The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

by Fuyumi Ono

  She had a different air about her than Taiki. They both came from the same Yamato. Risai realized for the first time that, for no factual reasons, she had assumed the Royal Kei would be like him.

  "I thank you very much."

  "Would you mind relating to me a bit of your story? If you find it trying, then you need only say so."

  "Not at all. I came bearing a message to be expressly delivered to Your Highness."

  Youko nodded. She glanced at the two men standing behind her. "I thought it might be rude to bring men to a lady's sleeping quarters, but I'd like them to stay, if you don't mind. This is our Chousai. He goes by the name of Koukan. And next to him is Keiki."

  Here as well Risai realized the extent to which the totality of her understanding was based upon Taiki. She couldn't help smiling sardonically to herself. But of course. The golden hair meant he must be a kirin. The Tai kirin was a black unicorn with hair like burnished steel.

  "Your reputation precedes you, Kei Taiho."

  Keiki gave Risai a somewhat surprised look. Risai smiled in turn. "The Taiho--Taiki--spoke of you often. He said that he was fortunate to call the Kei Taiho a friend, that he was a magnanimous man who showed him every kindness. The Taiho seems to have developed a great affection for the Kei Taiho."

  As Risai spoke, Keiki averted his gaze with a conflicted look on his face. At the same time, the Royal Kei cast a surprised look at him over her shoulder.

  "Oh, I'm sorry. Have I said something unbecoming in your presence?"

  "No," Keiki muttered.

  Youko smiled. "No offense given or taken. Such unexpected information simply startled me. In any event, I would like to learn more about what has happened in Tai, even if it limited to Taiki alone."

  Risai nodded. "I'm not sure where the best place to begin is."

  The previous king of Tai was known posthumously as King Kyou. He reigned for one hundred and twenty-four years.

  King Kyou loved pomp and splendor and drowned himself in luxuries. Though when it came to governance, he hewed to the straight and narrow. While housing his indulgent and merrymaking compatriots in the Imperial Palace, collecting a harem of beauties in the Inner Palace, and exhausting the riches of the Imperial Treasury with the forbearance of a drunken sailor, he never bestowed ministerial responsibilities upon such wastrels and philanderers, and never mixed the business of state with his pleasures.

  "Sleep in the dark and rule in the light." That was his motto.

  In fact, setting aside the question of whether he could be called an enlightened statesman, while sitting in the Imperial Court, King Kyou was not in any way deficient in his abilities. He respected precedent, principle, and order. He had no taste for revolution or sudden change, and quietly created a sound rule of law.

  In the closing years of his reign, the treasury was bankrupt and the kingdom impoverished. Even then it was said that compared to other kingdoms, the corruption of the national government of Tai was held to a minimal level.

  And then, as if waiting for an opening, bureaucrats of abject character devoured the regime.

  After King Kyou died, though the plundering spread far and wide, Tai could be said to be holding its ground. There remained many thoughtful and informed province lords and general and officials.

  Gyousou was the best of them all. Originally a general of the Palace Guard, he was a trusted and favored retainer of the late king. He was well-versed in the operations of the government. He was possessed of many talents for which he was widely revered.

  And in the provinces, so was the legendary army of Gyousou, and its commanders and officers.

  Taiki pledged himself to Gyousou and he ascended the throne. He quickly organized the Imperial Court and guided Tai into a new era. Gyousou was said to have been preparing all along to occupy the throne. And in a sense that was true.

  He understood that King Kyou would soon lose the Mandate of Heaven. Whether or not he was enthroned as the new king, he knew that the stormy seas ahead could not be avoided, and that in order to keep the listing ship of state from sinking, a man of his abilities must stay lashed to the wheel.

  Gyousou sought out and trained accomplished officers and commanders. The duchy of Saku County he ruled became Tai in miniature. Though the civil and military officials were mere county authorities, they comprehended the intricacies of Imperial polity and grasped the conditions of the kingdom better than the Rikkan. In the waning days of King Kyou's reign, they spread far and wide throughout the kingdom, serving as bulwarks shoring up the faltering regime.

