These proved to be one of the biggest mistakes Japanese emperor ever made. While Kammu eventually disbanded his army, emperor’s power was slowly declining. Powerful clansmen around Kyoto became ministers and their relatives purchased the positions of magistrates. They were greedy and imposed heavy taxes leaving many farmers without land. Soon they began to recruit these landless farmers as guards and train them intensely in martial arts. The recruits in small numbers would accompany tax collectors and their presence usually restrained thieves and bandits from attacks and robbery. Through protective agreements and political marriages, they accumulated political power, eventually surpassing the traditional aristocracy.

At the same time new clans were created by farmers who took up arms to protect themselves from the imperial magistrates sent to govern their lands and collect taxes. These new clans formed alliances to protect themselves against more powerful clans, and adopted Japanese armor and weapons. They also laid the foundations of Bushido, their ethical code and were supposed to behave in a certain manner. Up until fourteenth century samurai were generally illiterate brutes. Yet, naturally, they aspired to the more cultured abilities of the nobility but most of them never achieved their goal at that time.