Biographies LVII: Fujiwara-no-Yasunori and Ono-no-Harukaze

Fujiwara-no-Yasunori

¶Fujiwara-no-Yasunori was a great-grandson of Fujiwara-no-Tsugutada, Udaijin, Minister of the Right (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). His father, Sadao, was Sahyōe-no-suke, Assistant Captain of the Left Gate Guards. During the Saikō era, Yasunori successively held the posts of Daijō and Shōjō, Senior and Junior Secretary, in the Ministry of Civil Administration and the Ministry of Popular Affairs. In the early years of Jōgan he was transferred to Hyōbu-no-daijō, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of War, and then advanced to Shikibu-no-shōjō, Junior Secretary of the Ministry of Ceremonial (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the eighth year of Jōgan (866) he was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower and became Bitchū-no-gon-no-suke, Provisional Assistant Governor of Bitchū (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). Before this, Bitchū had suffered continuous drought and famine; those who collapsed by the roadside lay dead one after another along the highways, bands of robbers openly roamed in broad daylight, and the villages had fallen into ruin. The two districts of Aga and Tetta in particular lay among mountains and valleys far from the provincial seat, and their people either plundered and killed one another or fled to escape the taxes, so that the whole territory was nothing but wasted hills and ruins, and not a single grown man remained. The previous governor, Asano-no-Sadayoshi, had ruled harshly: if a district magistrate committed the slightest offense, he put every one of them in the cangue and in leg irons, and if a commoner made even the smallest error he was seized, interrogated, and executed. As a result the prisons were full of convicts and corpses lay in the roads. On taking up his post, Yasunori first applied a lenient government, pardoning small faults and keeping to the larger picture. He released those who had been imprisoned and put them at ease, and gave relief to the destitute. He also encouraged farming and sericulture and forbade extravagant waste on amusements. Thereupon the common people came flocking back, carrying their children on their backs as if returning to their own homes; the fields were all brought under cultivation, households multiplied and prospered, order was restored so fully that gates need not be barred even at night, and tax revenue doubled. In the end he came to receive henshō (Note: receipts certifying payment in full) for thirty-four years of land tax and for eleven years of the chō and yō levies. Nothing like this had happened since ancient times. In the thirteenth year of Jōgan (871), in recognition of his merit, he was granted Junior Fifth Rank Upper (Note: following the Yasunori-den written by Miyoshi-no-Kiyoyuki) and appointed Bitchū-no-kami, Governor of Bitchū (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin. The Yasunori-den, however, says that he was transferred to Bizen-no-kami immediately afterwards; but since a later passage says that "Yasunori achieved in Bizen the same record as in Bitchū," the Kugyō Bunin is judged correct and is followed here). In the sixteenth year of Jōgan (874) he was transferred to Bizen-no-gon-no-kami, Provisional Governor of Bizen, and his record there was the same as during his time in Bitchū. When a subordinate official did wrong, Yasunori did not expose and punish him, but privately admonished him: "You have long struggled through study and official life and have at last obtained this post. You ought surely to set your mind on integrity and strive to win honor. How can you be content to end as a petty clerk of a single province? And yet, if you must support your parents above and your wife and children below, you may against your will bend your nature and put your hand to such tainted money. It is all because the anxiety of poverty binds even a good man. I have a small stipend. I will help you with it according to your needs. So take care never to touch public property." So saying, he shared his own stipend with him. In this way good influence spread far and wide, and officials and people alike revered Yasunori, feared him, and longed for him, and praised him as "the governor of Bizen and Bitchū who is like a father and mother." Furthermore, on the border between Bizen and Bitchū the god Kibitsuhiko is enshrined, and whenever the province suffered flood or drought Yasunori went there in person to pray, and there was always a divine response. If anyone in the province did wrong, the god invariably punished him. The god once appeared and declared: "I am moved by the transforming influence of your virtue. I wish to aid your good government and see this fine record brought to completion." Thus the government of the two provinces was well ordered, harvests were abundant every year, and the common people lived in harmony and joy. Once a robber from Aki, relying on the difficult terrain, seized the tribute silk of Bingo and fled; passing through Iwanashi district in Bizen, he asked the keeper of the lodging, "What kind of record does the governor of this province have?" The keeper answered: "His lordship the governor teaches the people only by benevolence and righteousness. Everyone in the province has become honest and incorruptible. The virtue of his kindness and good faith reaches even to the gods. So if anyone in the province does wrong, the god Kibitsuhiko descends at once and punishes him." And he told him the details of the governor's civilizing influence. The robber's