The Korean War in Wanli period of Ming Dynasty was actually the result of political game. This war has greatly affected the situation in East Asia. Korea was severely weakened, Japan was severely weakened, and the national strength of the Ming Dynasty suddenly lost. This war was regarded as the last glory of the Ming empire, and it also made East Asia peaceful for 300 years.

Comparison of national conditions of the three countries

Daming

After the completion of Zhang's political reform, the treasury of the Ming Dynasty was abundant, and the original disadvantages were eliminated as much as possible. If Emperor Wanli works hard, then the Ming Dynasty will usher in a prosperous time. Unfortunately, Emperor Wanli chose a negative life and didn't even go to the basic early dynasty. However, there was a complete civil service system in the Ming Dynasty, and the imperial center still operated in an orderly manner. However, due to the emperor's neglect of state affairs, there were many parties in the court and the struggle became increasingly fierce.

North Korea; South Korea

South Korea's Lee Dynasty paid more attention to literature than martial arts. During the reign of Xuanzu Li Yun, Koreans didn't know there were soldiers for more than 200 years (people didn't know there were soldiers for more than 200 years), eight kinds of weapons were abandoned, and most of the more than 300 counties and counties in the country were unguarded. In fact, this can't blame North Korea. After all, North Korea has a powerful suzerain (Ming Dynasty). With a strong and desperate neighbor next to it, it is difficult for North Korea to develop, a bit like Canada today.

Japan

Unlike the other two countries, the other two countries are relatively stable, but Japan has undergone earth-shaking changes. Since the outbreak of the Ren Ying Uprising (1467), Japan has been in a chaotic situation of mutual competition. Until 1590, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was unified, ending the situation in the Warring States Period. Because troubled times have just ended, the country has made great achievements. To put it bluntly, none of the parties can do it. But on the one hand, it is still possible, that is, the ability of war mobilization and the combat effectiveness of soldiers. Koreans don't understand soldiers, Ming people are busy with political struggles, and Japan has just ended troubled times. Their military mobilization ability varies greatly.

The causes of the Korean war

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he unified the country by force. He needs to give his men enough rewards, or he will soon return to troubled times. But Japan is so big that it is not enough for samurai. Besides, these warriors are all potential unstable factors. If Toyotomi Hideyoshi doesn't get rid of them, he will lose sleep. When internal contradictions are large, foreign wars can often play a miraculous role in alleviating contradictions. This sentence is universally applicable. Foreign wars can not only expand territory and establish prestige, but also weaken the stable rule of samurai forces. Why not?

However, Toyotomi Hideyoshi only formally unified Japan, and the major forces were only temporarily forced to obey his power. He needs a reasonable reason to start the war, otherwise the major forces will not be willing to send troops to provide food, and it is very likely that he will rebel when he is heavily armed. Qin Shihuang had a deep understanding of this point, and bravely unified the whole country after the Sixth World War. However, once the remnants of the six countries rose, the Qin Empire collapsed.

He wants to find a qualified reason to make those forces willing to send troops. He wanted to go to Toyotomi Hideyoshi and decided to tie the major forces together with interests. Japan came to the Central Plains as early as the Tang Dynasty, and Japan has been thinking about the Central Plains since it saw the prosperity of Chang 'an. Toyotomi Hideyoshi's empty promises touched all major forces. According to Han Dongyu's research, Toyotomi Hideyoshi promised to give Katou Kiyomasa "Twenty Countries in the Ming Dynasty" and Caodao Naomao "Daming Territory" with only one purpose-to send troops to invade Korea and sweep the territory of more than 400 states in the Ming Dynasty.

