By the time of the Emperor Kōmei, the kuge aristocracy were joined in common goals by a number of newly powerful provincial figures from outside Kyoto. Together, this tenuous, undefined coalition of men worked together to restore the long latent prestige, persuasive power, and active strengths of a re-invigorated Imperial center. This combination of factors thrust an archaic hierarchy into the center of national attention, but with so many other high-priority matters demanding immediate attention, there was little time or energy to invest in reforming or re-organizing the "Daijō-kan".