ernor-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
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