  At the same time, many more figured out that the days of King Kyou were numbered. Risai as well saw that King Kyou's regime was taking on water and would soon sink beneath the waves. The water would be up to their necks before long. Of this she was sure, but that was the only thing she could be sure of.

  She hadn't really thought about what must be done after the King died, and how to bring it about. That it must be thought about had strangely not arisen in her thoughts. Gyousou wasn't like that. In that respect, there was a big difference between people like herself and Gyousou.

  Gyousou went to the Imperial Court and did his best to keep things afloat. After King Kyou died, his subordinates arrived to buoy up the sinking realm. They became the flagships of the new dynasty. Gyousou's Imperial Court was laying the strong keel of a new ship that would be nothing short of revolutionary.

  Following the coronation of the new king, the Imperial Court was typically thrown into chaos. Finding the right people to serve as ministers of the Rikkan usually required a considerable amount of time, but that wasn't true of Gyousou. Compared to most kingdoms, Gyousou organized his Imperial Court practically overnight. It was an unprecedented accomplishment.

  The incident began half a year after Gyousou's coronation. A large-scale rebellion broke out in Bun Province in the north of Tai.

  Chapter 9

  "An insurrection in Bun Province?" were Risai's first words.

  When she entered in Inner Palace, the chief retainers had already gathered there. Answering the call to assemble, Risai had rushed to the Inner Palace.

  Daishiba Haboku of the Minister of Summer said in response, "From the beginning, Bun Province has been a territory festering with one problem or another." He drew his hand through his salt and pepper beard.

  Located directly north of Zui Province in the northern quarter of Tai, Bun Province was a land beset by harsh winters. Jou Province spread out across the northeast corner of the island. The winters there were as bad, but Jou was blessed with arable land and expansive forests.

  The craggy land in Bun Province, in contrast, made for poor farming and yielded sparse forests. Its occupants barely scraped by mining the gemstone fountains that dotted the land. However, those gemstone fountains had been exploited so long by so many that they were running dry. Bun Province was cold and poor, the government was in shambles, and the hearts of its people ran wild.

  Or so the rumors said.

  Nowadays, Bun Province was beset by rebellions and civil strife. The lives of the people were frustrated and beyond forbearance, and revolt was the common resort. Naturally, the gemstone fountains and mines were controlled by rebels and insurrectionists indigenous to the area, and feuds and fights over power led to larger conflagrations and often fueled the insurgencies.

  "Ousting the Province Lord took some of the pressure off. In any case, the Marquis was as ferocious as any of the rebel leaders. When it came to the sheer brutality of his actions, he bested any insurrectionist. He kept the place under a tight rein."

  Risai nodded. The previous Marquis was a cruel and crafty individual. In the best of times, he was a predator for whom the impoverished province of Bun served as little more than prey. But even a man like him had his redeeming qualities.

  "With the change in provincial leadership, the pressure was taken off, and the rebel factions have grown all the more brazen. More than fomenting general disorder, the rebels have been stirring up the sort of tr
ouble with county officials that threatens to turn into civil war. In any case, with talk of them occupying the county palaces and bringing neighboring districts under their thumb, these dogs cannot be allowed to sleep where they lay."

  "We can't go adding more fuel to this fire. Not without first impressing upon them what manner of discipline the Kingdom will impose."

  The man speaking in a gravelly voice was General Ganchou of the Palace Guard of the Left. He was a big-framed fighter, full of vim and vigor. But he didn't appear particularly gripped by any sense of panic. That was true of everybody there.

  They'd all understood the nature of the situation from the start.

  Since the beginning of the year, a wide-ranging political purge had been sweeping through Tai. A clean sweep of the more Machiavellian officials along with preparations to lure out those villains biding their time under the cloak of darkness. Sidelining the infamous Province Lord of Bun took the pressure off the lid. The criminal element in the pot had begun to boil over. Such a turn of events had been anticipated from the beginning.