face changed greatly; he sighed all night unable to sleep, and at dawn he ran to the gate of the provincial office, pressed his forehead to the ground, and gave himself up: "I am a man without virtue, and I plundered forty bolts of Bingo's official silk. I will mend my ways and submit to punishment, so I beg you to spare my life." Yasunori summoned the robber and said: "You have learned to turn toward good. After all, you are not a wicked man." He gave him rice and provisions, sealed the stolen silk, had the robber carry it himself, and sent him to Bingo. His men all said, "He is a villain; we doubt he will deliver it to Bingo properly," but Yasunori answered, "That man has already reformed and returned to sincerity. Why would he change his mind now?" The robber received the transfer document and carried the silk to Bingo just as ordered. The governor of Bingo, Ono-no-so-and-so, was puzzled but pleased, released the robber as he was, and went in person to Bizen to thank Yasunori. Yasunori's transforming people by virtue was always of this kind. In the seventeenth year of Jōgan (875) his term ended and he was to return to the capital. The people of Bizen and Bitchū wept in grief and blocked the road, and white-haired elders each held out wine and food and prostrated themselves by the roadside. Saying, "I cannot treat the elders' feelings lightly," Yasunori stayed several days on that account. Even so, people came crowding one after another, vying with each other, and could not be stopped. Yasunori had no choice but to slip away secretly in a small boat. Since some attendants had not yet caught up, he moored for a time at Katagami-no-tsu in Wake district. The district magistrates of Bizen, hearing that Yasunori's party had no stock of provisions, carried two hundred koku of white rice by boat to his mooring place. Moved by their thoughtfulness, Yasunori accepted without declining. The magistrates had thought that, being so incorruptible, he would surely not accept, and when they heard that he had accepted they rejoiced greatly. Some time later Yasunori sent a letter to the provincial kōji and dokushi, the lecturer and reader, saying: "Strange portents keep occurring on the boat, and the state of wind and waves is hard to foresee. Please lead the monks to the harbor and pray for a safe passage by sea." The kōji and dokushi came leading the monks of the provincial temple, the Kokubunji. Yasunori said, "It will suffice if each monk recites one roll of the Heart Sutra," and gave them all the rice that had been delivered. Then in the middle of the night he raised sail and departed. In the eighteenth year of Jōgan (876) he was appointed Uemon-no-gon-no-suke, Provisional Assistant Commander of the Right Gate Guards, and concurrently Kebiishi, Police Commissioner. Yasunori said to those close to him: "In ancient times, it is said, the people ruled by the Emperor Yao were so good that every household deserved praise. At that time Gaoyao, a great sage, served as officer of prisons. If anyone's guilt was in doubt, he is said to have had the divine beast Xiezhi judge it; if so, how could there have been wrongful convictions?" (Note: following the Yasunori-den. However, the text of this book lacks what follows and it cannot be investigated.) Before long he became Mimbu-no-taifu, Senior Assistant Minister of Popular Affairs, and in the following year was transferred to Uchūben, Middle Controller of the Right (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the second year of Gangyō (878) the Emishi of Dewa rose in revolt and burned Akita Castle. Fujiwara-no-Okiyo, Governor of Dewa, fought but was repeatedly at a disadvantage (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). Fujiwara-no-Mototsune, Udaijin, Minister of the Right, secretly summoned Yasunori and commanded him to take charge of the campaign of subjugation. Yasunori declined, saying, "I do not speak out of any wish to spare myself. I fear only that I may bring shame on the court." Mototsune said: "Since the reign of Emperor Tenji, the Fujiwara have accumulated meritorious service generation after generation and have been the house the court relies upon. Now, though I am no great vessel like Yi Yin or the Duke of Zhou, I unworthily serve as councillor in the house of the regent. Meeting this rebel disturbance, I am ashamed within and fearful without. You well know the bond of our kinship. Please exhaust your wisdom, and do not decline in mere outward form." Yasunori said: "If in any case, having no alternative, you will make use of my foolish scheme, I shall speak openly and tell all, hiding nothing. I fear only that Your Excellency will not adopt it." Mototsune sincerely asked for his plan. Yasunori said: "It has been about two hundred years since the Emishi submitted to the court, and in awe of the court's authority they obeyed and did not rebel. I have heard that Yoshimine-no-so-and-so, the castle governor of Akita, has in recent years extorted without limit and made all sorts of levies, so that the Emishi's resentment and anger piled up until it led to revolt. The Emishi tribes are many, and in the end they have united with one another. The rebel force numbers tens of thousands, and when desperate men fight with the resolve to die, each man has the strength of a hundred, so that it is difficult to cross spears with them head on. In the present situation, even if the general Sakanoue-no-Tamuramaro were born again, he could not pacify them. But if one explains right principle, displays authority, spreads the teaching of our virtue and changes their ambitions, then without