Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 231

Ito wanted to preserve his reputation, and also to protect the Meiji Constitution he had drafted. Therefore, after carefully weighing the pros and cons, Ito finally said to Hayashi Nobuyoshi: "If we choose to resolve the Korean issue peacefully, will China and the Korean independence activists really negotiate with us? Will they use the pretext of peaceful negotiations to continue expanding their controlled territories, ultimately waiting for a favorable opportunity to tear up the peace treaty and start a war with us?"

After thinking for a moment, Lin Xinyi replied, "That's why I said before that the best way to get North Koreans to lay down their arms is not through massacre, but by giving them a channel to fight for national independence through legal means. If you block all the avenues, North Koreans will naturally have no choice but to take up arms and speak out."

As for China, the Korean Peninsula was merely a buffer for Manchuria. They didn't actually have much desire for it; otherwise, the Chinese wouldn't have so easily given up Korea during the Sino-Japanese War. The problem now is that the army's policy of conquering Korea by force has threatened China's security in Manchuria. To ensure that Manchuria's development isn't interrupted, wouldn't supporting Korean independence be the least costly approach?

Therefore, peace between Japan and China depends on whether there is a foundation of mutual trust between the two countries, and this foundation of mutual trust stems from shared interests. If neither Japan nor China believes they share common interests, then mutual distrust and wariness are perfectly normal practices.

Given the current state of distrust among the Japanese, Chinese, and Korean peoples, defining the spheres of interest for each is inevitable. China wants to ensure the security of Manchuria, Korea wants independence, so what does Japan want? Is it the resources and markets of Korea and Manchuria, or the power to rule over the Koreans? If we ourselves don't understand what we want, then the Korean issue cannot be resolved peacefully.

As for whether China and North Korea will use the pretext of negotiations to expand their actual control over the territory, ultimately waiting for a favorable opportunity to tear up the peace agreement, I believe this is precisely because the boundaries of the interests of the three parties are not clearly defined, rather than a conspiracy by China and North Korea. The treaty exists because adhering to it is more beneficial to everyone than not adhering to it, not because of any contractual spirit.

After listening for a long silence, Ito Hirobumi asked, "So, in your opinion, if the Empire were to use force, could it restore northeastern Korea to its pre-incident state? Or, how high is the risk of a full-scale war between China and our country?"

Lin Xinyi thought about it carefully for a long time and concluded that Ito only wanted to make a reference and would not completely listen to his opinion. After all, modern military affairs are very different from those during the anti-shogunate period. Even Yamagata, an anti-shogunate elite who had studied abroad, lost his insight into war during the First Sino-Japanese War.

While Ito Hirobumi was undoubtedly more adept at diplomacy than others, he was ultimately an elite figure from the anti-shogunate era, and the advancements in military technology over the past few decades had rendered his military experience obsolete. In fact, even the armies of European countries, which led the world in military technology, saw their generals make countless mistakes in World War I, which broke out in the following years. Most of these mistakes stemmed from their outdated knowledge and past military experience.

Therefore, Ito's question to him now is likely because he is truly unsure of what will happen after the war expands, and that's why he brought up this question to compare it with the army's assessment.

Having figured this out, Lin Xinyi cautiously reported to Ito Hirobumi: "In modern warfare, the key to victory or defeat lies in transportation. Whoever can assemble a large army in a short time and transport more artillery shells to the front lines will almost certainly win."

In the Korean War, the advantage actually lies with us, because we have control of the sea, and Korea is a long and narrow peninsula. Therefore, as long as we control the waters surrounding Korea, we will have the fastest and cheapest means of transportation.

With the advantage of controlling the sea, my country has essentially gained control of the plains and coastal plains of southern Korea. Until maritime transport routes are cut off, the confrontation between North Korea and China is essentially a war of attrition over resources.

As an agricultural country, North Korea is unlikely to engage in a war of attrition with us. Therefore, the supplies that ultimately come into contact with us will inevitably be transported from China. However, the entire North China region has almost no heavy industry, so the sources of military supplies that China can provide are either the Wuhan area in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River or imports from abroad.

As an agricultural country in need of development, Japan would likely be unwilling to antagonize my country, as this would incur significant costs to its foreign trade. Therefore, as long as a buffer zone exists between Japan and China, China may not harbor any ambitions to help Korea achieve complete independence. Furthermore, regarding specific military matters, with our control of railways and ports, we are clearly not an option for a direct confrontation with the Korean independence army.

All of the above demonstrates that the relationship between Japan and China is the root cause of the problems among the three ethnic groups in East Asia. If the Chinese can be persuaded to accept peace, then the Koreans will have no choice but to accept reality, or they will have to fight for independence on their own. However, this would actually simplify things.

Ito Hirobumi also thought Hayashi Nobuyoshi's view was good. After he finished talking with Hayashi Nobuyoshi, he ordered the diplomatic personnel stationed in Wuhan to contact the Workers' Party and propose recognizing the autonomy of the northeastern region of Korea, such as the case of the Republic of Chita, so as to restore the peaceful relations between Japan and China.

