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Go-Daigo assigned
the Chokodo estates for their support, retaining for himself only the
provincial taxes of Harima. The Bakufu no longer having any official
existence, the machinery of the Government in Kyoto was organized on
the hypothesis of genuine administrative efficiency. There was no
chancellor (dajo daijiri) or any regent (kwampaku). These were
dispensed with, in deference to the "Restoration" theory, namely,
that the Emperor himself should rule, as he had done in the eras of
Engi and Tenryaku (901-957). But for the rest, the old offices were
resuscitated and filled with men who had deserved well in the recent
crisis or who possessed hereditary claims. Prince Morinaga, the
sometime lord-abbot of Hiei-zan, was nominated commander-in-chief
(tai-shoguri), and for the sake of historical lucidity hereafter the
following appointments should be noted:
Prince Narinaga to be governor-general (kwanryo) of the Kwanto, with
his headquarters at Kamakura, and with Ashikaga Tadayoshi (brother of
Takauji) for second in command.
Prince Yoshinaga to be governor-general of O-U (Mutsu and Dewa),
assisted by Kitabatake Chikafusa (an able statesman and a historian),
and the latter's son, Akiiye, as well as by the renowned warrior,
Yuki Munehiro.
Nijo Michihira to be sa-daijin.
Kuga Nagamichi to be u-daijin.
Doin Kinkata to be nai-daijin.
It is observable that the occupants of all these great offices were
Court nobles. The creed of the Kemmu era was that the usurping buke
(military families) had been crushed and that the kuge (Court
nobility) had come to their own again. As for the provinces, the main
purpose kept in view by the new Government was to efface the traces
of the shugo system. Apparently the simplest method of achieving that
end would have been to appoint civilian governors (kokushi)
everywhere. But in many cases civilian governors would have been
powerless in the face of the conditions that had arisen under
military rule, and thus the newly nominated governors included
Ashikaga Takauji, governor of Musashi, Hitachi, and Shimosa.
Ashikaga Tadayoshi (brother of Takauji), governor of Totomi.
Kusunoki Masashige, governor of Settsu, Kawachi, and Izumi.
Nawa Nagatoshi, governor of Inaba and Hoki.
Nitta Yoshisada, governor of Kotsuke and Harima.
Nitta Yoshiaki (son of Yoshisada), governor of Echigo.
Wakiya Yoshisuke (brother of Yoshisada), governor of Suruga.
One name left out of this list was that of Akamatsu Norimura, who had
taken the leading part in driving the Hojo from Rokuhara, and who had
been faithful to the Imperial cause throughout. He now became as
implacable an enemy as he had previously been a loyal friend. The
fact is significant. Money as money was despised by the bushi of the
Kamakura epoch. He was educated to despise it, and his nature
prepared him to receive such education. But of power he was supremely
ambitious--power represented by a formidable army of fully equipped
followers, by fortified castles, and by widely recognized authority.
The prime essential of all these things was an ample landed estate To
command the allegiance of the great military families without placing
them under an obligation by the grant of extensive manors would have
been futile. On the other hand, to grant such manors in perpetuity
meant the creation of practically independent feudal chiefs.
The trouble with the restored Government of Go-Daigo was that it
halted between these two alternatives. Appreciating that its return
to power had been due to the efforts of certain military magnates, it
rewarded these in a measure; but imagining that its own
administrative authority had been replaced on the ancient basis, it
allowed itself to be guided, at the same time, by capricious
favouritism. Even in recognizing the services of the military
leaders, justice was not observed. The records clearly show that on
the roll of merit the first place, after Prince Morinaga, should have
been given to Kusunoki Masashige's name. When Kasagi fell and when
the Emperor was exiled, Masashige, alone among the feudatories of
sixty provinces, continued to fight stoutly at the head of a small
force, thus setting an example of steadfast loyalty which ultimately
produced many imitators. Nitta Yoshisada ought to have stood next in
order; then Akamatsu Norimura; then Nawa Nagatoshi, and finally
Ashikaga Takauji.* In the case of Takauji, there was comparatively
little merit. He had taken up arms against the Imperial cause at the
outset, and even in the assault on Rokuhara he had been of little
service. Yet to him the Crown allotted the greatest honour and the
richest rewards. Some excuse may be found in Takauji's lineage, but
in that respect he was inferior to Nitta Yoshisada.
*Arai Hakuseki (1656-1725).
Still more flagrant partiality was displayed in other directions.
