Chapter 32 North Korea tolerates disaster

Qingliu master Zhang Peilun said to Li Hongzhang: If you can soften North Korea but not Japan, you are not the leader of the alliance.It is this kind of role that Li Hongzhang played on the Korean and Japanese issues. North Korea has always been a vassal state of the Chinese Empire and has maintained good relations with China.The Qing government has always attached great importance to North Korea, because North Korea is the closest neighbor to Beijing.If something happens in North Korea, it will directly affect the safety of the Qing Empire. In 1868, Mutsuhito, an outstanding emperor in Japanese history, ascended the throne.Muren is the Japanese Emperor Meiji who is familiar to Chinese people.Emperor Meiji had a strong tendency to expand overseas. At the beginning of his tenure, he declared that he would open up thousands of miles of waves and declare his country's prestige in all directions.The Quartet referred to by Emperor Muhito, the closest neighbors were Korea and the Qing Dynasty (the most important ones at that time were Taiwan and the Penghu Islands).

At that time, Japan's national strength was not enough to compete with the Qing Dynasty, so it did not dare to disrespect the Qing Empire.But the attitude of the Japanese towards North Korea is another matter. First of all, it is the so-called text exchange.At the end of 1868, Japan sent envoys to North Korea with a letter of credence. First, they informed the Koreans of Japan’s internal affairs reform; second, they expressed their desire to establish friendly diplomatic relations. The intention of the Japanese should not be bad, but there is a passage in the letter of credence that makes the Koreans very unhappy when they read it: love me, the emperor ascends to the top, changes Zhang Gangji, personally judges all opportunities, and wants to repair neighbors and be expensive Sichuan is to me, the friendship has already passed, and it is my emperor's sincerity that I should benefit and earnestly pay for it to return forever, and it will last forever.

According to the Japanese, when Emperor Meiji first ascended the throne, the whole country was waiting for prosperity.Emperor Meiji never forgot to restore friendly relations with neighboring countries despite the exhaustion of daily affairs, which shows that he attached great importance to improving relations with neighboring countries.Although the friendship between Japan and North Korea is already very good, it should be improved to a higher level. In this passage, the Japanese mentioned their emperor twice.I'm afraid they don't know it, and this offends the most sensitive nerve of the North Koreans.The North Korean government has always been relatively conservative. Except for the recognition that the Qing Dynasty has an emperor, no one in other countries, big or small, should call themselves emperor in front of the Koreans.Moreover, the word my emperor has never been used in the documents of Japanese exchanges with North Korea.From the perspective of North Koreans, this is also against the old rules.Therefore, the North Koreans decided not to accept the letter of credence and were unwilling to receive Japanese envoys.

This move by the Koreans made the Japanese extremely embarrassed. Notifying them of the reform of internal affairs was simply self-indulgent, which caused resentment towards North Korea from all walks of life in Japan: what violated the old rules?Is it a little ignorant?But the anger of the Japanese is unstoppable, and the Koreans are not ambiguous at all!Not only are the Koreans not afraid of war, but they often win wars: in 1866, the French provoked a war with North Korea on the pretext that the Koreans opposed the spread of culture by missionaries, but they were defeated by the Koreans; in the same year, the Americans were aggressive They wanted to grab a foothold on the Korean peninsula, but they were also repulsed by the North Koreans; this time, a small country that is far inferior to the United States and France in strength, how can the North Koreans take it seriously?

After the Japanese touched this bad nose, they were not discouraged.Two years later, in 1870, Japan first normalized diplomatic relations with the Qing government and sent envoys to revise the "Sino-Japanese Treaty of Amendment", agreeing to treat each other with courtesy and not to invade in the slightest, so as to achieve permanent security.Then, the Japanese sent a diplomat named Sada Baimao to North Korea, but was rejected by the North Koreans again. This time, Japan's face has been swept away.Are the Koreans more arrogant than the Qing people?Some Japanese could not swallow this breath.

After returning to China, Sada wrote a letter to the government, saying that North Korea believed that the appearance of the emperor in Japan's credentials was disrespectful to them. Do the Japanese have to respect them?On the contrary, their disrespect to the Japanese is justified?Zuotian said that the Koreans know how to defend but not attack, know themselves but do not know the enemy, follow the arrogance and obstinacy, nothing special, if you don’t conquer it by force, it will not be used for me. He advocates conquering Korea, and Zuotian also said that it is profitable to send troops to conquer Korea, Although launching a war requires funds, within fifty days, this military expenditure can be recouped.He believes that North Korea is a golden cave with a lot of food, so pulling it out in one fell swoop and confiscating its people and golden valleys is really a strategy for enriching the country and strengthening the army!Sada also analyzed that sending troops to North Korea now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.He believes that France and the United States suffered defeat in North Korea four years ago, and these two countries will not stop there. A piece of fat will be taken away by others.In the end, Sada came to the conclusion that: Manchu Qing can be handed over, North Korea can be conquered, Luzon (now the Philippines), and Taiwan can be easily obtained.

