Japan is a neighbor of the mainland, and the two countries are separated by a vast ocean. Ancient science and technology were backward, and it was difficult to expedition to Japan, so when the ancient emperors of the mainland opened up their territories, they would automatically filter out Japan. After Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he also left a testament, designating Japan as a "country that does not conquer", and asked his descendants not to conquer Japan, but these three emperors in ancient times on the mainland had planned to destroy Japan?
1. Yang Guang, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty
Emperor Yang of Sui was a belligerent emperor.
Emperor Yang of Sui, the second son of Emperor Wen of Sui, served as the marshal of the army during his reign as King of Jin, leading his troops south to attack the state of Chen. With the help of Gao Gong, Han Baohu, He Ruobi and others, Emperor Yang of Sui destroyed the Chen State and made great contributions. After that, Emperor Yang of Sui won the favor of Emperor Wen of Sui and Empress Dugu Jialuo because of his pretense of frugal life and love between husband and wife, and finally Yang Jian deposed the crown prince Yang Yong and established Yang Guang as the crown prince.
In 604, Emperor Wen of Sui died and was succeeded by Yang Guang.
After becoming the emperor of the Great Sui, Yang Guang stopped pretending, he lived a luxurious life, rejoiced in great achievements, and was reckless in military force. During the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui, the Quartet surrendered and honored him as the "Sage Khan". Yang Guang, in order to make the Quartet submit to him, launched many wars, among which Goguryeo was a thorn in the head and had always been unwilling to submit to the Sui Dynasty. Yang Guang decided to personally lead his troops to conquer Goguryeo, eliminate Goguryeo and raise the prestige of the Great Sui State.
During this period, Emperor Tuigu of Japan wrote a letter of state to Emperor Yang of Sui, which said: "The Son of Heaven is safe from sunrise to the day of the book." Although it was a simple greeting, the Japanese emperor compared himself to the son of sunrise and Emperor Yang of Sui to the son of sunset, which was a humiliation in the eyes of the emperor of the great power, Emperor Yang of Sui, who was very angry and scolded Japan as a "belligerent and insatiable country" in his reply.
At that time, Emperor Yang of Sui was leading his troops to attack Goguryeo, and he couldn't spare troops, otherwise, with his character, he might have sent troops to attack Japan.
Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty made three expeditions to Goguryeo, using millions of troops and laborers, and spending a lot of material and financial resources, but he never succeeded in eliminating Goguryeo, but the people were burdened with a heavy burden, complained, and raised troops against the Sui, and finally overthrew the Sui Dynasty. Emperor Yang of Sui, who was determined to establish a great cause and immortal achievements, also became the king of the fallen country. However, if Emperor Yang of Sui did not attack Goguryeo and attacked Japan, the outcome may be just as tragic.
Second, Tang Gaozong Li Zhi
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Goguryeo, located on the present-day Korean Peninsula, was regarded as a threat to itself. During the reign of Emperor Yang of Sui, he conquered Goguryeo three times, but all failed. After Li Shimin became emperor, he did not learn the lesson of Emperor Yang of Sui's defeat and sent troops to attack Goguryeo.
During the reign of Emperor Gojong of the Tang Dynasty, in addition to Goguryeo, there were two countries on the Korean Peninsula, Baekje and Silla. Goguryeo and Baekje were allies, so the Tang Dynasty chose to join forces with Silla. When faced with the powerful Tang army, Baekje knew that he was no match for the Tang army and turned to Japan for help. The Japanese emperor sent 40,000 soldiers and horses and 1,000 warships to help Baekje, and the Tang army was inferior in numbers with only 13,000 men and 180 warships, but the Tang army used flexible tactics and sophisticated weapons to defeat the Japanese army in the Battle of Baekekou with less.
After the defeat, Japan finally realized the huge gap between itself and the Tang army, and no longer dared to oppose the Tang Dynasty, and began to send an envoy to the Tang Dynasty to reconcile with the Tang Dynasty. After Japan withdrew, in 660, the Soviets destroyed Baekje. In 668, Yi Tao defeated Goguryeo.
3. Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty
Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan and his descendants destroyed more than 40 countries, including the Tatar tribe, the Hongjira tribe, the Kereh tribe, the Western Liao, the Western Xia, the Khorezm, the Abbasid dynasty, the Murayi kingdom, and the Ayyubid dynasty, and established a powerful Mongol empire.
Kublai Khan was the 5th Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. By the time he became the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, the Mongol Empire had already split into several khanates, including the Golden Horde, the Chagatai Khanate, the Ogedai Khanate, and the Ilkhanate, which were de facto independent and not under the jurisdiction of Kublai Khan.
Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty in the territory under his control.
After Kublai Khan became emperor, he sent envoys to the surrounding small states to make them submit to him and pay tribute to the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, Japan was in the Kamakura shogunate period. The Kamakura shogunate had a good relationship with the Southern Song regime, so Japan categorically refused to pay tribute to the Yuan dynasty.
Prior to this, the Mongol cavalry had been invincible all over the world, which made Kublai Khan mistakenly believe that the Mongol cavalry could easily defeat the Japanese army. In 1274, Kublai Khan sent an army of 25,000 men from Goryeo on the Korean Peninsula on an expedition to Japan. The Yuan army, with the help of the Goryeo army, successfully captured the islands of Falklands and Iki, and prepared to march towards the island of Kyushu. During this period, the Yuan army encountered fierce resistance from the Japanese army, and a major battle broke out between the two sides. The Yuan army, which had fought all over the world, was obviously stronger in combat, and they defeated the Japanese army and occupied Hakata Bay.
At this time, the situation in Japan was already very dangerous, and it was likely to be destroyed by the Yuan army. Unfortunately, Japan did not die, and that night, a typhoon blew in Hakata Bay, and most of the warships of the Yuan army were destroyed by the typhoon, resulting in heavy losses. After the Yuan army was unable to fight any longer, it could only withdraw its troops and failed in the conquest.
In 1281, Kublai Khan sent 100,000 troops and hundreds of warships from Silla and Zhejiang to attack Japan in two ways, hoping to destroy Japan in one fell swoop. At this time, the Yuan Dynasty was more prepared, and originally thought that the odds of victory were in hand and that Japan could be eliminated. Who would have thought that before the Yuan army reached the Japanese army, it encountered a typhoon on the way, and many warships were destroyed by strong winds and buried at the bottom of the sea, which made the Yuan army suffer heavy losses. The rest of the soldiers arrived in Japan, but exhausted, demoralized, defeated by well-prepared Japanese troops and returned in a crushing defeat.
After two failed conquests, Kublai Khan gave up attacking Japan. During the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang also designated Japan as a "country not to be conquered".