Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 241

Tamura felt that what Hayashi Shin-yi was saying at this moment seemed to be referring not only to Germany, but also to the army. However, he had to admit that Hayashi Shin-yi's comments were not nonsense. The army did not have any idea of ​​ruling the world. The army only wanted to conquer the surrounding areas that it could conquer. This was something that was learned from the Germans.

In fact, Tamura had another bold guess: was Lin Xinyi implying that eliminating the General Staff Headquarters was the only way out for the army? This thought flashed through his mind for a moment and then disappeared because it was too absurd.

Having given up on the idea of ​​persuading the navy to support Germany, and since he couldn't convince Hayashi Nobuyoshi, Tamura believed that the plan to persuade the navy to support the army was doomed. Tamura quickly turned his attention back to the case of the sergeant beating the lieutenant. He calmly thought about it for a long time and felt that this plan was actually quite good. Since the army was unable to launch a foreign war, letting the imperial family attract public attention would at least prevent the army's reputation from plummeting.

He then asked Hayashi Shin-yi, "While having the commander of the Imperial Guard Division apologize and take responsibility might divert public attention, what should be done about this case? The Army cannot allow the Ministry of Justice to directly interfere in military affairs. Even if I were the Minister, I could not allow the Army to accept such humiliation."

After a moment's thought, Lin Xinyi said, "I think the Army and Navy could each recommend several people, and then, together with prosecutors recommended by the Ministry of Justice, establish a Military Ethics Committee under the Prime Minister's appointment. This committee would review cases within the military and examine the ethical conduct of officers. The military would grant these prosecutors military ranks, thus avoiding any interference by government departments in military affairs. Public criticism of the issue of independent justice within the military would also subside."

Tamura frowned and asked, "The issue of the officers' moral conduct? What do you mean by that?"

Lin Xinyi said frankly, "The evaluation of generals is personally appointed by the Emperor, but it must be submitted by the Prime Minister. Although there was no problem with the previous evaluation of generals, it may not be the case in the future."

I believe that to avoid the Prime Minister's overly subjective opinions on the evaluation of generals, the Military Ethics Committee should provide its assessment of moral conduct, and the Prime Minister should then make his decision based on the Committee's recommendations. This would make the evaluation of generals more impartial, and it would also benefit you, Minister.

Tamura quickly understood Hayashi Nobuyoshi's meaning: if military generals wanted to have a voice in politics, they either had to retire and run for parliament or be promoted to general, thus gaining access to political decision-making. In the past, only the Choshu and Satsuma factions controlled the selection of generals; it was impossible for anyone else to obtain the title without the support of these two factions.

Taking the power to appoint generals from the Choshu faction would indeed be extremely beneficial to non-Choshu generals, meaning that the Choshu faction would no longer monopolize the political voice of the army. This suggestion, combined with Nagata's suggestion to block new Choshu talent from entering the army, could form a complementary approach.

While pondering this, Tamura asked Hayashi Shinichi, "So how does the Navy plan to explain to His Majesty the decision to withdraw officers of royal lineage from frontline troops?"

Lin Xinyi replied without hesitation: "There is a difference between gods and humans. Even if a god receives a human education, he cannot understand the thoughts of a mortal, just as a mortal cannot understand the thoughts of a god."

Prince Zaihito's decision did not align with the expectations of ordinary people. Excessive interference by the Imperial Family in the lives of ordinary people would cause them to lose faith in the divine. To ensure that the people's faith in the Emperor is not shaken by the actions of Imperial Family members, withdrawing these members from practical matters is the best way to protect the Imperial Family.

His Majesty should be aware that this decision is in the best interests of maintaining the dignity of the Imperial Family, and the Navy will inform His Majesty of this frankly…”

After meeting with Hayashi Nobuyoshi, Tamura quickly went to visit Yamagata Genro and tentatively suggested that the division commander issue a public apology in order to quell public dissatisfaction with the army.

