JAPAN
Solid success could never have been achieved by a leader in whose nature the sensuous element preponderated so largely. Circumstances, too, were hopelessly against him. Fate condemned him to be crushed between the two great forces which convulsed his kingdom. That he chose the weaker side was perhaps an error of judgment, but to have chosen the stronger would have involved the sacrifice of his imperial aspirations.
The Ashikaga differed from the Hōjō chiefly in this, that whereas the Hōjō eschewed all the excesses and extravagances which had weakened their predecessors, the Ashikaga practised them. The Hōjō did not seek high rank or great estates, but chose rather to use titles and riches as means of rewarding proved friends or placating potential foes. The Ashikaga, on the contrary, grasped and enjoyed all the rewards of victory. Their only bid for popularity was to reduce the taxes levied on the provincial officials from five per cent of their incomes to two per cent. Takauji himself became Shōgun, caused members of his family and prominent men among his followers to be nominated to various high offices, and enriched himself and them with estates or sinecures wherever such a course was possible. Probably his greatest error was that he restored the seat of government to Kyōtō. The beauty and grace of the noble ladies of the capital completely intoxicated the northern warriors, and alliance after alliance was formed between these rough soldiers
24