using an inch of weapon this great disorder will settle of itself." Mototsune said, "Very well." Yasunori went on: "Now, though we civilize them by kindness and good faith, the rebel bands are numerous. Should some still refuse to submit, there is no choice but to meet them with martial might. Ono-no-Harukaze, formerly Sakon'e-no-shōgen, Lieutenant of the Left Imperial Guards, comes from a house of generals through the generations, and his valor is beyond the ordinary. In recent years he has been repeatedly slandered, dismissed from office, and has kept to his home. I would ask that Harukaze first be made to lead picked troops to show the court's authority, and afterwards that they be summoned by virtue. Within a few months the rebels will surely scatter of themselves like mist." Mototsune was greatly pleased and added Senior Fifth Rank Lower to Yasunori's rank. He had him concurrently serve as Dewa-no-gon-no-kami, Provisional Governor of Dewa, while remaining Uchūben, and promoted Harukaze to be Chinjushō-gun, Commander of the Garrison. Sakanoue-no-Yoshikage, Mutsu-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Mutsu, was likewise placed under Yasunori's command (Note: following the Yasunori-den). Kiyohara-no-Yoshimochi, Saemon-no-gon-no-shōjō, Provisional Junior Lieutenant of the Left Gate Guards, was made Dewa-no-gon-no-jō, Provisional Secretary of Dewa, and Manda-no-Sadanuka, Ukon'e-no-shōsō, Sergeant of the Right Imperial Guards, was made Dewa-no-gon-no-sakan, Provisional Senior Clerk of Dewa; all were to take part in the suppression of the rebel Emishi while keeping their own offices. An edict was then sent to the officials of Dewa province: "Recently, because of the wicked rebellion of the Emishi, killing and wounding have not ceased. We have therefore appointed Yasunori Provisional Governor of that province; follow his direction and do not be negligent in guarding the province" (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). Yasunori received the imperial command and set out, traveling day and night. On the way he met one express rider after another reporting that the Emishi were strong, that the government forces were repeatedly being spied upon, that fortresses could not be held, and how units had fallen; the dozen or so mounted warriors in his escort all lost their wits and turned pale. But Yasunori did not change expression and showed no sign of fear (Note: following the Yasunori-den). On arriving in Dewa he dispatched Gon-no-jō Fun'ya-no-Arifusa, Kiyohara-no-Yoshimochi, and Minabuchi-no-Akisato, Kōzuke Ōryōshi and Gon-no-daijō, Provisional Senior Secretary, and with the more than six hundred soldiers who had arrived from Kōzuke he had them encamp south of the Akita River to hold off the rebels from the north bank. At that time twelve villages, including Akita, Shiroshita, Kamitsuno, Nuhinai, and Kaibuchi, were occupied by the rebels. The three villages of Soegawa, Hawake, and Sukegawa were lands where submitted Emishi, the fushū, lived. Yasunori therefore ordered the more than three hundred fushū and ordinary subjects of these three villages to hold off the rebels at Soegawa. The rebels intended next to attack Ogachi and then advance on the provincial seat. Ogachi Castle stood at a key point where roads in all directions met and was the most important stronghold. He therefore sent Fujiwara-no-Shigezane, Sama-no-gon-no-daijō, Provisional Senior Secretary of the Left Stables, with Manda-no-Sadanuka and others, and had the reserve grain (fudōkoku) of the three districts of Ogachi, Hiraka, and Yamamoto issued to the people of those districts and to the fushū of the villages of Soegawa, Hawake, and Sukegawa, to comfort and encourage them. The fushū Fukae-no-Nekato, Tamatsukuri-no-Mutsukimaro, and others were moved by this kindness, rallied more than two hundred fushū of the three villages, made a night attack, killed eighty rebels, and burned their provisions and dwellings. Among the border people there was talk that "the Emishi of Tsugaru are in league with the rebels of Dewa," and others said that it was not so. Yasunori reasoned: "If they are not in league, the Kōzuke troops alone can destroy the rebels. If they are in league, then even a large army will not easily subdue them. The troops of the three provinces of Kōzuke, Shimotsuke, and Mutsu together number four thousand, but the Mutsu troops have already fled home, and of the Kōzuke troops only six hundred have just arrived. The Shimotsuke troops have entered the border, but their strength is not yet known. The Emishi and fushū of Tsugaru include many tribes within their kind, and no one knows whether they number several thousand. They are by nature fierce and used to battle. If we hurry to confront the rebels, we may run into their sharpest edge." He therefore petitioned the court to send two thousand troops in all from the two provinces of Hitachi and Musashi, in preparation for the unexpected. After deliberation at court, an imperial order was sent down: "To attack barbarians with barbarians is a good policy for our country. Now, reading your memorial, we see it says that 'official rice and grain were issued to the fushū of Ogachi district and the rebel bands were thoroughly defeated'; this is an excellent measure. The memorial also says: 'The Emishi of Tsugaru are wild by nature, and if we hasten to confront the wicked band, it will be truly hard to subdue them. Rumors are confused near the border, and north and south say different things. Some say they are in league and others that they are not yet. We wish to dispatch troops from Hitachi and