Surprisingly, Yamagata Aritomo didn't find anything wrong with it. Instead, he supported Tamura, saying, "While the dignity of the Imperial Family cannot be violated, the image of the Army cannot be tarnished either. Although Prince Kakerohito has outstanding talent, appointing him as the commander of the army was indeed a mistake on the Army's part. I will personally explain this to the Emperor. As for Prince Kakerohito, you must personally explain to him to seek his understanding of the Army's predicament. So, what should we do next with the case?"

Tamura realized that Yamagata was actually unwilling to allow generals of imperial lineage to wield any real power. While he had previously promoted faith in the Emperor within the army, this was merely to strengthen the Choshu faction's position, as they represented the Emperor's will within the army. However, as the ranks of these imperial generals continued to rise, they had actually begun to threaten the Choshu faction's dominance. The question of who truly represented the Emperor—the Choshu faction or the imperial generals—was indeed a problematic one.

Having ascertained Yamagata's thoughts, Tamura frankly stated, "Refusing oversight from the Ministry of Justice will likely make it difficult to convince the public of fair judgments within the military. I believe that a new adjudicative body that can gain public trust is necessary to truly eliminate public skepticism regarding case reviews..."

End of this chapter

Chapter 762

Prince Kan'in Kotohito, commander of the 1st Imperial Guard Division, walked out of the Minister of the Army Tamura's office with a livid face after being summoned for a talk. However, his long military service had allowed him to suppress his anger, and he did not confront Tamura in the minister's office.

Prince Jai-in was not there to put on a show. Although he received many privileges as a member of the royal family, he had indeed fought alongside officers and soldiers on the front lines. In particular, he had completed the 2nd Cavalry Brigade's flanking maneuver on the right bank of the Taiko River under the command of Akiyama Yoshifuru, thus earning merit and recognition within the army.

Although Prince Jaehito was dissatisfied with the Choshu faction's dominance in the army, he maintained a neutral stance. This was the Imperial Household's basic position towards the Choshu and Satsuma cliques: not to touch their power in the military in order to avoid incurring their resentment.

Prince Jae-in was well aware that the Choshu faction would not allow him to serve as a principal officer in the central government, in order to prevent the imperial family from directly controlling the army. Therefore, the Choshu faction always kept him in the front-line troops to prevent him from having too much influence on the army.

However, this time the Choshu faction acted too blatantly. Prince Zaihito believed that Tamura was merely a puppet of the Choshu faction. Without Yamagata's approval, Tamura, the Minister of the Army, would not dare to ask him to take responsibility for the Sakura Regiment case.

Prince Jae-in did not think that his handling of the case was wrong, because the army's unspoken rule was to prohibit all subordinates from offending their superiors. This was a military discipline principle established by the army after the Zhuqiao Mutiny to prevent similar incidents from happening.

No matter how much injustice that sergeant suffered, his daring to use force against a second lieutenant was a grave mistake. If the sergeant's actions can be forgiven, then what is the point of the "Soldiers' Code of Conduct" and the "Soldiers' Imperial Rescript"? Does this mean that if the army and navy are dissatisfied with the Emperor, they can also use force against him?

Fueled by this anger, Prince Kazuhito went to the Imperial Palace to lodge a complaint with Emperor Meiji. However, Yamagata, together with Itō, had previously advised the Emperor that it was perhaps unsuitable for members of the Imperial Family to serve as commanders of frontline troops. They argued that if the Imperial Family performed well, it would be taken for granted, but if they performed poorly, it would damage the Imperial Family's reputation. Therefore, the Army and Navy requested that Imperial Family officers be transferred to the Emperor's personal guard to serve as military advisors, rather than being responsible for specific military affairs.

The stance of the army and navy actually shows that the military does not agree with the imperial family's policy of strengthening control over the military. There are imperial family generals in the army and navy. This was taken over by the military after the Takebashi Incident in order to strengthen the obedience of the soldiers. After all, in order to prove that this is the emperor's army, having a few imperial family generals can better strengthen the soldiers' sense of obedience.

However, this was also an emergency measure. After all, before the Sino-Japanese War, the military's only achievement was suppressing the rebellion of the southwestern samurai, and these suppressed samurai were actually the heroes who established the Meiji Restoration government. Therefore, after the Satsuma Rebellion, the military was in a state of extreme confusion, which led to the rebellion of the Imperial Guard Division simply because of unfair rewards.

