After the integration of the Northern and Southern Courts, he again intended to negotiate with Ming, under the nominal title of "Seii Shogun of Japan, Yoshimitsu MINAMOTO," but the government of Ming would not accept an envoy dispatched by someone who presented himself as a vassal of the Emperor, because Ming traditionally did not trade with any retainer of a vassal.
南北朝合一後、「日本国征夷将軍源義満」名義で交渉を始めようと試みるが、明側は陪臣との通交は認めないため天皇の臣下と名乗る者からの使者は受け入れられなかった。