Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 182

After thinking for a moment, Ogawa Heikichi replied, "It should be political resources."

Lin Xinyi shook his head and said, "It should be the political bottom line for party members. You see, I can trust my uncle, and my uncle can trust me, because we both know what everyone's bottom line is. But uncle, do you know what Sugiyama-senpai's bottom line is?"

Lin Xinyi's question stumped Ogawa Heikichi. It should be said that Ito Hirobumi set a bad precedent for later generations in politics. His political fickleness led many people to believe that politics is a game of changing positions at any time for self-interest. Sugiyama Shigemaru is very similar to Ito Hirobumi in politics. In order to achieve his goals, he can change his position at any time.

Therefore, while Sugiyama Shigemaru may seem to wield considerable influence in the House of Representatives, he struggles to gain the trust of others. Ogawa Heikichi desires Sugiyama's ability to influence the House, but he cannot claim complete trust in him. He wouldn't be surprised if Sugiyama were willing to betray them for the right price.

However, the trust between him and Yuan Jiadao and Lin Xinyi was extremely strong, because their common interests were necessarily most beneficial to themselves. It would be a loss to betray the group for a little bit of profit from others.

After much deliberation, Ogawa Heikichi finally said regretfully, "If we can't bring Sugiyama Shigemaru in, we'll be far from becoming the second most powerful force in the academy."

Lin Xinyi, however, disagreed, saying, "The current House of Representatives is a coalition of interests. There are no real political parties. As long as we offer enough benefits, we don't need to care about our current ranking. They will eventually side with us for the sake of their interests."

Strengthening the party's base is far more important than expanding the size of the parliamentary alliance. Having secured the land reform pilot program in Chiba Prefecture, the next step is to carefully calculate and control the Chiba prefecture's parliamentary seats. This is our true strength, and the core members who won't easily betray the party.

Hearing Lin Xinyi say this, Ogawa Heikichi's interest was immediately piqued. "Chiba Prefecture is entirely an agricultural region, without even a city. Its population is much smaller than other places, and it holds less than five percent of the total seats in the House of Representatives. However, if we can bring Chiba Prefecture under our control, along with Nagano Prefecture and Tokyo, then we will have relatively stable constituencies for the House of Representatives."

Although Ogawa Heikichi and Hara Yoshimichi formed a new political faction, this faction was not stable in reality because they could only get the support of incumbent members of parliament. Many of these incumbent members of parliament did not have close ties with their constituencies. They simply relied on their connections with local luminaries and used the power of money to obtain a majority of votes in their constituencies.

This year is also a year of congressional elections, and after the elections, who knows if some people will be able to retain their seats? This uncertainty will have a huge impact on this new political faction. The true sign of a political faction's stability is not how many members of Congress follow it, but how many districts it controls. Only by controlling the districts will members of Congress not dare to easily betray the faction, because they can be replaced at any time.

Although Chiba Prefecture has a small population and its members account for less than 5% of the total number of members of the House of Representatives, it is still considered one of the larger prefectures in the country with 43 prefectures. Hokkaido's population is less than half that of Chiba Prefecture, and Nagano Prefecture's population is similar to that of Chiba Prefecture. Therefore, being able to establish a foothold in Chiba Prefecture would be extremely advantageous for their new faction.

Lin Xinyi nodded in response, "The land consolidation in Chiba Prefecture will greatly weaken the control that local powerful families have over the region. I plan to promote agricultural associations for intensive production in Chiba Prefecture, and through these associations, plan the production of each village in Chiba and replace the control of local powerful families over the countryside."

In addition, we should promote the development of heavy industry and related industries in the Tokyo Bay area, establish port cities and regional centers with special economic preferential policies, and promote the urbanization of Chiba Prefecture. We should at least make Chiba Prefecture's urban population reach the national average of more than 25%. In this way, we can win at least half of the seats in the Chiba Prefecture Assembly through the votes of urban workers and businessmen.

Ultimately, the proportional representation system and the electoral law abolishing tax standards are beneficial to us. Land reform will gain us the support of sharecroppers, and the construction of heavy industrial centers will make workers our staunch supporters. Therefore, we should firmly support regional elections and universal suffrage, laying the foundation for the formal organization of a political party in the future…”

Chapter 615

On August 24, the reorganized Navy Generals' Council held its first major meeting at Yokosuka Naval Base to discuss the direction of naval professionalization proposed by the core members of the Navy. The reason why the Generals' Council discussed naval professionalization as a major issue was that the president of the Naval Academy, Toshitsugu Sakamoto, had previously published a paper on the regular rotation of department heads, which echoed the discussion on the direction of naval professionalization.

Although Toshihisa Sakamoto was a marginalized figure in the naval high command, he was still one of them. As one of the three most talented men of his generation, alongside Makoto Saito, Sakamoto's abilities were no less than Saito's. However, due to Saito's obstruction, he was never able to enter the naval decision-making circle. It was clear to everyone that the biggest obstacle in the careers of both Toshihisa Sakamoto and Manjuharu Yamauchi was their contemporary, Makoto Saito. To prevent them from achieving battlefield success, both were confined to naval bases and educational departments, barely given the opportunity to demonstrate their talents within the fleet.