Relying on the promises of the Funanoe edicts epitomized above,
thousands of military officers thronged the Court in Kyoto,
clamouring for recognition of their services. Judges were appointed
to examine their pleas, but that proved a tedious task, and in the
meanwhile all the best lands had been given away by favour or
affection. Go-Daigo himself appropriated the manors of Hojo Takatoki;
those of Hojo Yasuie were assigned to Prince Morinaga; those
of Osaragi Sadanao went to the Imperial consort, Renko. The
immediate attendants of the sovereign, priests, nuns, musicians,
littérateurs--all obtained broad acres by the Imperial fiat, and
when, in the tardy sequel of judicial procedure, awards were made to
military men, no spoil remained to be divided. Soon a cry went up,
and gained constantly in volume and vehemence, a cry for the
restoration of the military regime. As for Go-Daigo, whatever ability
he had shown in misfortune seemed to desert him in prosperity. He
neglected his administrative duties, became luxurious and arrogant,
and fell more and more under the influence of the lady Ren. Of
Fujiwara lineage, this lady had shared the Emperor's exile and
assisted his escape from Oki. It had long been her ambition to have
her son, Tsunenaga, nominated Crown Prince, but as Prince Morinaga
was older and had established a paramount title by his merits, his
removal must precede the accomplishment of her purpose. Fate
furnished a powerful ally. Prince Morinaga, detecting that Ashikaga
Takauji concealed a treacherous purpose under a smooth demeanour,
solicited the Emperor's mandate to deal with him. Go-Daigo refused,
and thereafter the lady Ren and the Ashikaga chief, whose influence
increased daily, entered into a league for the overthrow of Prince
Morinaga.
It was at this time, when symptoms of disorder were growing more and
more apparent, that Fujiwara Fujifusa, a high dignitary of the Court
and one of the great statesmen of his era, addressed a solemn warning
to Go-Daigo. The immediate occasion was curious. There had been
presented to the Court by the governor of Izumo a horse of
extraordinary endurance, capable of travelling from Tomita, in that
province, to Kyoto, a distance of one hundred and sixty miles,
between dawn and darkness. The courtiers welcomed the appearance of
this horse as an omen of peace and prosperity, but Fujiwara Fujifusa
interpreted it as indicating that occasion to solicit speedy aid from
remote provinces would soon arise. He plainly told the Emperor that
the officials were steeped in debauchery; that whereas, in the early
days of the restoration, the palace gates had been thronged with
warriors, to-day none could be seen, thousands upon thousands having
left the capital disgusted and indignant to see Court favourites
enriched with the rewards which should have fallen to the military;
that the already distressed people were subjected to further heavy
exactions for building or beautifying Imperial palaces; that grave
injustice had been done to Akamatsu Norimura, and that unless the
sovereign refrained from self-indulgence and sought to govern
benevolently, a catastrophe could not be averted. But Go-Daigo was
not moved, and finally, after repeating his admonition on several
occasions, Fujifusa left the Court and took the tonsure. It says much
for the nobility of the Emperor's disposition that he commissioned
Nobufusa, father of Fujifusa, to seek out the persistent critic and
offer him a greatly higher office if he would consent to return, and
it says much for Fujifusa's sincerity that, hoping to give weight to
his counsels, he embraced the life of a recluse and was never seen in
public again.
DEATH OF PRINCE MORINAGA
Things now went from bad to worse in Kyoto, while in the provinces
the remnants of the Hojo's partisans began to raise their heads. The
ever-loyal Kusunoki Masashige and Nawa Nagatoshi entered the capital
to secure it against surprise; Ashikaga Takauji, ostensibly for the
same purpose, summoned large forces from the provinces, and Prince
Morinaga occupied Nawa with a strong army. Takauji saw that the time
had come to remove the prince, in whom he recognized the great
obstacle to the consummation of his ambitious designs. Securing the
co-operation of the lady Ren by a promise that her son, Narinaga,
should be named Crown Prince and commander-in-chief (shoguri) in
succession to Morinaga, he informed the Emperor that Prince Morinaga
was plotting Go-Daigo's deposition and the elevation of his own son
to the throne. The Emperor credited the accusation, summoned the
usurping Morinaga to the palace, and caused him to be arrested. This
happened in November, 1334. Morinaga vehemently declared his
innocence. In a memorial to the Throne he recounted the loyal service
he had rendered to his sovereign and father, and concluded with these
words:
In spite of all this I have unwittingly offended. I would appeal to
heaven, but the sun and moon have no favour for an unfilial son. I
would bow my head and cry to the earth for help, but the mountains
and the rivers do not harbour a disloyal subject. The tie between
father and son is severed, and I am cast away. I have no longer
anything to hope in the world. If I may be pardoned, stripped of my
rank, and permitted to enter religion, there will be no cause for
regret.
