Of course, the Meiji government did not sit idly by. They were understood that they needed a military force that did not rely on Samurai. What they came up with was "conscription ". In other words, they changed from the privilege of the samurai (shizoku ) fighting with weapons to obligation along with labor and tax payments. Of course, military training was provided by active military personnel (high-ranking officers and foreigners ). However, these policies led to the deprivation of the shizokus' privileges ,and it was inevitable that they would eventually break out (military rebellion ). Another element of conflict was diplomacy. Around this time, the "Iwakura Mission "headed by Tomomi Iwakura (107 members including Iwakura, Toshimichi Okubo, Takayoshi Kido, Hirobumi Ito, Shinpachi Murata, and other government leaders and foreign students )was traveling abroad to revise unequal treaties and to learn Western political system. The remaining government leaders in Japan (Saigo Takamori, Eto Shinpei, Itagaki Taisuke, Inoue Kaoru, Yamagata Aritomo, etc )were to assume political duties. This was what known in the world as a 「Rusu-Seifu (The Absentee Government)」. The members of the absentee government were told by Iwakura and Okubo not to make any major policy changes. However, Eto and Itagaki, who were antagonistic to Satsuma and Choshu-centered politics, moved politics as they wished. One of the issues was "Sei-Kan-Ron (The Theory Of Conquest Of Korea )".