Most of the Central Committee members of the Workers' Party were willing to accept the solution proposed by Japan. Even though Lin Feng did not offer a new assessment of the Sino-Japanese peace issue, these Central Committee members preferred to resolve internal problems first rather than help Korea achieve independence. If Japan's ambitions had not been so great, they would not have supported Tian Junyi and the Asian Alliance's proposals.

The Asian Union currently has socialist members from five major countries: China, India, Russia, Japan, and North Korea. Vietnam and several smaller Southeast Asian countries, although wanting to join, have been blocked by Britain, France, and the Netherlands.

Initially, the Labour Party and the Chinese elites outside the party were not interested in an Asian alliance. Although they accepted exchanges between the Indian proletariat and the Chinese Labour Party, this was based on the friendship between the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Tibet and the three northeastern states of India. However, the emergence of the Chita regime during the counterattack against the Russians allowed Wuhan to gain a foothold in the Lake Baikal region and the Outer Heilongjiang area.

It was precisely because India, Russia, Japan, and Korea had the ability to alleviate pressure and obtain assistance for the Wuhan Revolution that Wuhan accepted the existence of the Asian Alliance. Moreover, the people of Wuhan soon benefited from the formation of the Asian Alliance. Some Southeast Asian colonial countries and ethnic groups, led by Vietnam, flocked to Yan'an, firstly to learn from the revolutionary experience and lessons, and secondly to seek direct assistance from the Workers' Party.

Although providing foreign aid to the revolution was somewhat beyond Wuhan's capabilities, it greatly enhanced Wuhan's voice in Southeast Asia. Since the Qing Dynasty succeeded the Ming Dynasty and adopted a policy of isolationism, China's voice in Southeast Asia, a traditional sphere of influence, has been continuously weakened. In particular, the several massacres of Chinese people launched by white colonists greatly shook China's image among the indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia.

If the local indigenous people protected the Chinese when the Dutch and Spanish colonists massacred them in the 17th and 18th centuries, then by the 19th century, even the indigenous people of Southeast Asia began to actively launch anti-Chinese movements.

In the past, the local indigenous people regarded the Chinese as their own and fought alongside them against the white colonists. Now, the Southeast Asian indigenous people see the Chinese as accomplices of the whites, outsiders who plunder them. Therefore, the white colonists' policies of oppression against the Chinese can now be carried out through the indigenous people, without needing to take direct action themselves.

However, with the establishment of the Asian Union, Wuhan provided strong support to India's national independence movement, which greatly enhanced Wuhan's image in the eyes of Southeast Asian indigenous independence activists. They began to re-examine their relationship with the Chinese, and some began to call on their compatriots to put aside their prejudices against the Chinese and to target the Chinese landlords or big merchants instead of hating the lower-class Chinese laborers.

This exchange not only increased Wuhan's political influence but also stimulated the spread of Wuhan's industrial products to Southeast Asia. Although the influence of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia did not decline significantly until the early 20th century, most of them came from the coastal areas of Guangdong and Fujian, and they were engaged in light industrial products such as food.

For example, the rice trade in Southeast Asia is still controlled by overseas Chinese, with Chinese controlling almost 80% of rice production in Thailand and Vietnam. This outdated, small-scale farming-era trading method naturally cannot compete with countries like Germany, France, and the United States, which have completed the Industrial Revolution.

Therefore, as ocean liners grew larger, the commercial networks of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia were being eroded and dismantled by capitalism. Many Chinese changed from importing goods from China to ordering goods from Europe. Soon, the Chinese lost their status as wholesalers and became retailers throughout Southeast Asia. Because they were merely middlemen dealing in foreign goods, many local natives also began to get involved in retail businesses that were previously only run by Chinese.

Now, thanks to the political influence of the Asian Alliance and direct economic aid, modern industrial products produced in Wuhan have entered the Southeast Asian market. Chinese merchants have not only begun to rebuild new wholesale networks and shipping routes, but have also begun to move from commerce to industry, and have become interested in mining and power construction in Southeast Asia.

The Asian Alliance's position in Wuhan's political power center also began to rise steadily, transforming from a purely diplomatic unit into an international relations agency responsible for exporting revolution and building commercial networks in Wuhan.

Following the Gando Incident, North Korean representatives within the Asian Alliance immediately launched propaganda supporting Korean national independence, which greatly influenced the decisions of the Wuhan Workers' Party. As Tian Junyi received when he sent someone to inquire with Lin Feng, supporting Korean independence was a matter of principle for the proletarian alliance, and this issue did not need to be discussed.

Of course, when the question shifted to whether Korean independence should be subordinate to the liberation cause of the various Asian nations, the representatives of the alliance became somewhat hesitant about striving for complete Korean independence. After all, North Korea was not the only country currently seeking independence; Vietnam, Burma, and various parts of Southeast Asia also had demands for independence.