Musashi to prepare for the unexpected.' As your memorial says, whether they are in league is not yet clear. If they are truly not in league, the troops you now command can defeat them. Moreover, Ono-no-Ason Harukaze, Sakanoue-no-Ōsukune Yoshikage, and the others each lead picked troops. Wait for their arrival and display your martial might. But issue orders in advance to the provinces and select brave soldiers. If a dangerous emergency arises, report by express rider; it will not be too late to send troops at once in response to go to your relief. Exhaust every unusual stratagem and strive to break their fierce spirit." In the eighth month another edict was issued: "On examining your repeated memorials again, we find that they set out the circumstances in detail. To use unorthodox and orthodox tactics together is what the masters of strategy prize. We are told that you have now recruited fushū and annihilated most of the rebels. This is owing to the earnestness of the Emishi people's longing for righteousness, but still more to the skill of the provincial governor's administration. A stratagem suited to the moment should indeed be like this. We have heard that the loyalty of Nōnin, Hōten, and others has been shown repeatedly, and we commend it (Note: Nōnin and Hōten seem to be names of submitted Emishi fushū, but their deeds are hard to verify). That you have been able to accomplish the achievement is surely a cause for joy. Further, let Harukaze, Yoshikage, and the others take the Mutsu road and enter the village of Kamitsuno, and together with the troops of the two provinces catch the rebels in a pincer, head and tail. If matters stand as in your present memorial, you have already grasped the essentials. Though there are many ways of war, to secure victory is the first. Seize the rebels as circumstances allow, pursue them relentlessly to their lairs, and do not let them escape." One hundred bolts of colored silk were then sent to Dewa to be distributed among the fushū. Rice, one thousand koku each, was also ordered sent from the two provinces of Etchū and Echigo for army provisions. In the ninth month another edict was issued: "We sent Harukaze and the others and dispatched picked troops in order to meet that province's urgent need. But your present memorial says, 'The rebels' strength has already declined, and the government soldiers have begun to long for home. Moreover, the troubles of the troops sent to meet them and of transporting provisions are not slight.' Judging from this, whether to advance or recall Harukaze and the others depends on the strength or weakness of that province. You must size up the situation and devise measures; this cannot be judged from afar. If the province's own strength alone can subdue the rebels, then simply tell Harukaze and the others and have them return; there is no need to force their reception. Again, the plan of the fushū of Tsugaru and Watarishima, who ask to strike barbarians with barbarians, has been a superior policy since antiquity. But the wild heart is hard to tame and its movements are changeable. If by chance some other intention arises, there is a danger that later it will be hard to control. Weigh the force of events well and decide advance or withdrawal as circumstances require. As for entertaining the Emishi fushū, it is not urgent. After the rebel bands have been entirely wiped out, they may be rewarded for their service. Now the castles have all burned down and there is no place to gather people. It is enough to select those who have done meritorious service and give them rewards; that will suffice to encourage the soldiers. Why should a great banquet be held and further disturbance made? Moreover, that rebels have been killed and captives taken shows well that the rebels are being broken. Redouble your efforts and quickly accomplish the great achievement. Reports from the province are being presented continually, and express messengers go back and forth frequently. Strive to put into effect measures for pacifying the rebels, and do not idly prolong the months and years." Earlier, more than three hundred rebels had come to the foot of Akita Castle, asked to see Yasunori's men, and begged to surrender. Fun'ya-no-Arifusa and Fujiwara-no-Shigezane went on horseback alone straight to the rebels' camp and accepted their surrender. On that day Sakanoue-no-Yoshikage, the Gon-no-suke, leading two thousand troops, reached the Akita camp by the Rukadō road, advancing with beating drums and a great show of banners, and displayed his martial might to the full. Soon afterwards Ono-no-Harukaze, the Chinjushō-gun, reached the north of the Akita camp with four hundred seventy troops and declared: "Harukaze, in obedience to the imperial edict, has already gone first into Kamitsuno, instructed the rebel bands, and brought them all to surrender." Thereupon seven rebel chieftains came together. Yasunori weighed the situation and perceived that the rebels did indeed intend to surrender. But the fushū who had already submitted to the court said to one another: "If we submit to the state, we shall incur the rebels' resentment. If the rebels are not wiped out, they will surely take revenge later. There are many families that are our enemies; how can we help being afraid? Moreover, the way this request to surrender has been made is crude in form and does not fit past precedent." Yasunori reported this and awaited a ruling. In the tenth month an edict was issued: "Soldiers are ill-omened and war is dangerous, as the worthies of old clearly warned. They should be used only when there is no