Seas of Fortune(101)
Tokagawa Iemitsu, the Taikun, the shogun, the ruler of Japan, looked at it doubtfully. “What is this material it is made of?”
“I am told that they call it ‘plastic.’ It is manufactured, not natural. Is it not marvelous? It folds up into a small package, even though it covers the wearer as well as a haori.” That was the three-quarter length kimono-shaped coat of the samurai. “It has the transparency of glass, but it is flexible like cloth. And it is far more waterproof than any cloth.”
“Hmm. Put it on.”
Van Santen complied. Iemitsu made a twirling motion with his hand, and, after a moment’s hesitation, van Santen pirouetted, slowly.
Iemitsu snapped his fingers, and a servant appeared. Iemitsu whispered to him, and he returned a moment later, carrying a pail. He stood behind the Dutchman, who was unaware of the servant’s exact position, since protocol required that (unless commanded to do otherwise) the visitor remain facing the shogun at all times.
Iemitsu made a second gesture.
Splash! The servant had upended the bucket over the Dutchman. Iemitsu laughed with great vigor. A beat later, the rest of the court joined in.
Iemitsu held up his hand, and the laughter stopped, in mid-titter. “Let’s see how well this ‘rain poncho’ worked.”
The servant carefully lifted it off van Santen, then felt the material. He reported his findings to the chief of the attendants, who in turn confided them to a junior councillor. Finally, the senior councillor, on duty, Sakai Tadakatsu, made his report to the shogun.
“Dry.”
Van Santen bowed.
“What else do you have for me?”
“A barometer, it is a up-timer device for predicting the weather. A kind of artistic marvel; I believe it is called an ‘Etch-a-Sketch.’ A globe, showing the entire world as it existed, or I should say would have existed, in the time of the up-timers. And one of their firearms, Great Lord. On the instructions of your guards, it was locked in this chest.” He pointed to one held by a servant.
“You may open the chest, but do not touch the firearm without my permission.”
Van Santen unlocked the chest, and held it so the shogun could see its contents.
“Come closer.” Van Santen, head bowed, shuffled forward until he was close enough for the shogun to reach in.
The shogun held up a strange-looking firearm. “What is it?”
“In Grantville they call it a twelve-gauge pump-action shotgun. There are four hundred rounds in the small container which accompanies it. It is most often used for shooting birds, but it can be used in combat. Of course, it is not loaded.”
The shogun mimed shooting at a moving aerial target. Then he lowered the barrel.
“Who used it in combat? Samurai? Ashigaru?” Ashigaru were foot soldiers, usually commoners.
“Horse warriors, Great Lord. In the American Sengoku.”
Iemitsu, nodded, satisfied. Horse warriors, by definition, had to be samurai. The Sengoku was the most recent period of civil war in Japan, brought to a close in 1600 by the victory of Iemitsu’s grandfather Ieyasu in the Battle of Sekigahara.
Iemitsu examined the buckshot in the chest.
“May I humbly beg that the Taikun not test this present on my person?” said the envoy.
“No problem,” said Iemitsu. “We can always find a criminal. Or a peasant,” he added thoughtfully. “In the meantime, it can go into my firearms collection.
“Do you have any other presents for me? I am feeling a bit tired.” That was understood by all to mean that Iemitsu was bored and wanted to go hunting or hawking.
“Just some books. These are volumes of what the Americans call the World Book Encyclopedia. This one includes articles on Japan and Korea. Written in the Americans’ day, which, as we have told you, is four centuries in the future. And knowing of your interest in happenings in the Middle Kingdom, I also brought the volume with the essay on China. This third volume has an article on Asia, which covers the Kingdom of the Mughals, and the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, and many other places of interest. And the fourth one speaks about the rise of the Buddha. And I also have pages copied from other encyclopedias. And atlases.”
“I am sure it is all very interesting. Give it to Tadakatsu-san.” He clapped his hands, and everyone quickly prostrated themselves. A moment later, he was gone.
* * *
Tadakatsu directed van Santen to a small chamber near the audience hall. There, van Santen handed the four volumes to the chief councillor, who looked through them quickly.
Tadakatsu paged through the first volume, without saying a word, or even changing his expression.
This made van Santen uneasy. He pointed to the “J-K” volume. “The World Book Encyclopedia has a very interesting map of Japan. One which shows where gold, silver, copper and iron occur. Perhaps some of the localities are not yet known to you? There is also a map copied from the Hammond Citation World Atlas. And then I have a list for you of Japanese towns which, according to the Columbia Encyclopedia, are mining centers.”