While Japan displayed colonialism in the Korean War, it also became a challenger to the old powers in Southeast Asia. Conflicts between Japan and European powers would create an opportunity for the independence of various ethnic groups in Southeast Asia. Therefore, no one wanted a full-scale confrontation between Japan and China, which would lead to mutual restraint and prevent either country from expanding southward, thus allowing Europeans to continue to control Southeast Asia.

After a heated debate, the North Korean representative, ultimately outnumbered and outmatched by the majority of representatives who hoped for a delicate cooperation between Japan and China, had to state that he needed to report to the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in order to express the North Korean nation's position within the alliance.

Although the North Korean representative in the alliance hoped that the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea could persuade the Workers' Party of China, Ahn Jung-geun, upon receiving the telegram, believed that the Workers' Party of China would not easily change its policy and shift its domestic development path to an external path of liberating Asia. Although the North Koreans believed that the independence of the Korean nation was a key to the independence of Asian nations, Ahn Jung-geun knew that North Korea was not as important as the North Koreans thought.

Judging from the current situation in Asia, only China, India, and Japan truly have the power to control the future of Asia. Once these three countries achieve full independence, the liberation movements of Asian nations will become unstoppable. If these three nations fail to gain independence, or if they do not stand on the side of national liberation after independence, then it will be difficult for the various Asian nations to rely on their own strength to seek self-liberation.

Although he had previously dismissed Lin Xinyi's statement, believing that Lin underestimated the potential of other Asian nations and the immense inspirational role of independence for their people, this "other" was actually North Korea. Ahn Jung-geun and many North Koreans had this understanding: North Korea might not be comparable to China, but it was still more civilized than the Japanese pirates. Therefore, if the Japanese pirates could do it, there was no reason why North Korea couldn't.

After experiencing so much, Ahn Jung-geun had to admit that there was still a significant gap between North Korea and Japan. What Japan could accomplish, North Korea might not be able to. In terms of talent alone, Japan far surpassed North Korea. North Korea never produced the outstanding figures of Japan's late Edo period. China, on the other hand, produced a number of talented individuals capable of modernizing their systems, comparable to Japan's Meiji Restoration leaders. However, North Korea's Enlightenment Party, aside from staging coups, lacked any capable leaders who could handle any situation independently, and couldn't even successfully implement a modernization movement.

As for the present, Japan has figures like Hayashi Shin'ichi with an international perspective, and China has broad-minded politicians like Tian Junyi. Looking around his country, Ahn Jung-geun realized that, apart from a few imperialists, North Korea had almost no one who truly understood international realities. Whether in the present, the past, or the future, North Korea has been left behind by China and Japan in terms of talent.

Would China go to great lengths to help North Korea achieve independence? Ahn Jung-geun believes it is unlikely, because China is still in a period of recovery, while Japan is at its strongest point in history. China also has more than one adversary than Japan. If China devotes all its strength to fighting Japan, then China's homeland will be exposed with huge vulnerabilities, thus giving other powers an opportunity.

While the Workers' Party is concerned about the independence cause of various Asian nations, it is clearly unreasonable to sacrifice China's future for Korean independence. Although it is difficult for a Korean to accept this, Ahn Jung-geun knows that he must accept the fact that Korea is not the center of East Asia, but merely a buffer zone between Japan and China.

Therefore, at an internal meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea, Ahn Jung-geun advocated that the resolution of the Asian Union should be accepted, efforts should be made to maintain control over the four northeastern provinces of Korea, and then the northeastern region of Korea should be developed to lay a solid material foundation for the liberation of Korea.

However, Ahn Jung-geun ultimately failed to gain complete control within the Workers' Party of Korea. Many independence factions within the party believed that they must seize the favorable situation and advance westward and southward, even if they couldn't liberate the entire peninsula, they should at least take control of northern Korea. These independence factions argued that the areas currently controlled by the independence army were barren mountainous regions, incapable of establishing an independent state. After all, according to historical maps of the eight provinces, they actually only occupied a little over one province. Therefore, they believed that at least two to three provinces in northern Korea needed to gain control to replace the Korean Empire and become the new Korea.

Chapter 737

Author: Fuchun Mountain Residence Number: 5006 Comments: 1 Update Date: 2023-09-15 12:32:04

For Lin Xinyi, his main focus in 1908 was on two things. One was to promote joint military exercises in the Yellow Sea. Lin Xinyi originally advocated inviting all Asian countries to participate in joint military exercises, even if they did not have warships, sending observers would be fine. The main goal was to create a situation of Asian unity.

However, the Japanese government's brief announcement was met with protests from countries such as Britain, France, and the United States. The French were particularly vocal, because although the French Indochina Federation controlled Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, these three countries were legally independent. Japan's invitation to these three countries to participate in the military exercises would greatly strengthen the sense of independence among these three French colonies.

While Britain and the United States did not react as strongly as France, they still expressed their dissatisfaction with Japan. Britain did not want to further provoke national independence sentiments in Burma and India, and the United States also opposed Japan's claim that the U.S.-owned Philippines was an independent country.

Faced with protests from the great powers, the Japanese Navy had to revise its initial military exercise plan and instead chose a joint military exercise for Northeast Asian security, primarily involving Japan, China, and South Korea. This not only circumvented the protests from the great powers but also challenged the legitimacy of their colonial rule in Asia.