Unable to unify the people's hearts using the same anti-shogunate slogans employed during the anti-shogunate coalition, the only option was to invoke the Emperor as the military's guiding principle. However, after the victories in the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, the role of imperial family generals diminished, and the veneration of the Emperor within the military began to influence the control of the Choshu and Satsuma factions.

However, the Nagashu faction, including Yamagata, lacked an excuse to purge the imperial family generals in the military, while the imperial family generals in the navy had not yet risen to a threatening level. Therefore, they still harbored the idea of ​​using the imperial family to suppress the Nagashu faction, which led to the continuous rise in the influence of the imperial family generals in the military.

However, now the navy no longer needs to use the emperor's name to restrain the army, and the Choshu faction is also worried that the anti-Choshu forces in the military will unite around the imperial family to seize power in the army. Therefore, under the planning of Hayashi Nobuyoshi, the two sides reached a consensus to eliminate the influence of the imperial family generals in the military in order to ensure the independence of the army and navy.

Although Prince Kazuhito's complaints annoyed Emperor Meiji, he could only persuade him to accept the army's arrangements. This was because Japan needed stability at the moment, and the Imperial Family had to set an example. If the Imperial Family was unwilling to make such a sacrifice, then once the stable situation was broken, the Imperial Family would lose more than just its influence in the military.

Emperor Meiji chose to endure because the army and navy had reached an agreement. Even he could not directly challenge the military, because a public break would result in mutual destruction for both the imperial family and the military. He might be able to suppress the military temporarily, but his successor would certainly not be able to suppress the military's counterattack. At that time, the imperial family's influence in the military and politics would inevitably lead to a complete purge.

Emperor Meiji was well aware that his son, Crown Prince Yoshihito, lacked the actual ability to govern. If he were to pass away, power would inevitably fall into the hands of the elder statesmen. This was why he was willing to gradually lift the ban on political parties. The political forces that had been ousted by the Choshu and Satsuma cliques had now joined forces with the Kuomintang and become an opposition force.

To maintain the Emperor's position, this force must be reinstated at the political center, utilizing their anger towards the elder statesmen to balance the Japanese political landscape. The Emperor can reign but not rule, but he cannot become a puppet of any faction.

Emperor Meiji was most worried about Yamagata Aritomo. Although Ito Hirobumi was the most active elder statesman in limiting the emperor's power, he did not support private groups. Ito's willingness to break away from the Choshu faction and form a separate political party earned him Meiji's greatest trust, because a political party at least exists for a certain political ideal, rather than engaging in personality cults and not plotting any coups.

However, Yamagata Aritomo is very unsettling. This army veteran who always talks about the Emperor, while proclaiming himself the father of the army, is also trying his best to form a small group of Choshu faction in the military and political circles to prevent Ito from breaking away from the Choshu faction. This behavior is actually very unsettling. If Yamagata Aritomo were to control Yoshihito, wouldn't the Choshu faction become the new shogunate?

Previously, Meiji had strongly supported the navy, even tacitly approving the rehabilitation of Saigo Takamori, hoping to create a voice within the military capable of challenging Yamagata. In truth, both Saigo and Yamamoto did a good job; the navy's wariness of the Choshu faction allowed Meiji to maintain control over the military's core forces.

However, after the Russo-Japanese War, the navy's actions completely deviated from Meiji's expectations, causing him to lose control of the military. The struggle between the army and navy also began to break free from the constraints of the old council of elders. This sudden agreement between the army and navy dealt a significant blow to Meiji.

After persuading Prince Kazuhito to accept the army's will, Meiji still summoned Duke Itō and asked him what the current movements of the military really meant.

It was actually difficult for Ito Hirobumi to explain the Meiji era, because he knew that the system since the tenth year of Meiji had been on the verge of collapse. The rise of the zaibatsu and the people's party, coupled with the improvement of the people's education level, made the old guard and the feudal clan politics unsustainable.

