And he eagerly became involved in corruption using his political power backed by people of Mitsui group, who forced him to resign once, but with his connections with someone related to Choshu and his prestige as a revolutionary genkun (the statesmen who contributed during the Meiji Restoration), he remained as an important figure along with Aritomo YAMAGATA who was from the same domain, for all his past corruption.
また三井組の人間などを背景に、自らの政治権力を利用した汚職行為に非常に熱心で、それが原因で一度は官を辞職したが、長州系列の人脈と革命の元勲としての威光でその同藩出身の山県有朋とともに過去の汚職にも関わらず絶大な存在感を示した。