Officially, the gokenin in each province were supposed to serve the shugo, but in practice, the relationship between them was fragile, as the gokenin were vassals of the shōgun as well.
Virallisesti jokaisen provinssin gokenin-vasallien oli tarkoitus palvella shugoja, mutta käytännössä heidän suhteensa shugoihin oli hauras, sillä he olivat vasalleja myös shōgunille.