alternative. Now it is said that the rebels repent their error and ask to submit. What reason is there to hesitate in pardoning them? However, by the ancient custom of surrender, they cast away their weapons, bind both hands behind them, and wait for orders; only then can their life or death be judged. Only then may it be called surrender. If the form of their submission follows the old custom, accept it promptly. If they harbor a double mind and their words differ from the reality, rouse our martial might and destroy them in a single stroke. The words of the submitted fushū must also be weighed with great care. Use the display of virtue and the display of martial power by turns as circumstances demand, but take care never to believe their falsehoods and become a laughingstock to later ages." In the twelfth month the surrendered rebels handed over twenty-two suits of armor that they had seized. They said: "These have all been cut down and refashioned to fit our bodies, and not one is in its original form. Moreover, some of the rebels' companions have gone into the interior or live far away, and as for the armor that remains, we will still search it out and hand it over later." Kiyohara-no-Yoshimochi, Fujiwara-no-Shigezane, Manda-no-Sadanuka, and the others therefore conferred: "Now two hundred rebels have come to surrender, but the armor handed over amounts to only a little over twenty. The armor is few compared with the number of rebels, and the wild heart cannot be fathomed. We suspect this is a false show, so we should wait for the later submission before deciding on acceptance." Ono-no-Harukaze gave his opinion: "I myself went into the rebels' land and know in detail the repentant hearts of the rebels. Now, braving frost and snow, they earnestly beg to surrender. If we still harbor suspicion, hold them down, and do not accept them, it would be like giving up an easy road and deliberately choosing hardship; it is no way to accomplish the matter well." Yasunori judged that "Yoshimochi's opinion has its reason, but Harukaze's view is not without insight into the occasion," and in the end decided to soothe and accept them, and reported this. At the same time he reported that one hundred three chieftains of the Emishi of Watarishima, leading three thousand of their followers, had come to Akita Castle and, together with more than one hundred Tsugaru fushū who had not joined the rebels, had submitted to the court's civilizing influence, and said, "If we do not give them the reward of comfort, I fear that resentment will arise." He therefore sent Fujiwara-no-Muneyuki, the Gon-no-suke, Fun'ya-no-Arifusa, the Gon-no-jō, and Yoshimochi, Shigezane, Sadanuka, and the others to comfort and entertain them (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). As for Harukaze, on reaching the Akita camp he had entered the rebels' camp alone, conveyed the court's orders in detail, and carried things forward according to Yasunori's intention. The Emishi then bowed with their foreheads to the ground in thanks and said: "The former castle governor of Akita was greedy and violent, and his desires could not be filled any more than a valley or a gorge. If we failed in the slightest to comply with his demands, severe punishments were at once inflicted on us. So we could not bear his harsh rule and in the end rose in revolt. Now that the General has graciously instructed us with the Son of Heaven's merciful command, we wish to correct our road of error and submit to the shogunate." They then vied with one another in entertaining the government army with wine and food. Several tens of powerful chieftains followed Harukaze in a line and came as far as the provincial seat of Dewa. Yasunori summoned them, received them, and soothed them. At that time there were two leaders who still would not agree to submit. Yasunori asked the chieftains, "What do you think of those two not coming?" They all answered, "Those two surely have a particular scheme. If you will grant us a short delay, within a few days we will cut off the two men's heads and present them." Yasunori at once sent envoys to soothe and receive the remaining tribes, and from Tsugaru as far as Watarishima, the various Emishi tribes that had never submitted in any previous age all came to belong to the court. Yasunori also rebuilt Akita Castle, making its ramparts, palisades, towers, and moats all twice the scale of the old design (Note: following the Yasunori-den). In the third year of Gangyō (879) he was changed from Gon-no-kami to full Kami, Governor, (Note: following the Yasunori-den and the Kugyō Bunin), and remained Uchūben (Note: following the Yasunori-den). In the third month he reported by express rider: "The harms of war are not of one kind. Examining the battle-array plan for this circuit issued in the Enryaku era, I find that thirteen thousand six hundred men form one army, which is divided into three armies, with eight hundred men in the baggage train and two thousand porters. But now the armies of the two provinces of Kōzuke and Shimotsuke number sixteen hundred, with over two thousand in the baggage train and porters. The troops led by Yoshikage number five hundred, with over one thousand in the baggage train and porters. Considering these figures, there are many points that differ from the old regulations. The army of the Chūgoku circuit (Hitachi, Musashi, and others) arrived last year in the seventh month, and the Mutsu troops came in during the ninth month. Their times of assembly were uneven, which has impeded the command of the units. In some cases they are hard to line up when camp