  "If we act with restraint, they will never take the Kingdom seriously. Such an outcome is intolerable. We should journey there at once and deliver a decisive blow. We must hit them with all the majestic terror of the Imperial Army."

  "Of course, these rebels must be brought to heel, but how to strike with any kind of speed? The season must be taken into consideration. If we leave things be for the time being, the rebels in the various districts of Bun Province will attempt to advantage themselves, certainly leading to strife among the groups. If they all follow suit, then we should be able to round them up in one fell swoop. Such a strategy would prove more effective in imparting the impression that the eyes of the Kingdom are upon them."

  Ganchou looked at Haboku in amazement. "The blood still runs cold in your veins, old man. These brigands are controlling the towns and villages around the county palaces. Take some thought as to the disposition of our subjects who live there."

  "What are you saying? No man with blood in veins or tears in his eyes should serve the Ministry of Summer or command the troops."

  "You may be right on that one," replied Ganchou. His big frame shook with indifferent laughter.

  "If an Imperial rescript is to be issued, the sooner the better," interjected Eishou's cold voice. Like Ganchou, Eishou had once served under Gyousou's command. Gyousou's army had produced many famed soldiers, among whom Eishou was the youngest. "I'm of a species with the old man, without blood in my veins or tears in my eyes. If troops are to be dispatched, then I am inclined to do so with all due haste."

  Speaking with a touch of irony in his voice, Eishou knit the brows of his bloodless, tearless face. "Once the snow begins to melt, our troubles will begin. Not only will the roads become uncertain underfoot, but when the snow pack recedes the quarry will abscond to the mountains. The mountains in Bun Province are dotted with gemstone fountains and mines. Ferreting them out would prove no easy task."

  That was indeed the case, other voices chimed in. In her heart, Risai felt the same. Hiding in the mineshafts would raise great obstacles to their capture. In order to bring the heat to the bandits of Bun Province, they couldn't mount an invasion in dribs and drabs, dragging it out for months. Taking and holding the territory quickly--demonstrating the might of the Kingdom for all to see--was the way to subjugate the rebels. If not, deliberately dispatching the Imperial Army would be without meaning.

  As if to seek out his judgment on the matter, the eyes of the people assembled there all turned to Gyousou.

  "I'll entrust the matter to Eishou. Muster the Army of the Center and bring Bun Province under your control." At the same time, Gyousou fixed Ganchou and Haboku--who held a contrary opinion--with his gaze. "This is not to say that I am necessarily endorsing Eishou's strategy. The problem of time; the problem of Imperial dignity; the problem of bringing the rebels into line--these are of little consequence at this time."

  "Of little consequence?" Eishou responded with a flash of indignation.

  Gyousou nodded. "Not the most pressing of matters before us. The greatest problem we face is not the rebels but the people. More than the subjugation of the rebels, the people must be convinced that the Kingdom is capable of protecting them."

  Risai started in surprise. Judging from the way the others drew in their breath, they had the same reaction. The room fell into a kind of abashed silence.

  "Eishou, you will command the Army of the Center, including the Bun Provincial Guard, and pursue the rebels. A military victory is not necessary. Clean out the country palaces. After liberating the county seats, stay behind in Bun Province for a while. Lend support to the Provincial Guard and strengthen the defenses around the capital. There's no need to take unreasonable measures chasing down the rebels. More than that, under the rubric of showing an Imperial presence, make the people understand that the rebels themselves are not so fearsome. Calming the populace is the priority."

  "Understood!" Eishou answered, obviously impressed. And he wasn't the only one. All of Gyousou's subordinates had the utmost faith in his words. No matter how fierce the debates in the privy councils, Risai had come to understand since arriving here that when Gyousou delivered his verdict, a unanimity of opinion quickly distilled.

