The _daimyo_, or great feudal lords, did not fare so badly in the
financial settlement of 1876. They were relieved of all their debts,
and of their previous obligations to support their military retainers,
the _samurai_. They retained great slices of their former lands, which
they now held as private owners--that is, with fewer responsibilities.
Moreover, they acquired large sums of money when the pensions were
commuted. These sums they invested in banks, stocks and industries,
as well as in landed estates. The _daimyo_ were thus merged into the
new society, no longer as territorial rulers but as wealthy financial
magnates, controlling the economic life of the countryside.
So, from their own point of view, commutation of the pensions was
a master-stroke by Japan’s new rulers. It helped to throw caste
distinctions of the old feudal type into the melting pot. It won
the allegiance of the clan lords to the new order simply by making
allegiance worth their while.