What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
In 1368, zhu Yuanzhang, after defeating various peasant rebels, ascended the throne as emperor at Yingtian (present-day Nanjing), established the Ming Dynasty, and ended the rule of the Yuan Dynasty. For a long time to come, the Ming army did not stop the pace of conquest, because the Mongol army in the north had not been completely destroyed, and Sichuan, Guangxi, Gansu, Yunnan and other places had not been completely conquered.
As early as the Tang Dynasty, Japan had been eyeing our country, but because the Tang army was too fierce, in the Battle of Baijiangkou, it completely annihilated the Japanese army at that time, and they did not dare to think differently for hundreds of years, and they have always been subservient and subject, and they must also come to pay tribute regularly.
In the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, uprisings broke out in various places, and at this time, Japan saw the chaotic situation in China and began to have a disobedience. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, sent emissaries to Japan for two main purposes. The first is to let the Japanese Emperor discipline the Wokou well; Second, according to the old rules of the previous dynasties, obediently came to pay tribute to the subjects.
At that time, Japan was in a period of chaos, and when it learned the purpose of the envoys of the Ming Dynasty, they did not dare to treat them well, and killed five of them on the spot, and locked up the remaining two envoys before being released a few months later. One of the emissaries who was released was named Yang Zai, who cried and denounced the arrogance of the Japanese to Ming Taizu, hoping that the emperor would send troops to teach The Japanese a lesson.
Zhu Yuanzhang was very angry, thinking that the little Japanese dared to kill Daming's emissaries, which was definitely a kind of face-punching behavior. Surprisingly, after the anger, Zhu Yuanzhang calmed down, he believed that the world had just been calmed down, it was not appropriate to have another major war, and he should adopt a policy of recuperation and recuperation, and forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart.
In the second year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang, after careful consideration, ordered the compilation of the "Ancestral Training of the Emperor Ming", and stipulated in the ancestral training 15 countries that were not conquered, the first being Korea and the second being Japan. For why not to conquer Korea, this is very easy to understand, after all, at that time Korea has always been a vassal state, subservient to the Ming Dynasty, such an obedient little brother, the Ming Dynasty will not only not be requisitioned, but also cover it, such as the Anti-Japanese Aid Korea during the Wanli Period, which is a typical example of the big brother coming out for the little brother.
At this time, Japan was so disrespectful to the Ming Dynasty that it openly killed the Ming dynasty envoys, why didn't Zhu Yuanzhang send troops to destroy it? Some people say that during the time of Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty, the two major conquests of Japan ended in failure, and Zhu Yuanzhang was afraid of repeating Kublai Khan's mistakes, not only did he not consult during his reign, but also warned future generations not to send troops to attack Japan in the future.
In the fourth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict explaining why he listed Japan as a country without conquest, and the content of the edict was as follows: "In the country of overseas barbarians, those who are afflicted with China must not be displored; Not for Chinese patients, do not rise to the occasion. The ancients said that the vastness of the land is not a measure of long-term peace, and the people's labor is the source of chaos. For example, the Sui Dynasty Emperor vainly revived the brigade, conquered Ryukyu, killed yiren, burned its palace, and captured thousands of men and women. To have land is not enough to supply, to gain its people, not enough to make orders. Vainly seeking a false name, self-inflicted in Middle-earth, and recorded in the annals of history for posterity. The barbarians and small countries, obstructing the mountains and crossing the sea, are secluded in a corner, and they are not Chinese patients, and they will never cut them down. However, in the northwest, Hu Rong, the world is a plague for China, and it is necessary not to be careful with the ears. ”
That is to say, in the eyes of Zhu Yuanzhang, the ming emperor, Japan was a small country with a bullet and a remote corner, and it posed no threat to China, so he decided not to go on conquest. If Zhu Yuanzhang knew that hundreds of years later, Japan had launched the Sino-Japanese War and the War of Aggression against China, it is estimated that he would have regretted his original decision very much.