However, just as the military exercise plan was finalized, the army instigated the Gando Incident. With less than three months until the joint military exercise scheduled for late September, the navy's purpose in holding the exercise was almost completely thwarted, and the exercise became a laughingstock for the major powers. The Japanese government, which constantly claimed to respect the free choices of the people of its colonies, used force against the Koreans who had made their own choices. This clearly exposed the lie of the Japanese government's self-proclaimed moral responsibility towards Asia.

While high-ranking naval officers like Yamamoto and Kawahara might simply be dissatisfied with the army's unauthorized actions, the younger staff officers of the Naval General Staff were genuinely furious with the army's unilateral actions. They felt that the army was treating national interests as a joke and ruining the strategies they had painstakingly developed. Joint military exercises are not just exercises; they are the entry point for the Japanese navy to try to seize control of the South China Sea.

Lin Xinyi's theory of Asian integration has been accepted by these naval staff officers, who believe it to be the path forward for a large-scale naval strategy. It is under the goal of developing a large navy that these naval staff officers included South Korea in joint military exercises, intending to use South Korea as a model to encourage the various ethnic groups in Southeast Asia to be closer to Japan.

However, before the navy could even take that first step, the army dealt it a severe blow, and dissatisfaction with the army naturally became a consensus among naval staff officers. Because of this incident, Lin Xinyi's assertion that the army was the navy's number one enemy completely suppressed the reformist group's theory of joint efforts between the army and navy, which was an unexpected bonus.

Another matter that Lin Hsin-yi was concerned about was promoting the establishment of the Nan-zhou Economic and Cultural Research Institute. Nan-zhou was the name of Saigo Takamori's ship, and the Economic and Cultural Research Institute was a social research group previously established by the Navy Cultural Section under the Arts Foundation.

In name, Lin Hsin-yi, through his art foundation, called for government projects to be investigated and researched before being approved. In reality, he was trying to legalize kickbacks in government projects by transferring them to powerful figures who influence government projects through an intermediary.

Hayashi Shin-yoshi's suggestion received strong support from the Imperial Household Ministry because in the past, the benefits of these government projects had fallen into the hands of the feudal lords. Although they had the Emperor's trust, they could only get scraps from the feudal lords. After all, according to the Constitution, the Imperial Household and the Imperial Household were separate, and the Imperial Household Ministry could not interfere in government affairs. However, in terms of political influence, the Imperial Household Ministry was no less than the government because they could speak on behalf of the Emperor.

However, under Japan's established system, the Imperial Household Ministry could not monetize this influence, which greatly displeased its bureaucrats. Opposition to the Imperial Household Ministry was strongly supported by the Imperial Household Ministry itself, and it was Ito Hirobumi's strong political prestige that suppressed the voices of the Imperial Household Ministry.

Now that Hayashi Shin-yi has proposed a way for the Imperial Household Agency to monetize its power, it has naturally received the agency's active support. Even though Hayashi Shin-yi advocates naming this unofficial organization after Saigo Takamori, the Imperial Household Agency reluctantly agrees.

In July 09, with the Emperor's approval, Marquis Saigo Tsunetoku became the director of the Nanshu Economic and Cultural Research Institute, while Kinoshita Naoe became the managing director. This allowed Hayashi Shin'ichi to directly voice his opinions on Chiba Prefecture's economic development and political reforms through the Nanshu Economic and Cultural Research Institute. Although Goto Shinpei was promoted by the Army, he actively aligned himself with the institute after its establishment.

On the recommendation of Inoue Kaoru and Yamagata Aritomo, Goto Shinpei took over as governor of Chiba Prefecture in early 09. Goto was clearly not an ordinary feudal bureaucrat; he saw himself as a politician, and therefore had his own set of ideas for the political and economic planning of Chiba Prefecture. However, after assuming the presidency, he discovered that things were different in Taiwan and mainland China. In Taiwan, he didn't have complete power to implement his plans and needed to compromise with various parties.

For example, although the governor of Chiba Prefecture appears to represent the government and hold administrative power, local forces in the Chiba Prefectural Assembly can restrain him using local regulations. Local town and village self-governing bodies tend to favor the local assembly, which represents local forces, and do not trust the governor, who represents the government. In addition, the navy and zaibatsu suppress the Chiba Prefectural Government through the central government, forcing local authorities to be unable to interfere with their construction projects in Chiba Prefecture, making Governor Goto of Chiba Prefecture almost a figurehead.

At this time, the army's reputation in the country plummeted, especially after the Gando Incident. Although some patriots believed that regardless of whether the army's actions violated the law, they were at least protecting the interests of the Empire, and therefore should unconditionally stand with the army.

However, this argument was quickly suppressed by another voice: "If patriotism is sacred, then those who support the war should first pay off their debts from the war against Russia. Those who claim to be patriots and support the army but refuse to contribute their own land to the country to pay off their debts are Japan's biggest enemies."

