Looking at the plays of later years, many among them depict Soma Kazuya as an enlightened ruler blessed with both wisdom and courage. A benevolent lord, who in his bravery would defeat a great many men of valor in single combat, and with his wisdom he would trifle with the enemy, and guide the people through outstanding political measures to prosperity. Historians, however, denied this valuation. While he certainly did establish an Empire that ruled over huge tracts of land, but his own personal abilities was not all so great. This was the prevailing opinion.
To begin with, throughout his lifetime Soma did not conduct more foreign wars than he could hold in one hand, and he did not have so many chances to show his mettle in the field of battle. Almost all of the military exploits handed down to posterity belonged to his subordinates. There was also no proof that the wisdom to trifle with the enemy belonged to him as well. Since there were many resourceful people in his employ during his reign, beginning with the later prime minister Hakuya, he could simply have selected the best among the suggestions they proposed.
Looking at his political measures, while he certainly had a lot of outstanding ones, the fact that they led all the people to prosperity was suspect. Time and time again, Soma can be seen agonizing on his position. If all his policies accomplished good things then he should not have been so anguished. Thus it was the common opinion of historians that Soma’s own abilities did not tower high above the rest as the plays often depict.
Nevertheless, only few consider Soma as anything but an enlightened ruler on account of those. There was another common opinion historians held in regard of Soma, namely that “he excels at gathering and using people”. Even though Soma’s capabilities were not a tower above others, he was an exemplary prodigy at sending the right personnel to the right place and gathering the right number of soldiers to the right fields. The victory at the five-day war that first made Soma’s name across the continent owed much to this talent of his.
Able to know what he could and what he could not do, able to entrust what he could not do to a person who could, this could just be the one most important ability for an Emperor to have.