3 182202465 1721 s$J%*mf- m^W Jfe*'^^*^ *'* WWW;: -'W

BLACK CLOUDS. 329
dren of every daimio must remain in Yedo; while
the daimios were allowed to spend only their al-
ternate years in their own dominions away from
their families. This custom had been inaugurated
by the grandson of ly^yasu early in the seventeenth
century. His object was a double one to weaken
the power of the feudal lords, and by dividing the
clans to rule them, and also to add to the glory of
Yedo. It was a policy that enriched the city and
impoverished the country. It had for three centu-
ries cost a vast amount of money, time, and trouble
to the daimios, which was now saved them by the
abolition of the custom. While it helped the prov-
inces, it was a tremendous blow both to the pros-
perity of Yedo and the despotic power of the Tokugawas.
At the same time, the senseless extravagance,
which was the fruitful cause of theft, dishonesty,
and lying, was rebuked in an order which reformed
the style of dress and discarded empty ornament.
All this, though for the good of the country, scared
the inn-keepers and mercantile people who had fat-
tened on the old state of affairs. Thousands of
merchants and shop-keepers at once closed their
places of business, and returned to their homes in
the provinces.
Kyoto now became amazingly prosperous, for many
of the daimios made their establishments in that city.
The reformatory actions of the dictator, Matsudaira,
suggested in many cases by Professor Koba, greatly
pleased the imperial court, which ordered the Yedo
government to clear away old abuses, reform the