“Bakarashii—ridiculous!” Nagai’s thick lips twisted in annoyance, though his curt headshake arrested the soldiers’ overboard thrust. “Haven’t you caused enough trouble already? You failed to disarm the Dutch ship when you had the chance. You could have accepted the whore’s confession, closed Spaen’s murder case, and allowed the barbarians to land peacefully. Now your folly and ineptitude have endangered the entire nation.”

The angry sweep of his war fan encompassed the harbor, where the fishing boats now clustered at the docks, the other foreign vessels had moved as far inland as possible, and the Dutch ship reigned triumphant. Yet Sano saw a familiar shrewd glint in Nagai’s eyes: He realized that if Sano conducted the negotiations with the Dutch, Governor Nagai could not be blamed in the event of failure.

“The Dutch captain knows me,” Sano said, hastening to help Nagai reverse his decision without losing face before his men. “When he hears about the efforts I’ve made toward catching his countryman’s killer, he may consent to a truce.”

After a moment, Nagai nodded. “Release him,” he ordered the soldiers. To the captain, he said, “Proceed.”

To the accompaniment of the rowers’ chants and the splash of oars, the warship left the dock. Sano joined Governor Nagai in the bow, where they watched the Dutch ship, now ringed by patrol barges that looked puny in comparison. The moist, salt-laden drizzle chilled Sano, tightening muscles already stiff with anxiety; his shoulder ached. Not until he faced Captain Oss could he know what approach would best achieve peace. But he now had a chance to establish Nagai’s role in the murders and smuggling, and convince the governor to drop the charges against him.

With a sidelong glance at Sano, Governor Nagai said, “My clan has a long tradition of military leadership. Even in peacetime, we consider the strategy of warfare an important field of knowledge, because war and politics are much alike—don’t you agree?”

Sano nodded, unsure of where this was leading.

“Yes. Well. During my youth I studied the writings of my ancestor, General Noriyama, who lived more than three hundred years ago, under the Ashikaga shōguns. He had a saying: ‘Attack the branches; weaken the tree.’ He applied this theory in his campaign against a rival general. Instead of killing his rival, he took the man’s family hostage, rendering him powerless to act against Noriyama. A bold move whose genius lay not only in concept, but also in execution. You see, General Noriyama didn’t take the hostages himself; he had his lieutenants do it. This way he avoided any adverse personal consequences should the ploy fail, or displeasing his lord with an overt quest for power.”