In order to resolve 'chorei bokai' (issuing orders in the morning and revising them in the evening) and a state of 'let a hundred schools of thought contend' at the start of the Meiji government, Kido was asked by Saigo, Okubo, Iwakura, and Sanetomi SANJO to be the sole sangi just before the feudal domains were abolished to be replaced by new prefectures in July 1871.
明治政府草創期の朝令暮改や百家争鳴状態を解消するため、廃藩置県の断行を控えた明治4年（1871年）6月、西郷、大久保、岩倉、三条実美達から、木戸がただひとり参議となるように求められる。