This voice suppressed the patriots' opinions because it had the support of the general Japanese public. Some left-wing socialists openly published pamphlets spreading rumors that the Oriental Development Company had only 692 shareholders who occupied 52,426 cho (a unit of area) of land in Korea. However, almost all of these 692 people were related to the army and the Imperial Household Ministry, while ordinary people numbered in the single digits and owned less land than the average. Clearly, the stories in these newspapers about ordinary people acquiring land in Korea were merely a facade used by the government to deceive the people.

The Japanese people were extremely dissatisfied when they learned of this fact. They believed that the country had spent over a billion yen to fight this war, resulting in the deaths of 80,000 to 90,000 people, but in the end, it was the bureaucrats and zaibatsu who made their fortunes. Whose country was this so-called country?

The Japanese Ministry of Home Affairs almost immediately began to ban these pamphlets, declaring them rumors spread by radicals dissatisfied with the government, attempting to emulate the Russian radical parties and instigate a violent revolution against the Emperor in Japan. However, the government, which claimed the rumors were false, refused to release the shareholder list of the Toyo Takushoku Co., Ltd., nor did it disclose which Japanese people were allocated Korean land. This led the public to believe that the pamphlets were true.

If the Hibiya Incident was primarily an outburst of anger at the government's incompetence and Russia's failure to fulfill its duties as a defeated nation, then this time the public's reaction is a questioning of so-called patriotism. After all, according to patriotic propaganda, the benefits of foreign wars should be shared by all citizens, so everyone should contribute to the war effort. However, the public now realizes that they have borne high taxes and sacrifices, while bureaucrats and financial magnates have contributed nothing and instead reaped huge profits after the war. The idea that the nation belongs to its citizens is clearly a lie.

The government had few effective measures to deal with the public's anger, because the investigation revealed that the pamphlets were printed abroad and then shipped to Japan. It was clear that after the Ministry of Home Affairs shut down the People's News Agency, the stronghold of the extremists, those extremists did not disappear, but instead took more covert actions.

This is similar to how Chinese revolutionaries fled to Japan after being pursued by the Qing government. The problem now is that Japan cannot demand that China hand these people over because China believes that what these Japanese are promoting does not violate Chinese law. At most, it is illegal to smuggle these pamphlets into Japan. However, according to the investigation in Wuhan, they concluded that the pamphlets were not smuggled into Japan, but rather that they were made by other Japanese for profit. Therefore, the Japanese government's request was rejected.

The Qing government initially hoped to silence the voices of revolutionaries who fled to Japan outside the country, but this proved impossible. Now, the Japanese government finds itself unable to do the same, because exchanges between China and Japan are quite frequent. It is impossible to prevent contraband from flowing into Japan through the massive Sino-Japanese trade; the cost of such inspections is simply too high.

Moreover, there are differing stances within the government regarding extremists. Some conservatives in the army and the Imperial Household Ministry believe that extremists have become hostile elements that shake the foundations of the Empire and should be severely suppressed. However, the navy and some political party members argue that extremists are merely people who have taken to extremes due to dissatisfaction with the corrupt bureaucracy, and that the issue lies in how to achieve political integrity, not in arresting extremists.

The disagreement between the two sides made the Ministry of Home Affairs somewhat indecisive in dealing with extremists. Moreover, the Ministry of Home Affairs discovered that most of the surveillance lists and information on socialists that were originally stored in the Police and Security Bureau had disappeared. Under pressure from the Navy and the Satsuma warlords, the matter was eventually dropped, but it also deprived the Ministry of Home Affairs of its surveillance of socialists in the country.

Although those well-known socialists are still under the Ministry of Home Affairs' surveillance, they are either abroad or have turned to moderate reformism. Moreover, they have close ties with the Imperial Household Department and the Navy, and have become a new force in Japanese politics and literature. Naturally, the Ministry of Home Affairs does not dare to frame them as easily as it did in the past.

The missing socialists were mostly key figures. Although they were not well-known before, they had considerable influence among workers and young students. The Ministry of Home Affairs monitored these people mainly to prevent them from entering law enforcement agencies and becoming internal rebels. However, with the disappearance of the list, these people have vanished from the Ministry of Home Affairs' sight.

Of course, one of the elites from the police department suggested that Lieutenant Commander Lin Xinyi of the Naval Cultural Department had close ties with many socialists, promoted the teaching of socialist theory at the Naval Academy, and might even have been a translator of the Communist Manifesto, or that this person was a socialist.

On the very day this elite submitted his report, he was directly ordered by Home Minister Ogawa Heikichi to be transferred to an extremely remote area in Hokkaido to serve as the head of a police station. All of Lieutenant Colonel Hayashi Nobuyoshi's investigation materials were confiscated, and the investigation into the files of the missing socialists in the Ministry of Home Affairs came to an end. The conclusion was that some unimportant materials were accidentally destroyed by newly hired personnel.

