He installed many building techniques that were new and innovative for the day – he seems to have independently discovered the technique of using three construction crews on rotating shifts, and using pre-fabricated building materials.
In an era where a few days were the difference between success and failure, this feat did indeed strike fear into Saito Clan that were opposing the Oda.
A quick note: in the Sengoku Era, Japanese changed their names very often after a major life event or promotion. Hideyoshi changed names multiple times during his promotions; I’ve been calling him “Toyotomi Hideyoshi” – his final pre-deity name (he was named a kami – a God – after his death by Shinto priests).
But he won his final name, “Hideyoshi,” as well as the rank of samurai officer for rapidly building the One-Night Castle.
Wikipedia: Siege of Inabayama Castle –
“In 1566, in anticipation of the upcoming campaign, Kinoshita [Hideyoshi] proposed that a castle should be built somewhere near Inabayama Castle to serve as a staging point for the Oda forces. Nobunaga agreed and charged Kinoshita with the task. To this end Kinoshita built Sunomata Castle on the bank of the Sai River opposite Saitō territory. The advantage of the castle's proximity to the enemy was also a problem during construction. Until the castle was complete, Kinoshita's men and the construction site were vulnerable to an amphibious attack from across the river. According to legend, Kinoshita built the castle in one night; however it is more likely that it was the tower's skeleton with a facade that was seen from the opposite bank. The result of the hasty construction was meant to give his own men a vantage point and to surprise and impress the enemy. Stalled by the enemy's caution, Kinoshita's men were able to quickly transform the fragile framework into a functioning fortification, and then into a complete castle. Nobunaga then ordered Kinoshita to remain as steward of the castle, and bestowed upon him the name Hideyoshi.”
He also became a castle lord for the first time – a shaky and hard-to-defend castle, to be sure, but nevertheless an incredible rise.
We can see again how Hideyoshi’s mastery anywhere turns into mastery everywhere – by noting the location of a great forward-operating base for the campaign, and building it with almost miraculous rapidity, he was promoted and made lord of that castle.
Most people neglect small details, and thus don’t get to achieve big things. By assessing where the fortress should be built, attending to all details large and small, and building it rapidly due to thorough preparedness, Hideyoshi rose far above his birth rank and became a samurai castle-lord – at the age of 29 years old.
Question for you to reflect on: Do you take care of all the small details, or do you consider a “big picture thinker“ who might thus be neglecting many critical things?
***
LESSON #4: SWEEP THE STREETS AS MICHAELANGELO PAINTED
“If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Now turning 30 years old, Hideyoshi had won Nobunaga’s trust as an innovative thinker and someone who could actually get things done, reliably, without any excuses or failure.
This is, obviously, one of the rarest abilities – and one of the abilities most prized by leaders in any age.
With his promotion to castle-lord, Hideyoshi had finally become a warrior once again.
But, instead of basking in his own glory and becoming arrogant, he continued pursuing a path of complete mastery.
Knowing the Saito Clan would put up a fierce fight, Hideyoshi began to work as a negotiator and a mediator – breaking off allies to the Saito and having them declare neutrality, offering deals after victory which were taken up, sometimes bribing Saito allies to move slowly or become neutral.
Meanwhile, he had the area put under complete reconnaissance – he wanted to know every single meter of the battlefield to come.
Later, after the defeat of the Saito at Inabayama, many of the men that Hideyoshi had negotiated and petitioned with would join under his command, including the master strategist Takenaka Hanbei. Again, this could not have been predicted in advance, but a focus on mastery tends to produce constant good outcomes.
When the final assault on Inabayama Castle began, did Hideyoshi stand on the castle ramparts and observe, his new status entitling him to do just that?
No.
In fact, he led a daring ninja raid against the castle, the one that would later be immortalized in the glorious Japanese painting, 100 Aspects of the Moon: Mount Inaba, which showed Hideyoshi scaling the mountains behind the castle itself.
Wikipedia: Siege of Inabayama Castle –
“It is uncertain exactly what happened on the battlefield between 14–25 September. Given what is known of Nobunaga's aggressive fighting style, the prevailing siege tactics of the day, the layout of the Japanese castle, and the events that followed, it can be inferred that Nobunaga's forces pressed their attack and probably breached the outer defenses of Inabayama Castle. It is known, however, that Kuroda Kanbei, considered a talented strategist, was charged with directing and coordinating the main attack. It is also certain that Kinoshita [Toyotomi] Hideyoshi devised a plan in which a small force would scale the north face of the mountain, enter the castle, and rush to open the gates for the besieging army. Nobunaga approved and charged Kinoshita with leading the raid. For his team Kinoshita selected Horio Yoshiharu, Hachisuka Koroku, and five or six other men to accompany him. On 26 September Nobunaga was so confident of [Hideyoshi’s] plan and the outcome of the battle that he had an heraldic partition erected on the battlefield where he held a meeting with his top officers and allotted tasks pertaining to the re-construction of the castle following the battle. […] On the night of 26 September [Hideyoshi] gathered his team and, concerned over the late summer heat and the exertions in store, provided them with gourds of fresh water. Horio Yoshiharu then guided Kinoshita Hideyoshi and the small assault force around to the back of the mountain, where they climbed the steep slopes by the light of a full moon. At dawn, while Kinoshita's mission was in progress, the main force under Kuroda Kanbei proceeded with its attack on the castle.”
