戦国期の武将たちは戦争指導だけを行っていたのではない。軍事とは政治の極限形態ではあるけれど、政治にはその基礎構造としての経済への透徹した着眼がなければならない。この畿内から西国、中国九州へと向かう東播州の交通の要衝地である三木市は、戦国の当時も最重要な流通地域だったことだろう。そういう地域で、反織田という旗印のもとで人口の大部分が籠城戦に参加したことから、それまでの都市機能は完全に灰燼に帰した。籠城した城を攻める攻め方で「経済封鎖」を選択すれば、必然的に市街地を形成していた建築群はすべて焼却されたことだろう。
住人のほぼすべてが籠城したことでそれらの建築群は無人の状況でいとやすく平地に還元されていった。そして籠城戦は終了し、ひとびとは焼け跡に復帰することになった。戦国期の人びとの生きた環境というのはまことに過酷なものだと実感させられる。この地にいくばくかの「関わり・縁」のある者として、その実感が胸に迫ってくる部分がある。このあと、どうやって生活を復元させていけるのかどうか、深く絶望感に満たされていたに違いない。
織田家の西部方面司令官としての秀吉は、そこで畿内から西国への要衝地・三木を経済復興させていくことになる。やはり「楽市楽座」という経済政策を取っていた重商主義政権である織田家は、すぐに地域復興策を施したと、三木市HPには記録されている。
経済流通というこの三木の街の地勢的な条件について織田家・秀吉としては十分に把握して、自由に地域経済計画できる権力を完全掌握して、すぐに活発な復興策を打ち出し、各地から復興建築のための大工・作事人たちがこの地に集まってきたとされる。流通機能を中心にした建築需要が旺盛にもたらされた。
今日、この三木市の「地場産業」として「金物」が中核的な存在。この産業は、実にこの秀吉による地域復興事業が大きなきっかけになって勃興してきたのだという。各地から木造建築の旺盛な需要をめざして多くの大工・木工技術者が建築に携わったけれど、そうしたかれらの必需品であるノコギリ・カンナなどの金物工具需要をこの地の人びとが手掛けた。やがて木造需要が一段落してかれらがそれぞれの地元に帰って、その工具類の精妙さ、技術レベルの高さに驚嘆されて、畿内地域を中心に「三木の金物」の評判が高まっていったのだと言われる。
写真は三木市HPからの鍛冶の神事の様子と、三木市立金物資料館など。まことに「禍福はあざなえる縄のごとし」。２年にわたる過酷極まりない籠城戦の辛酸から、地域復興への転換。その後の秀吉の中国制覇事業〜全国統一に至る覇業の起点としての要素をたっぷり持っているのではないだろうか？
English version⬇
After the Miki Castle dried up and killed, Hideyoshi's economic recovery and the rise of the “hardware” industry.
Vigorous development of reconstruction and public works projects by the Hideyoshi and Oda administrations. The tool and hardware industry emerged, a necessity for carpenters and woodworkers from all over Japan. Local industry continues to the present day. ・・・・.
Warlords during the Warring States period did not only provide war guidance. Military affairs are an extreme form of politics, but politics must have a penetrating view of the economy as its basic structure. Miki City, a strategic location for transportation from the Kinai region to the western part of Japan and to Kyushu in China, must have been the most important distribution area even during the Warring States period. In such an area, the city's previous urban functions were completely reduced to ashes as a large portion of the population participated in a siege under the banner of anti-Oda. If an “economic blockade” had been chosen as the offensive strategy to attack the besieged castle, all the architectural complexes that had inevitably formed the urban area would have been incinerated.
Almost all of the inhabitants would have been caged in, and those architectural clusters would have been reduced to the plains, uninhabited and uninhabitable. The siege was over, and the people returned to the burned ruins. The environment in which people lived during the Warring States period was truly harsh. As someone who has some “connection” to this area, this realization is very close to my heart. They must have been filled with a deep sense of despair as they wondered how they would be able to restore their lives.
Hideyoshi, as commander of the western area of the Oda family, was there to restore the economy of Miki, a strategic point from the Kinai region to the western part of Japan. The Oda family, a mercantilist regime that also had an economic policy of “rakuichi rakuza,” immediately implemented measures to restore the region, according to the Miki City website.
The Oda family and Hideyoshi were fully aware of the geographical conditions of Miki in terms of economic distribution, and they took full control of the power to freely plan the local economy, immediately launching a vigorous restoration plan. This brought a strong demand for construction, especially for distribution functions.
Today, “hardware” is a core “local industry” in this Miki City. This industry was actually spurred on by Hideyoshi's regional reconstruction projects. Many carpenters and woodworkers were engaged in the construction of wooden buildings in response to the strong demand for wooden structures, and the people of this area provided the saws, knives, and other hardware tools that were necessary for these workers. When the demand for woodworking eventually slowed down, they returned to their hometowns and were amazed at the exquisiteness of their tools and the high level of their skills, and the reputation of “Miki hardware” grew, especially in the Kinai region.
The photos are from the Miki City website, including a scene from the forging ritual and the Miki Municipal Hardware Museum. The transformation from the hardships of two years of siege warfare to the revitalization of the region was truly a “blessing in disguise. The area has many elements of the starting point of Hideyoshi's subsequent conquest of China and unification of the whole country.
