The large construction projects like those of the Great Buddha and of the Great Buddha Hall showed that Emperor Shomu never thought about the large sums of money they would cost the country and how this would worsen the nation's financial affairs.
大仏造立・大仏殿建立のような大規模な建設工事は国費を浪費させ、日本の財政事情を悪化させるという、聖武天皇の思惑とは程遠い事実を突き付けた。