As a powerful force used by the Japanese government to suppress internal dissent, the army was internally divided, making it difficult to suppress anti-national rhetoric spreading among the people. As a result, patriotism, which had previously been used to quell domestic conflicts, now led to even more attacks from the people. The independent relationship between the people and the army forced Shinpei Goto to distance himself from the army and seek another power base.

Although the Nanshu Economic and Cultural Research Institute is a newly established institution, and most citizens have not even heard of it, Goto Shinpei, who is already close to the core circle of Japanese politics, knows that the art foundation behind the Nanshu Economic and Cultural Research Institute is actually a new political force combining the Imperial Household Agency, the new Satsuma clique, and the new zaibatsu.

The South Asia Economic and Cultural Research Institute had just been established when the Yamamoto Cabinet quietly announced that any government-invested projects would need to be investigated and researched by a third party to ensure that the projects would achieve good economic and social benefits before being approved, in order to prevent some bureaucrats from blindly approving projects in order to transfer their own interests.

This sounds good, but in reality, people in political circles know that this is actually a power grab by the new forces against the old aristocratic politics. In the past, aristocratic officials transferred money to financial groups by building various government projects, and then the financial groups provided subsidies to the aristocratic groups, thus forming a combination of power and money.

Under this system, the feudal lords and zaibatsu (financial cliques) reaped the greatest benefits, while others could only watch them reap the rewards. As a result, the Democratic Party (DP) was constantly criticizing the feudal lords and zaibatsu. This criticism from the DP even received strong support from the Imperial Household Department. The Duke of Konoe, who opposed the politics of the feudal lords and zaibatsu, almost became the prime minister.

The new system allows the Southern Continent Economic and Cultural Research Institute to decide on project approvals and then distribute the profits among various political forces, thus abolishing the system of profit-sharing between powerful clans and financial cliques. While the Southern Continent Economic and Cultural Research Institute has harmed the interests of powerful clans and financial cliques, it has gained the support of other political forces and is therefore destined to become an increasingly important force in imperial politics.

Shinpei Goto believed that aligning himself with the Nanju Research Institute would be more beneficial to his political development. Although the army was powerful, its factional politics had already provoked public anger, and it would inevitably relinquish power in the future. If he continued to rely on the army, he probably wouldn't have much room for future development.

Hayashi Shin-yi did not reject Goto's overtures. He also needed to work with Goto, representing the Chiba Prefectural Government, to suppress local forces and further promote the completion of land reform in Chiba Prefecture. Although the local forces in Chiba Prefecture were considered mere country bumpkins by the political forces in the Tokyo metropolitan area, their influence in the local area was still considerable. Land reform damaged the interests of these local forces, naturally causing many setbacks.

However, the navy needed an industrialized Chiba Prefecture. The lingering small-scale farming system was clearly detrimental to the navy's foothold in Chiba. Therefore, Hayashi Shin'ichi didn't intend for the navy to monopolize the benefits; instead, he chose to share them with other political forces. Goto Shinpei was merely a crocodile drawn by the promise of prey.

Of course, in terms of planning for Chiba Prefecture, Shinpei Goto was actually closest to Nobuyoshi Hayashi's ideas. Whether it was promoting the rapid urbanization of Chiba Prefecture or establishing a road network covering Chiba Prefecture, Goto stood on Hayashi's side.

It was with the support of Shinpei Goto that Nobuyoshi Hayashi was able to distribute a large number of young students to various towns and villages in Chiba Prefecture, thus forming the draft of the new land reform law. According to the farmers' demands, landowners would retain 1.5 cho (approximately 1.5 sho) of land, while the rest would be forcibly acquired by the state and then distributed to tenant farmers for cultivation free of charge. This land would belong to the farmers' association, which would pay the state principal and interest annually, with the debt being repaid within 99 years.

The new adjustment plan relieved farmers of their concerns about debt caused by redeeming their land. Since farmers' associations are self-governing organizations, farmers have the right to elect representatives to supervise the association's accounts. Therefore, the ownership of the land was clarified, and the adjustment plan received the support of most farmers, while the landlords naturally opposed it.

After three major discussions involving Chiba Prefecture, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and the Cabinet, the final plan was as follows: landowners are allowed to retain 1 cho (approximately 1.5 meters) of land for rent; land exceeding 3 cho (approximately 1.5 meters) will be forcibly purchased by the government; land rent, including paddy field rent, will only be paid in cash; restrictions on landowners' acquisition of land will be strengthened; and 50% of the members of the committees responsible for the acquisition and transfer of farmland in various regions must be from tenant farming backgrounds.

Chapter 738

Author: Fuchun Mountain Residence Number: 5054 Comments: 0 Update Date: 2023-09-16 12:54:32

However, even Akiyama Saneyuki found the purge Lin Xinyi carried out within the navy somewhat unbearable. He questioned Lin Xinyi, "Captain Suzuki is an excellent captain. Is it not a bit excessive to remove him from his post simply because his family does not support land reform?"

The Captain Suzuki mentioned by Akiyama is Kantaro Suzuki, a member of the 14th class of the Marine Corps. He became famous for his destroyer night raid tactics during the Russo-Japanese War, and was therefore regarded by the Navy as Japan's foremost torpedo warfare expert after the war. However, although Suzuki's reputation was growing in the Navy, he was still ostracized by the Satsuma clique because he was from Chiba Prefecture, which is why he became close to Akiyama.