It can be seen that the Japanese hardliners represented by Sada not only despised North Korea and Luzon, but even the Qing Dynasty. They talked about taking Taiwan without any scruples.This is a typical militaristic argument, which was severely criticized by the slow-moving faction in Japan at that time. Secondly, the attitude of the Japanese towards North Korea is military attack.On September 20, 1875, Yoshinori Saoue, Major of the Japanese Navy, led a warship to the vicinity of Ganghwa Island in North Korea, where they surveyed the seaport for war preparations. Then, the Japanese ship approached Ganghwa Island, put down the boat, and prepared to send soldiers to fetch fresh water from the island.At this time, the North Korean army guarding the territorial waters discovered that the Japanese ship had invaded North Korea, and fired artillery to warn the Japanese army.When the Japanese heard the sound of the guns, they immediately fought back, destroying the forts of the Koreans on the shore, and rushed to the island, besieging the city and burning it to death.North Korean military and civilian casualties were heavy, but only two Japanese were injured.This is the Ganghwa Island incident.

Japan deliberately created the Ganghwa Island incident as an excuse to induce North Korea to civilize, make North Korea surrender, and annex it. After the Ganghwa Island incident, the Japanese warship returned to China soon. The Japanese government issued a communiqué saying that the Japanese warship was suddenly attacked by the Koreans when it was passing by the vicinity of North Korea and preparing to go to the Qing Dynasty. North Korean artillery fire more violent bombardment.The Japanese ship had no choice but to fight back, and landed the next day, occupied the Korean fort, and seized the Korean equipment. During the process, two Japanese sailors were injured.

After the publication of this communiqué, some Japanese could no longer bear their anger and called on Japan to send troops to North Korea immediately.One of them, Kido Takayoshi, submitted an application to the government, requesting himself to be an envoy to go to North Korea to find out why.Kido Takayoshi said in the application: Now that the North Koreans are firing at the Japanese ships, in fact, they have officially started war with the Japanese.However, considering a variety of reasons, it is inconvenient for the Japanese to use force immediately: the Koreans have always adhered to the Zhengshuo era of the Qing Dynasty, which is consistent with the Qing Dynasty. First send envoys to the Qing Dynasty to inquire about the details and report the whole incident to the Qing government in detail. Order it to apologize to the Japanese Empire and properly handle the matter, then the Japanese can stop in moderation; if the Qing government is unwilling to act as an agent, then Japan can handle it by itself.How to deal with it?The first is to ask North Korea to take responsibility; if the North Korean side refuses to take responsibility, then the Japanese must ask the truth, and the Japanese should judge the situation and carefully consider sending troops.

Kido Takayoshi's proposition was supported by Emperor Meiji and put into practice.Later, Takayoshi Kido was unable to make the trip due to illness, and the consul of the Japanese government sent another envoy to North Korea to negotiate the matter.At the same time, he dispatched foreign affairs minister Sen Youli to the Qing Dynasty to inquire about the attitude of the Qing Dynasty. In January 1876, Mori Youli arrived in Beijing to negotiate with the Prime Minister Yamen Yixin and others.At that time, the focus of the dispute between the two sides was the relationship between the suzerain and the vassals of China and North Korea.Mori Yuri's assertion that North Korea is a vassal state of China is in vain, and he denies that the "Sino-Japanese Amendment Treaty" applies to North Korean affairs, in an attempt to prevent China from interfering in direct negotiations with North Korea.Yixin said that North Korea is a state belonging to China, which is different from the land belonging to China, and that it is consistent with the amended regulations that the lands of the two countries cannot be invaded in the slightest.Li Hongzhang, who was in Tianjin and Baozhou, watched the Sino-Japanese talks closely, and the Prime Minister's Office also copied instructions from time to time to discuss the Korean abbreviation.Li Hongzhang believes that Japan is preparing for war in the name of negotiating peace with North Korea, but North Korea is unwilling to negotiate peace, which is a sign of genuine fear of provocation.He saw that North Korea was not enough to fight against Japan, that the "Sino-Japanese Reconciliation Regulations" could not bind Japan's hands and feet, and that Japan's occupation of North Korea made China worry about death, but he was unwilling to follow the example of Li Rusong's story of resisting Japan and aiding Korea in the Ming Dynasty.He suggested adopting a pacification strategy to persuade North Korea to bear the burden of humiliation and allow Japan to trade in order to temporarily end the military provocation and avoid China's involvement in disputes.