is pitched, and in others they easily lose their way even on hearing the drum signals. All this arises because we have long forgotten war and have not accumulated practical training. The people of the province have suffered long years of harsh rule, and one third of them have fled into the interior. The people who remain, inheriting several years of those evils, have no means to survive. Moreover, since the war began, the transport of army provisions has not paused for even a moment through last year and this year, two years. Useless soldiers disturb the province, and where we should be awaiting relief they instead cause great harm. In the Mogami district within our jurisdiction the roads are steep and cut off and the great river runs swiftly. The army of the Chūgoku circuit must pass through here. The burden of welcoming and seeing them off is quite beyond reckoning. If we now ask for the dispatch of a large additional army to attack the surrendered Emishi, the province will be exhausted and the people impoverished, and they will not be able to endure it. If we comfort the province's distressed soldiers, search out and bring back the people who fled into the interior, leave the armor of the Chūgoku circuit in this place, and select and use local troops, then even if the surrendered Emishi rebel again, there will be little to fear. If we do not take this disturbance as an occasion to carry out executions thoroughly, I fear the policy of pacification may be mistaken. Yet to keep on suffering the troubles of the border and then send out still larger armies to wipe them all out would not be a long-range policy for the state or the best policy under heaven. We your servants dare not decide on our own, and doubts fill our hearts. Whether to advance or to withdraw, we respectfully await the court's decision." In reply an edict was issued: "The armor and weapons with the armies of the two provinces of Kōzuke and Shimotsuke are to be kept in Dewa." In the sixth month he again reported by express rider: "What I, Yasunori, and my colleagues are doing does not go as we wish, and the soldiers' strength has not yet been displayed. An imperial edict of grace has just come down saying, 'For the time being relax the campaign, let the rebels live, and restore the common people to their former livelihoods.' But we reflect that the nature of the Emishi is such that their strength or weakness is hard to measure; one who in the morning was a rebel easy to despise may by evening become one who must submit to heavy punishment. Even after they have asked to surrender, if there is the slightest disturbance, we, thinking only of the province, fear that we will on the contrary fall into guilt. We humbly beg that the court once again grant us an envoy to inspect how matters stand." (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku.) In Dewa province, commoners and Emishi lived intermingled, the fields were fertile, and rare products were plentiful. Powerful officials took advantage of this to engross land, privately lent out tax revenue, and arbitrarily imposed heavy levies. The sons and younger kinsmen of powerful houses had for years demanded hawks and horses without end. The border people were simple, and merely complied with their demands without knowing where to appeal. Thus the ordinary people grew ever poorer, while the crafty often grew rich. Yasunori spread the net of the law strictly, and arrested and examined any who acted unlawfully. As a result the common people were at ease and the frontier was cleanly governed. At that time, when the Emishi of Mutsu had a lawsuit, they all came to Dewa to have it decided. Originally, during his terms in Bizen and Bitchū, Yasunori had taught the people solely by benevolence and kindness, but when he came to govern Dewa he ruled by strict law and reason. Whether official or commoner, whoever committed a crime was no longer spared. In the fourth month of the fourth year of Gangyō (880) he was summoned and entered the capital, and the ministers and councillors of the court all praised his meritorious service. Yasunori said modestly: "All this was brought about by the court's authority; it was not my foolish scheme that achieved it." At that time everyone in the world thought that, since Yasunori had pacified a great disorder without troubling a single soldier, the court would surely reward his exceptional service. But because Yasunori firmly declined, in the end no generous reward was granted. Moreover, although Yoshimine-no-Chikashi's greed had caused the rebellion, no punishment was imposed to chastise him. For this reason many in public opinion criticized Mototsune for erring in reward and punishment. Yasunori was by nature fond of quiet and disliked busy, heavy duties, and so he repeatedly asked Mototsune and firmly declined the post of controller. In the fifth year of Gangyō (881) he was appointed Harima-no-kami, Governor of Harima (Note: this book says it was the fourth year, but here the Kugyō Bunin is followed. Also, according to the Kugyō Bunin, he concurrently served as Harima-no-gon-no-kami), but declined and did not take up the post. In the sixth year of Gangyō (882) he advanced to Junior Fourth Rank Lower. Yasunori thought: "I am already old. Now is the time to accumulate merit as provision for after death. I have heard that Sanuki produces much paper and also has good calligraphers. I will go to that province and copy out sutras and abhidharma (Note: Buddhist doctrinal treatises)," and he asked to be appointed Sanuki-no-kami (Note: according to the Kugyō Bunin, he concurrently served as