The party rode next to see the “Fathers of Trees,” as Shigetsuna called them: the great redwoods.
“They are most impressive,” said Lord Matsudaira.
“Lord Date comes here, when his work permits, to meditate. He values the shade of a big tree.”
Lord Matsudaira raised an eyebrow. Taking shelter in the shade of a big tree was proverbial, it meant to attach one’s self to a great house. The implication was that Date Masamune was so attached, and the implication was that he served the Tokugawa.
“Furs, and shellfish, and wood are all very well, but where’s the famous gold of California?” said Lord Hotta, lip curled.
Shigetsuna sighed. “In another few years, when our numbers and resources are greater, we will be ready to make another attempt on the gold fields.”
“No need,” said Lord Matsudaira, “other arrangements have been made.”
“Arrangements?”
“Yes. It seems that our Dutch friends have suffered setbacks lately. The barbarians of France, England and Spain have leagued against them, and destroyed much of their fleet.” This had happened in August 1633, but it took quite a few months for the news to reach East Asia. “Early this year, they petitioned the shogun for permission to found a settlement of their own in California. And to look for gold. Since your son-in-law was unsuccessful, the shogun thought that they should be given the opportunity.”
“And where is this settlement of theirs going to be?”
“It is in the place that the up-timers call San Francisco. Their colony ship accompanied the Third Fleet across the Pacific, much as Lord Tadateru’s did your own. My consolations to his widow, by the way.”
It was, of course, almost exactly the situation that Date Masamune had been trying to avoid: the Dutch deciding who could sail into San Francisco Bay. His only consolation was that since Iroha and her samurai had opened the overland route from Monterey to the South Bay, he could leapfrog the Dutch and send colonists to occupy the Sacramento-San Joaquin River delta. Not just to control access to the gold fields, but also because his advisors thought that it might be possible to grow rice there.
“Of course, the grand governor will be responsible for making sure that they account to the shogun for his share of any gold they collect.”
* * *
Lord Hotta and Councillor Shigetsuna stood in a high place, watching the moon set. When it at last vanished from sight, Lord Hotta spoke. “I will be very blunt, Councillor Shigetsuna. If it were up to me, the kirishitan would not have been allowed to found a colony at all. They believe that the obligation to obey this Jesu of theirs is higher than the one they owe to the grand governor, and through him to the shogun. They believe, I warn you, that since the grand governor is not a Christian, that they can pick a new ruler who is . . . like the king of Spain.”
Shigetsuna spread his hands. “The grand governor has addressed this problem already, Lord Hotta. His son Munesane has been baptized, as ‘David Date,’ and thus is a Christian ruler, as much as the king of Spain.”
“Your lord is clever. Perhaps too clever for his own good. Some of the kirishitan will see this as a subterfuge, at least so long as Date Masamune remains in California. They will deem the son to be merely a figurehead, and the father to be the true ruler. Does Date Masamune intend to convert?”
“No, he does not. But the reality is that he is old, and once he dies, David Date’s position as a true Christian ruler will be indisputable.”
“The other problem that I see, Councillor Shigetsuna, is that the province of New Nippon is very large. Larger, indeed than the homeland itself. To give so great a province into the rule of one person, old or young, seems . . . imprudent.”
“It is great in area, and perhaps in potential, but for now, its population and productivity are small, and so they will remain for many years to come.”
“Perhaps. I am willing to defer to my colleagues and support the continuation of the kirishitan emigration, and of Date Masamune’s governorship—on two conditions.”
Shigetsuna stared at Lord Hotta. “And what might those be?”
“First, I understand that you have plans to mine iron on this Texada Island. I want that island to be settled, and the iron controlled, by Buddhists of my choosing. That way, if worst comes to worst, the king of Spain does not gain an iron mine.”
“Your Buddhists, but still under the governorship of Date Masamune? I suppose my lord might accept that. Although I cannot make a commitment without discussing the issue with him. And provision would have to be made for any kirishitan already on Texada. What is your second condition?”