In the twentieth year of the Ming Dynasty, in the first year of the Japanese Bunlu (1592 AD), after Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan, he brazenly launched an attack on Korea. Within a month, Korea was lost, and the King of Korea had to flee to the Yalu River to seek help from the Ming Dynasty, and then the Ming army entered Korea, and the war continued until the end of 1598, that is, the twenty-sixth year of the Wanli Calendar, and the third year of Japan's Kyaw Cho. Ming called the War of Resistance against The Wu dynasty and one of the three major marches of the Wanli Calendar, which japan called the Battle of Wenlu Qingchang, and the Koreans called the Nongchen Rebellion.
The details of the war are not much to say, because the duration is too long, and there are too many historical materials, the same thing, there are three countries historical records, want to write clearly, there are not tens of thousands of words can not come down. Today, I will only talk about the Sino-Japanese peace talks, because the strangeness of this peace talk and the bizarre plot are unique in the historical scope, which can be said to be a large-scale nonsense absurd drama.
The Ming Dynasty did not think so at first, only sent a thousand people into the DPRK, the result of course was a fiasco, and later sent two thousand more people, still a fiasco, which made it feel that the matter was serious, so it urgently dispatched Li Rusong, the general of Shanxi, to rescue him quickly.
Li Rusong was the son of the famous general Li Chengliang, and all of his subordinates were the private soldiers of the Li family, the strongest troop in the Ming Dynasty at that time, and also a firefighter. At the same time as the army was dispatched, the imperial court issued a decree to recruit talents, declaring that "if you can recover Korea, you will be granted the hereditary title of earl." ”
This is because it is too unfamiliar with Japan, let alone familiar, not even those who understand Japanese, so the Manchu Dynasty wenwu no one applied, and finally had to relax the selection of materials to the people. A Jiaxing man, Shen Weijing, volunteered to be a guerrilla general, and Shi Xing, the head of the military department, was given the title of a guerrilla general and sent to the Korean front to take charge of peace talks.
Since Li Rusong entered the DPRK, the Korean war situation was suddenly reversed, and the Ming army was like a broken bamboo, from the Yalu River to Pyongyang in one breath. Lee Rusong arrived in Korea on December 25, 1592, Pyongyang on January 7, 1593, and Kaesong on the 19th. In just twenty days, most of Korea's territory was recovered, and King Li Fu was able to move back to the palace of Pyongyang without having to hide in Tibet.
So why did the Ming Dynasty still want peace talks? It was because the front fought too smoothly, Li Rusong was a bit of a light enemy, light troops ventured forward, and as a result, he was ambushed by the Japanese army at the Biheguan and suffered the first defeat since entering the DPRK, this battle was not large, but the morale of the Ming army was seriously frustrated.
Li Rusong found that the North Koreans were all nonsense. The King of Korea first reported that the Japanese army was only a small group of enemies and was not afraid, so Daming did not take it seriously at all, and sent a pitiful number of soldiers, although he paid attention to it later, he did not think too much. When Li Rusong finished fighting the BihouGuan, he found that the Japanese army was a small share, which was simply an overwhelming numerical advantage.
What were the number of the first Japanese troops invading Korea in the first year of Wenlu? Nine armies, a total of 158,700 people, and how many people is Li Rusong? Li Jiajun's army of 43,000, plus sporadic reinforcements, was no more than 60,000 people at most, not even half of the other side.
The Japanese are small, and the field battles are not at all the opponents of the Li family army, such as the battle losses in Pyongyang, which were as high as 1:15 compared with the Ming army. Li Rusong only took three thousand people with him at the Bihou Pavilion, was besieged by tens of thousands of Japanese troops, and finally escaped, so the difference in numbers was not a big problem.
The problem is that the Japanese have learned to be obedient since then, and they are determined not to fight in the field, but instead use obstinate consumption, which is very troublesome. Familiar with Japanese history knows that during the Japanese Sengoku period, since the beginning of Oda Nobunaga, a large number of arquebusiers were promoted, they were called iron cannons, although the power range was limited, but it was a bit of a headache to defend the castle.