Sanuki-no-gon-no-kami). The people of Sanuki had all studied law and were inclined to bring lawsuits over every matter. After Yasunori entered the province, the people all came to know honor and shame, and customs greatly improved. At the end of his term in autumn he returned to the capital and lived in his villa at Nishiyama, with no intention of ever taking office again. In the third year of Ninna (887) he was appointed Iyo-no-kami, Governor of Iyo, but declined and did not take up the post. He was then appointed Dazai-no-daini, Senior Vice-Governor-General of Dazaifu, and advanced to Junior Fourth Rank Upper. Yasunori repeatedly pleaded illness and would not agree to take the post, but the court repeatedly soothed and exhorted him and made him go by force. At Dazaifu Yasunori held to a pure and quiet government, and officials and people alike submitted to his virtue; his orders were well carried out and his prohibitions well kept. Earlier, crafty persons had gathered recklessly in Chinzei (Kyushu), and the three provinces of Chikuzen, Chikugo, and Hizen in particular had become a nest of bands of robbers. Those who had stores of goods were all killed and plundered. The villages were in uproar and even the roads were cut off to traffic. The officials of Dazaifu and the provincial governors sent out troops to seize and execute them, but could not suppress them. When Yasunori arrived at Dazaifu, everyone said, "You should send out many soldiers and execute them all." Yasunori answered: "I have heard that these leaders are not people registered in the census, but sons of good families or former attendants of officials, who seek the advantage of food and clothing and the convenience of marriage connections, lodging in frontier castles and treating them as if they were their native places. But in recent years bad harvests have continued and their livelihoods have not held. Then idle ruffians joined them and shared in the wrongdoing. The people of the provinces also joined, and most have become robbers. If we now seize and kill them all, there will not be a single person left in the villages. Even if there are guards to worry about the frontier, who in the end will defend the castles? Nor do these people necessarily harbor wicked and cunning hearts; most are simply driven by hunger and cold. If we extend kindness, they will of themselves reform and return to good." He then applied rice from his own stipend to relief of the three provinces, and soothed them deeply. The robbers were greatly pleased and said to one another: "The governor of Dazaifu treats us with the affection of a father and mother. How can we fail to show the devotion of dutiful sons?" And they reformed their conduct together, one after another. In the third year of Kanpyō (891) he was summoned and became Sadaiben, Major Controller of the Left (Note: following the Yasunori-den. After this, this book continues with a memorial sent from Dazaifu within a few months after Yasunori was summoned and entered the capital, but since the characters are lost and it cannot be investigated, it is not adopted here). Soon he was appointed Sangi, Consultant, and concurrently Ōmi-no-gon-no-kami, Provisional Governor of Ōmi, and was then transferred to a post concurrently serving as Mimbu-kyō, Minister of Popular Affairs. In the seventh year of Kanpyō (895) he died, at the age of seventy-one (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin).

¶Yasunori was by nature upright and incorruptible, and influenced others by his own conduct. When a subordinate was greedy and dishonest, he taught him with sincerity. Those who in the end would not reform he would not even speak to. On the other hand, if such a person had even a single good deed, he showed his pleasure openly. He constantly praised and recommended others' good deeds and helped their merits grow. He also had the insight to judge men. Once, during his time in Bitchū, Ono-no-Kuzuo, still young, was serving as Jō, Secretary, and Yasunori praised him: "This man will surely become an excellent official famous throughout the realm." Again, during his time in Sanuki, Sugawara-no-Michizane came to replace him as governor. Yasunori said privately: "The new governor is the greatest scholar of the age, and the extent of his gifts is beyond my measure. But judging from his aspirations, he is probably not a man who will keep himself safe through clear-sighted wisdom." Later everything came about just as he had said. Before he was fifty he kept women at a distance, devoted his heart to Buddhism, and was especially versed in the doctrine of emptiness. He constantly recited the Diamond Sutra and never grew idle in it. He compiled commentaries by various schools into one work, exhausted their meaning, and there was nothing he did not understand thoroughly. Before he had fallen ill, he suddenly said to someone: "The signs of the time of my death have already appeared. How can I end my life amid the cares of the secular world?" He then built a single room on the eastern slope of Mount Hiei, shaved his head and became a monk, chanted the name of the Buddha day and night, and died within a few months (Note: following the Yasunori-den). Yasunori's son Kiyotsura held important posts during the Shōtai and Engi eras and rose to Senior Third Rank, Dainagon, Major Counsellor, concurrently serving as Tutor to the Crown Prince (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the eighth year of Enchō (930) he was struck by lightning in the Seiryōden and died, at the age of sixty-four (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Fusō Ryakki).

