Kannō disturbance

Takauji was nominally shōgun but, having proved not to be up to the task of ruling the country, for more than ten years Tadayoshi governed in his stead.

[5] Tadayoshi in 1349 was forced by Moronao to leave the government, shave his head and become a Buddhist monk with the name Keishin under the guidance of Zen master, poet, and old associate Musō Soseki.

[6][7] In 1350 he rebelled and joined his brother's enemies, the supporters of the Southern court, whose Emperor Go-Murakami appointed him general of all his troops.

The extremely divisive Kannō Incident that divided the Muromachi regime put a temporary hold on the new shogunate's integration.

Before the incident, the bureaucratic organs of the early regime were under the separate jurisdiction of the Ashikaga brothers Takauji and Tadayoshi, creating a bifurcated administration.

The major judicial organ, the Board of Coadjutors, decided on all land dispute cases and quarrels involving inheritance.

Tadayoshi strenuously contested these policies through the drafting of the Kemmu Formulary that opposed the appointment of shugo as a reward for battlefield service.

Tadayoshi's adopted son Ashikaga Tadafuyu is an outstanding example of defection: he became the leader of the western armies of the Southern Court during the imperialist offensives against Kyoto in 1353 and 1354.