Yoshinobu was becoming more desperate, took to clutching at straws, so he requested petitions for the sparing of his life, and the possible continuance of the Tokugawa family's existence; this was sent to the 'expeditionary force to the east' continuously through these significant figures and nobles connections.
藁にもすがる思いの慶喜はこれらの人物を通じて、東征軍に対し助命ならびに徳川家存続の歎願を立て続けに出している。