On January 24, 1876, Li Hongzhang met with Sen Youli in Baoding.Sen Youli made a special trip to visit Li Hongzhang in order to reiterate his claims and influence the prime minister's office through Li Hongzhang to break the deadlock in the negotiations.Li Hongzhang received and entertained Sen Youli.Sen Youli babbled endlessly, claiming that when a country raises an issue, it only depends on who is stronger and does not have to abide by the treaty.Li Hongzhang pointed out tit-for-tat, pointing out that breach of contract by force is not allowed by the public law of all countries.Sen Youli insisted on the logic of power, but Li Hongzhang was superstitious about the public law of all nations, but he did not know that the public law of all nations could not stop the aggressors from arbitrarily breaking the contract.Mori Youli also denied that North Korea was a vassal state of China; Li Hongzhang retorted: How could Fengzhengshuo of North Korea not be a vassal state?The debate between the two about whether Korea is a state of China is in essence a reflection of the conflict between the Western colonial concept and the Eastern concept of tribute. It is Japan's attempt to squeeze out the Qing Dynasty's power and open the way to invade Korea. The Qing Dynasty maintained suzerain-vassal relations and prevented Japan from invading Korea. struggle.When Sen Youli was drinking wine and his face was hot, he once said what would be the benefit of taking Korea?Li Hongzhang took the opportunity to tell him his interests, and swiped his pen to hurt his kindness, and gave him the words "no interests".Sen Youli repeatedly begged Li Hongzhang to transfer to the Zongli Yamen, trying to persuade North Korea to receive Japanese envoys.Afterwards, Li Hongzhang really lived up to his entrustment, and reported in detail the situation of the talks with Mori Youli to the Zongli Yamen, and suggested that the festival of asking the Ministry of Rites to transfer to North Korea should be the end, to show extra peace, and to answer the intention of the visit, and to delay it slightly It is more beneficial to the overall situation to flaunt the militarism. It can be seen from this that Li Hongzhang not only clings to the so-called suzerainty towards North Korea, but also adopts a pacification strategy against Japanese aggression. The result is bound to introduce Japanese aggression forces and damage the vested interests of the Qing Dynasty. In February 1876, seeing that China had no intention of protecting itself, North Korea signed the "Treaty of Ganghwa" with Japan.In the treaty, North Korea agreed to open its ports, and Japan claimed that North Korea is an independent state and enjoys equal rights with Japan.The Qing government did not express doubts about this, and Japan was secretly proud of it. At that time, Japan recognized North Korea as an independent state, not really safeguarding North Korea's independence and sovereignty, but an attempt to deny the suzerain-vassal relationship between China and North Korea and open up a way to invade North Korea.Based on the traditional concept, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty believed that as long as North Korea recognized China as the suzerain, whether a third country recognized it was irrelevant, so they neither protested to Japan nor questioned North Korea.As everyone knows, if diplomatic issues arise with a third country, whether the third country recognizes the suzerain-vassal relationship between China and North Korea will directly affect the development of the situation.Since then, Japan has used the pretext that North Korea is an independent state to directly negotiate with North Korea in case of problems, trying its best to exclude China's interference, and deliberately extending its tentacles of aggression into North Korea. In June 1881, the United States sent Schaefer to China to contact North Korea to sign a trade treaty and asked Li Hongzhang for help.Li Hongzhang was worried that Japan would take the opportunity to invade North Korea, and Xue Feier's appearance made him secretly happy.If the United States signs a contract with North Korea, it will contain Japan's actions.Therefore, Li Hongzhang was very active in this matter. In 1882, Korea and the United States signed a treaty.Soon thereafter, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy also signed treaties with North Korea.Except for the United States who appointed a special envoy to North Korea, all the powers appointed envoys to China to handle diplomatic affairs with North Korea, which was tantamount to recognizing North Korea as a vassal state of China.For such a result, Li Hongzhang was very satisfied. In 1882, when Li Hongzhang went home to attend the funeral for his mother, the Imwu Mutiny occurred in North Korea. The expansion of Japanese aggressive forces in Korea and the disastrous policy of the Korean ruling class aroused the angry resistance of the Korean people and intensified the struggle for power within the Korean ruling class.In July 1882, the guards of the capital joined forces with the urban poor to launch an uprising, attacked the Japanese legation, killed several Japanese officials, and broke into the palace. Concubine Min fled in disguise.The king's father, Li Shi (shi), should take the opportunity to enter the palace, claiming to be the prince of the country, and to take charge of the political power.It is known as the Renwu Mutiny in history.After the Imoh Mutiny, Japan stepped up its aggression against North Korea by means of negotiations backed by force.Japan sent a fleet to the DPRK in an attempt to coerce the DPRK government into agreeing to such unreasonable demands as