If nothing changes occur within the Navy, then Saito Makoto, as the Vice Minister of the Navy, will naturally be able to firmly suppress his two contemporaries, Sakamoto Toshitsu and Yamauchi Manjuji, due to his responsible position in naval administration. No matter how talented they are, they can only do departmental administrative work under Vice Minister Saito's leadership. This kind of work experience is naturally incomparable to Saito Makoto's experience in leading the daily work of the Navy Ministry.

Now that Yamamoto's autocratic position in the Navy has been broken, various departments have the power to speak and discuss the Navy's future. Saito Makoto's line of succession to Yamamoto has been interrupted, and the Navy has officially entered a phase of power reshuffling. Although Chief of Staff Kawahara has shown the demeanor of the Navy's second-in-command, Kawahara is not Yamamoto after all. Even if he becomes the Navy Minister, it will be difficult for him to replicate the autocratic power structure that Yamamoto established during his tenure.

So everyone started trying to compete, not for the position of Minister of the Navy, but for the powers that the Ministry of the Navy had lost. For example, the Education Headquarters was theoretically responsible for naval education, but the Marine Academy and the Naval College were directly under the Minister of the Navy, while the various technical schools were managed by their respective naval districts. Apart from issuing documents, the Education Headquarters had almost no actual subordinate units to manage.

Now that Yamamoto Kaisho's dictatorial position has been overthrown, the Ministry of Education naturally wants to regain control of these schools; otherwise, why would they risk joining the Naval General Staff in rebelling against Yamamoto Kaisho? Of course, although Yamamoto Kaisho's faction lost in the power struggle at the top, the personnel management by Yamamoto and Saito over the decades meant that these rebels could not easily seize control of the Navy.

Faced with the Yamamoto-Saito faction's refusal to relinquish power readily, personnel struggles became inevitable. Sakamoto Toshitsu's proposed system of regular rotation of department heads quickly gained the support of non-key department heads. Even the heads of non-combat departments within the Ministry of the Navy favored regular rotation. After all, the Navy had not yet shifted from a wartime mindset, and combat departments were always the most important. Promotions and rewards were all geared towards combat departments, while other departments were treated like stepchildren.

Yamamoto and Saito's close associates remained confined to the First and Second Departments of the Navy Ministry. Not to mention outsiders, even those from collateral branches found it difficult to enter the core First Department—the Military Affairs Bureau. Therefore, regarding the suggestion of a system for the regular rotation of department heads, aside from the opposition from Yamamoto and Saito's close associates, the collateral branches offered only lukewarm complaints and showed no real intention of strongly opposing it.

Because divisions had emerged within Yamamoto's faction, the system of regular rotation of department heads became a formal topic of discussion at the Admiralty Council, serving as an exploration of the direction for the professionalization of the navy. From the perspective of naval history, this marked the first time that the core of the navy had exerted influence on the upper echelons of the navy through their own consensus.

In the past, there have been instances where key figures in the navy have turned their ideas into naval policies. For example, Yamamoto Gonnohyōe, when serving as an aide to Saigo Tsugumichi, formulated a reform plan for naval personnel, and Takashi Tsaibe also promoted naval armament work by submitting a plan to his father-in-law, Navy Minister Yamamoto. However, these examples all still ensured one principle: policies were implemented from top to bottom, rather than first forming a consensus among the middle ranks and then forcing the upper echelons of the navy to accept them.

If Saigo Tsugumichi did not accept Yamamoto Gonnohyōe's personnel plan, and Takashi Takashi did not receive his father-in-law's support, their naval reform plans would not be able to be transformed into concrete policies and implemented. However, the current issue of naval professionalization is exactly the opposite. The naval backbone—commanders at the rank of lieutenant commander—reached a consensus first, prompting high-ranking naval officers like Toshitsugu Sakamoto to propose concrete policies. If successful, this would mean that the naval backbone would also gain the power to formulate naval policies, although this power would be greatly limited.

The reorganized general officers' council has 25 members, and 21 members attended this meeting. The four who were absent were almost all not supporters of the Yamamoto faction. It should be said that this meeting was favorable to the Yamamoto-Saito side. However, after the meeting, Togo Heihachiro, the representative of the fleet faction, found that the meeting ultimately sided with Kawahara's side, just as Ma Ryotachi had suggested to him before the meeting.

Dewa Shigeto and Shibayama Yahachi were completely aligned with the Naval General Staff's position, and they severely criticized the current technical, logistical, and personnel problems in the navy. They believed that the navy must become professional in order to correct these shortcomings, and that only a professional navy could compete with naval powers such as Britain, the United States, Germany, and France.

As a direct stakeholder in personnel issues, the Director of the Naval Personnel Bureau, Sotaro Misu, adopted an ambiguous stance, neither siding with Minister of the Navy Yamamoto in opposing the regular rotation system for department heads. As Arima pointed out, while Misu was a close confidant of Minister Yamamoto, he was ultimately not a core figure in the Satsuma clique. He had been in his position as Director of the Personnel Bureau for too long and was destined for replacement. Therefore, Misu was unlikely to oppose the Naval General Staff for a position he was certain to lose.

