The problem of whether to dispatch an ambassador could not be decided at the Cabinet meeting that Okubo and others went to on September 14, and they decided to send Saigo at the second Cabinet meeting on the 15th.
大久保らが参議に加わった9月14日の閣議では大使派遣問題は議決できず、15日の再議で西郷派遣に決定した。