Replacing the systems, after the mid Heian period, the government dispatched azukari dokoro (estate custodian) to the local estates based on shoen that consisted of donated lands that had been granted Fuyu no ken (the right of tax exemption) or the like as a business foundation, and also appointed the local magnate or influential farmer to shokan (estate officer) or myoshu (local landowner and cultivator) to oppose the rule of kokuga (provincial government office).
これに替わって平安時代中期以後に不輸の権(日本)などを獲得した寄進地系荘園を経営基盤として現地に預所を派遣するとともに、現地の有力者や農民を荘官・名主に任命して国衙からの支配に対抗した。