outbreak of war

At first, Japan just wanted to reduce the enemy's weapons by false means, but South Korea knows how serious North Korea's armaments are. If Japan is allowed to pass through Japan, it is very likely that Japan will turn to attack North Korea. Isn't it foolish for an undefended country not to fight? Even if Japan won't attack North Korea, will Daming hate North Korea for lending it to Japan? North Korea has abandoned its weapons for a long time, and neither Japan nor Daming can afford it. In order to survive better, North Korea wants to hug its thighs. Whose thigh are you hugging? This question is simple. One is a huge empire that has been peaceful for a hundred years, and the other is an island country that has just ended troubled times. Everyone knows how to choose. North Korea decided to hold the thigh of the Ming dynasty tightly, so it flatly rejected Japan's request to borrow the road.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was so arrogant that he immediately decided to send troops to North Korea after learning that North Korea had rejected his request. At that time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi mobilized more than 300,000 people and prepared a reserve team (about/kloc-0,000 people), but North Korea was not enough to resist the Japanese. Only one month after the war, North Korea lost its three capitals and the Eighth Route collapsed. In order to resist the Japanese army, the king of South Korea began to ask Daming for help.

"It is possible to die in the kingdom of the son of heaven, but it is impossible to die in the hands of thieves." -Korean King Li Wei.

Daming's invasion-twists and turns

Japan's attack on Korea is very important to Daming. We should know that the small countries in East Asia at that time were basically centered on the Ming Dynasty, and Japan's move was to destroy this order and then establish an order centered on Japan. Once this move is realized, it will be difficult for Daming to control the surrounding forces. So for Daming, the enemy's plan for North Korea is really China, and our soldiers actually rescued North Korea to protect China.

The Ming dynasty decided to send troops, but there was a problem for the Ming dynasty, and that was how to supply grain and grass. This is very important, because the Sui Dynasty perished because it was deeply involved in the Korean battlefield for a long time. Originally, the Ming Dynasty wanted to collect grain on the spot, but there was no grain in North Korea, so the helpless Ming Dynasty asked the central government to directly distribute rations to the Ming army. The Ming army lost its first battle in Korea (Pyongyang was defeated). Zu Chengxun's report mentioned three problems, namely, lack of food and grass, unrealistic military situation and different command rights.

There was no food or grass: at that time, the Ming army relied on the Central Plains to transport rice, which was very difficult because of road problems. The soldiers were starving before the prefect transferred troops in the Ming Dynasty. In order to avoid the defeat caused by the lack of food and grass, the Ming Dynasty began to mobilize Shandong's grain to be transported to the front (the reason why the Ming Dynasty stepped up its reinforcements was that the food and grass were not in place, so it was in batches).

Military intelligence is untrue: this is because North Korea deceived me. There are 10,000 Japanese troops in Pyongyang, but North Korean intelligence only says there are more than 1,000 Japanese troops in Pyongyang. Because the military situation is not true, it leads to misjudgment and defeat. In order to avoid a pit falling twice, the Ming Dynasty had another strategic plan, hoping to crush the Japanese army with absolute superiority and then quickly end the war.

The command is different: the Ming army does not trust the Korean army. During the war, the Korean army often took the lead in escaping, and some people left behind talked with the Japanese army, which was of great significance to defecting to the enemy. Moreover, the monarch and subjects of North Korea always thought that the Ming army could be commanded by North Korean generals, which was ridiculous. Under the leadership of the North Korean monarch and his subjects, North Korea was beaten out of the water in just a few months. Who can rest assured that you can command it? Moreover, the Ming army reported to the court that the Japanese invaders only had iron cannons and swords, but in the war, the Ming army mostly shot with bows and arrows, and it was suspected that the Koreans shot the Ming army. North Korean envoys repeatedly argued that it was possible that North Korean weapons fell into the hands of the Japanese army, or that North Koreans were captured by the Japanese army (either captured or defected as traitors), so bows and arrows shot at the Ming army. Then the dominance of Liaodong army returned to the hands of the Central Military Department of the Ming Dynasty, and then the Ming Dynasty did not consider the North Korean army when making any strategic planning, because the North Korean army was too unreliable.