However, the Suzuki family was no ordinary landowner in Chiba Prefecture. They were a high-ranking samurai family from the former Sekishaku Domain. During the late Edo period, the lord of the Sekishaku Domain, Hiroshi Kuze, served as the chief senior councilor (Rochu), a key figure in the shogunate. He and Nobumasa Ando actively promoted the unification of the court and the military, and worked tirelessly to secure British support. However, his death shortly after the signing of the London Memorandum made it difficult for the shogunate to maintain its path to self-preservation.

Ultimately, the Tokugawa Shogunate ended, and the Sekishaku Domain peacefully relinquished its domain.

As a result, the basic social order of Shimōsa Province, where Chiba Prefecture is located, remained almost unchanged. The Suzuki family still retained a large amount of land and enjoyed a high status within the prefecture. The Suzuki family's opposition to the land reform policy greatly influenced the wait-and-see attitude of a group of landowners.

The reason why the Suzuki family dared to oppose the land reform policy was not only because they had Colonel Suzuki Kantarō in the navy, but also because of Suzuki's three younger brothers, two of whom were in the army and one who graduated from the University of Tokyo and entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They were a prominent family in Chiba Prefecture during the Meiji era. A government announcement alone was clearly not enough to make the Suzuki family bow down.

So, after warnings proved ineffective, Hayashi Nobuyoshi, under the guise of cultural studies, temporarily transferred Suzuki Kantaro, then captain of the cruiser Soya, to Chiba Prefecture to promote the importance of land reform for Japan. This move could effectively end Suzuki's future in the navy, because after Hayashi Nobuyoshi proposed a new naval strategy, the construction of warships was slowed down, resulting in a much smaller number of captains than suitable officers. While Suzuki Kantaro's transfer out of the fleet went largely unimpeded, it would be difficult for him to return to command.

This incident was a huge blow to Suzuki Kantarō, even more so than the Satsuma Party's suppression of him. Although Hayashi Shinji was just a junior in his eyes, Hayashi Shinji was the true leader of the reformist faction and a powerful figure in the Navy. Even Akiyama Saneyuki, one of the Navy's three chiefs of staff, could not stop Hayashi Shinji's decision. Those abandoned by Hayashi Shinji had no future in the Navy.

What disheartened Suzuki Kantarō the most was that while he could still gain sympathy from the anti-Satsuma faction when he was suppressed by the Satsuma faction, even the anti-Satsuma faction distanced themselves from him after Hayashi Shin'ichi abandoned him. This was because Hayashi Shin'ichi not only gained the recognition of the most traditional Saigo faction within the Satsuma faction, but was also recognized by the old shogunate faction as a new pillar of the navy.

The reason why the reformists were able to transcend factions and become the backbone of the new generation of the Navy is that Lin Xinyi gained the approval of both the Satsuma faction and the anti-Satsuma faction. People from both factions believed that Lin Xinyi could bridge the factional struggles within the Navy, so they chose him as the future pillar of the Navy. As for those extreme members, they were powerless to confront Lin Xinyi on the Navy's direction and could only watch as Lin Xinyi united the majority of people and squeezed them out of the Navy's decision-making circle.

Therefore, Suzuki, who was suspended from his position as captain, was disheartened and submitted his application for retirement. It was then that Akiyama Saneyuki couldn't help but come to Hayashi Shin-yi to reason with him, trying to save the future of this naval torpedo expert.

Although Lin Xinyi respected Akiyama's opinion on other matters, he was unwilling to compromise on this matter. After listening to Akiyama's praise of Colonel Suzuki, he simply said, "The Navy is an industrialized organization. An individual's talent may determine the upper limit of the organization's capabilities, but the lower limit of the organization's capabilities is determined by the industrial base and the system."

In the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, we did indeed utilize human capabilities, achieving brilliant results that exceeded our initial expectations. However, these results are actually not worth mentioning, because any industrialized nation's fleet could achieve similar results. Japan's future adversaries will be industrialized nations, no longer agricultural countries like the Qing Dynasty or semi-industrialized nations like Russia. Therefore, without developing its industry, the Japanese navy will have no chance of growth.

I acknowledge your point. Captain Suzuki is an excellent captain and a torpedo expert, but without advanced warships and high-performance torpedoes, even the best of Captain Suzuki's tactics are nothing more than empty talk.

Land reform was not merely intended to alleviate peasant discontent with the state; it was the foundation of industrialization. A rural area without purchasing power could not support industrial development. The purpose of land reform was to transform the wealth that landlords used for personal enjoyment into peasant purchasing power and industrial investment, thereby further strengthening Japan's national power.

Compared to Colonel Suzuki, I believe he is far less significant than the boost to national power brought about by the increased productivity resulting from land reform. Colonel Suzuki might be worth the equivalent of a cruiser, but was he comparable to a battleship? And if Japan's industrialization had been successful, the increase would have been far more than just a battleship.

