This time, before the beginning of the Muromachi period, why did Emperor Go-Daigo succeed in defeating him? I tried to write an article from the perspective of the Kamakura Shogunate, but I noticed that the blog did not mention the system of the Kamakura period at all, so I will hurry to summarize the "system of the Kamakura period".
It is well known that there was a system that connected gratitude and service between the shogun and the gokenin, but in the first place, "gokenin" itself was the name that first appeared in the Kamakura period.
What kind of existence was the Gokenin this time? How did you get it? I will try to crush the parts that may be questionable one by one.
What is a Gokenin? ??
The definition changes depending on the era, but in the case of the Kamakura period, "a person who had a master-slave relationship with the general of the Kamakura Shogunate" Was called a gokenin.
It is not a "samurai who has a master-slave relationship". To the last, "a person who has a master-slave relationship". Of course, there were also samurai graduates, but surprisingly there were also literary gokenins and female gokenins (until the early Kamakura period).
Due to the new system that started in the Kamakura period, the beginning of the Gokenin dates back to the time when Minamoto no Yoritomo was active, but Yoritomo himself was the head of the Genji (samurai), and the Gokenin began to appear. Initially, the battlefield was the place to play an active role, so inevitably more samurai are accepted. At first, the name of "Gokenin", not limited to samurai, gradually changed to "words expressing the identity of samurai".
The beginning of the Gokenin
Originally, those who served the aristocrats and samurai lords were called "Kenin". Minamoto no Yoritomo, who opened the Kamakura Shogunate, was not originally in the world of politics. Rather, he was initially exiled due to the defeat of his father (=Heiji rebellion). Even though it was a samurai lord, it was unavoidable that there were only a few family members.
Speaking of samurai and samurai, there is an image of loyalty, but that image comes from the fact that Mikawa samurai, who was said to be in-law, and Cheng-Zhu school were valued during the Edo period. Before that, what was loyalty? Since the master-slave relationship was also tied individually, it seems that his father's family member was not subordinate to Yoritomo.
Anyway, there were few family members in Yoritomo.
The turning point came when the third prince of Go-Shirakawa (=Prince Mochihito) issued an order to overthrow the Taira clan, who was proud of his power at the time. from. Yoritomo was watching the battle between Genji and Taira who received the decree, but Taira attacks Genji who received the decree.
"This is dangerous"
So when Yoritomo raised his troops at the age of 33 and began to defeat the Mokudai of Izu Province, which is in the position of vested interests, and start politics, people began to gather in earnest.
The reason why people gathered is
- Many samurai had the recognition that "Mr. Taira is a morning enemy" because the imperial family issued a decree.
- I realized that Yoritomo was effective in conducting politics instead of Mokudai
- Is it a grudge against Mr. Taira?
* It is as a politician that Yoritomo is evaluated in posterity. The war goes up to his younger brother Yoshitsune.
Moreover, since he is the master of Genji, it is no wonder that many people are rushing to "want him to be a family member."
It seems that Yoritomo was completely upgraded to a person who needs attention among Taira's hostile forces because he defeated Mokudai while he was already being watched. He had to urgently control the rapidly growing number of family members. The Genpei War continues. It will be necessary to lead the samurai in battles outside the Kanto region.
This is how the Gokenin system was formed. Even after Yoritomo opened the Kamakura Shogunate in 1185, the Gokenin system will remain as the Kamakura Shogunate system.
What was the Gokenin actually doing? ??
Speaking of gokenins, "Gon-hoko" and "Iza Kamakura". What is it like ...
The gokenin performed work such as battles, and received salaries from the shogun for the land and positions commensurate with the work. "Iza Kamakura" is derived from the gathering of samurai from various countries when something happened, and is born from a song (like a script for Noh) and a pot tree.
As the battle in Genpei spread, we recruited gokenins from outside the Kanto region, which is our base, by giving salaries and approving the territory.
At that time, the society was still unstable, so it was a great advantage just to guarantee the land we had.
How can I become a gokenin?
First,
You can take on military and ban'yaku
The minimum requirement is to have only one territory.
After satisfying that condition, in the current sense, we submit an ID card (list / myobu) and perform a ceremony to greet the shogun (thank you for visiting).
It seems that those who became gokenins from early on in the eastern country performed the above rituals and were relieved of their territory (in some cases, they were simplified even in the early days ...), but later became gokenins. In western countries, where there are many people, there are also those who become vassals with a simple procedure of submitting (advising) the name of the gokenin by guardianship. From such a background, many of those who became gokenins did not get relief from the territory, and many of them left. The power of the lord of the manor was still strong in Saigoku, and the prestige of the shogunate was difficult to reach, which may have been the reason why the Gokenin left.
Gokenin's basic work is battle and security in the rough environment at that time. There must be situations where the ritual has to be simplified.
After actually performing such a simplified ritual and understanding the comfort, will it be a troublesome ritual even as the times go by? ... I'm sure it won't.
In fact, as time went on, it seemed to be simplified to just the expression of the visit.
What happened to the Gokenin after that?
As you can see from the minimum requirements, there were not a huge number of gokenins all over the country, and surprisingly there were about 10 people in one country.
The Kamakura period reminds me of the Mongol invasion, but there is no way that such a number of people can respond to the external crisis, and many non-family members will be commanded by the shogunate. Of course, there were some who repelled. After that, the shogunate treated the needy gokenins specially, which deepened the conflict with non-gokenins and led to the defeat movement.
When the Kenmu Restoration was successful and the Kenmu Restoration began, the name "Gokenin," which is also a remnant of the samurai government, was abolished. It was used again in the Muromachi period, and it was not used again in the Edo period as the name of the bakushin.