While he was serving as the Minister of the Navy, he selected Gonbei YAMAMOTO as the Kanboshuji (director of the secretariat) of the Ministry of the Navy and allowed him to exercise his abilities, leading to the victories of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War.
海軍大臣時代は山本権兵衛を海軍省官房主事に抜擢して大いに腕を振るわせ、日本海軍を日清日露の戦勝に導いた。