly, as if he had a cold; his mouth turned down, the droop accentuated by the moustache, to suggest he was a pessimist. The best thing about him was his voice, which was quiet and composed and certainly did not lack the confidence which went with his rank. Now he spoke again. ‘Lord Satsuma wishes you to stand,’ Saigo said.

  Nicholas pushed himself to his knees and thence his feet, standing to attention, while Shimadzu gazed at him, and asked a question. ‘Lord Shimadzu asks if all barbarians are as tall as you,’ Saigo said.

  ‘A goodly number,’ Nicholas replied.

  Shimadzu spoke, angrily and contemptuously, and Saigo translated. ‘Lord Shimadzu remarks that your size is in keeping with your arrogance. You barbarians seek to impose your will upon the empire of the Mikado with your guns and your ships. Have you not heard of the fate of others who tried to impose their will upon the empire of the Mikado? Have you heard of Kublai Khan? Lord Shimadzu reminds you that Kublai Khan’s fleet was destroyed by a great storm, a Divine Wind, a kamikaze.’ Shimadzu smiled. ‘Much as your ship was destroyed by a storm. Lord Shimadzu wishes you to confirm what you have claimed to me, General Saigo, that you are a gunner.’

  Nicholas gazed at Saigo in surprise as he translated, as much because of the sudden tirade as by the realisation that his new friend was a general. ‘I am a gunnery officer, yes, my lord.’

  ‘Lord Shimadzu reminds you that his people saved your life, and that of your companion,’ Saigo continued to interpret. ‘It would be honourable for you to repay us.’

  ‘In any way I can, my lord,’ Nicholas said. ‘But I am afraid we are destitute.’

  ‘Can you give us guns to match those of the barbarians?’

  Nicholas began to understand something of Saigo’s motives in bringing him to Kagoshima. ‘I cannot give you guns, Lord Shimadzu. I might be able to tell you which are the best guns for you to purchase, and where they may be obtained. But I would need an assurance that they would never be used against the Royal Navy.’

  Saigo interpreted with bowed head, apparently fearing his master’s wrath. But Shimadzu smiled. ‘Lord Shimadzu observes that you are an honourable man,’ Saigo said. ‘We already have guns, here in Kagoshima. You will inspect these guns. You will train my people to use them well. You may rest assured that they will never be used against this Royal Navy of yours. How may this Royal Navy come to Kagoshima Wan? The guns are to defend us against our enemies here in Japan.’

  ‘Then I will inspect your guns for you, Lord Shimadzu,’ Nicholas agreed. ‘But afterwards I must make all haste to Edo.’

  ‘Without a ship, why do you wish to go to Edo?’

  ‘I must report to my superiors, my lord. A Royal Navy ship has been lost. There will have to be an accounting, by me, of what happened. If I do not report to the officer commanding our squadron in Edo Bay as quickly as possible, I will be deemed to have deserted.’

  ‘You and your companion are the only survivors,’ Saigo pointed out. ‘Therefore no one knows that you have survived. It is Lord Shimadzu’s wish that you remain here for a while, and teach his people how best to use the guns. It is too long since they have been fired in anger. Our people have forgotten their use. If you do not agree, Lord Shimadzu will have you executed as pirates.’ Shimadzu gave another grim smile. ‘Either way, your people in Edo will know nothing about the shipwreck. But if you do agree, and perform your task to Lord Shimadzu’s satisfaction, Lord Shimadzu will give you the rank of hatamoto, and make you a samurai.’

  They were prisoners! But these people were ignorant savages; they could surely be outwitted. ‘Then I must agree, my lord,’ Nicholas said. ‘But I would like your permission at least to write my superiors in Edo, informing them what has happened.’

  Shimadzu gave a faint shrug. ‘Lord Shimadzu says you may write a letter. Now, he commands me to instruct you in your duties.’ Saigo performed the kowtow, indicating that the interview was a an end. But Nicholas remained facing the daimyo.

  ‘Am I then a prisoner, my lord?’

  Saigo hesitated before translating.