The big trouble brought about by the war of attrition was supply, as soon as The DPRK came up, it was crushed, the whole country fell, and for a time there was no regular army, and it could only organize a militia to resist, so when entering the Ming army, it was not only necessary to carry the head to fight, but also to solve the grain and grass by itself.
There are many things that even if North Korea wants to solve them, it does not have them, such as the large artillery ammunition that the Ming Army lacks the most. The Japanese army was prepared, Toyotomi Hideyoshi planned for several years, the entire island of Kyushu as a base camp, moved all Of Japan's materials, in order to solve the transportation, Japanese historical records, only logging shipbuilding, a one-time construction of 2,000 ships.
Kyushu and North Korea are only separated by a strait, and Tsushima Island is only a few feet away, once japan made up its mind to stick to the seaside stronghold, Li Rusong iron riding no matter how strong, can not go into the water to kill the enemy, so once the war situation falls into attrition, the Ming army is a little weak.
When Shen Weijing first arrived in North Korea, Li Rusong thought that he was purely farting, and he almost beheaded him, but after the battle, Bijieguan in turn supported him in peace talks.
However, the Ming Dynasty wanted to negotiate peace, and the biggest problem was that it misjudged the intentions of the Japanese army, and the Ming Dynasty thought from the beginning to the end that the Japanese had come to make a reward. They felt that Japan was similar to the nomadic tribes in the northwest, and that if they gave a little reward, they would retreat, and there was no need to toss to death.
Ming officials believed that Japan wanted nothing more than two things, the first title, the second tribute, that is, the title of Toyotomi Hideyoshi a Japanese king, plus allowing tribute. Therefore, we must correctly understand the Lord and the Faction, but anyone with a normal brain will feel that for these conditions, there is no need to fight for a long time and transport materials and grain to Korea, how much silver does it cost?
Even so, the Ming Dynasty was still unwilling, believing that titles could be given, and tribute was not allowed, because tribute was to exchange local specialties for silver, and the Japanese were too rude to do so. Basically, the focus of the debate between the lord and the main war faction has been arguing endlessly around whether to give tribute to the court.
But what is Japan's real intention? Toyotomi Hideyoshi was ambitious, not to fight Korea, but to destroy the Ming Dynasty.
In the state letter sent to North Korea by Hideyoshi before the war, he called himself a "man of the world", claiming that everything "within reach of the sun" was within his jurisdiction, and his demands on North Korea explicitly demanded "false ways to enter the light".
After the Japanese army first captured Wangjing Hancheng, Hideyoshi excitedly announced the Twenty-Five Plans. The plan mentions that Emperor Goyo-sung moved to Beijing to become Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and his brother Toyotomi Hideji served as the Ming Dynasty Guanbai, using the hundreds of countries around Beijing as a territory, and Korea awarded Habu Hidekatsu or Ukita Hideka.
Note: The country is the state capital, the so-called land of a country in ancient Japan, equivalent to our one state or prefecture, that is, the jurisdiction of the prefect of Zhizhou, so Japan also has a China, which means the central area of Honshu Island.
Guan Bai can be understood as the prime minister, the head of the Japanese civil officials. The Japanese emperor has no name and no power, and the power is controlled by Guan Bai or the great general. If Sekibai was in power, its organ was the cabinet, so Sekibai was also called Taikaku; if the shogun was in power, the institution was called the shogunate, such as the Tokugawa shogunate.
Where does Toyotomi Hideyoshi go? He intended to sit in Ningbo and control all of East and Southeast Asia as a center.
Note: Ningbo was the only officially licensed foreign trade port of the Ming Dynasty and the largest trading center.
A good Spring and Autumn dream, this can be regarded as the earliest version of the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Circle", I heard that the Ming Dynasty wanted peace talks, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's request was:
One, the Ming Dynasty married a princess and an emperor;
ii. Resumption of survey trade;
3. Return the four Gyeonggi Provinces of Korea and the remaining four provinces to Japan;
Fourth, North Korea sends a prince as a hostage;
5. The two princes who were captured by Japan;
Sixth, the North Korean minister vowed never to betray;
Seventh, tomorrow the military attache will always make an alliance.