To be precise, the new generation of young people are dissatisfied with the current gerontocracy and are trying to reshape Japan's political environment. The most representative of them is Nobuyoshi Hayashi. Nobuyoshi Hayashi is not an individual, but the best among these young people.

After much deliberation, Ito Hirobumi explained to Meiji: "The two wars, the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, profoundly changed the landscape of East Asia and also altered the Japanese people's perceptions. The goal of opening the country and expelling foreigners, which our generation pursued in the past, has now been largely achieved. Now, Japan needs to set a new goal to determine where Japan should go next."

In my view, there are actually only two mainstream viewpoints in Japan today. One is to emulate the West, leave Asia and join Europe, become a member of the great powers, and participate in the imperialist wars for the world. The other is Pro-Asianism, which advocates the revival of Asia to counter the Western powers and restore the historical East-West confrontation by assisting the independence of Asian nations. In this process, Japan will become the leader of Asia.

The biggest proponents of these two viewpoints were the army and the navy, respectively, which is why the army and navy were at odds after the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. However, the confrontation between Britain and France against Germany in Europe made it difficult for proponents of the "Leave Asia and Join Europe" theory to choose sides. Although the Anglo-Japanese Alliance provided Japan with the foundation for victory in the war against Russia, Japan did not gain any real benefits from the war.

If Japan continues to confront Germany according to the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, it could trigger a full-scale confrontation between Japan and China, since cooperation between China and Germany is second only to their alliance. Our attempt to seize German interests in Asia will inevitably lead to conflict with China, which would be disastrous for both Japan and China.

The Sino-Japanese cooperation supported by the Pan-Asianism could not only force Germany to relinquish its interests in Asia, but also give Japan room to expand southward. This is the purpose of the Yellow Sea naval exercises.

In setting new goals for Japan, the Navy has already gained the upper hand. The Army now has no choice but to adjust its course. The Army and Navy are requesting that members of the Imperial Family withdraw from frontline units, which I believe is to avoid the Imperial Family becoming too involved in the upcoming changes in the international situation and thus being forced to take on responsibilities.

Meiji felt that Ito Hirobumi's explanation was not comprehensive, but he also had to admit that the goal of opening the country and expelling foreigners could no longer unify the hearts and minds of the people at present. Without a new goal, the political infighting would indeed become more and more serious. His previous agreement to Yamagata's request to have the army and navy jointly discuss the military's new strategy was actually to establish a new goal in order to stabilize the military.

However, the Army and Navy were clearly too far apart on the new strategy, which ultimately led to a debate over expanding the Army and reducing the Navy, with the Army ultimately losing the debate. Meiji believed that the Army may have become dissatisfied with him from this point onward because he did not support the Army's proposal to expand its forces.

However, Meiji did not think he had done anything wrong. After all, according to the unspoken rules, he only turned the result of the debate between the army and navy into law, rather than directly stating his position to the army and navy. This was the tacit principle of the military supporting the constitution. The emperor, who was nominally in charge of the army, could not actually exercise the power of command.

Yamagata dared to demand that members of the imperial family withdraw from front-line troops, which was actually in accordance with this unspoken rule. Although this unspoken rule limited the emperor's power, it also prevented the imperial family from bearing the responsibility for the war.

Meiji could only ask Ito for advice: "So how should the Imperial Family respond to the requests from the Army and Navy?"

After careful consideration, Ito said, "Your Majesty should consider allowing young officers of the Army and Navy to contact Crown Prince Yoshihito and establish a connection between the Crown Prince and the younger generation of the military. In this way, although the Imperial Family has withdrawn from the front lines of the military, it can still gain the loyalty of young military officers."

Meiji hesitated for a moment and asked, "Can Yoshihito gain the loyalty of young officers? I think that experienced generals, such as Nogi, are more suitable to assist Yoshihito."

Ito knew that Meiji was worried that Yoshihito's contact with the young officers would cause them to lose their respect for the Imperial Family. After all, the Crown Prince was no ordinary person and it would be difficult for him to establish the authority of a monarch. Although Nogi was rigid, his unwavering loyalty to the Emperor was unmatched. Even after losing one of his sons in the war, he still maintained his loyalty to the Imperial Family and did not show any dissatisfaction with the war.