The first battle was defeated, but neither side wanted to waste their national strength on the Korean battlefield, so they started peace talks. The Ming army sent Shen Weijing to Pyongyang to contact Japan. After the meeting, the two sides put forward the conditions for peace talks.

The Ming Dynasty still had strong strength and retained the inherent "China concept", so the negotiation conditions were relatively strong, as follows:

1: Japan returned all the territory of North Korea.

2. Send the Korean prince back to China.

3. Toyotomi Hideyoshi apologized.

Japan tries to expand its territory by force and wants to establish a new order with Japan as the core, so the conditions are relatively strong, as follows:

1: In the Ming Dynasty, a royal daughter wanted to marry the Japanese emperor as a concubine.

2. Resume the trade between Japan and Ming Dynasty.

Japan and Ming Dynasty exchanged good affidavits.

North Korea cut off four roads to Japan.

5: The prince of Korea is going to Japan as a hostage.

6. North Korean ministers want to swear allegiance to Japan.

There is also a condition that the Ming Dynasty will give titles to Japanese kings. Shen Weijing wrote a letter to the Ming Dynasty, and Japan agreed, but Konishi Yukinaga concealed this condition in the Japanese book, and they fabricated a false lie. It was not until the Ming Dynasty conferred the title of Japanese king that Toyotomi Hideyoshi began to sever ties with others. Because Japan itself wants to change the order with the Ming Dynasty as the core, if this can't be achieved, wouldn't it be in vain before the Korean War? What's more, Japan won its first battle.

Japan made a comeback after refusing peace talks, and North Korea once again ignited the war. The Ming army was prepared and tried its best to reinforce North Korea in the peace talks. Therefore, when the war started, the Ming army won the battle of Jishan, and the Korean army Li Shunchen also won the naval battle in Liang Ming. Originally, the war situation was excellent, but due to Yang Hao's defeat in the Battle of Ulsan, the war situation fell into a quagmire.

1596, Toyotomi Hideyoshi died of illness and ordered the Japanese army to retreat before his death. This time, the core of Japan's war against Korea was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi died. There was no need for Japan to continue to wage war against Korea, and the Korean War finally stopped.

follow-up action

Due to the defeat in the Korean battlefield, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's own army was drastically reduced. If he were still here, he might be able to subdue the malicious warrior, but Toyotomi Hideyoshi is dead. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death, Tokugawa Ieyasu began to fight for power, and finally established the Edo shogunate. Although the Japanese lost the First World War and the Tokugawa shogunate adopted the policy of "closing the country to the outside world", Toyotomi Hideyoshi's thought survived. Japan has been racking its brains to become a powerful country and has been obsessed with external expansion, which is the reason for the crazy expansion of modern Japan.

North Korea was almost destroyed, and its national strength plummeted (the population was less than one-tenth of that before the war, and all industries were abandoned and almost collapsed), but the friendship between China and North Korea went further, so that during the Qing Dynasty, North Koreans were grateful for the reconstruction of the Ming Dynasty.

Although the Ming Dynasty won, it seriously weakened the military strength of Liaodong and other towns. The elite of Liaodong army was almost lost, and the army was reduced by about 60%. Moreover, the huge military expenditure destroyed the economic system of the Ming Dynasty and caused financial chaos. However, the Ming Dynasty won the victory, maintained the suzerain-vassal order with the Ming Dynasty as the core, and left an eternal famous saying: whoever jumps over the beam will be killed if he is strong.

Japan closed its doors to the outside world, North Korea's national strength dropped sharply, and Ming Dynasty's national strength dropped sharply, so East Asia maintained a long-term state of peace. However, in the Ming Dynasty, because of the war, the national strength dropped sharply, and the surrounding ethnic minorities (Nurhachi) also began to rise. Domestic uprisings continue, and powerful foreign enemies are eyeing up. If the Ming dynasty didn't help North Korea, the life span of the Ming empire might be longer, but unfortunately history didn't. This World War I was also the last glory of the Ming Empire, and then the Ming Dynasty lost its former glory.