Lead: The Japanese pirates who ravaged the southeast coast of China in the early Ming Dynasty have always been confusing. How did the disaster in Japan come about? What is the inheritance relationship between the early Japanese pirates and the late Japanese pirates? What is the root cause of the sudden rampage of Japanese invaders? Who the hell are they? These are the places that this article should pay attention to. I. The Origin of the Japanese Enemy The earliest record of the Japanese pirates is the Koguryo Guangkai Monument to the King of the Earth (known as the "Good King of Thailand Monument" in Japan), which is now preserved in Ji 'an County, Jilin Province, China, with the story of "the enemy's great defeat" engraved on it. The recorded time is 404 AD. 196 1 year, this monument, together with Donggou ancient tomb, was approved and announced by the State Council as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units. In A.D. 1333, the Kamakura shogunate, which controlled Japanese politics, perished, and emperors supported by different samurai groups appeared in Kyoto and Yoshino respectively. Japan entered the Southern and Northern Dynasties (1336- 1392), and military confrontation among groups continued. Some samurai who lost in the war joined the pirates because of poverty. With the support of the Matsuura family who supported the Southern Dynasties, they carried out pirate invasion activities on the Korean Peninsula and the coastal areas of Liaodong, China, plundering property, kidnapping people and even killing people. South Korea became the hardest hit area for Japanese pirates at that time. According to statistics, during the ten years from the 10th year of Zheng Zheng (1350) to the 26th year of Zheng Zheng (1366), Japanese invaders invaded Korea every year. The invading Japanese ships varied in size, ranging from more than 50 to more than 200. Everywhere they went, the houses were burned down. Moreover, North Korean oil tankers have also become the main targets of plunder, forcing the Korean dynasty to eventually change water transportation to land transportation. North Korea has no choice but to send a special envoy to Japan to negotiate with them. Since then, Japan and South Korea have carried out certain military cooperation in combating Japanese pirates and voluntarily returned the plundered Korean population. Invasion 2. China's early Japanese invaders invaded the coastal areas of China at the end of Yuan Dynasty, mainly in northern coastal areas such as Shandong and Liaodong. In the second year after the Ming Dynasty (1369), Japanese invaders invaded Shandong, Suzhou, Huai 'an and other places on a large scale, and the court made diplomatic representations to Japan on the issue of Japanese pirates. Japanese ruler Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sent troops to fight against pirates in his country according to the requirements of the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, through this cooperation, he got the opportunity to trade tribute with the Ming Dynasty, and the cooperation between them was very effective. 14 19, Liu Jiang, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, led Dalian soldiers and civilians and won an unprecedented victory in the battle of Wanghai, killing more than 1,000 Japanese troops and capturing more than 100 people. The enemy's main force was completely lost, which made it dare not invade Liaodong area for more than a hundred years. Since then, the target of the Japanese invaders has gradually moved south and moved to the southeast coast such as Zhejiang. 3. During the 57 years from Hongwu to Yongle in the southeast coast of China in the early Ming Dynasty, the number of pirates was 94 times, with an average of less than 2 times a year; From Yongle to Jiajing (1425 ~ 1522), only 17 disasters were recorded in Japan. During the forty-five years of Jiajing, the number of Japanese pirates soared to 628 times, accounting for 80% of the number of Japanese pirates in the Ming Dynasty. Taking the thirty-first year of Jiajing (1552) as the boundary, the famine records in Japan in the first thirty years were scattered and did not become a famine. But in the last fifteen years, like an avalanche, the "enemy" storm broke out for fifteen years, and almost 97%(609 times) of the enemy were concentrated in the last fifteen years. After entering Qin Long, it dropped to 48 times. As can be seen from the above statistics, the disasters in Japan before Jiajing were sporadic and small in scale. However, it broke out suddenly during the Jiajing period, focusing on the fifteenth year after the Jiajing dynasty. What caused this? This is related to the background of that time. In the first year of Jiajing (1522), a Portuguese merchant ship incident occurred in Xicaowan, Guangdong Province, and the Japanese envoys fought for tribute in Ningbo the following year, which led the court to order the closure of all foreign trade portals in Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang. Since then, the door to tribute trade has been banned. At that time, the Ming court of Emperor Jiajing did not understand that the world had entered the era of great navigation and the prosperous maritime trade was unstoppable. The world trade circle connected by sea is developing vigorously, and the Oriental trade circle where China is located is an important part of it, which contains huge wealth and business opportunities. The sea ban cut off the livelihood of many employees (fishery, handicraft, shipbuilding and trade) in the whole trade industry chain since the Tang Dynasty, and they had to go underground to make a living. These Fujian maritime merchants lured the Portuguese merchant fleet and moved their stronghold to Shuangyu Port in Zhejiang Province to engage in