The ming dynasty gave the condition, "If you immediately evacuate Korea and apologize for your sins, you may consider making you a King of Japan." ”
Both sides regard themselves as the boss, compared with the conditions of both sides, clear-eyed people know that there is no way to talk about it, but some people almost talked about it, so the most incredible and most bizarre scene in history began.
What kind of person is Shen Weijing? Many sources say that he is a patriot, which is not true. Shen Weijing participated in the Jiangnan War in his early years and saved Hu Zongxian, but later he did business with the Japanese, so he was proficient in Japanese and knew a lot about Japan.
Shen Weijing was fifty-five years old when he applied for the list, and his business went bankrupt and he lived in Beijing. Therefore, he went to peace talks, patriotism is only one of them, and he wants to turn around in one fell swoop, and the fundamental reason for getting promoted and getting rich is the fundamental reason.
As for the Japanese army, as soon as they fought with the Ming army, many people immediately understood that Toyotomi Hideyoshi's plan was simply a fool's dream, not to mention the annexation of the Ming Dynasty, and even Korea was a mirror flower. There are only tens of thousands of Ming troops entering the DPRK, and they have already beaten them bitterly for days, and it is conceivable that the further north they go, the closer they are to the Ming Dynasty's territory, the toughness of the Ming army will increase exponentially.
But this could not be reported to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and he would not listen to it, and to fight in Korea was itself a two birds with one stone for Hideyoshi.
Japan is not a centralized system, its model is similar to the Zhou Dynasty, it is a standard feudal system. The emperor has a name, and Guan Bai does not directly manage all the land. The basis of the Japanese political power is the daimyō, the daimyō is also called the lord of the country, the power is similar to the emissary of the festival, they own the land and the family, they are loyal to Guan Bai, in the face of war, they lead the army to fight, not only out of the people, even weapons, equipment and food must be self-financing.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi's so-called unification of Japan only openly won all the daimyo allegiance, which is not the same as our concept of unification. During the Sengoku period in Japan, the major names actively developed their armed forces, many of whom were powerful, and the Warring States was a popular era of "lower Kagami", and the enemies of the Toyotomi family were not only from the outside.
This is just like Emperor Tang Ming ordered An Lushan to attack foreign countries, although winning a war is good, losing a fight is not necessarily a bad thing. No matter how strong the Ming Dynasty army was, it would not cross the sea to hit the Japanese mainland, so Hideyoshi had no fear, won him to establish immortal merits, and it was not painful to lose him, and it was not his people who died.
But it was a different matter for the Japanese generals, they were all daimyōs. All the japanese people are soldiers, ploughing the fields in peacetime, fighting wars and becoming soldiers, and the so-called samurai are all officials. Running across the sea to North Korea for several years means that there is a lot of labor in the hometown, and the war will kill people, and it will cost silver like water, and the days will pass day by day, and these daimyo will be more heart-wrenching than cutting meat.
Therefore, Shen Weijing went to the Japanese army camp to talk, and the two sides almost hit it off. The Japanese withdrew from Seoul and retreated to the southern coastal strongholds, and asked the Ming Dynasty to send emissaries to Japan to interview Hideyoshi.
The operational commander of the Ming army was Li Rusong, and there was also a slight envoy, Song Yingchang, who was in charge of other affairs. Song immediately sent two advisers to Japan for negotiations.
Although Hideyoshi solemnly entertained the envoy, he was a little rude in his mouth, and put forward the above seven conditions, I don't know whether the emissary did not understand, or Song Yingchang concealed it, in short, the Wanli Emperor only received a report that "Guan Bai is extremely respectful and wishes to follow the Heavenly Dynasty".
This misunderstanding can be big, that is to say, the initiator is Song Yingchang, if it were not for his first problem here, there would not be so many things behind.
The general in charge of the negotiations of the Japanese army was called Governor Konishi, who was a daimyō but a businessman, and Shen Weijing was also a businessman. The two merchants got together, thinking about how to make money, Shen Weijing wanted to get promoted and get rich, governor Xiaoxi was bent on withdrawing his troops, for him, fighting with the Ming army was far less affordable than doing business with the Ming Dynasty. Song Yingchang did this, he gave the two people full imagination space, the next thing the two do, in a word, no they can't do it, only you can't think of it.
