After becoming shogun, Yoshimune TOKUGAWA dismissed Akifusa MANABE and Hakuseki ARAI who had been sobayonin (lord chamberlains) since the era of the sixth shogun Ienobu TOKUGAWA, to restore rule from the sobayonin to the shogun.
将軍に就任すると、第6代将軍・徳川家宣時代からの側用人であった間部詮房や新井白石を罷免し、側用人政治から将軍親政に復した。