Simply put, the system of regular rotation of department heads threatens the factions that hold real power in the navy. The direction of naval professionalization is itself an opposition to the phenomenon of factions being superior to ability in the navy. Even Togo Heihachiro could only talk about Yamamoto's predicament on the surface, but could not directly oppose the direction of naval professionalization. Otherwise, his replacement of Hidaka Sonojo as commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet would not be a good story but a dirty internal power struggle.

Dewa Shigeto represents the non-Satsuma forces in the Navy, Shibayama Yahachi represents the elders of Satsuma, and Kawahara Yoichi himself represents the collateral branches of Satsuma. This meeting of generals is essentially a battle between the Yamamoto-Saito faction and those outside the main faction. Naturally, someone like Misu Sotaro, who is not from Satsuma, would not participate in this.

So when the meeting began with a vote on the system of regular rotation of department heads, Kawahara's side received 12 votes, with 3 abstentions and only 6 votes against. Even if the 4 absent members were called back and asked to vote against it, the Yamamoto faction would still have lost; it was a truly crushing defeat.

Although Togo Heihachiro maintained his alignment with Navy Minister Yamamoto, he actually intended to abstain. His dissenting vote was merely to demonstrate his support for Yamamoto, not to genuinely oppose the professionalization of the navy. Given Yamamoto's defeat, Togo's vote was simply to save face for Yamamoto Gonnohyōe, indicating that the fleet remained subordinate to the Navy Minister.

However, when Togo Heihachiro spoke privately with Yamamoto Gonnohyōe after the meeting, he bluntly told him: "Given that the future direction of the navy is determined, the professionalization of the navy is the inevitable direction of its development. To compete with Kawahara and his group on this issue is to push the neutral faction in the navy into Kawahara's arms as well."

Leaving aside Shibayama and Dewa, even Samejima-senpai's unusual decision to abandon neutrality is enough to prove that the professionalization of the Navy has become the mainstream. If we don't change our mindset and continue to treat this as an internal power struggle within the Navy, then the number of people in the Navy who are inclined towards us will only decrease.

Yamamoto Gonnohyōe understood the intention behind Togo Heihachirō's persuasion. If the Ōiso Conference merely demonstrated the alliance of anti-mainstream forces within the Navy, then this meeting of admirals indicated that the Yamamoto-Saito faction had lost its mainstream position within the Navy. Simply put, he had lost control of the Navy. If he didn't quickly sit down with Kawahara to discuss the transfer of power, his subordinates in the Navy would inevitably face suppression from the mainstream, represented by Kawahara.

There's nothing to complain about. After all, Yamamoto gradually became the mainstream in the navy by suppressing other factions through personnel changes. By replacing Hidaka Sonojo with Togo Heihachiro, he elevated the factional struggle to the level of gambling with the fate of the nation. Although he won the gamble, it also made his faction a target of everyone's vigilance. If even the war for the fate of the nation couldn't stop his personnel struggle, how could everyone feel at ease doing their jobs?

Therefore, if he refuses to admit defeat, Kawahara's further reform of the naval personnel should not be opposed by others. After all, Kawahara has already gained the support of the high-ranking and middle-ranking officials. Under the banner of naval professionalization, it is perfectly legitimate for him to purge his and Saito's people.

This meeting did not only decide on a system for the regular rotation of department heads. Kawahara Yoichi also proposed the establishment of a permanent Joint Fleet Command and a Marine Corps Command, and believed that it was necessary to establish a Naval System Research Committee under the Generals' Conference to reform all systems that were not suitable for the modern navy.

Apart from the proposal to establish a Marine Corps Command, which was questioned by some naval purists, the other proposals received the support of most people. After all, these proposals were all about increasing the power of non-naval ministries and weakening the power of the Minister of the Navy. Apart from the Yamamoto faction, everyone else could share in the benefits.

Yamamoto Gonbei finally understood why he had lost to Kawahara. After the Ōiso meeting, he had actually sent Saito and Togo to win over key members of other factions, but the benefits they could offer were too little. Kawahara, on the other hand, was now using the power of the Minister of the Navy and the Ministry of the Navy to reward his supporters. Naturally, these centrist factions preferred to cooperate with Kawahara.

After the meeting, Yamamoto Gonnohyōe returned to Tokyo and finally visited Ito Sukeyuki to discuss some naval issues. Faced with Yamamoto Gonnohyōe's show of weakness, Ito readily accepted.

The meeting between the two lasted all afternoon. Ito was quite satisfied with the meeting, and at the end he comforted his partner: "You don't need to worry too much about the future of the Navy. Look at how well the Navy has developed since I left. You should now focus more on political affairs, step away from the duties of the Minister of the Navy, and look at domestic and foreign politics from the perspective of a national leader. Only in this way can the Navy have a better future."

Shedding the burden of being the naval heir made Yamamoto Gonnohyōe feel much more relaxed. Although it wasn't his own intention, Kawahara's pressure was just right, preventing him from tearing off the mask and fighting to the death. Although he was forced to hand over the leadership of the navy, it was ultimately a peaceful transfer. Therefore, Yamamoto Gonnohyōe's dissatisfaction remained only at the level of complaining.

