In the Meiji period, it was believed that if a baishin (indirect vassal) was ranked as being of the warrior class affairs of state would begin to worsen, so they were treated as heimin (commoners) even though they had been 'samurai' in the Edo period.
江戸時代は「侍」でも明治時代には陪臣までも士族に加えると国政が悪化することから、平民とされた。