The Ancient Japanese Good-Family Clans and Piracy (3-4) ——“Goko” or Belligerent Hire (4)——

On February the 19th, 838, the central government ordered the provincial governors in Sanyo-do and Nankai-do Regions to arrest and crack down on pirates. 5 days later in the same year, on February the 15th, Emperor Ninmyo ordered that the 4 servants of Sai-in (the emperor’s younger sister) should be given official certificates as the lower-ranking officials of 2 princes (the emperor’s younger brothers) and Junna-in (the former emperor, the emperor’s uncle) are given. The 20 servants of Saga-in (the late emperor but one, the emperor’s father) should be treated in the same way. The 2 orders should be interpreted to have gone hand in hand. Provincial governors and local officers were, I mean, supposed to distinguish lawful hire and unlawful one, based on whether central noble families’ envois have official certificates or not. Without an official certificate, envois were regarded as practicing belligerent hire, or, at worst, as pirates.