Upon hearing Ito Sukeyuki's advice, Yamamoto Gonbei couldn't help but mutter a sarcastic remark: "Speaking of which, it seems the Imperial Household Agency intends to select a few people from the Army and Navy to serve as military officers in the Imperial Household Agency, and Hayashi Nobuyoshi is among the candidates."

After hearing this, Ito Sukeyuki paused for a moment, staring at Yamamoto Gonbei's eyes for a long time before saying, "A military officer in the Imperial Household? Actually, it would be somewhat beneficial for Nobuyoshi to be selected, but his personality is probably not suitable for working in the Imperial Household. If he gets into any trouble because of this, it would be a huge loss for both Nobuyoshi and the Navy. I think it would be better for you to refuse the Imperial Household's request."

Yamamoto Gonbei also wanted to test Ito's true attitude towards Hayashi Nobuyoshi. While Hayashi Nobuyoshi had indeed brought Ito and Kawahara immense power, what he was doing now was essentially manipulating the two men, which was extremely unusual in Japanese society. He wanted to ascertain whether Ito had any intention of abandoning him after using him.

However, Ito's answer didn't give him any chance, and Yamamoto Gonnohyōe quickly stopped probing and said, "I also think that Nobuyoshi can play a greater role in the navy, and it's a pity to send him to the palace as a military officer..."

Ito Sukeyuki smiled at Yamamoto Kaisho without saying a word, only making a gesture inviting him to have tea. Having served as prime minister for a term, Ito could actually understand Yamamoto Kaisho's unspoken meaning: if Hayashi Shin'ichi was removed from the navy now, the navy could immediately stabilize. However, Yamamoto Gonnohyōe did not see clearly that his relationship with Kawahara was not solid. Kawahara was not his representative in the navy, but merely his collaborator.

Now that the navy has stabilized, only Kawahara benefits. His influence on the navy has actually decreased. Only if the navy maintains a state of constant struggle without breaking apart will he be a necessary presence for the navy. Hayashi Shin-yi's actions in the navy actually ensure his influence within the navy, rather than treating him as a puppet.

Ito also saw through Yamamoto Gonbei's idea of ​​bringing Hayashi Nobuyoshi into the palace. Without Hayashi Nobuyoshi's advice to Kawahara, even if Yamamoto Gonbei relinquished his position as minister, Saito Makoto could still use the naval personnel connections accumulated by the Yamamoto faction to launch a counterattack against Kawahara. Both times, Yamamoto Gonbei lost because of Hayashi Nobuyoshi's schemes, not because of Kawahara's strength.

Yamamoto Gonnohyōe and Saitō Minoru were getting on in years. They could understand the strengths and weaknesses of the navy in the past, but they couldn't grasp the key points about the strengths and weaknesses of the navy in the future. Therefore, when faced with Hayashi Shin'yō's new ideas on the navy's new direction and professionalization, Yamamoto and Saitō had almost nothing to counter.

It can only be said that, under the series of blows from Kawahara and Hayashi Nobuyoshi, Yamamoto developed a genuine fear of Hayashi Nobuyoshi. Unable to find another new ideology to counter him, nor could he rely on the power of the Minister of the Navy to force him to abandon his views, Yamamoto could only try to keep Hayashi Nobuyoshi away from the Navy. The Imperial Household Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs both had naval personnel stationed there, but for Hayashi Nobuyoshi at this point, these places could only allow him to accumulate experience and connections, but not to cultivate his own foundation within the Navy—it was almost equivalent to exile.

Ito Sukeyuki certainly wouldn't do anything that would cause Hayashi Shin'ichi to misunderstand him. Even if he did nothing, he held an extremely high position in the palace, the government, and the navy, so why would he want to make enemies with Hayashi Shin'ichi for a little personal gain? In fact, Yamamoto, as the Minister of the Navy, could make the decision on his own, but the fact that this man actually came to ask him showed that Yamamoto himself didn't want to offend Hayashi Shin'ichi for no reason, so he wanted to drag him into sharing Hayashi Shin'ichi's resentment.

As he saw Yamamoto Kaishin off, Ito solemnly warned Yamamoto Gonnohyōe, "Now is the most critical moment for the Navy. Only Hayashi Nobuyoshi is confident about the Navy's plans to expand into local and government areas."

Sending him to the palace, if no one can take over his work, leading to the failure of the heavy industry center project or the loss of control to someone else, then ultimately someone will have to take responsibility.

Yamamoto Gonnohyōe remained silent for a long time before bowing to Ito at the door and saying, "I was just speaking casually, you don't need to worry too much. Making the navy strong is also my dream, how could I possibly wave goodbye and let it leave when it comes true..."

Chapter 616

In mid-August, the Army General Staff and the Navy General Staff officially began negotiations on the Empire's defense policy. The Army representatives were Major General Toshitane Matsukawa, Chief of the First Department of the General Staff, and Lieutenant Colonel Giichi Tanaka, while the Navy representatives were Colonel Kiyozo Oda and Colonel Kazuyoshi Yamaji.

The Army didn't have much hope for negotiations with the Navy. After all, the Army's defense policy had already been approved by Chief of Staff Tamura and veteran Yamagata Aritomo, so the Army couldn't possibly make any changes to its own defense policy. At most, they would agree to let the Navy incorporate their demands into the Army's defense policy, rather than having the Navy revise the Army's defense policy.

