Chapter II
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE
MILITARY EPOCH
THE notable points in a retrospect of the Military epoch stand out clearly by comparison with the imperial system of the eighth century. There ceased to be any regularly organised provincial army from which troops could be detached at fixed intervals for service under the Central Government in the capital. There ceased to be any pretence that the Crown's right of eminent domain received practical recognition. There ceased to be any active faith in the doctrine that every subject in the Empire belonged to the sovereign as a child belongs to its father. The local chieftains thrust themselves between the Throne and the people; held wide estates where the Government's tax-collector might not set foot, and required of their vassals obedience even to the point of ignoring the sovereign's mandates and defying his emissaries. The Court nobles in Kyōtō were not without vassals of their own; but this difference existed, that whereas the Court nobles received their servants as a gift from the Emperor, and
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