- 著者
-
小林 紀子
- 出版者
- 公益財団法人 史学会
- 雑誌
- 史学雑誌 (ISSN:00182478)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.113, no.3, pp.307-329, 2004-03-20 (Released:2017-12-01)
This article analyzes the relationship between the Meiji government and the common people during the time of the Boshin Civil War of 1868 from the aspect of gumpu 軍夫, corvee labor levied for the purpose of military transport in Shimotsuke Province, and depicts how the new government introduced local administration mechanisms during it formative years and how the people were placed under its control. The Meiji government was able to obtain public support through various relief and education measures, enabling it to employ the forces of former han 藩, like the Kurobane and Otawara fiefs, to quell reactionary uprisings (yonaoshi 世直し). As a result, the new government was able to maintain law and order and conduct speedy military corvee enlistment, while the cooperating han were able to enlist such labor from the villages they patrolled. In addition, rule by the new government was carried out through two different chains of command : one through the Office of War and the government's militia, the other through appointed provincial governors, enabling a speedy end to the Boshin War and condensed governance polides. Even after the end of the War, the people of Shimotsuke remained effected by it through transport-related corvee labor burdens, both military and otherwise, which became the cause of the yonaoshi uprisings. However, there was no resistance to such heavy burdens even before the uprising, mainly due to promise of a 50% reduction in the yearly rice tax in exchange for gumpu services. It was this aspect of government policy, rather than its military presence or other relief measures, that won the support of the people of Shimotsuke for the new government.