The Ming Dynasty sent emissaries, and Toyotomi also sent emissaries to visit back, who? Konishi Fei (real name Isuan Naito). Just by looking at the name, you know that he has an unusual relationship with Governor Konishi, but Konishi did not go immediately, and he waited in Korea for a year and a half before waiting for the Ming Dynasty to enter the customs.
Why did you wait so long, that is, as I said earlier, the Ming Dynasty has been arguing endlessly on the issue of tribute, but tribute is not the key to the problem at all, the Ming Dynasty does not know, Toyotomi Hideyoshi does not know, both sides are in the dark, the only ones who know the inside story are Shen Weijing and President Xiaoxi.
They understood that the difference between the two sides was thousands of miles, and it was impossible to pee into a pot. Xiao Xifei waited for a year and a half, and also gave them enough time to think about it, and finally really came up with a solution for them. What to do? Forgery of documents. To say that Shen Weijing can really fool, And President Konishi is also true and sincere, the two of them are just so flickering, one is fooled, and they toss out a forged "Guan Bai Descending Table".
Toyotomi Hideyoshi did not know at all, he was waiting for Xiao Xifei to bring back the good news of the surrender of the Ming Dynasty, but in fact, Xiao Xifei and Governor Xiao Xi had already surrendered for him.
The Ming Dynasty had not yet finished discussing the matter, during which the Koreans sent emissaries to cry that the Japanese army had besieged Jinzhou and slaughtered 60,000 people, which caused Wanli to be furious, and the main war faction once had the upper hand. In fact, the main war faction only advocated a small lesson for the Japanese army, and no one thought of fighting for so long.
During this period, jingjing also changed several stubble people, first Gu Yangqian replaced Song Yingchang, and then replaced by Sun Min. Sun Min was a master and faction, and as soon as he arrived in Korea, he put pressure on the DPRK to report as appropriate, which meant that he should speak carefully, and the governor also tried his best to restrain the Japanese army, and then the Korean emissaries really changed their words to be obedient and asked for tribute for Japan.
At this time, Shen Weijing brought a surrender letter and lowered his voice, saying: "(Japan) is a vassal of the fence, and will always pay tribute to the sea state." ”
Wanli Emperor Long Yan Dayue finally approved Xiao Xifei to fly into the Capital, and Xiao Xifei, at the behest of the governor, was actually mostly Shen Weijing's idea, and even swore an oath to the ming dynasty. The Wanli Emperor was photographed comfortably, seeing that the Japanese were so sensible, no one cared about paying tribute or not, so he issued a holy decree, appointing Li Zongcheng, the Marquis of Linhuai, as the right envoy, and Yang Fangxiang as the deputy envoy, and Shen Weijing accompanied him and immediately went to Japan to be canonized.
On the thirtieth day of the first month of the twenty-third year of the Wanli Calendar (1595), the delegation set out from Beijing and embarked on a road that was destined to be extremely difficult and tortuous.
On April 19, the Ming delegation arrived in Korea first, and President Konishi was solemnly received in a Ming dynasty crown dress. The mission made a request that Japan must withdraw its troops before it could go to Japan to pronounce the edict.
This is a bit difficult to handle, and if you want the Japanese to withdraw, you must agree with Hideyoshi. So the president first returned to Japan, and he didn't know how he fooled, Hideyoshi was overjoyed, praised him a lot, actually approved, it seemed to be with Shen Weijing, did not learn this kung fu less.
In June, the governor returned to Busan and showed Hideyoshi's warrants, but there were also main war factions and main peace factions in the Japanese army, and even if the white hand was concerned, the main war faction was delayed. It can be seen from this that the Japanese system is not too strong at all, and it is no wonder that Governor Konishi and others dare to hide the sky and cross the sea.
By November, the main battle faction of the Japanese army still did not move, and according to the impatient Shi Xing, Li Zongcheng asked Li Zongcheng to act as soon as possible, so Li Zongcheng came to the Japanese camp in Busan in December, and Governor Konishi immediately reported Hideyoshi.
