Rusu-seifu had promised to freeze personnel affairs during the absence of Iwakura Mission and Takamori SAIGO had been greatly expected to work as a coordinator, but SAIGO placed 'kyohei (powerful army)' as one of the top priorities of the Restoration, supported Aritomo YAMAGATA, who was promoting 'kyohei,' to establish a plot of the conscription system instead of realizing SAIGO's own idea of the warrior-class-centered volunteer system, and persuaded people from Satsuma not to throw YAMAGATA out of power even when YAMAGATA came to a crisis of being forced to step down due to the Yamashiroya incident.
留守政府は岩倉使節団派遣中は人事を凍結する約束であり、西郷隆盛に調整役としての期待が大きかったが、西郷自身が「強兵」を維新の主軸に置いており、「強兵」を推進しようとする山縣有朋に対しては自説の士族主体の志願兵構想を撤回して彼の構想する徴兵制の確立に協力し、山城屋事件で山縣が辞任に追い込まれた時でさえ、これを擁護して山縣追い落としを図る薩摩出身者を宥めている。