the Chokodo estates for their support, retaining for himself only the
provincial taxes of Harima. The Bakufu no longer having any official
existence, the machinery of the Government in Kyoto was organized on
the hypothesis of genuine administrative efficiency. There was no
chancellor (dajo daijiri) or any regent (kwampaku). These were
dispensed with, in deference to the "Restoration" theory, namely,
that the Emperor himself should rule, as he had done in the eras of
Engi and Tenryaku (901-957). But for the rest, the old offices were
resuscitated and filled with men who had deserved well in the recent
crisis or who possessed hereditary claims. Prince Morinaga, the
sometime lord-abbot of Hiei-zan, was nominated commander-in-chief
(tai-shoguri), and for the sake of historical lucidity hereafter the
following appointments should be noted:
Prince Narinaga to be governor-general (kwanryo) of the Kwanto, with
his headquarters at Kamakura, and with Ashikaga Tadayoshi (brother of
Takauji) for second in command.
Prince Yoshinaga to be governor-general of O-U (Mutsu and Dewa),
assisted by Kitabatake Chikafusa (an able statesman and a historian),
and the latter's son, Akiiye, as well as by the renowned warrior,
Yuki Munehiro.
Nijo Michihira to be sa-daijin.
Kuga Nagamichi to be u-daijin.
Doin Kinkata to be nai-daijin.
It is observable that the occupants of all these great offices were
Court nobles. The creed of the Kemmu era was that the usurping buke
(military families) had been crushed and that the kuge (Court
nobility) had come to their own again. As for the provinces, the main
purpose kept in view by the new Government was to efface the traces
of the shugo system. Apparently the simplest method of achieving that
end would have been to appoint civilian governors (kokushi)
everywhere. But in many cases civilian governors would have been
powerless in the face of the conditions that had arisen under
military rule, and thus the newly nominated governors included
Ashikaga Takauji, governor of Musashi, Hitachi, and Shimosa.
Ashikaga Tadayoshi (brother of Takauji), governor of Totomi.
Kusunoki Masashige, governor of Settsu, Kawachi, and Izumi.
Nawa Nagatoshi, governor of Inaba and Hoki.
Nitta Yoshisada, governor of Kotsuke and Harima.
Nitta Yoshiaki (son of Yoshisada), governor of Echigo.
Wakiya Yoshisuke (brother of Yoshisada), governor of Suruga.
One name left out of this list was that of Akamatsu Norimura, who had
taken the leading part in driving the Hojo from Rokuhara, and who had
been faithful to the Imperial cause throughout. He now became as
implacable an enemy as he had previously been a loyal friend. The
fact is significant. Money as money was despised by the bushi of the
Kamakura epoch. He was educated to despise it, and his nature
prepared him to receive such education. But of power he was supremely
ambitious--power represented by a formidable army of fully equipped
followers, by fortified castles, and by widely recognized authority.
The prime essential of all these things was an ample landed estate To
command the allegiance of the great military families without placing
them under an obligation by the grant of extensive manors would have
been futile. On the other hand, to grant such manors in perpetuity
meant the creation of practically independent feudal chiefs.
The trouble with the restored Government of Go-Daigo was that it
halted between these two alternatives. Appreciating that its return
to power had been due to the efforts of certain military magnates, it
rewarded these in a measure; but imagining that its own
administrative authority had been replaced on the ancient basis, it
allowed itself to be guided, at the same time, by capricious
favouritism. Even in recognizing the services of the military
leaders, justice was not observed. The records clearly show that on
the roll of merit the first place, after Prince Morinaga, should have
been given to Kusunoki Masashige's name. When Kasagi fell and when
the Emperor was exiled, Masashige, alone among the feudatories of
sixty provinces, continued to fight stoutly at the head of a small
force, thus setting an example of steadfast loyalty which ultimately
produced many imitators. Nitta Yoshisada ought to have stood next in
order; then Akamatsu Norimura; then Nawa Nagatoshi, and finally
Ashikaga Takauji.* In the case of Takauji, there was comparatively
little merit. He had taken up arms against the Imperial cause at the
outset, and even in the assault on Rokuhara he had been of little
service. Yet to him the Crown allotted the greatest honour and the
richest rewards. Some excuse may be found in Takauji's lineage, but
in that respect he was inferior to Nitta Yoshisada.
*Arai Hakuseki (1656-1725).
Still more flagrant partiality was displayed in other directions.
