Let's start with Ryukyu. Ryukyu, now Okinawa, Japan, was not a Japanese territory in history, and for a long time in history, Ryukyu was China's sphere of influence.
In 1372, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang sent an envoy Yang Zai to Ryukyu with an edict, which was called Ryukyu, and "Ryukyu" became the official name of the country. It can be seen from this that even the name of the Ryukyu state was taken by China.
"For the subjects to push Dai, that is, the emperor, there must be the name of the world, Daming, Jianyuan Hongwu, is to send envoys to foreign Yi, to spread the meaning of the emperor, the messenger to the place, the barbarian chieftain called the subject into tribute." However, Ryukyu, in southeast China, is far overseas and has not been known in time. Hereby send a special envoy to the Edict, and he will know it. ”
At that time, there were three kings in Ryukyu, namely the King of Zhongshan, the King of Shannan, and the King of Beishan, and after receiving the edict of the Ming Dynasty, the King of Zhongshan in the Ryukyu Kingdom, Chadu, took the lead in claiming the title of vassal, and sent his brother Taiqi to the Ming Dynasty with Yang Zai to be a vassal. The following year, two other kings also sent emissaries to the Ming Dynasty as vassals.
Because the three kings of Ryukyu attacked each other, resulting in the people's livelihood, Zhu Yuanzhang, after learning of this situation, also issued an edict to mediate:
"The messenger returned from the sea, saying that the three kings of Ryukyu were fighting with each other, abandoning agriculture, and maiming people's lives. It is unbearable to hear. Therefore, they are required to "be able to understand the will, to raise soldiers and raise the people, and to maintain the country."
The last three kings did indeed call off the army. This shows that the Chinese emperor enjoyed a high degree of political authority in Ryukyu at this time, and Ryukyu at that time was actually a vassal state of China.
However, as a vassal state of the Central Plains Dynasty, Ryukyu was changed by Japan in the 1870s, and Japan annexed Ryukyu step by step, but the Qing Dynasty never stopped Japan's aggression. In 1879, Ryukyu was annexed by Japan.
Everyone should pay attention to this point in time, in 1879, japan's strength at this time was still weak, and it did not dare to fight with the Qing Dynasty at all, if the Qing Dynasty sent troops, Japan's conspiracy would inevitably not succeed, but the Qing army did not dare to shoot this first shot, step by step compromise, concession.
By the 1880s, at this time, the Beiyang Marine Division of the Qing Dynasty already had the scale of combat, and should dare to fight. In 1886, the elite warships of the Beiyang Naval Division visited Japan, and after landing in Nagasaki, Japan, the Beiyang sailors clashed with the Japanese armed personnel when they went ashore for a tour, and were besieged by the Japanese police and the people, and the officers and men of the Beiyang Naval Division suffered dozens of casualties.
"Act on the same day to put the Japanese Navy in a bad place."
Lang willi was a standard British naval officer and was known for his strict military discipline. During his tenure, he taught the officers and men of the Beiyang Marine Division to learn the rules and regulations of the British Navy, and the discipline was serious. Lang Weili devoted a lot of effort to the training of the Beiyang Marine Division, showing a strong sense of professional ethics and responsibility. Even Ding Ruchang himself believed: "The foreigners who benefit the most in the water division are Lang Zongcha as the first."
Lang Weili, as the chief instructor, was furious at seeing his soldiers being bullied in Japan, and did not hesitate to order the firing of artillery, but did not get Li Hongzhang's approval.
After the "Nagasaki Incident," Li Hongzhang summoned the Japanese consul in Tianjin Hatano and said to him:
"It's not hard to start a war. Our ships are anchored in your country, and the hulls and guns are indestructible and ready to be put into battle. ”
Li Hongzhang also knew that the Beiyang Naval Division was stronger than the Japanese Navy, but he did not have the courage to dare to go to war. Imagine how pleasant the Beiyang Marine Division would be in history when the Beiyang Marine Division shelled Nagasaki. But this first shell was not fired after all.
On the eve of the Sino-Japanese War, this concession became more pronounced. The Sino-Japanese War did not break out suddenly, and Japan prepared for this for decades, and in Korea alone, the Qing Dynasty played a game with Japan for more than a decade.
Before the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing Dynasty was able to suppress Japan on the Korean Peninsula, especially when the Japanese navy was weak in the 1880s. But the powerful Qing Dynasty made concessions to Japan step by step.
In 1882, Japan acquired the right to send troops and garrison troops in Korea through the Treaty of Jiwupu with Korea. In 1884, Japan and the Qing Dynasty signed the "Special Articles of the Tianjin Conference", which stipulated that Japan could send troops to Korea. The Korean Peninsula was the Qing Dynasty's own sphere of influence, and the Qing Dynasty gave in to it.
So why the Sino-Japanese War started on the Korean Peninsula was the result of the Qing Dynasty's concessions. Because in the game of the Korean Peninsula, the Qing Dynasty, even if it was superior in its own strength, only used repressive means, rather than choosing to completely expel Japan from the Korean Peninsula through a war.
Therefore, the Qing Dynasty's competition with Japan in Korea was a policy of fantasizing about surrendering soldiers without fighting, and it was not until Japan's strength came up and chose to go to war with the Qing army that this confrontation situation was ended. If Japan had not launched the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing Dynasty would have continued to confront Japan in this way, not knowing what year and month.
The Qing Dynasty will not fight, no, suppress the Taiping Rebellion, suppress the Boxers, the Qing Dynasty dares to fight and dare to kill, kill and decide, even the prisoners are killed, but once they are external, they hesitate and fear the tail.
As for Japan, I think we must not get used to it, the Qing Dynasty has always been accustomed to it, and the result is the Sino-Japanese War. History shows that when the Qing Dynasty was strong, it did not take care of Japan, and when Japan was strong, it would decisively choose to go to war with the Qing Dynasty. No, it never considers who fired the first shot, it only thinks about whether the first shot will win, because the winner doesn't care about being blamed.
Therefore, in 2012, when Japan staged the farce of "buying islands", Air Force Colonel Dai Xu said:
"The most typical proof of Chinese's rigid thinking is to entangle who fired the first shot, from the Entanglement of the Lugou Bridge to the present, the Japanese garrison in Beiping, still entangled in this problem, and now it is, Japan has passed the island purchase agreement, it is not the first shot? Do you have to shoot the first shot with a metal barrel? ——From the "Global Network Military Channel Exclusive Interview with Colonel Dai Xu"
Colonel Dai Xu's words were deafening, when it was a matter of national and national righteousness, he should strike when he should strike, especially when his own strength was superior, if the Qing Dynasty had this awareness earlier, there would be no fiasco in the Sino-Japanese War.