The Army's defense policy is based on a book of random thoughts written by Tanaka Giichi at the end of last year. This book of more than 60,000 words mainly analyzes Japan's enemies on the mainland after the war and revises and supplements the Army's mainland policy.

Before the outbreak of this war, the army's continental policy, led by Yamagata Aritomo, regarded the Russians as the army's biggest enemy. On the other hand, fearing the strength of the Russian army, it proposed a policy of defending the north and advancing south. That is, to hold out against the Russian army in the north and protect the Korean Peninsula, while attacking Fujian and other places in the south where the powers had not yet defined their spheres of influence, so as to get a share of the spoils in the partitioning of China.

However, this war exposed Russia's weakness. The Chinese actually joined forces with Russian rebels to confine the Russian government to the west of Lake Baikal. This meant that Russia and Japan were temporarily out of contact, and the Russian threat to Japan had greatly decreased. The northern defense strategy proposed in the past to guard against the Russians was no longer appropriate after the war.

In his casual reflections, Tanaka Giichi stated that China displayed a renewed strength during this war. The abdication of the Manchu emperor did not plunge China into temporary chaos; instead, it eased internal ethnic tensions. The Manchus in the Northeast not only did not oppose the Guangxu Emperor's abdication but also immediately announced their support for the republican government and opposed the Manchu nobles in Beijing establishing any autonomous government outside the Great Wall.

The republican system advocated by the Chinese is extremely radical even by Western standards. Although the National Assembly, representing the people of all ethnic groups and provinces in China, stated that the abdication of the Qing emperor would not cause any legal problems for national unity, the princes of Outer and Inner Mongolia who attempted to pledge allegiance to the Qing emperor rather than to China were the first to be purged by the National Assembly.

However, the country still granted extremely lenient conditions for local and ethnic autonomy. Local and ethnic autonomous governments were established in Tibet, Yunnan, southern Xinjiang, Outer Mongolia and northern Manchuria. The core Han Chinese settlements were divided into four semi-independent regional administrative centers: Beiyang, Wuhan, Nanjing and Guangzhou.

After Emperor Guangxu abdicated, the Manchu nobles in Beijing no longer wanted to stay. They attempted to emulate the autonomy of ethnic minority regions in the border areas and establish a Manchu autonomous government outside the Great Wall. However, Guangxu rejected their persuasion and went to the border to assume the leadership of the Manchu autonomous government. He even gave up being emperor to become the leader of the autonomous government. Moreover, Guangxu bluntly told the Manchus who came to persuade him, "If you are so loyal, why didn't you rescue me from Yingtai in the first place?"

Not only did Emperor Guangxu refuse the persuasion of these Manchu nobles to leave the pass, he also refused to adopt a member of the imperial clan as his heir. As a former emperor, Guangxu was well aware of what these Manchus were thinking. If he adopted a child of his brother or a member of the imperial clan, these people would use that child as a banner to rebuild Manchukuo, and his life would be in danger.

Besides Emperor Guangxu's refusal to establish an autonomous Manchu government outside the Great Wall, the Manchus outside the Great Wall were also unhappy with these Manchu nobles from the capital coming out of the Great Wall to cause trouble for them.

According to knowledgeable Manchus from outside the Great Wall: During the First Sino-Japanese War and the Boxer Rebellion, the court almost sold Manchuria to the Japanese or Russians. Now these people can't stay in the interior and are thinking of coming to the interior to harm us. They only want to protect their own wealth and status, not to revive Manchuria. We will never work for these scoundrels.

The Beiyang military and political group, which controlled southern Manchuria, also opposed the establishment of any autonomous government in Manchuria outside the Great Wall. The Beiyang did not mind establishing autonomous governments in other places because they had no control over those places. Rather than forcing these places to become independent, it was better to give them a great deal of autonomy in exchange for keeping these places within the national system. Yuan Shikai was very clear about the gains and losses in this regard.

However, the Manchus now wanted to establish an autonomous government on their own territory. Wasn't this taking meat from the Beiyang government's pot? Although Yuan Shikai and many officials in the Beiyang system still had deep feelings for the Qing Dynasty, when faced with such a conflict of interests, even old friends and relatives had nothing to discuss. Under Yuan Shikai's instruction, a group of Zongshe Party members who advocated establishing Manchukuo outside the Great Wall were arrested. Faced with Yuan Shikai's change of heart, the Zongshe Party, which had once been very powerful in Beijing, quickly fell apart.

The weakness of these Manchu nobles disillusioned even the landlords and gentry who still held affection for the Qing dynasty. One Qing loyalist criticized them, saying, "Revolutionaries, for the sake of so-called nationalism and republicanism, are abandoning their comfortable lives and risking their lives against the Qing. These Manchu nobles, who have received such great favors from the Qing, are unwilling to fight the Beiyang Army for their own wealth and status. Who else can they expect to sacrifice for the Qing?"

Thus, with the collapse of the Zongshe Party, the last vestige of Manchu political power vanished, and Manchus no longer held a place in Chinese politics. While Emperor Guangxu voluntarily abdicated, the Manchus essentially retained the right to participate in the republican system, but the Zongshe Party's resentment led to their complete purging from the political center.

