All their land rights and stipends no matter the size were returned back to the new government.

Daimyōs, along with many members of the aristocracy, were inducted into the 華族, kazoku, class, a new type of aristocracy, and made up the most influential members of both central and local government.

Middle and lower class warrior families, including the mid and lower samurai, and eventually the chūgen and ashigaru as well, were inducted into the 士族 shizoku. Notice the similarity in terms between this and 武士 bushi. The shizoku had no special privileges what-so-ever, at least before the law. In general the shizoku made up about 4~5% of the population. Their fates varied wildly, with a few handful rising to the top of government and society and many others disappearing into poverty. Most though probably eked out a living in the new society and remained in the middle class, making up a percentage of high school graduates and public servants far disproportionate to their percentage of the general population, but not in most positions still the minority when compared to commoners.