ada against Nobunaga's
attacks, and finally the Owari general, deceived by a rumour to the
effect that Takeda Shingen had reached the neighbourhood of Gifu with
a strong army, retired hurriedly from Ise.

It may here be mentioned that three years later, in 1568, Hideyoshi
succeeded in inducing all the territorial nobles of northern Ise,
except Kusunoki Masatomo, to place themselves peacefully under
Nobunaga's sway. Hideyoshi's history shows him to have been a
constant believer in the theory that a conquered foe generally
remains an enemy, whereas a conciliated enemy often becomes a friend.
Acting on this conviction and aided by an extraordinary gift of
persuasive eloquence, he often won great victories without any
bloodshed. Thus he succeeded in convincing the Ise barons that
Nobunaga was not swayed by personal ambition, but that his ruling
desire was to put an end to the wars which had devastated Japan
continuously for more than a century. It is right to record that the
failures made by Nobunaga himself in his Ise campaign were in the
sequel of measures taken in opposition to Hideyoshi's advice, and
indeed the annals show that this was true of nearly all the disasters
that overtook Nobunaga throughout his career, whereas his many and
brilliant successes were generally the outcome of Hideyoshi's
counsels.

ANOTHER SUMMONS FROM THE EMPEROR

In November, 1567, the Emperor again sent Tachiri Munetsugu to invite
Nobunaga's presence in Kyoto. His Majesty still refrained from the
dangerous step of giving a written commission to Nobunaga, but he
instructed Munetsugu to carry to the Owari chieftain a suit of armour
and a sword. Two years previously to this event, the tumult in Kyoto
had culminated in an attack on the palace of the shogun Yoshiteru,
the conflagration of the building, and the suicide of the shogun amid
the blazing ruins. Yoshiteru's younger brother, Yoshiaki, effected
his escape from the capital, and wandered about the country during
three years, supplicating one baron after another to take up his
cause. This was in 1568, just nine months after the Emperor's second
message to Nobunaga, and the latter, acting upon Hideyoshi's advice,
determined to become Yoshiaki's champion, since by so doing he would
represent not only the sovereign but also the shogun in the eyes of
the nation. Meanwhile--and this step also was undertaken under
Hideyoshi's advice--a friendly contract had been concluded with Asai
Nagamasa, t