Therefore, Meiji appointed Nogi to replace Shimoda Utako as the head of Gakushuin Academy, entrusting him with the education of the imperial grandson. Meiji believed that Nogi's loyalty to the crown prince was beyond doubt.

Ito bluntly told Meiji, "Although General Nogi is a model soldier, he is powerless to influence the future of the army and navy. If Prince Yoshihito wants to stabilize the army in the future, relying on veterans like Nogi is not enough. He needs leaders among the young officers to help suppress dissent within the army in order to ensure the loyalty of the troops."

Meiji was silent for a moment before saying, "Are you referring to young men like Hayashi Nobuyoshi in the Navy?"

Ito Hirobumi nodded and said, "Lin Xinyi is not only accomplished in military affairs, but also has excellent political and diplomatic insights. As long as he supports the Crown Prince, there will be no dissent in the navy."

Meiji was also paying attention to Hayashi Nobuyoshi. He nodded and said, "As a young officer in the navy, Hayashi has indeed left a deep impression on me. However, is he too enthusiastic about politics? Yamagata Genro has repeatedly accused someone in the navy of interfering in politics, and has even named Hayashi Nobuyoshi. I am not comfortable transferring him to my side."

Ito Hirobumi understood Meiji's meaning. Since Hayashi Nobuyoshi's influence in the navy had grown, even Yamamoto Gonnohyōe wanted to get Hayashi Nobuyoshi out of the navy. However, there weren't many suitable positions for Hayashi Nobuyoshi, since he had many supporters in the navy and it was impossible to exile him to some deserted island. Therefore, the most suitable option was to bring him to the palace as a military officer. However, this suggestion was strongly opposed by Yamagata. Yamagata refused to allow Hayashi Nobuyoshi to have any contact with the Emperor or the Crown Prince in order to prevent the navy's influence from continuing to expand.

Initially, Yamagata considered removing Hayashi Shin'ichi from the navy and placing him in the palace to isolate him from the navy. However, at that time, Yamagata was worried about Hayashi Shin'ichi's ability to integrate the navy factions. After Hayashi Shin'ichi gained control of the navy, Yamagata began to worry that the navy would expand its influence over the imperial family through Hayashi Shin'ichi, since Hayashi Shin'ichi's destructive capabilities were quite significant.

However, the struggle between the army and navy now needs to give way to the orderly succession of power. Therefore, Ito believes that if Crown Prince Yoshihito wants to control the military after the Meiji Restoration, almost no one but Hayashi Nobuyoshi will be able to do so. Others in the army or navy would only use Crown Prince Yoshihito to expand their power, thereby disrupting the political balance. But Hayashi Nobuyoshi doesn't need to do that. Under the existing power structure, Hayashi Nobuyoshi has already been able to integrate all forces, so what reason does he have to disrupt this power structure?

Ito then said to Meiji, "This is also a kind of exchange. Since the imperial family is going to withdraw from the front-line troops, it is necessary to let the crown prince come into contact with young officers and soldiers. Otherwise, wouldn't the crown prince be completely unable to understand military affairs in the future?"

After a long silence, Meiji finally nodded and said, "What Ito said makes sense. So, are there any young talents in the army that Yoshihito can be close to?"

Ito pondered this question for a long time, and finally could only say to Meiji, "I am not very familiar with the young officers in the army. Perhaps I should have Tamura recommend a group. As the Minister of the Army, he should know better than I do which young officers in the army have potential."

Meiji could only smile and say, "I heard that Lin Xinyi is your disciple. I thought it was just a rumor, but now it seems to be true. Otherwise, why would you only recommend Lin Xinyi?"

Ito did not deny it, but replied to Meiji: "I did not teach Hayashi Shin'ichi much; his talent is mainly a gift from heaven. I recommended him without any selfish motives, but only for the stability of the Empire."

Emperor Meiji pondered for a moment, then suggested, "Then let the Army and Navy send a few young officers to explain their respective military strategies to Yoshihito. This way, Yoshihito can understand the true situation of the Army and Navy, and it will also strengthen his connection with them..."

