For a long time, there has been a saying that Saigo Takamori advocated Japanese military expansion and suggested sending troops to attack the Korean Kingdom. This move was opposed by the Meiji government in Japan, and because the plan could not be passed, Saigo Takamori resigned in anger, along with hundreds of government officials and military officers, known as the Meiji Six-Year Coup. Historians throughout the ages have believed that Saigo Takamori was a representative figure of Japan's "conquest of Korea," but if we analyze history carefully, we will find that saigo Takamori should have done the most in his life to negotiate with people, rather than directly going up to fight with whom. So how did Saigo Takamori become a supporter of the Korean conquest theory? Where did this statement come from?
First of all, we would like to point out that from July 1871 to May 1873, the Japanese government was governed by a left-behind cabinet led by Saigo Takamori. Where are the other two people of the Restoration, Takayoshi Kido and Ōkubo Ritsu? They all participated in the Iwakura envoy group led by Iwakura to investigate the national conditions of various countries. During this period, many of Japan's policies were actually completed by the cabinet led by Saigo Takamori, which means that Saigo Takamori appeared as an outstanding politician and ruler at this time.
The contradiction between Japan and the Korean Kingdom during this period was actually quite ridiculous, even bizarre. The relationship that originated in Japan and the Kingdom of Korea was not a real diplomatic relationship for more than two hundred years, but only the level of "communication". In other words, the two countries did not have formal diplomatic relations, only the trade activities of Tsushima merchants in the Korean Kingdom, and the channel was the former Tsushima Domain's "Kusayang-yō" in Busan, the Joseon Kingdom. For more than two hundred years, Japan and the Kingdom of Korea had been at peace with each other, but since the Japanese government changed the name of kusa-ryō-kan to "Japanese Legation" in September 1872, the relationship between the two countries has been a little wrong.
The Kingdom of Korea was different from Japan, which was still a very traditional Confucian culture, and it was dismissive of Western-style technology and institutions, and naturally disdained, and naturally disdained, the Wuchen War that Japan was waging to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate, and many initiatives to emulate the West during the Meiji Restoration.
And this time, Japan's rash change of the Kusayo-ryōwakan to the Japanese Legation also made the Korean Kingdom extremely dissatisfied, after all, I did not agree to establish formal diplomatic relations with you, and you made a legation out without authorization. It was also because of this incident that relations between Japan and the Kingdom of Korea became increasingly tense.
Finally, in May 1873, the Japanese mansion in Korea twice sent a report to the country, saying that Korea was now vigorously suppressing their trade activities in Japan, and there were many provocative acts, and even asked them to change the trade between Japan and the Korean Kingdom back to the "communication" system that was originally responsible for the merchants of the Tsushima Domain. In addition, the Kingdom of Korea also pointed fingers at the Meiji Restoration, calling the Meiji Restoration in Japan an act of "forgetting the ancestors of the number of classics". The Japanese left-behind cabinet was shocked to hear of this, and at that time some people suggested that a large group of soldiers should be sent to the Japanese embassy to protect the legation personnel and Japanese expatriates. The decision on this matter fell to Saigo Takamori, who dominated the cabinet.
According to the data, the Japanese legation in the Korean Kingdom at that time had a difficult life, not only the officials of the Korean Kingdom repeatedly came to find stubble, but also some radical people carried out provocative activities. In such a tense situation, the remaining cabinet must make an immediate decision. It is said that at this time, Okubo Ritsuru has returned to Japan, so Okubo Ritsuru should participate in the decision. However, Okubo Ritsu did not take the affairs of the Korean Kingdom seriously at all, because Okubo Ritsutsu, who was stimulated by his inspection of various countries, did not return to the cabinet at all. In the end of the matter, Saigo Takamori had to make up his mind alone.
Saigo Takamori was also more pleased, and the first suggestion he rejected at that time was to send troops to defend the Japanese legation. The reason is very simple, if he sends troops to the Korean Kingdom now, then it is estimated that the Korean Kingdom will soon be shocked by the whole country, so the situation will be even more uncontrollable. Saigo Takamori knew very well that if this soldier was sent to the Kingdom of Korea, then the Kingdom of Korea would definitely ask Japan to withdraw the soldiers sent. If you withdraw your troops, then the problem between Japan and the Kingdom of Korea cannot be solved. Conversely, if you do not withdraw your troops, then Japan will be tantamount to declaring war on the Kingdom of Korea.
This dilemma situation, whoever changes it is a straight tooth flower, and they have a headache when they see it. Saigo Takamori, on the other hand, did not think it would be difficult to deal with, but on the contrary, he had his own way of dealing with it--that is, to send an emissary to the Korean Kingdom to talk about this matter with the Korean Kingdom. If this matter can be discussed, then the contradiction between Japan and the Korean Kingdom can be resolved, and a war can naturally be eliminated. Even if the Kingdom of Korea did not want to have a good talk with the emissary, but instead humiliated the emissary, or even drove the emissary back, Japan would not fall into passivity in terms of public opinion and justice.
