He paused, considering her gift. “You understand, I can’t say anything on an official basis. However. Meet with my older son, the mirror prince, Nioh. The two of you might have some things to talk about.”
“Why?” Kai asked, slowly. “Is he a…cicadatoo?”
Goshira broke into a smile. “Oh. My dear. Youarea smart one, aren’t you? My lesson, lady, is about the future of our country.” His eyes moved to the poem in its envelope again. “And the provinces. Let us say you are a ruler of the realm. You cannot control the far-provinces alone, so you need help. Due to the accumulation of loyal houses and the defeat of some, oh, rebels far off, your empire has gathered quite a bit of land. This is good. But, as administrator, you need to find a way to support that land. That means you must haverevenue.
“And,unfortunatethough it may be—” he eyed her, knowing she had no interest in accounting, “thatrevenueis just as important as the support of your friends. This is why I’ve always envied you warrior houses; you have such strong bonds. The scholars of the west say, hierarchy in the universeis absolute – but what, I ask, is stronger than the bond of friend to friend? Nothing. Not master to servant, certainly not brother to brother, not always, for how many brothers have turned on one another? Even fathers to their sons, mothers, their daughters… Why, a war wasfoughtbetween fathers and sons, and that was to stop the demon-emperor from taking power.”
“That was when you came to the throne,” Kai said.
“Indeed it was. This is another reason why I admire you warriors. Because, you understand, someone in my position, in order to maintain these lands, these far provinces, I need a peacekeeping force. That’s what the stateis, after all, is it not?”
“Scholars say the empire is the only legitimate source of warfare. All else is rebellion.”
“So it is,” he said. “So it is. I’m glad to see you’ve learned of the art of war. So – tell me, how do I solve my problem? I need revenue to pay my troops, but I need troops to collect my revenue. A circle, no?”
He’s testing me, she thought.He’s testing what I know.
“You give the warriors some land,” she answered. “They become your vassals. They get paid in the form of the land you award them, and they’re in your service, for their status and their holdings are now linked to yours through what they’ve promised in homage. They keep some of the lots for themselves, keep some of the money, and in return, your lands are governed. Safe.”
He said, “Exactly so.”
“That’s how my family came into the east,” she said. “That system. Only now – I wonder if it still works.”
“Of course it works.”
He smiled, but his eyes said,Keep going. This is the test.
“You’ve been encouraging the lords to grow stronger,” she said. “I thank you for it, but I have to wonder – why?”
The Chiten’s former joviality seemed a ploy now, given the new, strange light that came into his eyes. “Strength,” he said, “must be met with strength. Should the…needarise. Even now I have business that requires it. All around this country. In the islands. In the Inner Sea. In the east…”
As to that, he said nothing more.
“However,” he continued, “the way to rule is not through violence. Maybe in a war, perhaps. Yes: violence. But… what do you do, once you get there? You can’t keep killing people. No. The true way of ruling is throughlogistics.Thatis my lesson, inane as it may seem… All the armies of the world won’t matter if you cannot feed them; all the power undergods will be useless if the farmers cannot grow their crops… or if you can’t find a way to distribute them.
“Power,” he said, “is a system. Like the joints of a great waterwheel: it’ll never work if any one joint tries to do it all alone.”
He watched her, as though to ensure she was paying attention. Yes, she thought. This encounter seemed, somehow, like a test.
Like he was gauging her for some secret need that was yet to be revealed.
“That is what the Keishi have forgotten,” he said. “Or, at least, what they seem to have ignored.” He learned forward, dark eyes gazing at her poem once again. “So, it is as you said. How long will the system last? Before it falls?”
CHAPTERSIX
Sen
Shoho Year 3
Autumn
The bamboo rod smacked against his desk and Sen jolted up with a start.
“Hoshiakari! Pay! Attention!”
He’d been daydreaming. Tutor Yozora, leaning over him like some kind of stick insect, slapped the bamboo against his desk to enunciate each syllable.
“Sorry, master,” Sen said, blinking.