Hideyoshi gave instructions and allowed the envoy to go to Japan first, but Shen Weijing asked Li Zongcheng to wait first, and he would first explore the truth and make a point.
At the beginning of the twenty-fourth year of the Wanli Calendar (1596), Shen Weijing and Governor Konishi crossed the sea first, carrying a large number of gifts, all of which were good things that Japan did not have, such as python jade belts, winged crowns, map martial arts, and three hundred good horses. Gifts were given before the negotiation, and sure enough, the merchant style was authentic.
The two of them had been gone for several months, and before they could return, Li Zongcheng ran away first. Li Zongcheng lived in the Japanese army camp, and the Real Demand of the Japanese Army could not be concealed, and gradually understood that this peace talk was a farce at all, let alone successful, and the head could not be saved. Li Zongcheng and his cronies summed up, this errand could not be done, run, take advantage of the fact that people did not pay attention, a cigarette ran back to Seoul.
Shen Weijing and the president's side had not yet been arranged, and the Ming Dynasty was running away, which really made people cry and laugh. It is reasonable to say that when it comes to this, this farce should also end, no, the next is the moment to witness the miracle.
Li Zongcheng went back to report the seven demands of Hideyoshi one by one, and the Ming court immediately issued a letter to question, but Shen Weijing made up a perfect lie, not only exposing the matter, but also arresting Li Zongcheng.
Shen Weijing said this, "Guan Bai, in order to show his gratitude, built a pavilion and rebuilt the big city, so it took a lot of time. What Li Zongcheng said was gossip, and over time, it was easy to breed rumors. Li Zongcheng accepted bribes from the Japanese army and wanted to deliberately provoke contradictions between the two countries and sabotage the peace talks, which was a heinous crime, and he hoped that the imperial court would severely punish him. ”
In order to meet the envoy, he built a large number of construction projects in Fushimi Castle, but an earthquake ruined all his efforts, so he had to change the meeting place to Osaka, and the date was set for September 2.
This perfect lie really spooked Wanli, Shen Weijing was fine, Li Zongcheng was arrested and imprisoned, but what if he didn't have it? He simply promoted him on the spot, and proposed that the deputy envoy Yang Fangxiang be the right envoy, while Shen Weijing was the deputy envoy.
When the date of the meeting finally arrived, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, in order to boast, specially invited the seven big men led by Tokugawa Ieyasu to witness, that is, the seven most powerful daimyo in Japan. Hideyoshi never expected that his careful operation was not to show off, but to be ugly in public.
Osaka Castle Tower
On the day of the meeting, because he did not see the Korean prince accompanying him, he waited for a long time for Hideyoshi to appear. The mission only shen weijing knew Japanese, so he presided over the whole process, and the entourage looked at it inexplicably. Obviously, he said that he would come to the reward, but Shen Weijing prostrated his head to the recipient, and Yang Fangxiang and others were confused, and thought that the Japanese practice was like this, so they had to follow the prostration.
After prostrating his head and not holding a ceremony for the canonization, Shen Weijing handed over the edict documents and the golden seal crown, and this matter was completed.
The next day Hideyoshi set up a banquet to entertain the envoys, Tokugawa Ieyasu and other big men dressed in ming dynasty clothing to accompany them, and after the banquet Hideyoshi ordered someone to translate and read the Ming Dynasty edicts, although Governor Konishi confessed in advance, "If you are displeased with the letter, please omit it." But the translator is not as bold as he is, translating truthfully.
When he read "Tefenger is the king of Japan", Hideyoshi's face was red, his body was trembling, and he grabbed the book and shouted: "Is there any reason, Lao Tzu was originally the king of Japan, why use Daming to seal me, didn't you say that I should be crowned as the King of Daming?" ”
What fooled Hideyoshi was that the Ming Dynasty sent someone to surrender and recognize Hideyoshi as the King of Daming.
At this point, this earth-shattering scam has finally reached the point where it cannot be put on. An enraged Hideyoshi wants to behead Konishi, but Konishi takes out the Three Letters (referring to Ishida Sansei, Masuda Nagamori, and Otani Yoshiji). The Japanese official position, each responsible for a certain aspect, can be understood as Shangshu), is said to be acting at their behest.