smuggling trade. Hanging off the coast of Zhejiang, this island has become the most prosperous international trade center in the Far East, because it has become a treasure house for smuggling ships and ships, and also gathered maritime merchants from Japan, Malaysia, Ryukyu and Siam. Deng Lao, a fugitive from Jiajing for five years, Lin Bichuan, Li Guangtou and Xu Dong, fugitives from Fuzhou Prison in Jiajing for nine years, also joined the smuggling trade in Shuangyu Port one after another, creating momentum for Shuangyu Port and becoming the leader of Shanghai business in Shuangyu Port in the later period. At the same time, under anarchy, many commercial disputes could not be resolved, so they turned to military retaliation, and the chaos in Japan increased instead of decreasing, leading to chaos in Japan. The prosperity of private business trade in Shuangyu Port made the court more and more intolerable. In the twenty-seventh year of Jiajing (1548), Zhu Wan, the deputy commander of Ming and right, sent more than 2,000 officers and men to Shuangyu Port, and the loyalist army won a great victory. Zhu Wan ordered the burning of all houses and ships and blocked the navigation channel, leaving the World Trade Center in ruins. After the long Ming and Qing dynasties, it was just an empty island until today. After Xu Dong in Shuangyu Port was destroyed by Zhu Wan, he packed up the remains of Xu Dong and moved to Ligang. When Shuangyu Port was completely annihilated, Fujian Navy mobilized. However, after the war, these pirates were dismissed, and the imperial court refused to pay their salaries, resulting in mutiny of officers and men, and most of the warships went directly to Wang Zhi for command, which made Wang Zhi Group a unique power in Zhoushan waters and gained great fame. Wang Zhi is one of the few group leaders who advocate "maritime commerce". At this time, he actively cooperated with the authorities to arrest Haikou and wanted to cooperate with the authorities to maintain order in Zhoushan waters. For example, in the 29th year of Jiajing, he cooperated with the authorities to capture the pirates Qilu and Shen Jiu who invaded Qiantang. In thirty years, Chen Sipan, a pirate, was arrested and killed by Haidao yamen. In this way, with the official acquiescence, Wang Zhi has been engaged in smuggling trade for several years. In the thirty-first year of Jiajing (1552), Wang Zhi plundered the east coast of Zhejiang because his request for trade with the government was rejected. It may be in this atmosphere that Wang Zhi became arrogant and called himself "Neptune" in Dinghai. Before that, the sea official regarded him as a friendly army, and after that, he regarded him as an enemy. In the thirty-second year of Jiajing, Wang You, the new governor of Zhejiang Province, regarded it as a "disaster in the southeast" and sent Yu and other generals to encircle the group, forcing the group to retreat to Hirado, Japan in June. Since then, Wang Zhi has settled in Hirado and never returned to China. After Hu Zongxian arrived in Zhejiang, he found that the complicated situation of coastal pirates was far above his prediction. The problem of Japanese pirates is related to the maritime ban, the livelihood of coastal residents and the interests of local gentry. Zhu Wan, the governor of that year, made great contributions to the destruction of Shuangyu Island, but he was also dismissed and committed suicide in a rage because the maritime ban violated the interests of local gentry. In this case, how can we solve this difficult problem? Sneak Attack According to the different characteristics of these two forces, Hu Zongxian adopted different countermeasures. Xu Hai Group is a typical pirate group, and its leader, Xu Hai, has military talent and youthful vitality. Xu Wei, an aide, believes that Xu Hai can only be completely annihilated. But Xu Hai is too strong to compete. In view of this, Hu Zongxian used a deviant to lure Xu Hai and annihilate the pirate group. Wang Zhi, who is invincible at sea, is mainly caressed by Hu Zongxian. After several contacts, he knew that the only breakthrough was the right to trade. Wang Zhi is essentially a businessman, not a thief. Wang Zhi has been pursuing the right of maritime trade all his life. Hu Zongxian has no right to open its maritime trade. Since taking office, Hu Zongxian has sent people to Japan to contact Wang Zhi, taking his family as a family card, hoping to seek reconciliation. After several years of negotiations, Wang Zhi was no longer an enemy of the Ming Dynasty, and his adopted son Mao Haifeng also helped Hu Zongxian conquer other pirate nests. Hu Zongxian also took his cronies hostage. Wang Zhi personally went to Zhejiang and was warmly received by Hu Zongxian. He also suggested that Wang Zhi visit Hangzhou. What makes people unprepared is that in Hangzhou, the suggestion king ignored Hu Zongxian's reminder and insisted on putting him in prison, and slandered Hu Zongxian Tongbo. In this case, Hu Zongxian did not dare to insist. Wang Zhi burst into tears before he died and sighed: "I died alone, afraid of suffering the people of Zhejiang." . Facts have proved that Wang Zhi's prediction is very accurate. After Wang Zhi's death, due to lack of restraint, "Japanese pirates" flooded and thieves swarmed, which made the situation in the southeast coast more confusing. War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression IV. The composition of the enemy is recorded in the Official History of the Ming Dynasty as follows: "Generally speaking, three-tenths of the enemy are real, and seven-tenths of the enemy are followers". ("Biography of Japanese History in the Ming Dynasty") "Cover the Jiangnan Marine Police, the Japanese accounted for thirteen, and China rebelled seventeen. "("A Record