Even Inuchiyo was beginning to question Hideyoshi's intentions. Katsuie, Takigawa, and Nobutaka accused Hideyoshi of neglecting Lord Samboshi and of working for his own advantage. In Kyoto he was building up his power base, while outside of the capital he was expending huge amounts on castle construction. These projects had nothing to do with enemy clans in the west or north, so against whom was he preparing his army in the very heart of the nation?
What had Hideyoshi said in his defense? He, too, had several complaints: There was the unfulfilled promise made at the Kiyosu conference to move Samboshi to Azuchi, and there was the memorial service for Nobunaga that Nobutaka and Katsuie had failed to attend.
The meeting between Hideyoshi and the envoys took place in the partially reconstructed main citadel. A meal and tea were served before the negotiations began. It was the first time Hideyoshi and Inuchiyo had met since the death of Nobunaga.
"Inuchiyo, how old are you now?" Hideyoshi asked.
"I'll be forty-five soon."
"We're both becoming old men."
"What do you mean? I'm still a year younger than you, aren't I?"
"Ah, that's right. Like a little brother—a year younger. But looking at the two of us now, you look the more mature."
"You're the one who looks old for your age."
Hideyoshi shrugged. "I've looked old since my youth. But frankly speaking, no matter how old I get, I still don't feel like much of an adult, and that worries me."
"Someone said that a man should be unwavering after the age of forty."
"It's a lie."
"You think so?"
"A gentleman is unwavering—that's how the saying goes. It would be more true in our case that forty is the age of our first wavering. Isn't that pretty much true for you, Inuchiyo?"
"You're still playing the fool, Lord Monkey. Don't you agree, gentlemen?"
Inuchiyo smiled at his companions, who had not failed to notice that he was familiar enough with Hideyoshi to call him "Lord Monkey" to his face.
"Somehow I can't agree with either Lord Inuchiyo's opinion or yours, my lord," said Kanamori, who was the oldest of the group.
"How is that?" asked Hideyoshi, who was clearly enjoying the conversation. "As far as my ancient self goes, I would say that a man is unwavering from the age of fifteen.
"That's a little early, isn't it?"
"Well, look at young men on their first campaign."
"You have a point. Unwavering at the age of fifteen, even more so at nineteen or twenty, but at forty you slowly start to come undone. Well then, what happens at about the time of one's respected old age?" "When you get to fifty or sixty, you're really confused."
"And at seventy or eighty?"
"Then you start forgetting that you're confused." They all laughed.
It seemed as though the feasting would last until evening, but Katsutoyo's condition was deteriorating. The conversation changed, and Hideyoshi suggested that they move to another room. A physician was summoned. He immediately gave Katsutoyo some medicine, and everything was done to warm the room in which the talks would be held.
Once the four men were settled, Inuchiyo opened the proceedings. "I believe you have received a letter from Lord Nobutaka, who also counsels peace with Lord Katsuie," Inuchiyo began.
Hideyoshi nodded, apparently eager to listen. Inuchiyo reminded him of their common duty as retainers of Nobunaga, then frankly admitted that it was Hideyoshi who had truly discharged that duty completely. But after that, it appeared that he was out of harmony with the senior retainers, neglecting Lord Samboshi and working for his own advantage. Even if this were untrue, Inuchiyo felt that it was regrettable that Hideyoshi's actions were open to such an interpretation.
He suggested to Hideyoshi that he should look at the situation from the standpoints of Nobutaka and Katsuie. One of them had met with disappointment, while the other now felt ill at ease. Katsuie, who had been called "Jar-Bursting" and "the Demon," had been slow in moving and was a step behind Hideyoshi. Even at the conference in Kiyosu, had not Katsuie deferred to him?
“So won't you end this quarrel?" Inuchiyo asked finally. "It's not really a problem for someone like me, but Lord Nobunaga's family is still embroiled in it. It's unbecoming that his surviving retainers should share the same bed and have different dreams."
The look in Hideyoshi's eyes seemed to change with Inuchiyo's words. Inuchiyo had laid the blame for the quarrel at Hideyoshi's door, and he steeled himself for a violent refutation. Unexpectedly, Hideyoshi nodded vigorously. "You're absolutely right," he said with a sigh. “I'm really not to blame, and if I were to list my excuses, there would be a mountain of them. But when I look at the situation the way you've explained it, it would appear that
I've gone too far. And in that sense, I've been wrong. Inuchiyo, I leave it in your hands."
The negotiations were concluded on the spot. Hideyoshi had spoken so frankly that the envoys felt somewhat bemused, but Inuchiyo knew Hideyoshi well.
"I'm very grateful to you. Just hearing that has made it worth coming all the way here from the north," he said with great satisfaction.
Fuwa and Kanamori, however, did not show their joy unguardedly. Understanding the reason for their reticence, Inuchiyo went a step further.
"But Lord Hideyoshi, if you have some dissatisfaction you'd like to express about Lord Katsuie, I hope you'll express it frankly. I'm afraid these peace accords won't last long if you're concealing something. I will spare no effort to settle any problem, no matter what it might be."
"That's unnecessary," Hideyoshi said, laughing. "Am I the kind of person who keeps something bottled up inside and remains silent? I've said everything I want to say, to both Lord Nobutaka and Lord Katsuie. I've already sent a long letter that explains everything in detail."
"Yes, the letter was shown to us before we left Kitanosho. Lord Katsuie felt that everything you had written was reasonable and would not have to be brought up again during these peace talks."
"I understand that Lord Nobutaka suggested holding peace talks after reading my letter. Inuchiyo, I was being particularly careful not to upset Lord Katsuie before you came here."
"Well, you know, an elder statesman should be accorded respect in any situation. But I know I've rattled the horns of Demon Shibata from time to time."
"It's difficult to do anything without rattling those horns. Even when we were both young, those horns were strangely scary—especially for me. In fact, the Demon's horns were even scarier than Nobunaga's moods."
"Did you hear that?" Inuchiyo laughed. "Did you hear that, gentlemen?" Both men were drawn into the laughter. To say such things in front of them was hardly speaking ill of their lord behind his back. Rather, they felt it was a shared sentiment they could not deny.
The human mind is a subtle thing. After that moment, Kanamori and Fuwa felt more at ease with Hideyoshi and relaxed their watchfulness of Inuchiyo.
"I think this is indeed a happy event," Kanamori said.
"We really couldn't be happier," Fuwa added. "More than that, I have to thank you for your generosity; we have completed our mission and saved our honor."
The next day, however, Kanamori still had misgivings and said to Fuwa, "If we go back to Echizen and report to our lord without Lord Hideyoshi's having put anything in writing, won't this agreement seem a bit unreliable?"
Before departing that day, the envoys once again went to the castle to meet with Hideyoshi, to pay their respects.
Several attendants and horses were waiting outside the main entrance, and the envoys thought that Hideyoshi must have been receiving guests. But in fact it was Hideyoshi himself who was going out. At that moment he stepped from the main citadel.