  ‘Lord Shimadzu says that you are his honoured guest, barbarian,’ Saigo told him. ‘Serve Lord Shimadzu well, and all things are possible. Now kowtow,’ he muttered in English.

  Outside Saigo seized his hand. ‘My congratulations, Barrett san,’ he said. ‘Your future glows.’

  ‘What is happening?’ Tom asked, bewildered.

  ‘Why, these scoundrels have coolly impressed us to teach their people gunnery and tactics,’ Nicholas said. ‘Admit it, General.’

  Saigo’s smile was grave. ‘A man must take life as it comes, Barrett san. Fate dictated that you should be cast away on our shore at a time when your skills are of far more value to us than to your barbarian superiors. You have yourself admitted that you do not know what reception you will receive from those superiors. But Lord Shimadzu has offered you prosperous employment. Only a fool would look away from such an opportunity.’

  ‘You don’t seem to understand, General,’ Nicholas said. ‘I am a serving officer in Her Majesty’s Navy. I cannot just abandon my rank and my responsibilities. I have a duty to inform the Admiral of what has happened to my ship, and the men on board.’

  ‘He will be informed,’ Saigo promised him. ‘I understand your feelings about duty, Barrett san. A samurai lives by the concept of duty. But sometimes a man meets a force which is superior to his duty, and then he must bow before that force.’

  ‘By that reasoning, I am surrendering. Should I not commit this seppuku we were speaking of?’

  Another grave smile. ‘But you have not lost your honour, Barrett san. That is what matters here.’

  ‘It seems to me that your code of bushido is a trifle pliable,’ Nicholas said. ‘Are you not also asking me to betray my own people, and thus become a traitor?’

  ‘How is that? Japan is not at war with Great Britain. We are asking you to allow yourself to be seconded to the Satsuma army for a season, nothing more than that. When you return to your own people, be assured that we will document what has happened here, and you will be held blameless.’ He clapped Nicholas on the shoulder. ‘Now let us eat. There is much for you to do, tomorrow.’

  *

  ‘Do you believe him?’ Tom asked, when they retired for the night to the room they had been given in the palace.

  ‘No. It is obvious that these people have one code of honour for themselves, and another for barbarians. Presumably we have no right to complain about that, as we have always had one code for Christians and another for heathens, at least until very recently.’

  ‘Then what are we to do? Shall we try to escape?’

  ‘Not until we have reconnoitered our situation very thoroughly,’ Nicholas told him. ‘We have only just escaped with our lives, as it is.’ He related to the boy everything that had happened, and watched Tom’s face pale. ‘So, we will accept Lord Shimadzu’s hospitality, and watch, and wait.’

  ‘If he wishes us to teach his people gunnery,’ Tom pointed out, ‘that has to be because he means to go to war with someone.’

  ‘I believe he does,’ Nicholas agreed. ‘The Shōgun. But that is no concern of ours.’

  *

  He slept soundly. If there was much to fear and abhor in what he had seen of Japanese society, there was also much to enjoy and admire. He looked forward to the morrow, but he was totally surprised by the event. Saigo came to them immediately they had breakfasted. ‘I am to take you to your house,’ he said. ‘It is Lord Shimadzu’s wish that you be as comfortable as possible. Lord Shimadzu was much impressed with your demeanour, Barrett san. If you please him by carrying out your duties here with a good spirit, you will rise high in his esteem. Now come.’

  Somewhat bemused, Nicholas and Tom followed the general out of the castle and into
the town. Attracting curious stares from the passersby, they proceeded to the eastern limit of the buildings, where, overlooking the beach, there was a house. But this was no ordinary house. The outer wall was composed of timbers set on end in the earth to form a stockade, and was entered through a small gatehouse, while inside Nicholas could see the roofs of several dwellings. ‘This is a miniature fortress,’ he remarked.

  ‘It was the residence of a hatamoto,’ Saigo explained. ‘He was drowned, with his wife and his family, in a storm at sea, last year. Since then it has stood empty. But Lord Shimadzu considers that it will be a suitable home for two men who have been plucked from the sea instead of being drowned.’

