Under Okubo's leadership, Okubo, Tomomi IWAKURA, Shigenobu OKUMA and Hirobumi ITO reorganized the government, but immediately after that, they clashed over the issue of the Taiwan expedition; eventually, Takayoshi KIDO, the leader of the Choshu faction, resigned from the office and thus Okubo's despotic regime virtually came into being.
大久保を中心に岩倉具視・大隈重信・伊藤博文らが政府の再編を行うが、直後に台湾出兵をめぐる意見が対立、その結果、長州閥のトップ木戸孝允までが職を去る事態に陥り、ほぼ大久保専制体制となる。