Tanaka Giichi believed, through his observation of the changes in China's political situation, that Japan's primary enemy on the mainland after the war was China, not Russia. This was because although China had transitioned from an imperial system to a republic, its internal connections had not been severed. Apart from the Han Chinese, the major ethnic minorities did not have much desire for independence and nation-building. Instead, they were quite eager to find their place in the new republic.

The Manchus, who ruled China for over two hundred years, were actually the most likely ethnic group to break away from China and establish their own state. After all, the Manchus had committed blood debts against various ethnic groups since entering the Central Plains. In order to avoid retaliation, the Manchus should have prioritized establishing their own state. This is similar to the territorial changes of the Ottoman Empire, where the Turks had almost abandoned all the areas inhabited by Arabs and only wanted to retain Asia Minor and Central and Eastern Europe, which were mainly inhabited by Turks.

However, the opposition of the Manchus outside the Great Wall to the Qing Dynasty was equivalent to the Turks in Asia Minor opposing the Turkish nobles in Istanbul, demanding that they not retreat into Asia Minor but instead support the establishment of a republic with the Arabs. Thus, the Qing Dynasty completely collapsed, and the Manchus considered themselves members of the new republic.

The second group to break away from China was the Mongol people. However, under the rule of the Manchus, the Mongol people were actually divided into two groups with quite independent lifestyles and cultural consciousness. One group was Outer Mongolia, which revered primitive religion and traditional Mongolian culture, and the other group was Inner Mongolia, which had been completely transformed by the Manchus. The various tribes of Inner Mongolia were shocked by the barbarity of Outer Mongolia.

Although the Manchus adopted a Manchu-style approach to reforming the various tribes of Inner Mongolia, Manchu culture itself was an absorption of Han culture. Therefore, the Manchuized Inner Mongolian tribes were relatively lenient in their punishments, while the Outer Mongolian tribes' punishments of their herders remained rooted in the Mongol era, being extremely cruel and vicious. Outer Mongolian princes had complete control over the herders, treating them little differently from slaves, whereas in Inner Mongolia, herders at least enjoyed a certain degree of personal protection.

Therefore, after the Russians entered Siberia, the Outer Mongolian tribes suffered heavy losses in several battles and were gradually won over by the Russians, developing a strong desire for independence. However, for the Inner Mongolian tribes, independence was merely a pretext for bargaining. On the one hand, the Inner Mongolian tribes wanted to sever ties with the Manchus to prevent Han Chinese retaliation; the Han Chinese revenge against the Mongols during the Jindandao Uprising was unforgettable. On the other hand, the Inner Mongolian tribes had far more interaction with the Han Chinese than Outer Mongolia. Without Han Chinese commerce, Inner Mongolia would become a vassal state of Outer Mongolia, something the people of Inner Mongolia naturally would not agree to.

Outer Mongolia's close ties with Russia stemmed from the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Goods transported from Moscow to Kulun (Ulaanbaatar) were cheaper than those transported from Zhangjiakou, rendering the trade routes that previously transited through Inner Mongolia less important to Outer Mongolia. Conversely, if Inner Mongolia could be brought together to establish an independent state alongside Outer Mongolia, Outer Mongolia could leverage the Trans-Siberian Railway to exert economic control over Inner Mongolia, thus reversing the previous power dynamics between the two.

Therefore, apart from some upper-class figures in Inner Mongolia advocating independence, the lower and middle classes of various Inner Mongolian tribes never even considered associating with Outer Mongolia, much less allowing Outer Mongolia and the Russians to ride roughshod over them. Tanaka Yoshiichi understood this clearly, and thus expressed his concerns in his random thoughts.

"After the setback in this war, Russia's support for Outer Mongolia has been almost completely cut off. Conversely, China's support for the Chita rebels has strengthened its control over Inner and Outer Mongolia. Wuhan and Beiyang have effectively become the two pillars of this republican China. Although these two forces are still in a standoff, once they unite, China will quickly restore the pattern of a unified regime."

Once China regains its unified status, it will inevitably restore its power over the border regions. Given Japan's national strength, it would be difficult for Japan to wage a war of attrition against a unified continental country. Although my country was closer to the battlefield in this war, it was not better off than the Russian army in terms of ammunition supply, which illustrates the weakness of my country's national strength.

If Japan wanted to compete with the great powers, it had to gain a foothold on the mainland. The undeveloped Manchuria region was the last chance given to Japan by God. Only by bringing Manchuria under Japan's control and developing the resources on its land could Japan's continental policy gain sufficient economic support.

However, a unified China would not allow Japan to seize control of Manchuria. Therefore, Japan must acquire Manchuria before China achieves complete unification and centralization, with the Greater Khingan Mountains as the boundary between Japan and China. Ideally, Inner and Outer Mongolia should also be separated, forming a tripartite balance of power between Japan, Mongolia, and China. In this way, a new order in East Asia would be established…

Tanaka Giichi believed that Japan should occupy Manchuria before a unified Chinese regime was established. Therefore, he wanted to expand the army as soon as possible and suppress the expansion of the navy. Such a defense policy would naturally not be able to gain the support of the navy. Therefore, he did not expect the navy to support the army's defense policy. He only hoped that the navy would not hinder the army.