  ‘Your lord is very gracious,’ Nicholas said, not at all sure that he didn’t mean it. ‘But doesn’t the house belong to the previous owner’s family?’

  ‘All houses in Kagoshima belong to Lord Shimadzu,’ Saigo told him. ‘You will have a retinue of forty servants. Here you see some of them at work.’

  Nicholas gazed in consternation at the men and women, and children, lining up to bow to him. Some of the women had been fishing, which they did by carrying their nets into the water, and wore only wet loin cloths as they hurried up from the beach to greet their new master. ‘Forty of them? I am a shipwrecked sailor, General Saigo, and even were I not, I do not possess the income to employ forty people.’

  ‘You are concerning yourself needlessly, Barrett san. Did you not know what it meant when Lord Shimadzu gave you his favour? Apart from the rank of samurai to which you will soon become entitled, he grants you this estate, with an annual income of eighty koku of rice.’

  ‘Has this a money value?’

  ‘A koku, Barrett san, is the amount of rice that is required to feed one man for one year. The value of each estate in the land, as represented by koku, is decided by the lord to whom you owe fealty, and so on up to the Mikado, who decides the daimyos’ portion. Although in practice this has always been done by the Shōguns.’

  ‘So, let me understand,’ Nicholas said. ‘I am now worth eighty koku of rice a year. That is to say, I will be given enough rice to feed eighty people, but I only employ forty.’

  ‘You may employ more, if you wish,’ Saigo said. ‘Or you may barter your excess for goods and services. Or you could gather round yourself a force of samurai, sworn to do your will. Twenty such men would guarantee your home perpetual protection.’

  ‘And your samurai would be faithful to me, a barbarian, if I offered them employment?’

  Saigo smiled. ‘They would swear it. As to the future, no man may foresee that.’

  ‘And it is part of Japanese ethics to practice treachery?’

  ‘Subterfuge is a prettier word. Is there none in your country?’

  ‘A great deal. But it is generally frowned upon.’

  ‘Yet you have just admitted that it is practised. Here in Japan it is encouraged openly, so that every daimyo, every hatamoto, every gokkenin, expects it from his followers and is on his guard against it. It occurs to me that your Europe is a nest of hypocrisy. I do not think I would care for it.’

  ‘No doubt you are right, General. But would not your lord be concerned if I began raising a private army?’

  Saigo smiled. ‘Oh, I am sure he would be upset, Barrett san. Your income is eighty koku, therefore you could, if you wished to dispense with your servants, employ eighty samurai. That is a sizeable force. Do you know what is the income of Lord Shimadzu? It is established at one million, five hundred thousand koku.’

  Nicholas gulped. ‘You have convinced me of my place, sir. Do you mean he employs so many men?’

  ‘Indirectly. He is employing you, at a cost of eighty koku. But come, do you not wish to inspect your house?’

  Nicholas glanced at Tom, who could not repress a grin. ‘Seems to me we, or rather you, have fallen on your feet. I assume you are going to employ me?’

  ‘If you behave yourself.’ Nicholas followed Saigo into the porch of the house, which was as usual bare of furniture save for tatami mats and a vase of flowers in each corner. But his attention was taken by the various weapons hanging on the walls. ‘What on earth are those?’

  ‘They are part of every house’s defences, Barrett san, just in case an enemy comes to call.’ Saigo went to the wall. ‘Here, you see, is your grappling iron. Notice how the hooks on the end make a sort of ball, and face in every direction.’

  ‘It reminds me of an iron hedgehog,’ Tom suggested.

  ‘Indeed. Well, you see, mounted on this ten-foot long staff, it can be thrust into your enemy’s kimono, and with a twist, he is helpless, and can be kept at bay. But should he manage to avoid this, then you may thrust this long, double-ended stick between his legs, to trip him up. Either way, he will be brought to the ground before he can do any damage. Then here is a pitchfork to hold him down, and should he continue to prove stubborn, your servants will beat him about the head with these quarterstaves.’

  Nicholas removed his cap to scratch his head. ‘And the house of every Japanese is equipped with these things?’

