The zuryo alone was dispatched to the province and carried out the practical business as the kokuga by appointing his private aides brought from Kyoto to the post of mokudai (deputy kokushi, or a deputy provincial governor); he also employed the locally influential and wealthy people as the zaichokanjin (the local officials).
受領のみが任国に赴任し、京から伴った私的な側近を目代に任命し、また現地の有力富豪層を在庁官人に任命して国衙の実務に当たるようになった。