Again, we see “small things, all things” – leading the raid himself, yes, but also ensuring his men hat portable fresh water to bring with them to refresh themselves prior to the final assault.
He was promoted to General shortly afterwards, and six years later, became a daimyo – the highest rank of samurai lord – after run of outstanding excellence leading troops and conquering enemy forces. He was given three full provinces to govern, and not yet 35 years old, was one of the most powerful men in Japan.
Question for you: Are you doing work that you can do gloriously? If so, are you doing it gloriously? If not, what work should you be doing?
***
LESSON #5: UNIVERSAL GENIUS ARISES FROM MECHANICS
“Very strong chess players will rarely speak of the fundamentals, but these beacons are the building blocks of their mastery. Similarly, a great pianist or violinist does not think about individual notes, hut hits them all perfectly in a virtuoso performance. In fact, thinking about a "C" while playing Beethoven's 5th Symphony could be a real hitch because the flow might be lost. The problem is that if you want to write an instructional chess book for beginners, you have to dig up all the stuff that is buried in your unconscious […] I had to break down my chess knowledge incrementally, whereas for years I had been cultivating a seamless integration of the critical information.
“The same pattern can be seen when the art of learning is analyzed: themes can be internalized, lived by, and forgotten. I figured out how to learn efficiently in the brutally competitive world of chess, where a moment without growth spells a front-row sear to rivals mercilessly passing you by. Then I intuitively applied my h
ard-earned lessons to the martial arts. I avoided the pitfalls and tempting divergences that a learner is confronted with, but I didn’t really think about them because the road map was deep inside me— just like the chess principles.” – Josh Waitzkin, The Art of Learning
The term “universal genius” has become unfashionable – the concept is somewhat distasteful in our current culture, and furthermore, we live in an era when specialization produces gigantic gains and there is so much knowledge that it is difficult to learn it all.
But I will lay my cards on the table –
I believe in universal genius.
I do not think everyone should seek after it – we cannot take every advantage in life, and for many if not most people, specialization and hyper-focus in their chosen field only will produce the best possible life and greatest contributions to civilization.
And yet, I firmly believe that there is a very decipherable pattern to human affairs, to arts and sciences, to learning, to doing, to the nature of people and mankind. These principles can and have been successfully discovered and re-discovered over the ages.
If anything, now is the easiest time to get to low levels of universal genius and mastery across disciplines.
Wikipedia: Hideyoshi Toyotomi –
“Hideyoshi led troops in the Battle of Anegawa in 1570 in which Oda Nobunaga allied with Tokugawa Ieyasu to lay siege to two fortresses of the Azai and Asakura clans. He participated in the 1573 Siege of Nagashima. In 1573, after victorious campaigns against the Azai and Asakura, Nobunaga appointed Hideyoshi daimyo of three districts in the northern part of Ōmi Province. Initially based at the former Azai headquarters in Odani, Hideyoshi moved to Kunitomo, and renamed the city Nagahama in tribute to Nobunaga. Hideyoshi later moved to the port at Imahama on Lake Biwa. From there he began work on Imahama Castle and took control of the nearby Kunitomo firearms factory that had been established some years previously by the Azai and Asakura. Under Hideyoshi's administration the factory's output of firearms increased dramatically. Nobunaga sent Hideyoshi to Himeji Castle to conquer the Chūgoku region from the Mori clan in 1576.”
This is where mastery anywhere – as a servant, as a footsoldier, as a sergeant, as a kitchen superintendent, as a construction overseer, as a diplomat, as a ninja (!) – mastery in any single field is conducive to further mastery, because there are universal principles of learning, execution, and mastery.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, while perhaps not intentionally doing so, cultivated universal genius within himself. After having mastered a few fields, each successive field became easier to him. The principles translated, and – as you can see – Hideyoshi also succeeded in improving trade by constructing a port, continued to navigate diplomacy excellently, made sure to pay homage and outwardly demonstrate his loyalty to Nobunaga, and even made huge progress as a technocratic factory industrialist producing firearms (!).
But the point is not that genius was something Toyotomi was, nor something he had, but something he cultivated.
And he cultivated it through a constant focus on mastery, in everything he did from small to large.
You might not – and probably shouldn’t – decide to master every single discipline on the planet. In 2016, it’s a non-starter anyways.
