There was a multilayered structure of rights claimed for a land including 'saku-shiki' which meant the right of cultivation, 'myoshu' which referred to the right to collect land taxes, and 'jito-shiki' which was responsible for paying out land taxes to the lord of the manor; besides, as the provincial government office and the military governor possessed influence on each province, master-servant relationships among samurai were not necessarily a simple one-to-one relationship.
土地には耕作権を意味する「作職」、年貢徴収請負権の「名主」、荘園領主への年貢納入を請け負う「地頭職」などが重層に存在し、さらに国衙や守護職が令制国単位で影響力を及ぼしていたため、武士の主従関係も一対一の単純なものであるとは限られていなかった。