At the time, the proposal was widely opposed, not because it was unreliable, but because they feared that the Kingdom of Korea would play its cards against the rules. What if the Kingdom of Korea was uneasy and kind enough to murder the emissary, or if some mob slashed the emissary with a knife? Saigo Takamori also explained to the remaining cabinet members that even if this were the case, the reason for the outbreak of the war would not be attributed to Japan, but to the rudeness and atrocities of North Korea. If anyone is not at ease, then Saigo Takamori can personally go to North Korea without having to worry about others taking risks.
If you look at it this way, Saigo Takamori does not actually advocate the use of force to solve the problem, but hopes to use the gentle way of negotiation to resolve the problem. In fact, Saigo Takamori was also ingenious, and in order not to arouse the resentment of the Korean Kingdom, he planned to wear traditional clothes to win a good atmosphere for negotiations. Consider that Saigo Takamori had negotiated with the Choshu clan twice as an emissary in the past, concluded the Sacho Alliance, and negotiated Edo bloodless Kaijo through negotiations in the Boshin War, so that the Shonai clan would submit to the government in a peaceful manner. It is not surprising, then, that Saigo Takamori adopted a negotiating approach at this time to resolve the contradictions between Japan and the Kingdom of Korea. But if this is the case, why is Saigo Takamori said to be a proponent of the conquest of Korea?
The key reason is actually not Saigo Takamori, because this statement is not what he mentioned, the so-called Korean theory, in fact, choshu valve and Okubo Ritsu stole the concept. At that time, after the return of the Iwakura envoys, they were busy dealing with various problems, so they shelved Saigo Takamori's reservation to go out on September 20 to go to Korea, so Saigo Takamori was very dissatisfied, so he questioned Mijo Shimi and Iwakura Vision. So Iwakura and Mitsumi felt the pressure and went to the Choshu Valve to discuss, hoping to find a solution. At this time, the Choshu clan was suffering from the fact that they were inferior to the Saga Valve in terms of power, but Saigo Takamori was deeply supported by the Saga Valve, so naturally they had to borrow the topic to play a bit.
So Choshu began their performance in front of Iwakura and Sanjo Shimi, greatly exaggerating the dangers that the emissaries might encounter when they went to the Korean Kingdom, and saying that Saigo Takamori wanted to send an envoy to the Korean Kingdom, in fact, he deliberately sent them to death, in order to provoke war. If you want to balance Saigo Takamori now, you must ask back to Okubo Ritsu.
They knew that Okubo Ritsutsu was the only one who could balance Saigo Takamori, but Okubo Ritsu was not supported by the Saga Valve. Although they didn't like Satsuma's Okubo Ritsuru much, if they could take the opportunity to drive out Saigo Takamori and strike at the Saga Valve, it would be no harm to join forces with Saigo Takamori.
Coincidentally, Okubo Ritsuru also disliked Saigo Takamori very much, and he had intended to replace Saigo Takamori. Because he wanted to become Bismarck of Japan, he pursued his own plans after monopolizing power. Therefore, after Okubo Toshitsuto returned to the top of the government in October 1873, he immediately began to attack Saigo Takamori. He said that Saigo Takamori had sent emissaries to the Kingdom of Korea as a way to provoke war, and believed that if the situation was so bad that it was necessary to fight with the Kingdom of Korea, then instead of sending emissaries, he would directly launch a crusade against the Kingdom of Korea. Iwakura also contributed to this time, and finally succeeded in forcing Saigo Takamori to resign. It can be said that Okubo Ritsu and Choshu Valve became the final victors.
From this, it is not difficult for us to find that the so-called Saigo Takamori's proposal of the conquest of Korea is actually untenable, because he has never said the theory of conquest of Korea. Instead, Okubo Ritsu kept stealing concepts there, trying to force Saigo Takamori to step down, and Iwakura and Choshu Valve also kept pushing the waves, and finally succeeded in forcing Saigo Takamori to resign on October 23, 1873, and expelling Saga Valve's men with them. And Saigo Takamori was also slandered by them for stealing concepts and smearing people who tried to provoke war in order to advocate the "Korean conquest theory" and carry a huge black cauldron. Of course, the last irony is that it is the madmen of Okubo Ritsu and Choshu Valve who gradually dragged Japan into the abyss of war and embarked on the road of militaristic destruction, which has to be said to be ironic.
Reference: The Complete Works of Saigo Takamori
《Japan Meiji Era Shin》
《Modern Japanese History》