punishment, compensation, opening of more commercial ports, garrison of embassies, and cession of land. Both China and Japan responded quickly.Li Hongzhang sent the Huai Army to North Korea before Japan, and Japan also sent warships to North Korea.The Qing government was worried that Japan would take advantage of North Korea's internal turmoil, so it took military action to help Li Xi restore the throne.Because Japan came one step late and failed to take the opportunity to invade and occupy North Korea, it was very annoyed.Japan had no choice but to take the opportunity to propose North Korea to compensate for the loss.North Korea agreed to compensate Japan for its losses and allowed the Japanese embassy to station troops to maintain security. Li Hongzhang, who had kept his filial piety for a hundred days, returned to Tianjin. He deeply felt that Japan's threat to North Korea was imminent, and he began to strengthen his control over North Korea.The Qing government signed a new treaty with North Korea, and obtained many privileges of the suzerain state in North Korea.In addition, Li Hongzhang also sent troops to North Korea and supported North Korea in many ways, hoping to firmly control North Korea in his own hands. Seeing the tough attitude and decisive measures of the Qing government in this incident, Japan temporarily restrained its actions against North Korea and waited for the next suitable opportunity.The Japanese also advocated to North Korean officials that North Korea should be independent and should abandon its vassal state relationship with China.Japan can return part of the compensation and help North Korea become independent.In this way, a pro-Japanese force gradually formed within North Korea, and they decided to follow the example of Japan and start political reform. With the secret support of the Japanese, in December 1884, the Jiashin coup took place in North Korea.With the help of Japanese soldiers, Jin Yujun and others from the pro-Japanese faction broke into the palace, hijacked King Li Xi, and prepared to set up another young master.Without Li Hongzhang's order, several Qing military generals stationed in North Korea discussed countermeasures.Under Yuan Shikai's proposal, the Qing army quickly took action.Yuan Shikai led the imperial army and the Qing army to defeat the Japanese army within three days, put down the coup, and Li Xi returned to the throne.Yuan Shikai's outstanding performance in this operation began to be valued by Li Hongzhang.After the Jiashen Incident, Yuan Shikai suggested to Li Hongzhang that we should seize the opportunity to firmly control North Korea.The specific method is to set up a supervisory state for North Korea, send heavy troops into North Korea, and then negotiate with Japan.Yuan also pointed out: Japan is not stronger than China, and it dares to be so arrogant because it knows that the Qing government is weak and dare not go to war.If we are tough, Japan will not dare to make mistakes.It turned out that Yuan Shikai was right, and the Japanese asked North Korea to compensate for the loss.At that time, the Fujian navy that was at war with France was completely annihilated in Mawei. Li Hongzhang and the Qing government did not strike down Japan's arrogance in time for the North Korean issue. Li Hongzhang's blind forbearance did not exchange for peaceful coexistence with the Japanese imperialists, but greatly aroused their arrogant ambitions. Li Hongzhang's forbearance made them feel the weakness of the Qing government and the weakness of fear of war, so in 1885 In February, Ito Hirobumi was sent to China to negotiate with Li Hongzhang on the Korean issue.During the negotiations, Li Hongzhang agreed: If an incident occurs in North Korea, if China and Japan send troops to North Korea, they must notify the other government.As a result of such negotiations, on the one hand, China allowed Japan to send troops to North Korea during the Korean incident, and on the other hand, China lost the privilege of sending troops that only the suzerain country should have.Ito Hirobumi found the best opportunity for Japan to understand China's military movements against North Korea, and prepared an ambush for Japan's invasion of China.During his contacts with Ito Hirobumi, Li Hongzhang felt that Ito Hirobumi was not an idle person, and it was very necessary for China to prevent Japanese aggression.However, Li Hongzhang did not expect that in future exchanges with Japan, Japan would be far more cunning and changeable than Western powers.This kind of erroneous understanding and behavior of indulging in tolerance is really the source of Li Hongzhang's career that has been ruined throughout his life. It has pushed Li Hongzhang into a desperate situation time and time again. In April 1885, Li Hongzhang and Ito Hirobumi signed the Treaty of Tianjin.The general idea of ​​the clause is: North Korea is no longer a vassal state of China, and China and Japan jointly manage North Korea's affairs.In this way, Japan obtained the privilege of sending troops to North Korea at any time.After that, Li Hongzhang sent Yuan Shikai to North Korea to strengthen his control over North Korea.Yuan Shikai lived up to expectations, firmly controlled the political situation in North Korea, and gave North Korea a lot of help economically. In 1889, the United States, Germany, Russia and other countries successively signed new treaties with Japan, giving up their privileges to Japan.In 1890, Britain also agreed to abolish British consular jurisdiction in Japan.At this time, Japan's economy was developing rapidly and it had become an emerging capitalist country.It will join the big powers to compete for this piece of fat in China.