  ‘Of every samurai, certainly. The knowledge of this is a great inducement to keep the peace. Now I, you see, being I hope a trusted acquaintance, remove my long sword, and place it in the corner. And am in turn invested with this robe, which is a sign that I am welcome.’ One of the waiting servants held a crimson robe for him to step into.

  ‘I see that we have a lot to learn,’ Nicholas said. ‘But seriously, General, I think my first task must be to devise some kind of livery for my people, for to say truth I doubt I would recognise any of them were he to come knocking at my door.’

  ‘This is a problem for every samurai, Barrett san. And taken care of. Here.’ Saigo pointed to another hook on the wall, from which hung a collection of wooden tags. ‘Before leaving your gate, every one of your retainers must possess himself or herself of one of these tickets, and he will only be readmitted upon presentation of the pass.’

  ‘If I have a fault to find with this society of yours, General Saigo, it is that everything is too well-organised, too carefully thought out. Do you never feel the need for some disorder?’

  Saigo smiled. ‘We shall investigate that aspect of life at a more suitable occasion. Now come, shall we go in?’

  He opened the inner doorway, but Nicholas’s attention was taken by the immense conch shell which waited on a shelf next to the door. ‘And this, no doubt, is to sound dinner.’

  ‘No, no, Barrett san. This shell must always be available, in every house of the empire. It must only be sounded for one of four reasons, but for each of those reasons it must be sounded. It will be blown once for tumult, twice for fire, three times for thieves, and four times for treason. Anyone hearing one of those signals must immediately repeat it, and then hurry with all aid to the scene of the original call.’ He ushered Nicholas and Tom through the doorway and into the courtyard. Here there were gathered a group of people, four men and eight women, as well as several children. All immediately dropped to their knees and inclined their heads towards the dirt. ‘Your domestics,’ Saigo said. ‘Kisuda!’ The man addressed straightened and then stood up. He was not much older than Nicholas himself, had long moustaches and thick black hair, and looked remarkably solemn. ‘Kisuda will be your steward, and will teach you what you need to know,’ Saigo said. ‘But come into the house. I think you will find it most satisfactory. It is a matter of some forty-eight tatami, which is a good size.’

  ‘You’ll have to explain that to me, your excellency. The word tatami has me utterly confused.’

  ‘It is really very simple, Barrett san. A tatami is a mat which is used to cover the floor. It is made from rice straw, and to a fixed size, roughly the amount of space which permits a man to lie comfortably without inconveniencing his neighbour. So, you see, when we speak of a room, we say that it is so many tatami, and everyone immediately knows the exact size, as the mats cover every inch of the floor.’ He glanced at Nicholas with a smile. ‘The measurement is
based upon a Japanese man, of course. I think you might fit on a single tatami mat, but as for encroaching upon your neighbour, now there I am not sure.’

  Kisuda hurried ahead of them to see that every screen door was open. They mounted three steps, and came on to a porch very like the one in which the Lord Takanawa and his son had sat in to judge them, a few days previously. But God, Nicholas thought; I am to be given the same rank as Tadatune, a hatamoto. The door was open, and waiting to take their sandals and replace them with slippers were two young girls. ‘These will be your personal servants,’ Saigo explained.

  ‘This is another thing about which we must speak,’ Nicholas said. ‘I am by no means sure where the duties of a personal servant begin, and where they end, in Japan.’

  Saigo smiled. ‘A man’s personal servants should be regarded as an extra pair of hands. You may interpret that as you will. These girls will not complain. They seek only to serve you.’ He led Nicholas and Tom through the inner screen into what was obviously the main chamber of the house. Here there were twelve tatami mats upon the floor, and the paper-framed window looked out upon a delightful garden, apparently in the formal Japanese style, for it resembled Masaru Toshiro’s garden on the Bungo coast, with a bath house and house of office standing together at the end of the path. And here, too, waited a very young man, short but well-built, and wearing the topknot of a samurai as well as the two swords thrust through his sash. ‘I know this is an imposition, Barrett san,’ Saigo said. ‘But this young man is a nephew of mine, who is most anxious to meet you. He speaks English.’