Since ancient times, court officials have never really achieved much of anything, yet nevertheless, they wielded an odd sort of authority. They were high priests surrounding the living god who was His Majesty the Emperor. They were merely priests. Yet since His Majesty could not speak directly to the daimyo, it was the court officials who told the daimyo what His Majesty the Emperor had said, just as a priest would communicate a divine revelation to his parish. That is where their authority came from. Of course, should a court official alter the emperor’s message slightly to suit his own
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