Nevertheless, a commitment to mastery at anything you’re doing right now will undoubtedly translate to an easier and faster time mastering the next thing you work on.
As we said in our opening lesson, I hope you are able to burn this motto into your mind –
Mastery anywhere is mastery everywhere.
Question for you: Do you agree? Is there anywhere you’re doing things haphazardly that you could commit to mastery of, thus leading upwards in the process of a mastery everywhere?
***
RECAP OF OUR LESSONS
LESSON #1: MASTERFUL EXECUTION ANYWHERE BECOMES WHO YOU ARE
LESSON #2: BITTERNESS AND NEGLECT LEAD TO A SMALL SOUL
LESSON #3: SMALL THINGS, ALL THINGS
LESSON #4: SWEEP THE STREETS AS MICHAELANGELO PAINTED
LESSON #5: UNIVERSAL GENIUS COMES FROM MECHANICS
QUESTIONS FOR YOUR REFLECTION –
1. Are you masterfully executing on all of your current work and duties?
2. Are you neglecting any of your work or duties because you believe they’re beneath you, or you’re resentful that you have to do them?
3. Do you take care of all the small details, or do you consider a “big picture thinker“ who might thus be neglecting many critical things?
4. Are you doing work that you can do gloriously? If so, are you doing it gloriously? If not, what work should you be doing?
5. Is there anywhere you’re doing things haphazardly that you could commit to mastery of, thus leading upwards in the process of a mastery everywhere?
Vantages #6: Crisis
A PLEASANTLY FLOODED BATTLEFIELD
Despite the deprivations of the Siege of Takamatsu Castle, Hideyoshi’s forces were all in good cheer.
It had been a masterstroke by commander Hideyoshi and his chief strategist, Kuroda Kanbei – seeing the castle was in a low-lying ground, they’d rapidly built solid watch towers for gunners and artillery and then, morbidly hilariously, they’d diverted the nearby river and completely flooded Takamatsu Castle.
The defenders were still holding out in wet and miserable conditions, but there was no way into or out of the fortress. The watch-towers occasionally cracked with gunfire at any defender ominously manning the walls, or anyone foolhardy enough to attempt a water-logged counterattack or break out.
Despite the fact that campaign life is hard, this was grimly hilarious to the forces under Hideyoshi. He would make rounds of the camp and inspect all the positions, neglecting nothing as was his norm, and occasionally Hideyoshi would crack a joke –
“Those poor bastards in the castle, I bet they’d surrender now if we just offered them some dry blankets in exchange!”
The men would laugh.
“Alas, we have no dry blankets to trade! So we’ll just have to hold out for unconditional surrender.”
And the men would laugh again.
Ever diligent, Hideyoshi had requested reinforcements from Nobunaga in case one of the nearby neutral clans took a surprise initiative to break the siege, but the matter was well-in-hand. Meanwhile, Hideyoshi’s provinces were producing food, weapons, and income. His generals were well-trained and worked in constant harmony. The soldiers and servants were looked after well. Another Toyotomi victory was at hand, further raising the glory of the Oda Clan, and edging closer to the inevitable unification of Japan.
Tenka Fubu, Hideyoshi thought. The nation under Nobunaga’s sword.
Then – peace.
And we are doing our part for the cause.
It was a pleasant late June evening, and a number of Hideyoshi’s generals were dining with him, when a guard hastily burst into the commander’s tent.
“My lord! I apologize for interrupting! Asai Nagamasa has arrived, he said he has an urgent message and must see you immediately!”
Hideyoshi nods. “Well, send him in. And fetch him a plate and cup to eat and drink.”
But when Nagamasa entered the room soaked in sweat, covered in travel dust, and looking half-dead from exhaustion, food and drink fell from their minds.
“What’s the matter?” Hideyoshi asked.
“I don’t know. I wasn’t told. I’m just told it’s a matter of life and death.”
Nagamasa hands over a carefully sealed letter.
Hideyoshi opens it, reads, stops –
“… it can’t be…”
The retainers have not ever seen Hideyoshi like this.
“What is it, my lord?”
“What’s the matter?”
“Hideyoshi-sama, what is it?”
Hideyoshi shakes his head, focuses his eyes, re-reads.
“It can’t be…”
He focuses, looking at the letter again, and then tears start streaming fr
om his eyes. He starts coughing, nearly choking on his tears; the retainers are tense and exasperated.
Hideyoshi composes himself, makes his first order –
“Call Kanbei.”
And he speaks the fateful words:
“Lord Nobunaga is dead.”
***
ONE DAY EARLIER
The charred smell was in the air.
You couldn’t see the source of it – the wood of Hanno Temple had burnt thoroughly, there was not much smoke rising from the ruins, but the acrid smell of burnt wood mixed with a meat-like smell of burnt flesh.
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