His plan to replace Yoritomo with another son who could gain influence with the shogun was all he had. He really needed Yoshisato as a weapon against Ienobu, as a toehold in the future. But what if Yoshisato would never cooperate?
29
Having reached a dead end in his investigation of Priest Ryuko and Minister Ogyu, Sano worked with General Isogai to prepare the regime for an attack. They organized troop deployments, concentrating soldiers at the castle, leaving a scattered few to patrol the city. They inventoried the arsenal and ordered guns and ammunition placed at strategic locations. They conferred with the engineers and arranged the construction of emergency fortifications. Repair of buildings was postponed while craftsmen and laborers shored up the castle’s ruined defenses. As evening fell, Sano and General Isogai stood in a watchtower and surveyed the results.
Gaps in the broken wall around the highest level of the hill had been filled in with stone-covered earth to create a barrier around the shogun, his family, his top officials, valuables, arsenal, and food supply. Lights shone on the lower levels, where army squadrons were stationed. But the castle was still far from impenetrable.
“I hate to say it, but the crumbled pavements, landslides, and debris left by the earthquake are the best deterrent to an attack,” General Isogai said.
“Any rebels who invade will risk breaking their necks,” Sano agreed.
On the one hand, he was glad the metsuke had noticed the potential threat from the daimyo; on the other, he hoped the regime’s shaky defenses would never be put to the test. He felt more pressure than ever to solve the crime and prevent Lord Hosokawa from joining the rebels.
“Here’s another thing I hate to say,” General Isogai said. “It’s not just the Mori, Date, and Maeda clans we have to worry about.”
Or the Hosokawa clan, Sano thought. “You’re right. If a civil war starts, all the other daimyo will take sides. How many will uphold the Tokugawa, and how many join the rebels?”
He and General Isogai exchanged wary glances as they foresaw alliances shifting, the defections that war always involved. Perhaps the next time they looked at each other it would be from different sides of a battlefield.
A guard shone his lantern into the tower. “Honorable Chamberlain, the Council of Elders needs you at an emergency meeting.”
Sano was dismayed to hear of another emergency so soon, before he could resume his investigation. He rode to the Council’s temporary chamber. Set on a cleared foundation where a wing of the palace had once stood, the chamber was a plank shed large enough to seat a hundred people. Light glowed through chinks in the window shutters. Inside, Sano found the Council occupying a dais improvised from low tables pushed together. Kato Kinhide sat beside Ohgami Kaoru, who was Sano’s ally on the Council. Flanking them were the Council’s other two members. More officials lined the walls. Sano recognized members of the junior council, judicial council, and department heads. Isolated at the center of the room were two samurai. Bundled in winter garments, they warmed their hands at a brazier. The assembly’s expressions were deadly solemn.
Ohgami spoke. “The scouts we sent to inspect the provinces have returned to give their report.” He gestured toward the two samurai.
Sano knelt opposite them. “What did you see?”
Soldiers in their twenties, they looked as if they’d aged ten years during the month since they’d left on their inspection tour. Their hollow eyes contained hellish memories. Sano felt dread trickle through his blood.
“It’s bad,” one scout, named Horibei, finally said. His route had taken him west, along the T o kaid o, the highway that led to the imperial capital in Miyako. “In Odawara, the town and castle were almost completely destroyed by earthquake and fire. Twenty or thirty thousand people died. In Hakone, there were about four hundred casualties.” He related more death tolls and the sights he’d seen in other towns-mass cremations, mass graves, survivors maimed, homeless, and suffering from disease and starvation.
Sano had hoped that the earthquake zone had been confined to Edo and its near environs.
“It’s bad along the coast, too,” said the other scout, Hazama, who’d surveyed the provinces that encircled Edo Bay. “A tsunami came ashore after the earthquake. It washed away entire villages in Awa, Kazusa, and Shimosa provinces. In some places all we found were bodies on the beaches. The waves moved up the rivers far inland. Hundreds of people drowned in floods.”
The devastation was much bigger than Sano or anyone else had suspected. “How many dead, total?”
“It’s hard to estimate,” Horibei said. “Town officials were killed. Hundreds of missing people are unaccounted for. Records were burned. Huge areas haven’t been searched yet.”
“Maybe ninety percent of the people along the Edo Bay coast died,” said Hazama.
“The death toll across the earthquake zone could be as high as a hundred thousand,” Elder Ohgami said.
The number was too vast for Sano’s mind to encompass. It approached the death toll from Edo’s Great Fire forty-six years ago. Sano had never imagined a comparable disaster occurring during his lifetime. Everyone was silent. Wet streaks glistened on the stoic faces of the men around him, tears impossible to restrain.
“Does the shogun know about this?” Sano asked
“No,” Ohgami said. “The Council has decided he shouldn’t be told.”
“We’re afraid he couldn’t stand the shock,” Kato said, for once in agreement with his rival.
Here was another secret for Sano to keep from the shogun.
Kato said to the assembly, “What you’ve heard in this room tonight is not to be repeated outside. Is that understood?”
Everyone murmured in assent.
“Good,” Ohgami said. “Now we must decide what to do about the provinces.”
Men sat silent, their heads bowed, already sagging under the weight of their duties. Although half dead from exhaustion himself, Sano had to accept the responsibility for organizing a relief effort.
“We’ll bring supplies to the survivors,” he said. “That means sending a team of men to buy food and building materials and hire workers from areas that weren’t affected by the earthquake. The team will have to include oxcart drivers, and troops to guard the money and shipments. And laborers to clear the roads along the way. And carpenters to build new bridges.” With each item he added, Sano realized anew how impossible the job sounded.
“We’ll have to provide food and tents and fuel for the men while they’re traveling,” Ohgami said. “They can’t count on finding enough to eat, or places to sleep, until they’re out of the earthquake zone.”
“The team needs competent men, and a leader,” Kato said. “Whom can we send that’s not needed here?”
No one answered. Every able-bodied, intelligent person had already been pressed into service. Ohgami said, “Each of you, come up with a list of names by tomorrow morning. We’ll reconvene then and start putting the team together.”
Sano had to find the money to provision the team, and he saw another problem. “The situation in the provinces can’t be kept a secret for much longer-not with that many other people having to be told what’s happening.”
“Maybe by the time the news has to come out, the shogun will be in better shape to receive it,” Ohgami said with scant optimism.
When Sano arrived home, the sentry told him, “Lord Hosokawa is here to see you.”
Sano’s heart sank even though he’d thought it had already hit bottom. He went to the makeshift reception chamber, which had once been an office. Lord Hosokawa knelt there. A tray beside him held empty dishes, a cup half filled with tea, and dirty chopsticks. Sano’s servants had fed him dinner. Lord Hosokawa regarded Sano with a mixture of anticipation and menace. He said, “I’ve been waiting for you all afternoon.”