However, after the negotiations began, Tanaka Giichi realized that he had underestimated the Navy's shamelessness. The negotiations between the two sides began in mid-August, but by the end of August, neither side had gotten to the main topic of discussing defense policy.

Tanaka Giichi reported to Chief of the General Staff Tamura Isozo on this matter, saying, "The Naval General Staff, under the guise of consultation, has limited several meetings to discussions on the consultation mechanism between the Army and the Navy. This is clearly a delaying tactic. The Navy has no intention of discussing defense policy with us at all. We can no longer be controlled by them like this."

Tamura Yoshizo didn't think the Navy's actions were excessive. The Army's attempt to set a trap for the Navy with its prepared defense policy was also a shady scheme. What surprised him was that the Navy had seen through it before the negotiations even started.

Tamura, who viewed the issue from a higher perspective than Tanaka Giichi, understood the Navy's intentions almost instantly. He sighed and said, "The Navy is using delaying tactics to force us to voluntarily reduce our forces. Since the Imperial policy isn't in writing, we can't request additional budgets for ourselves. So no matter how much we insist on expanding the army, without a budget, we can't maintain the current size of the army, let alone expand it further."

Tanaka Giichi finally realized what was happening and said rather angrily, "I thought the Navy just wanted to bargain with us, but I didn't expect them to disregard national security now. What good will this do for them? Downsizing isn't just about reducing the army; the navy also needs to reduce the size of its fleet. When I met with Tsaibu Hideaki before, he was in favor of expanding both the army and navy."

Tamura Yoshizo glanced at Tanaka Yoshi, involuntarily comparing him to a certain person in the Navy. He ultimately shook his head inwardly; while Tanaka was talented, his strategic vision was indeed inferior to that of the Navy's leader. For example, before this war, the Army had recognized the importance of Harbin, a key transportation hub in northern Manchuria, to the Russian army, believing that only by capturing Harbin could the war be ended. However, only that Navy leader was capable of devising the plan to seize Harbin.

Tanaka could only see the problems, but he couldn't solve them. From a certain perspective, Tanaka's thinking was far less mature than that of the person in the navy, even though Tanaka was older and had served as a diplomatic attaché in Russia for a period of time. However, this kind of Tanaka was exactly the kind of person needed to bridge the gap between the Choshu faction and other factions. An overly outstanding Tanaka would only further strengthen the Choshu faction's control over the army and would not give other factions a chance to rise.

Tamura Isozo was not a direct descendant of the Choshu faction; he couldn't even be considered a collateral branch. Those from Yamaguchi Prefecture were considered direct descendants of the Choshu faction, while those from outside Yamaguchi Prefecture were considered collateral. Tamura was from Yamanashi Prefecture—Koshu. The reason Tamura was able to rise to prominence was because, although the Choshu faction occupied various important positions in the army, Choshu talent was gradually dwindling.

Yamagata Aritomo's suppression of Tojo Hideyoshi was the Choshu faction's rejection of military leaders who were not from Choshu. Tojo Hideyoshi, who was from Oshu, had almost no flaws except that he was not from Choshu. He was also the leader of the rebel faction in the army, which posed a threat to the Choshu faction's dominance over the army.

Although Yamagata used personnel tactics to expel Hideaki Tojo from the army, it did not solve the predicament of the Choshu faction lacking successors. Under these circumstances, Yamagata had no choice but to follow Kodama's advice and win over talents like Tamura who were close to the Choshu faction, making them part of the Choshu clique as well.

However, this practice of recruiting talent from other regions, while strengthening the Changzhou faction, also aroused dissatisfaction among the Changzhou people. Originally, competition was only among their own people, but now with so many outsiders involved, it was clearly a disadvantage for the Changzhou people.

As a result, Choshu warlords like Katsura Taro and Terauchi Masatake, who were close to the Choshu people, became dissatisfied with Yamagata and Kodama's decision. It was under these circumstances that Tanaka Giichi was chosen by Yamagata to bridge the gap between the Choshu faction and the outside forces.

Tamura pondered for a moment and explained to Tanaka, "The Ministry of Finance represents the will of Minister of the Navy Yamamoto. He was able to reach an agreement with you on the basis that the Navy cannot control the government, so cooperation with the Army is needed to secure a budget from the government."

However, given the current situation, it's unlikely that the army will form another cabinet in the short term, and the government led by Prime Minister Saionji is also very fragile. The chances of the navy forming another cabinet are high. Since the navy can control the government, it naturally won't cooperate with the army to demand military expansion; otherwise, a navy-formed cabinet would be driven to its knees by the budget required for military expansion.

Colonel Kazuyoshi Yamaji also represented the will of Navy Minister Yamamoto. His desire to delay the meeting indicated that Yamamoto was no longer considering naval expansion, but rather the policy direction of organizing the government around the navy. Judging from public opinion, the people now generally agree with the policy platform proposed by Prime Minister Ito during his tenure: developing the economy, reducing military spending, and seeking peace in East Asia…

Chapter 617

Although Tamura Yoshizo managed to appease Tanaka Giichi, he knew he couldn't allow the navy to drag out the negotiations, otherwise the army would be embroiled in a very troublesome issue of troop reduction.