  Eishou mobilized the Army of the Center in short order and set off for Bun Province. It was about month before word arrived that he had liberated the county palaces and for the time being had pacified the surrounding countryside. And right on schedule came news that insurrections had broken out in other regions of Bun Province.

  In at least three places, along with a number of smaller skirmishes. Rather than being set alight by chance sparks cast off by the wind, these sudden uprisings bore the marks of organized resistance. Within another fortnight, the situation had mushroomed, and it became clear that the initial occupation of the county seats were all linked to a province-wide internal rebellion.

  Led by Sougen, the Zui Provincial Army of the Left was dispatched to Bun Province, joined by three regiments of the Palace Guard of the Right, commanded by Gyousou himself. The sporadic insurrections breaking out in the various locality joined forces, with the nexus of rebel activity gravitating to the vicinity of the county palace in Tetsui.

  Tetsui was a city that was deeply connected to Gyousou.

  Three of the six division leaders of the Imperial Army that Gyousou headed could boast of being undefeated in battle. The same could not be said of Gyousou's career as a general.

  The one defeat experienced by King Kyou's deeply loyal General of the Left was in Tetsui. Toward the end of King Kyou's rule, Tetsui could no longer bear the exploitation by the king, and had shut off all lines of credit. They would no longer levy the Imperial tax. The Provincial Guard charged in to lay down the law, but citizens from the surrounding areas flocked to the palace and continued the resistance.

  Gyousou and the Imperial Army were eventually ordered to the front in order to becalm the situation. When he arrived at Tetsui, Gyousou surrounded the city with the twelve-thousand, five-hundred soldiers of the Army of the Left, and ordered the entirety of the Provincial Guard to the rear.

  The officers accompanying him, beginning with Ganchou and Eishou, took issue with this strategy. If two divisions of the Provincial Guard couldn't liberate Tetsui, then what could a single division of the Imperial Army accomplish?

  "This is pointless!" Ganchou protested angrily.

  Eishou laughed through his nose. "Aren't you the humble one. Of course it isn't pointless. If we can't do this without two divisions of the Provincial Guard, what are we supposed to do when we face a real challenge? Though in any case this will take a bit of time. I don't look forward to encountering snow on the way back."

  "Agreed," said the former general of the Zui Provincial Guard of the Left, now General Sougen of the Imperial Army. "If the mountains to our rear are closed by snow, neither supplies nor reinforcement will make in through in satisfactory numbers. We don't hav
e the provisions to bivouac here in Bun Province until spring. We must win a decisive victory and head back before winter comes."

  "We can be supplied by Saku County. I've sent orders to Seirai to open the storehouses and make ready the provisions that would be needed for us to winter over."

  "Surely you jest!" exclaimed Eishou, rising to his feet. "No matter how hard this campaign may prove, it shall not take until spring. Gyousou-sama would not think so little of us."

  "Nobody is thinking little of anybody. But worst case, I ask that you at least prepare yourselves for the possibility of us wintering over here."

  "If you think the going will be that hard, recall the Provincial Guard and get those idiots to pitch in. Although they'll no doubt prove as useful as a boat anchor on dry land."

  "We shan't be asking the Provincial Guard for assistance. The Provincial Guard has taken shelter in the nearby villages and towns along with the civilians. No matter how wide the storehouse doors are flung open, they can't feed the local populace as well. We can't very well be seen eating our fill alongside starving civilians. At the same time, we can't pare down rations for the soldiers. That would be equally bad for their health and their morale."

  "Which is which we should take Tetsui as soon as possible. Scorch the earth in all directions and after that we could wrap up the whole affair in three days. Obtain the services of the Provincial Guard for a fortnight and the unruly mob would at least be useful as human shields."

  "Eishou, what do you think we came here to accomplish?"

  "To subjugate the rebels."

  "And why did they rebel in the first place?"

  Eishou was hard-pressed for a reply. Of course, there was no mistake that these were rebels. They had defined Imperial decrees and did not skirt the brand of insurrectionists. However--