Besides these daimyōs of different classes, Ieyasu established an inferior kind of feudal nobility, which was termed _hatamoto_. This means literally _under the flag_. They had small holdings assigned to them, and their income varied very greatly. Mr. Gubbins, in his paper, puts the number at about 2,000. It was the custom to employ the members of this minor class of aristocracy very largely in filling the official positions in the shōgun’s government. Indeed, it was held as a common maxim, that the offices should be filled by poor men rather than by rich.(234) The _gokenin_, numbering about 5,000, were still another class who were inferior to the _hatamoto_. They had small incomes, and were mostly employed in subordinate positions. Beneath these again stood the ordinary fighting men, or common _samurai_, who were the retainers of the daimyōs and of the shōgun. They were the descendants of the soldiers of the time of Yoritomo, who appointed _shiugo_ to reside with a company of troops in each province, for the purpose of keeping the peace. They had already grown to claim a great superiority over the common people, and Ieyasu encouraged them in this feeling of superciliousness. The people were divided into four classes, arranged in the following order: _samurai_, farmers, artisans, and merchants. And in his _Legacy_ Ieyasu thus expresses himself(235): “The _samurai_ are masters of the four classes. Farmers, artisans, and merchants may not behave in a rude manner towards _samurai_ ... and a _samurai_ is not to be interfered with in cutting down a fellow who has behaved to him in a manner other than is expected.” Again he says(236): “A girded sword is the living soul of a _samurai_.”