of Jiajing ") This is official data, and it is acknowledged that Japanese account for three tenths, China accounts for seven tenths, and China is dominant. According to the actual investigation, Hu Zongxian compiled a book "Compilation of Charts", which listed fourteen most powerful "Japanese pirates", and their leaders were all from China. That is to say, within the so-called "enemy", China people not only have an absolute advantage in number, but also firmly hold the leadership. As shown in the following table, Japanese leader Chen Maoheng's Textual Research on the Japanese in the Ming Dynasty has collected dozens of historical materials and local chronicles, and arranged the Japanese information quite comprehensively. His conclusion is that the main leaders are all from China, and the proportion of Japanese among the minor leaders is not high. Historian Zheng Xiao (1499- 1566) pointed out in "Four Yi Kao Ri": "Fang Guozhen was in Wen Tai at the beginning, Zhang Shicheng was in Ningshao, Hangjia, Susong and Tongtai, and all the counties were at sea. Since the destruction of zhangfang, all thieves and powerful people have learned to sail to correct the islands and invade Japan. So Hongwu plundered the sea. There are two problems with this statement: first, the invading "pirates" were gathered by the remnants of Fang and Zhang, not themselves. Second, the remnants of Fang and Zhang were originally anti-yuan forces active in the sea around Jiangsu and Zhejiang. After their master surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang, he did not want to follow the surrendered "thief" into the sea and continued to call chaos in Zhoushan. Therefore, the main victims of Japanese invaders in the early Ming Dynasty should be the remnants of Fang Guozhen and Zhang Shicheng. Tang Shu (1497- 1574), a great Jiajing scholar, clearly pointed out in his book Punishing Wang Zhi after Humolin: "He didn't build his own boat either. The ship was made in Fujian and Guangxi, starting with me. "。 Starting from the shipbuilding ability, which is the key condition to save Japan, Tang Shu clearly pointed out that the root of the problem is not the Japanese pirates, but the pirates in China. Although it was Japanese businessmen who first made the tribute dispute, they took the China ship: during Jiajing period, Japan was unable to build ships crossing the East China Sea, and the two tribute ships that arrived in China were also gifts given to Japanese general Ashikaga Yoshimitsu by Emperor Chengzu in the early years of Yongle. Seagoing ships need to rely on monsoon to cross the ocean, and the number of round trips in a year is greatly limited. In addition, at that time, Japan was in the Warring States period, and various lords scuffled. Under such obstacles, it is almost impossible for the Japanese to invade on a large scale. Another reason is to identify the true identity of the enemy. Under the cruel and severe sea ban at that time, once the incident occurred, people entering the sea might implicate nine ethnic groups. From the point of view of coastal people, pretending to be "Japanese" can protect their families. As for those coastal royalists, when they encounter turmoil, whether they are Japanese or not, they can "politicize" the issue as long as they report it as "Japanese riots". If you fail, you will easily pass the buck, and if you win, you will be rewarded more. For the rulers above the temple, it is more convenient and reasonable to define coastal civil strife as foreign invasion and equate their extremely hostile maritime forces with traitors. Thus, a struggle and resistance of the coastal people caused by the sea ban was jointly fabricated by the people, the government and the imperial court, and the historical lie of hundreds of years after deception was completed. Five, completely solve the problem of the enemy situation map Jiajing forty years (156 1), Qi Jiguang led Qi Jiajun and others to win nine battles in Taizhou and annihilated the enemy who invaded Taizhou. Since then, Qi and Yu have joined forces to basically eliminate the pirates in Fujian and Zhejiang. In the forty-fourth year of Jiajing (1565), Qi Jiguang cooperated with the Second Army to wipe out the Japanese invaders entrenched in Guangdong, Guangxi and South Australia. At this point, the Japanese invaders who invaded the southeast coast for many years were finally completely solved. Under the attack of the powerful military power of the imperial court, the Japanese invaders on the southeast coast were finally completely wiped out. The sea remained relatively calm. But how long can this calm be maintained until the fundamental problem is solved? Actually, the answer is simple. Only by solving the livelihood of a large number of people who rely on maritime trade is the best way to get rid of the problem. In the first year of Qin Long (1567), Mu Zong, Ming Taizu, took the advice of Tu Zemin, the governor of Fujian, and cancelled the sea ban, allowing people to sail and trade in the east and west. Since then, non-governmental overseas trade has gained legal status, and non-governmental overseas trade in southeast coastal areas has entered a new era. The Japanese disaster suddenly decreased. "The Japanese are no longer a disaster. "From 1567 to 1644, the total amount of silver flowing into the Ming Dynasty from overseas was about 332 million taels, which was equivalent to one third of the world's total silver production at that time, and accumulated great wealth for the Ming Empire. References:
Old ladies such as Records of Emperor Taizong of Ming Dynasty, Compilation of Charts, Zheng Mingruo Zeng, Ming History, Zhang Qing Yu Ting, and Zheng Linzhi of Korea solemnly declared in the Spring and Autumn Period that it is forbidden to illegally reprint original works! ?