Within the new government there were two opposing policies regarding treatment of the Tokugawa shogunate; one was the Hard-liner policy, which insisted upon the administration of severely harsh punishment to the Tokugawa family (particularly the former Shogun, Yoshinobu); the more liberal group persisted in the application of a more lenient treatment policy, which considered a more appropriate (reasonable) and tempered punishment toward the Tokugawa family; this stance was an effort to address the potential for prolonged turmoil resulting from a harsher punishment, and the resulting effects upon the national interests.
新政府側でも徳川家（特に前将軍慶喜）に対して厳しい処分を断行すべきとする強硬論と、長引く内紛や過酷な処分は国益に反するとして穏当な処分で済ませようとする寛典論の両論が存在した。