Ono-no-Harukaze

¶Ono-no-Harukaze was a son of Ono-no-Iwao, of Junior Fifth Rank Upper (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). He came from a house of generals through the generations, and his valor was beyond the ordinary (Note: following the Yasunori-den). In the twelfth year of Jōgan (870) he was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower and appointed Tsushima-no-kami, Governor of Tsushima. He petitioned on two matters. The first: "Military preparedness rests entirely on armor and helmets. Armor and helmets alone are thin, so I wish to use a horo (Note: a kind of protective gear) to reinforce them. I wish to have a thousand horo garments made from chō cloth, to prepare for the unexpected." The second: "When military affairs break out unexpectedly, the army must advance at twice the usual speed. Then the transport of provisions is easily cut off and the supply of the baggage train is hard to maintain. I wish to have a thousand belt-bags for dried rice made from chō cloth, have the soldiers carry them, and so prepare for emergencies." By imperial edict this was permitted, and they were to be made from cloth in the storehouses of Dazaifu. In the same month he was transferred to Hizen-no-gon-no-suke, Provisional Assistant Governor of Hizen. Harukaze's elder brother Harueda was Mutsu-no-gon-no-kami, Provisional Governor of Mutsu. Harukaze petitioned: "In earlier years the house of my late father Iwao had one suit of sheepskin armor and one suit of oxhide armor. In the Kōnin era my father wore this armor in Mutsu and subdued the Emishi rebels. Afterwards my elder brother Harueda presented it to the court. I wish that the sheepskin armor be granted to me, so that I may be prepared for emergencies. When I return to the capital I will promptly deliver it to the court." This was permitted, and the oxhide armor was given to Harueda (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). He was soon transferred to Sakon'e-no-shōgen, Lieutenant of the Left Imperial Guards, but, slandered, was dismissed from office and lived shut up at home (Note: following the Yasunori-den). In the second year of Gangyō (878), the Emishi of Dewa rose in revolt, and the governor of the province, Fujiwara-no-Okiyo, was repeatedly defeated in battle (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). Fujiwara-no-Yasunori recommended Harukaze to Fujiwara-no-Mototsune, the regent (Note: following the Yasunori-den); Harukaze was promoted to Mutsu Chinjushō-gun, Commander of the Garrison of Mutsu, and was granted a set of armor, and together with the Gon-no-suke Sakanoue-no-Yoshikage he set out, night joining day. They first entered Mutsu, and each leading five hundred picked troops, went to relieve Dewa. A further edict was issued: "In accordance with the regulations, assign them to the provincial officials, and lead the general's troops to Dewa province. Abe-no-Hitaka, the former general, is to take charge of the affairs of the Chinjufu for the time being, in the manner of the one holding the office now." When Harukaze reached Mutsu, Yasunori sent Ono-no-Haruizumi, Dewa-no-gon-no-jō, Provisional Secretary of Dewa, to the Chinjufu to confer on military affairs. Before Haruizumi arrived, Harukaze, leading more than four hundred troops, took the Mutsu road and entered Kamitsuno. When he proclaimed the imperial edict of grace and instructed them, the rebel bands all surrendered. In the ninth month he went from Kamitsuno to the Akita camp (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). Since Harukaze had been at the frontier forts from his youth and understood the language of the Emishi well, he took off his armor, laid down his weapons, and entered the rebels' camp alone, and conveyed the court's orders in detail (Note: following the Yasunori-den). The Emishi thereupon submitted greatly, presented letters begging to surrender, and seven rebel chieftains surrendered together. In the sixth month of the following year he withdrew the army and returned. During the Ninna era he was granted Junior Fifth Rank Upper and rose to Daizen-no-daibu, Master of the Palace Table, and Settsu-no-gon-no-kami, Provisional Governor of Settsu (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). He became Saemon-no-gon-no-suke, Provisional Assistant Commander of the Left Gate Guards (Note: following the Seiji Yōryaku and the Kokin Wakashū Mokuroku). He concurrently served as Kebiishi, Police Commissioner. At that time the court forbade the use of deep crimson in clothing, but Minamoto-no-Hikaru, Sangi, Consultant, once went out wearing a deep crimson aoshi (Note: a kind of jacket). The moment Harukaze saw it, he went straight forward, knelt behind Minamoto-no-Hikaru, and asked leave to have the garment cut to pieces. Hikaru fell silent, and on returning to his residence took off the garment and never wore it again. Public opinion approved this (Note: following the Seiji Yōryaku). In the second year of Kanpyō (890) he was transferred to Ukon'e-no-shōshō, Lesser General of the Right Imperial Guards, and Mutsu-no-gon-ki (Note: the source reads 権寄 here, evidently a slip for 権介 or a similar title; the form given is kept as written), and concurrently served as Sanuki-no-gon-no-kami, Provisional Governor of Sanuki. In the early years of Shōtai he rose to Senior Fifth Rank Lower (Note: following the Kokin Wakashū Mokuroku).