Disarmament isn't simply a matter of disbanding the newly formed divisions. To build new divisions, elite officers are drawn from each division as the core fighting force. Now that these newly formed divisions are being disbanded, we can't just dismiss these core officers as well, can we? But if we put these people back into their original units, their positions will already be filled by new recruits. Can we just dismiss the new recruits and send these veterans back?

Therefore, the biggest problem with troop reduction has never been disbanding the conscripts recruited by postcards, but rather how to place the officers who have studied in military academies for more than ten years and know nothing but combat skills. If this problem is not handled properly, it may lead to a sense of shared sorrow among active-duty officers.

Yamagata's Choshu faction, with its monopoly on high-ranking positions in the army, had already provoked discontent among non-Choshu officers. Coupled with the stimulus of troop reductions, another mutiny was highly probable. This explains why, after Katsura Taro's failure on military expansion, Yamagata was so eager to propose discussions on imperial policy; the Choshu faction needed to divert the discontent of lower-ranking officers from their own ranks.

Tamura Iyozo was well aware that as Chief of the General Staff, he would have to take responsibility for the failure of the Imperial Policy Plan when necessary. This was a major factor in his ability to bypass Choshu and appoint someone else as Chief of the General Staff, rather than Yamagata Aritomo truly believing that his talent was unmatched and that he was more respectful to him, thus breaking the boundaries of the clans to promote him.

Although the General Staff gradually became the core of the army starting from the Sino-Japanese War, this core position was not established by the General Staff's own power. Rather, it was because Yamagata Aritomo and Oyama Iwao, who served as Chiefs of the General Staff, always controlled the personnel power of the navy, thereby expanding the power of the General Staff. In other words, it was the leaders of the Choshu clique who gave the General Staff an additional status.

Although Yamagata Aritomo has appointed him as Chief of the General Staff, Tamura lacks the authority to manage personnel matters within the Navy, effectively diminishing the General Staff's standing. However, in the eyes of the Army, the General Staff's inability to function is not due to a restriction of power, but rather the change in leadership, which has led to its decline.

Tamura also had reservations about the Choshu faction's machinations. He believed it was a scheme by the Choshu faction because the current Deputy Chief of Staff was not from the Choshu faction, but rather Fukushima Yasumasa, who had risen through the ranks in intelligence work. Although Fukushima Yasumasa was known to the outside world for his intelligence work, he had little foundation in the military because he was neither a graduate of the Army Academy nor the Army War College. He joined the army as a translator and began his rise to power as Yamagata Aritomo's secretary.

Fukushima Yasumasa spent most of his time in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and had little contact with military officers. His appointment as Vice Chief of the General Staff was based on the exclusion of the first batch of Army War College graduates, including Tojo Hideaki, Yamaguchi Keizo, Iguchi Shogo, and Senba Taro. The Choshu faction attempted to use him and Fukushima Yasumasa to appease the dissatisfaction of non-Choshu officers and demonstrate that the Choshu faction had not used personnel appointments to suppress non-Choshu officers.

But in reality, everyone knows that Fukushima Yasumasa was able to rise to power because of his great reputation among the people, and because Fukushima had hardly ever lived in the military. Therefore, he was not familiar with any faction in the military. He was a close associate of Yamagata. So, in essence, he was acting on Yamagata's behalf when he sat in the position of vice minister.

The biggest difference between Tamura Iso and Tojo Hideaki is that he believed that the Choshu faction had a unique position in the army due to historical issues, and that the Choshu faction had made contributions to the overthrow of the shogunate. Therefore, setting aside the fact that the army was founded by the Choshu faction, it was obviously unrealistic to simply demand the breaking of the Choshu faction's monopoly on the power structure of the army.

However, while Tamura did not agree with Tojo Hideaki's proposal to completely abolish factions in the military, he opposed the radical approach to opposing the Choshu faction, rather than opposing the proposal to eliminate factions in the army. He was even less willing to become a scapegoat pushed out by the Choshu faction to take responsibility.

So after Tanaka Giichi left, Tamura Iyozo summoned Vice Minister Fukushima Yasumasa to his office and mentioned Tanaka Giichi's work report to him. Fukushima Yasumasa was naturally displeased to hear that Lieutenant Colonel Tanaka had bypassed him and reported directly to Tamura, but he was helpless against Tanaka because he knew he couldn't shake Tanaka's impression on the elders of Yamagata.

Fukushima Yasumasa understood why Tanaka Giichi bypassed him and reported directly to Tamura. It wasn't just that Tamura was Tanaka's former superior; more importantly, the two had conflicting philosophies on intelligence work. While Fukushima supported Yamagata's continental empire concept, his stance was still based on Japan's national interests. Tanaka Giichi, on the other hand, aligned with Yamagata's ideas, advocating for considering continental policy from the perspective of the army's interests, resulting in the bizarre theory of the equality of strategy and political maneuvering.

This difference in ideology, coupled with the fact that Fukushima Yasunari was not from Choshu and had no connections in the military, naturally led Tanaka Giichi to ignore him, a proponent who sought to subordinate the army to national interests.