Samuel Holly, a Canadian, chronicles of Japan's invasion of Korea during the Ming Dynasty, the Battle of Nongchen, contains a passage documenting Toyotomi Hideyoshi's expansion plans, which is like a pre-edition of tanaka's 1929 sonata. At first glance, it seems to be incompetent and arrogant. However, combined with the historical facts at that time, we cannot help but feel a chill in people's hearts and think that they are the teachers of the future.
Book excerpt "The War of Nongchen", Chapter 9:
All in all, Hideyoshi decided that victory in the Battle of Korea was in sight. He planned to rush to Korea within a few weeks, personally conquer Beijing, and then begin to build a new empire and a new government. Korea will be Japan's fourth "island" after Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, and toyotomi Hidekatsu or Ukita Hidekazu will sit in Seoul (Toyotomi Hidekatsu was the commander of the Ninth Army, who landed on Geoje Island six months later and died of illness there; Ukita Hideka was the commander of the Eighth Army). The current Japanese Sekibai Shuji will be promoted to the Chinese Sekibai, and the vacant Japanese Sekibai will be filled by others, and the successor will rule Japan alone. Emperor Goyōsei will move to the Forbidden City as Emperor of China, and his heir will take over the position of relatively minor Emperor of Japan. Finally, after firmly grasping Japan, Korea, and China, Hideyoshi wanted to further expand his territory and expand his rule into India, around 1594. He did not intend to do the work himself, but wanted to leave it to the daimyo who would stand out in the subsequent conquest of China. They "will be generously granted large tracts of territory on the Indian border, to the glory of conquering India, to open up territory in that vast empire."
This is Hideyoshi's grand plan. His empire would stretch from the northern tip of Honshu to the southern tip of India, from Liaodong and Mongolia in the north, through the Central Plains to the Tibetan Plateau in the east, and to Vietnam, Thailand, Burma and Cambodia in the south. It will include the Philippines outside the mainland, as well as China's Taiwan and Hainan islands. In short, the scope of the Empire encompassed the entire world known to Hideyoshi.
What about Hideyoshi himself? What role will he play in this vast empire, the largest empire ever built? He would stay in Beijing for a while. He then gave way to an agent and moved to the southern port city of Ningbo, the Chinese mainland closest to Japan. "He will stay in that subtropical city forever, manipulating everything behind the scenes in the name of the Etheric Court, he is omnipotent, insightful, and kind," but he can make the big names everywhere bow down."
Toyotomi Hideyoshi's strength came from his great achievements in unifying Japan. And its initial invasion of the dynasty was also quite smooth, and even made the Ming court suspicious:
After the first Korean envoys reported the Japanese invasion to Beijing, the Ming court began to suspect that Korea was playing a secret role in Hideyoshi's plans for aggression. They were suspicious mainly because the Japanese marched on the peninsula at an incredible speed, and it took them only twenty days to complete the journey from Busan to Seoul, which was about four hundred and fifty kilometers. Chinese doubt that the Japanese could not have advanced toward China so quickly without the active assistance of the Koreans.
Fortunately, the famous Korean general Li Shunchen severely damaged the Japanese water army, and the Ming Dynasty sent Li Rusong and other famous generals to aid Korea, which was able to reverse the situation. However, the war continued for seven years, and North Korea suffered years of military disasters, the people were devastated, and the country's strength was in a state of collapse. As a result, China and Japan have also changed the direction of their political situation.
Due to the loss of the elite of Liaozhen, the Ming Dynasty was unable to attack the Houjin forces in the short term, and could only sit back and watch Nurhaci grow stronger and stronger, and finally posed a fatal threat to the Ming Dynasty.
The Toyotomi clique of Japan was seriously wounded in this war, and was defeated by Tokugawa Ieyasu in the later Battle of Sekigahara, and Japan entered the Tokugawa shogunate era.
However, although Toyotomi Hideyoshi's expansion plan was thwarted, many Japanese arrogants went crazy and continued to advocate it, resulting in the increasingly rampant Japanese idea of foreign expansion in the following 300 years. Later, the Sino-Japanese War, the occupation of The Dynasty and the annexation of Taiwan, to the full-scale invasion of China, were all affected by this.
Objectively speaking, Japan's defeat in several wars of aggression has some external factors in addition to China's own strength. The Ming Dynasty's War ended with the sudden death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The War of Resistance, which lasted more than seventy years ago, was supported by the great powers of the United States and the Soviet Union. This gives the Japanese right-wingers an excuse to continue to have illusions. Although Japan is a small country, once it is wrapped up in ambitionists, its energy cannot be underestimated, and the disaster caused to various countries can be described as profound. Lessons from the past must not be overlooked.
Today, we must have a sober mind, neither as closed and ignorant as the Ming Dynasty, without any precautions; nor can we be as dim-witted and incompetent as the government at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and we must also prevent the recurrence of the scattered sand of the Republic of China period and give the other side an opportunity to take advantage of it.
Put down the shelf of the old empire and continuously improve our capabilities with an open and humble mind. At the same time, we should always be vigilant, improve our intelligence-gathering capabilities, and train our troops for battle at any time.
On the other hand, it is necessary to study well from the ancestors of the Warring States period, do a good job in diplomatic work, and form a favorable situation for us in the vertical and horizontal situation, so as to achieve the effect of subjugating the army without a fight.
Think of danger in times of peace, do not forget the previous lessons!