Asano Nagaakira.

EVENTS IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO THE BATTLE OF SEKIGAHARA

The political complications that followed the death of the Taiko are
extremely difficult to unravel, and the result is not commensurate
with the trouble. Several annalists have sought to prove that Ieyasu
strenuously endeavoured to observe faithfully the oath of loyalty
made by him to Hideyoshi on the latter's death-bed. They claim for
him that until his hands were forced he steadfastly and faithfully
worked in the interests of Hideyoshi. But his acts do not lend
themselves to any such interpretation. The best that can be said of
him is that he believed himself to have been entrusted by the Taiko
with discretionary power to determine the expediency of Hideyori's
succession, and that he exercised that power in the interests of the
Tokugawa family, not of the Toyotomi.

Circumstances helped him as they do generally help great men. From
the time of the birth of the lady Yodo's second son, the official
world in Kyoto had been divided into two factions. The Hidetsugu
catastrophe accentuated the lines of division, and the Korean
campaign had a similar effect by affording a field for bitter rivalry
between the forces of Konishi Yukinaga, who belonged to the Yodo
faction, and Kato Kiyomasa, who was a protege of Hideyoshi's wife,
Yae. Further fuel was added to this fire of antagonism when the order
went forth that the army should leave Korea, for the Kato faction
protested against surrendering all the fruits of the campaign without
any tangible recompense, and the Konishi party insisted that the
Taiko's dying words must be obeyed implicitly. In this dispute,
Ishida Katsushige, the chief actor in the Hidetsugu tragedy, took a
prominent part. For, when in their capacity as belonging to the Board
of Five Administrators, Ishida and Asano Nagamasa were sent to Kyushu
to superintend the evacuation of the Korean peninsula, they, too,
fell into a controversy on the same subject. Ieyasu stood aloof from
both parties. His policy was to let the feud develop and to step in
himself at the supreme moment.

On the other hand, it was the aim of Ishida Katsushige to involve the
Tokugawa chief, thus compassing his downfall and opening an avenue
for the ascension of Ishida himself to the place of dictator. Allied
with Ishida in this plot was his colleague on the Board of Five
Administrators, Masuda Nagamori. Their method was to create enmity
between Ieyasu and Maeda Toshi