End of this chapter

Chapter 763

After returning from China, Lin Xinyi focused his main efforts on the construction of Chiba Institute of Technology, a prefectural university jointly promoted by the Navy, the Arts Foundation and the Chiba Prefectural Government, which was established as a talent training base to promote the construction of Chiba Prefecture's industrial center.

The university received strong support from the Navy, which recommended a large number of technical personnel to serve as lecturers. Frankly, aside from architecture, most of the best engineering talent is in the Navy.

After the invention of airplanes, almost everyone in the Japanese Army and Navy recognized their military value. However, the Army was more sensitive to airplanes because, starting from the Satsuma Rebellion, the Army introduced military balloons to correct artillery fire, while the Navy had not yet realized the importance of using airplanes.

Therefore, the Navy lagged behind the Army in proposing to invest in aircraft research and development. In 1908, Terauchi Masatake first proposed at an internal Army meeting that aircraft would inevitably become as important as artillery in future wars. It was not until the Army took action that Major Yamamoto Eisuke formally proposed the idea of ​​establishing naval air force in 1909.

Eisuke Yamamoto was the nephew of Gonnohyōe Yamamoto, meaning that the naval leadership was not actually aware that airplanes would soon become a powerful weapon in naval warfare. Although Shin-yi Lin was aware of this, he never raised the issue of developing the aviation industry. However, while in Wuhan, he did urge the Workers' Party to quickly introduce German and French internal combustion engine technology to develop the automobile industry.

Lin Xinyi was unwilling to propose the idea of ​​an aviation industry because he believed that the aviation industry actually required more industrial accumulation than the shipbuilding industry. With Japan's industrial technology capabilities, it might be able to manufacture a few aircraft, but it would not be able to be put into civilian use at all, and would only be used as a weapon for military purposes, which was obviously not what he wanted to see.

However, when Eisuke Yamamoto proposed the idea of ​​naval air force, he did not object, because the construction of the Chiba Prefecture industrial center needed a university to promote the training of industrial talents, and the research on naval aviation was just right to be used as the main research direction of this university. As Yamamoto Gonnohyōe's nephew, Prime Minister Yamamoto Gonnohyōe also opened the door to the establishment of this university.

Thus, Eisuke Yamamoto's vision for naval air power ultimately led to the establishment of the aviation department at Chiba Institute of Technology, and naval technical personnel began to concentrate at this university. Although the navy did not place as much emphasis on aircraft as the army, it far surpassed the army in terms of technical personnel. The army needed to send personnel abroad to study aircraft manufacturing, while the navy could develop even the simplest aircraft by referring to foreign materials.

Of course, as Hayashi Shin-yi had predicted, Japan's industrial accumulation was insufficient; even the navy could not manufacture engines for aircraft and had to purchase them from abroad and assemble them domestically. Even so, the navy's aircraft research progress far surpassed that of the army. The army also recognized this, and therefore invited the navy to join its aircraft research endeavors—the Provisional Military Balloon Research Association.

This joint project between the army and navy was actually a collaboration between Terauchi Masatake and Saito Minoru. The two sides attempted to establish a new alliance between the Choshu and Satsuma factions through this contact. Therefore, Hayashi Shin'ichi did not join this collaboration, but instead proposed a Japanese aviation development roadmap of theoretical research, industrial base improvement, civilian projects, and military projects.

Eisuke Yamamoto and others disagreed on cooperation with the Army, ultimately siding with Nobuyoshi Hayashi's proposed path for Japan's aviation development. This led to a split within the Navy regarding aviation: one prioritizing military capabilities, and the other focusing on industrial base development. These two factions not only represented the differences between Hayashi and Saito, but also the split within the Yamamoto-Saito faction.

As Yamamoto Gonnohyōe's military successor, Yamamoto Eisuke was firmly opposed to uniting with the army, while Saitō Minoru believed that uniting with the army could eliminate the conflict with the Choshu faction, thereby alleviating the problem of his faction being marginalized in the navy.

