【元寇・弘安の役での船戦活躍 伊予河野氏探訪-4】

　1185年当時の源平合戦期で四国の勢力、海軍勢力として源氏軍に大いに寄与したことで河野氏は全国的にも評価されることになったけれど、その後の承久の乱（1221年段階）という30数年後の動乱期には、政治判断を誤って、後鳥羽上皇に味方して敗北することになる。たしかに源平合戦期の結果としての政治体制としては武権は鎌倉幕府にもたらされたけれど、頼朝という対朝廷側との「政治工作窓口」を失った関東武士団には、当時の政治・社会情勢下では勝ち目は少ないと判断したことにうなずける部分もある。
　なんといってもこの時期、政治統治の正統性は京都王権側にあって鎌倉幕府というのは国家体制としてはその軍事の一部門的な存在認識が強かったのだと思われる。そういう情勢のなかでさまざまな多数派工作は容易に想像でき、京都政権側からの「恩賞」の提示も魅力的だっただろうことが想像できる。なんといっても王権側の全国統治感覚からは「伊予国」は枢要的に重要な政治軍事の要衝。名分もあり利益供与の約定もあって、いわば常識的な判断だったのだろう。場合によっては鎌倉幕府的な位置まで朝廷側は河野氏に約束していた可能性もある。
　しかしそうした期待は、鎌倉幕府の京都の一気加勢な攻撃にもろくも陥落し夢と潰えさった。尼将軍とされた北条政子の檄に関東武士が大団結を見せるということが想像すらできなかったのだろう。このあたり、日本史の大きな流れである関東の政治軍事的重要性の拡大についての西国武士たちの鈍感さが感じられる。そういう敗北過程で河野氏は唯一北条氏の女性を迎え入れていた一統が辛うじて血脈を維持した。その後、領地も一部回復・確保できていた。
　そういった政治情勢の中で「元寇」が勃発する。この動乱を奇貨として勢力の回復を意図し、幕命に応えて第２次元寇の弘安の役（1281年）に河野氏は出陣する。源平期から約100年後、家運の上昇をふたたび賭ける海軍戦。
　このブログシリーズでは、元寇についても約１ヶ月前くらいに記載したけれど、第２回の元寇である弘安の役では主戦場は、源平の壇ノ浦と似た「海戦」だったことで、伊予の武家勢力である河野氏には好適な条件だったとも思える。元寇記念館での展示でも、この河野氏が活躍した船戦の様子は、大きく評価されている。
　防衛土塁の長大な構築が、弘安の役の最大の効果を発揮したことはあきらかだけれど、河野氏はむしろその土塁壁の前に陣を張って不退転の決意を表していた。河野の「後ろ築地」として名をはせた。

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English version⬇

The Iyo Kono Clan in Action in the Genko and Kouan War
About 100 years after the Gempei period, the Kono Clan had ups and downs in their position, but they took another chance of “naval battles” and risked the rise of their family fortune to take the challenge. ...

　In 1185, during the Genpei War, the Kono clan was recognized nationwide for its great contribution to the Minamoto clan's forces as a power and naval force in Shikoku, but during the subsequent Jokyu Rebellion (1221), a period of upheaval more than 30 years later, they made a political misjudgment and sided with Emperor Go-Toba, losing. It is true that the political system during the Genpei War brought military power to the Kamakura Shogunate, but the Kanto Samurai, who had lost their “window of political maneuvering” with the Imperial Court in the form of Yoritomo, had little chance of winning under the political and social conditions of the time, which is understandable.
　In any case, the legitimacy of political governance at that time rested on the side of the Kyoto royal power, and the Kamakura Shogunate was strongly considered to be a military arm of the state system. Under such circumstances, it is easy to imagine that various majority maneuvers could be easily imagined, and the offer of a “bounty” from the Kyoto regime side must have been attractive. After all, from the sense of ruling the whole country on the royalist side, “Iyo Province” was a pivotal political and military point of importance. It was a common-sense decision, so to speak, because of its prestige and the promise to provide benefits. In some cases, the Imperial Court may have promised the Kono clan a position similar to that of the Kamakura Shogunate.
　However, such expectations were crushed as a dream when the Kamakura Shogunate fell to a single-minded attack on Kyoto. It is likely that they could not even imagine that the Kanto warriors would show great solidarity in response to the proclamation of Hojo Masako, who was considered a nun shogun. In this regard, one can sense the insensitivity of the western samurai to the growing political and military importance of the Kanto region, which is a major trend in Japanese history. In such a process of defeat, the Kono clan was the only lineage to have welcomed a Hojo clan woman, and it barely maintained its lineage. After that, they were able to recover and secure some of their territory.
　In the midst of this political situation, the “Genko” invasion broke out. Intending to use this upheaval as a chance to regain power, the Kono clan responded to the shogunate's order and went to battle in the second invasion, the Kouan-no-Yakuwari (1281). About 100 years after the Genpei period, the Kono clan once again staked its claim on the rise of its family fortunes in this naval battle.
　In this blog series, I wrote about the Genko about a month ago, but the main battlefield in the second Genko, Koan no Yaku, was a “naval battle” similar to the Dannoura battle in the Genpei period, which seemed to be a suitable condition for the Kono clan, a warrior clan in Iyo. The Kono clan's success in the naval battle is greatly appreciated in the exhibition at the Genko Kinenkan (Genko Memorial Museum).
　It is clear that the construction of the long defensive earthen mound had the greatest effect during the Kouan-no-Yakuwari, but the Kono clan showed their determination not to retreat by setting up camp in front of the mound wall. It became famous as Kono's “back-building area.

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