When Hayashi Shin-yi quantified Suzuki Kantarō's value in terms of a warship, Akiyama Saneyuki's resolve to protect Suzuki wavered. Although he valued personal relationships, he knew that personal feelings could not supersede the interests of the organization. Moreover, his reason for trying to persuade Hayashi Shin-yi was that Suzuki was a talent needed by the navy. However, Hayashi Shin-yi pointed out that the navy needed battleships even more, which shattered his reasoning.

Unable to win the argument with Hayashi Shinichi, Akiyama Saneyuki decided it would be simpler to persuade Suzuki Kantarō. Upon returning, he told Suzuki, "I advise you not to apply for retirement. The Chiba Prefecture Land Reform Committee is actually applying to the Cabinet and the military, requesting to follow the Navy's example and second Chiba Prefecture personnel from the Cabinet, Army, and University of Tokyo to the committee to promote land reform policies. Instead of applying for retirement, you should hurry back and persuade your family to support land reform. Then I can help you return to the fleet as soon as possible..."

Although Suzuki Kantarō's application to retire was partly out of spite, he also felt that even if he lost his future in the Navy, the Suzuki family was still a prestigious family in Chiba Prefecture, and there was no reason for him to ruin the Suzuki family's legacy for his own future.

However, Akiyama Saneyuki's persuasion made him realize that the Navy's land reform in Chiba Prefecture this time was for real. Even if he gave up his future in the Navy, the Suzuki family would still not be able to keep their land. Moreover, a generation of young elites in Chiba Prefecture, including the Suzuki family, would be removed from the political circles of Japan. Can a prestigious family that has lost hope for the future still be a prestigious family?

Under such immense pressure, Suzuki Kantaro had no choice but to change his mind and ask for leave to go home and discuss the matter with his family. This situation wasn't unique to Suzuki Kantaro; politicians and prominent local families in Chiba Prefecture suffered similar suppression. As a result, many local elites in Chiba Prefecture privately believed that Chiba Prefecture was now like Edo Castle in the fourth year of the Keio era, with reformers lurking outside the castle, ready to unleash a massacre if they didn't surrender.

Under such political pressure, local forces in Chiba Prefecture finally gave up resistance and accepted the land reform policy, only attempting to maintain their own interests as much as possible during the reform. Thus, the Chiba Prefecture land reform, which had initially caused trouble for Yamamoto Gonnohyōe, finally began to proceed smoothly in July 09. According to a survey report from the Nanshu Economic and Cultural Research Institute, if the new land adjustment plan were implemented, the share of tenant farmland in Chiba Prefecture would decrease from nearly 50% to less than 10%, which would greatly alleviate the dissatisfaction of local farmers.

The Yamamoto Gonnohyōe cabinet breathed a sigh of relief. After all, resolving a domestic problem following the Army's involvement in the Kanjima Incident was ultimately a good thing. Of course, the Yamamoto Gonnohyōe cabinet had no intention of extending the land reform from Chiba Prefecture to other regions. The cabinet had already paid a heavy political price simply for suppressing the resistance of landowners in Chiba Prefecture, and this was only in one prefecture with a weak political foundation. If it had triggered protests from landowners across the country, Yamamoto Gonnohyōe would have been out of a political game.

However, Yamamoto Gonbei's appeasement of local landowners sparked discontent among farmers and rural reform forces across the country. They supported the government's land reform in Chiba Prefecture, hoping to use this pilot program to extend land reform to other parts of Japan, rather than simply promoting Chiba Prefecture as a political achievement of Yamamoto.

Of course, land reform in Chiba Prefecture has not yet shown results that benefit farmers, so farmers and rural reform forces in various regions are still observing and are therefore quite restrained in their criticism of the Yamamoto Cabinet.

In early August, the Korean Independence Army attempted to capture the isolated city of Chongjin. However, the army stationed in Chongjin, with the support of naval guns, defeated the independence army, which outnumbered them several times over, and the offensive of the independence army in northern Korea was finally contained.

Riding on this victory at Chongjin, Ito Hirobumi ordered the North Korean garrison to strictly guard the coastal port city and the transportation hub of the Gyeongui Line, constructing a basic defensive line against the northern mountains of North Korea with the railway line and coastline, and then regrouped to prepare for a major offensive against the independence army. On the other hand, he made peace negotiations with China, expressing his willingness to make economic compensation for the Gando incident in order to induce China to abandon its support for the Korean independence army.

The failure of the attack on Chongjin led the Wuhan Military Commission to conclude that China and North Korea were currently unable to force the Japanese army to relinquish control of the coastal plains and railway lines in northern Korea. Continuing to fight would only result in a waste of manpower and allow the Japanese army to gain a position of strength and readiness. If the Korean Independence Army suffered too many losses, the Chinese army would also be unable to gain a foothold in Korea. Therefore, before the eastward extension of the Jichang Railway was completed and the industrial system in northern Manchuria was established, the liberation of the Korean Peninsula could only be a beautiful dream.