Relying on the promises of the Funanoe edicts epitomized above,
thousands of military officers thronged the Court in Kyoto,
clamouring for recognition of their services. Judges were appointed
to examine their pleas, but that proved a tedious task, and in the
meanwhile all the best lands had been given away by favour or
affection. Go-Daigo himself appropriated the manors of Hojo Takatoki;
those of Hojo Yasuie were assigned to Prince Morinaga; those
of Osaragi Sadanao went to the Imperial consort, Renko. The
immediate attendants of the sovereign, priests, nuns, musicians,
littérateurs--all obtained broad acres by the Imperial fiat, and
when, in the tardy sequel of judicial procedure, awards were made to
military men, no spoil remained to be divided. Soon a cry went up,
and gained constantly in volume and vehemence, a cry for the
restoration of the military regime. As for Go-Daigo, whatever ability
he had shown in misfortune seemed to desert him in prosperity. He
neglected his administrative duties, became luxurious and arrogant,
and fell more and more under the influence of the lady Ren. Of
Fujiwara lineage, this lady had shared the Emperor's exile and
assisted his escape from Oki. It had long been her ambition to have
her son, Tsunenaga, nominated Crown Prince, but as Prince Morinaga
was older and had established a paramount title by his merits, his
removal must precede the accomplishment of her purpose. Fate
furnished a powerful ally. Prince Morinaga, detecting that Ashikaga
Takauji concealed a treacherous purpose under a smooth demeanour,
solicited the Emperor's mandate to deal with him. Go-Daigo refused,
and thereafter the lady Ren and the Ashikaga chief, whose influence
increased daily, entered into a league for the overthrow of Prince
Morinaga.
It was at this time, when symptoms of disorder were growing more and
more apparent, that Fujiwara Fujifusa, a high dignitary of the Court
and one of the great statesmen of his era, addressed a solemn warning
to Go-Daigo. The immediate occasion was curious. There had been
presented to the Court by the governor of Izumo a horse of
extraordinary endurance, capable of travelling from Tomita, in that
province, to Kyoto, a distance of one hundred and sixty miles,
between dawn and darkness. The courtiers welcomed the appearance of
this horse as an omen of peace and prosperity, but Fujiwara Fujifusa
interpreted it as indicating that occasion to solicit speedy aid from
remote provinces would soon arise. He plainly told the Emperor that
the officials were steeped in debauchery; that whereas, in the early
days of the restoration, the palace gates had been thronged with
warriors, to-day none could be seen, thousands upon thousands having
left the capital disgusted and indignant to see Court favourites
enriched with the rewards which should have fallen to the military;
that the already distressed people were subjected to further heavy
exactions for building or beautifying Imperial palaces; that grave
injustice had been done to Akamatsu Norimura, and that unless the
sovereign refrained from self-indulgence and sought to govern
benevolently, a catastrophe could not be averted. But Go-Daigo was
not moved, and finally, after repeating his admonition on several
occasions, Fujifusa left the Court and took the tonsure. It says much
for the nobility of the Emperor's disposition that he commissioned
Nobufusa, father of Fujifusa, to seek out the persistent critic and
offer him a greatly higher office if he would consent to return, and
it says much for Fujifusa's sincerity that, hoping to give weight to
his counsels, he embraced the life of a recluse and was never seen in
public again.
DEATH OF PRINCE MORINAGA
Things now went from bad to worse in Kyoto, while in the provinces
the remnants of the Hojo's partisans began to raise their heads. The
ever-loyal Kusunoki Masashige and Nawa Nagatoshi entered the capital
to secure it against surprise; Ashikaga Takauji, ostensibly for the
same purpose, summoned large forces from the provinces, and Prince
Morinaga occupied Nawa with a strong army. Takauji saw that the time
had come to remove the prince, in whom he recognized the great
obstacle to the consummation of his ambitious designs. Securing the
co-operation of the lady Ren by a promise that her son, Narinaga,
should be named Crown Prince and commander-in-chief (shoguri) in
succession to Morinaga, he informed the Emperor that Prince Morinaga
was plotting Go-Daigo's deposition and the elevation of his own son
to the throne. The Emperor credited the accusation, summoned the
usurping Morinaga to the palace, and caused him to be arrested. This
happened in November, 1334. Morinaga vehemently declared his
innocence. In a memorial to the Throne he recounted the loyal service
he had rendered to his sovereign and father, and concluded with these
words:
In spite of all this I have unwittingly offended. I would appeal to
heaven, but the sun and moon have no favour for an unfilial son. I
would bow my head and cry to the earth for help, but the mountains
and the rivers do not harbour a disloyal subject. The tie between
father and son is severed, and I am cast away. I have no longer
anything to hope in the world. If I may be pardoned, stripped of my
rank, and permitted to enter religion, there will be no cause for
regret.
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