Although Governor Konishi avoided the scourge of killing himself, Shen Weijing and others were expelled on the spot, and the Japanese army immediately increased its troops and attacked Korea again. After Shen Weijing returned to China, Wan Li was equally angry, and ordered Shen Weijing to be beheaded and abandoned the city, Shi Xing was dismissed from his post and imprisoned, Yang Fangxiang was never hired, and the only one who escaped the disaster was Li Zongcheng, who escaped.
The Ming Dynasty did not hesitate any longer, dispatched troops to the Korean battlefield, and after the Ming army increased its troops, it completely grasped the initiative on the battlefield, and the Japanese army could only rely on danger to hold on. A year later, in October 1598, Toyotomi Hideyoshi fell ill and died, and the Japanese army lost its fighting spirit and withdrew one after another, and the six-year War of Resistance against Japan and Aid Korea finally ended.
Later generations of historians have guessed the motives of Shen Weijing and others from various aspects, explaining one pass after another, and I think this matter is very simple to say. Shen Weijing was a commoner, he had never been an official, he did not understand the court's behavior, nor did he understand the procedures for peace talks between the two countries. Perhaps he thought that the so-called peace talks would be done as soon as the emissaries of the two sides signed it.
Governor Konishi was Japanese, and it was even more impossible to understand the Ming Dynasty system, so Shen Weijing believed in the river, and Governor Konishi believed it to be true. It's not that the president is bold, it's just that a lie needs to be made up by many lies, not to mention that the peace talks between the two countries are such a big thing, once they are dragged into the water by Shen Weijing, they can't help themselves.
Shen Weijing saw that the Japanese generals were playing with the regiment, and a sense of satisfaction suddenly emerged, plus Shi Xing and others also did their best to cooperate for the sake of fame and fortune, so the direction of this matter gradually fell into the palm of Shen Weijing's hand.
As mentioned earlier, he is a bankrupt businessman, and he is over fifty years old, which may be his last chance to turn around, and it is an opportunity to double countless times, and the carp jumps the dragon gate. Businessmen have gambling genes in their bones, and if he is not bankrupt, it is related to excessive gambling, how can he not be moved in the face of such a profitable opportunity?
History was thus changed by a small person, and without Shen Weijing, Japan would still withdraw its troops, and it would have been withdrawn earlier, because it would not have been able to defeat the Ming army at all. The Japanese army was not monolithic internally, and they themselves would find a way to persuade Hideyoshi that at least the war would be controlled within a certain range.
However, after such a disturbance, both sides finally lost their temper, and Hideyoshi attacked the dynasty again in the first year of the Qing dynasty, sending more troops, and the Ming Dynasty also increased its troops to 110,000 and dispatched sailors to participate.
Yellow is the Tokugawa Ieyasu school, and blue is the Ishida Sansei school
This war seriously affected the historical direction of the three countries. The reputation of the Toyotomi clan was damaged, and Governor Konishi and Sanbuyuki broke with the main war faction, and a few years later Tokugawa Ieyasu attacked the Toyotomi family, and the main war faction joined the Tokugawa side, and only a few people, including Konishi governor Ishida Sansei, remained to defend the Toyotomi family. In the end, the Tokugawa side won and created the Tokugawa shogunate, while the Toyotomi family was killed without a descendant.
North Korea's national strength fell to the bottom, and after the rise of the Jurchens, Guang Haijun hesitated between the Ming Dynasty and the Jurchens, indebted to the Ming Dynasty, and had to pay back, but the Jurchens were too powerful to fight. He hesitated and hesitated, causing dissatisfaction on both sides, and was eventually overthrown and invaded by the Jurchens, and was forced to become a Jurchen vassal.
The Ming Dynasty lost a large number of elite Guanning iron horses, and was no longer able to suppress the Jurchens. When the Japanese army entered Korea, it once attacked Haixi, eliminated more than twenty Haixi Jurchens by the way, and helped Nurhaci complete the great cause of unifying Jurchens.