When the imperial forces took possession of Edo castle, Enomoto Takeaki, a naval officer of the Tokugawa government, fled to the northern Island of Ezo, taking with him eight war vessels, and Ōtori Keisuke retired to Kazusa and Shimōsa. Further, a number of the Tokugawa vassals, calling themselves the _shōgitai_ (loyal band), took refuge in Uyeno, northeast of Edo, and placing Prince Kozenbō, the lord abbot of Kwanyei-ji, at their head, refused to surrender to the imperial government. They were attacked by his majesty's forces and defeated after a sharp engagement, while Ōtori and his comrades, routed at Utsunomiya and Nikkō, fled to Aidzu, the feudal lord of which place had already returned thither, and in conjunction with the barons of Mutsu and Dewa had made preparations to uphold the Tokugawa cause by force of arms. But the imperial troops, advancing from Tōsan, Tōkai, and Hokuriku, brought into subjection the two clans of Sendai and Yonezawa, and entering Aidzu, took the Wakamatsu castle on September 22, thus completely breaking the resistance of the rebels and restoring tranquillity throughout the northern regions. In December Matsudaira Katamori, the Aidzu lord, was sentenced to perpetual confinement, and the fiefs of Sendai, Shōnai, and Morioka, which had made act of submission after the fall of Wakamatsu, were confiscated, and their lords confined. As for the Yonezawa fief, its territory was reduced and its lord ordered to surrender the management of affairs to his heir, while the fiefs of Mutsu and Dewa were divided into five and two provinces, respectively. Meanwhile, Enomoto and his followers, alleging the intention of reclaiming lands in Ezo, had occupied the fortress at Hakodate and obtained possession of a great part of the island. But they also finally in May, 1868, surrendered to the imperial forces. In August the name Ezo was changed to Hokkaidō, and it was divided into eleven provinces. The entire land of Japan thus passed under the sway of the imperial government. Although some of the feudal institutions still persisted, the Edo rule had in 1868 at last come to an end--682 years since Minamoto Yoritomo organized the feudal government of the empire. PART III THE NEW JAPAN. 1868-1893 Chapter XIV INTERNAL AFFAIRS. 1868-1893