During this period, radical court nobles who advocated Sonno Joi ha such as Sanemi SANJO and Kintomo ANENOKOJI acted as if they were leaders of the country, using the influence of the Choshu clan to further press a government which had already yielded to the imperial messenger, and ordered the shogun to go to Kyoto, while they petitioned the emperor to grant an imperial order to expel foreigners.
勅使に屈した幕府をさらに追い込むべく三条実美・姉小路公知ら尊王攘夷派の過激公卿が、長州藩などの勢力を背景に将軍に上洛を命ずる一方、攘夷の勅命を請願するなど、朝政を壟断しつつあった。