For a while afterwards, Yoritsuna carried out politics focusing on procedures, for example, frequent submission of additional laws, but in 1287, at the time when Seii Taishogun (literally, "great general who subdues the barbarians") MINAMOTO no Koreyasu was given the title of Imperial Prince and became Imperial Prince Koreyasu, Yoritsuna changed his attitude toward politics suddenly and worked toward a reign of terror.
その後暫くは、頼綱は追加法を頻繁に出すなど手続きを重視した政治運営を行っていたが、1287年（弘安10年）に、征夷大将軍源惟康が立親王して惟康親王となった時期に政治姿勢を一変させ、恐怖政治へと邁進した。