However, Hayashi Shin-yi paid no attention to Saito Makoto's little tricks at this time. He persuaded Vice Admiral Yamauchi Manjuji to retire and take up the presidency of Chiba Institute of Technology to ensure that the Navy could firmly control the university. He also began to promote a series of retired naval officers from Chiba to participate in local elections and unite with the political circles of Tokyo and Nagano to form a pro-naval political group in Chiba Prefecture. Social reformists and liberals who were divided from socialists formed an alliance with this political group, thus penetrating deep into the Chiba Prefecture.

As a large rural area in the Tokyo area, Chiba Prefecture is actually a rather closed society, even more ideologically conservative than Nagano Prefecture. This is because Nagano Prefecture is mountainous with little land and needs to rely on trade to maintain its livelihood. However, Chiba Prefecture has a large amount of agricultural land and is located near Tokyo Bay and the Pacific Ocean, so it can be completely self-sufficient.

Such self-sufficient rural areas naturally dislike outsiders interfering in local affairs. Therefore, Chiba Prefecture prevented outsiders from investing in and building railways locally, insisting on building its own Chiba Prefecture Railway. This incurred the resentment of Tokyo zaibatsu, who refused to connect with Chiba Prefecture's private railway, causing Chiba Prefecture's railway line to remain unprofitable.

In this land reform in Chiba Prefecture, the Navy mobilized a large number of people to go deep into Chiba Prefecture to promote the land reform policy, but it still triggered many violent incidents. Farmers who had lived in closed villages for a long time did not dare to take the landlords' land at first. Some people, although they nominally obtained land, still secretly went to the landlords and promised that the land still belonged to the landlords and that they were willing to pay the land rent.

It was in this atmosphere that the army lieutenant violently beat the tenant farmer soldier who dared to defy him, and even deliberately confined him to prevent others from rescuing him. In the closed countryside, landlords had the right to punish tenants. If a tenant farmer was killed, the matter could be settled by paying compensation. For tenants, having their family members killed by the landlord was not the most terrible thing. What was truly terrible was having their land taken back and their whole family driven out of the village. In a small-scale peasant society like Chiba Prefecture, farmers who were driven out of the village either became thieves or their whole family starved to death.

Therefore, even with government legal guarantees, some tenants dare not take the landlords' land and instead have to pay rent to the landlords again, thus paying twice the amount.

Land rent and repayment of government loans.

However, for most rural areas, land reform still broke the old order. Landlords were no longer the only power center in the village. The land reform committee became another power center. Those landlords who were no longer in the village were hit the hardest because they only had financial ties with the village and no other connections. When the government distributed the land of these landlords who were no longer in the village to the farmers, the farmers accepted it without hesitation because they did not think that landlords who had left the village could do anything to them. What they feared were the landlords who lived in the village.

The biggest changes have been in the rural areas surrounding the city. For example, when Chiba City was established last year, it did not even meet the standard of 30,000 people, and it could only be considered a special case. However, by March of this year, it had exceeded the standard of 30,000 people and truly met the conditions for becoming a city.

Chiba City's rapid population growth stems from the population agglomeration effect brought about by the new industrial center plan. The commencement of numerous infrastructure projects not only recruited workers from other regions but also attracted a large number of local farmers to these infrastructure industries, which greatly disrupted the order within Chiba City's rural areas.

In the past, these villages had very little population movement, and even little money movement. Only landlords and merchants had cash. Farmers only needed to borrow money from landlords and merchants to pay land taxes, and they hardly ever needed money on ordinary days. This made the farmers almost indifferent to things outside the village; they only cared about the movements of the landlords and merchants in their own village.

Now, the young people in the village have gone to work on construction sites in Chiba City. The money they earn can be used to pay land taxes, which means that the economic ties between landlords and farmers have been weakened, while the economic ties between farmers and the outside world have been strengthened. Naturally, the landlords' personal control over the farmers has also been weakened.

Therefore, when the navy allowed retired officers to participate in local elections, these retired officers, being locals with financial backing, began to overwhelm the supporters of local rural landlords and became prominent figures in the region. These individuals, in turn, faithfully maintained the investment of capital in the area, further suppressing the power of local landlords.

This was exactly the change that Hayashi Shin-yi wanted to see. Allowing social reformers and liberals to enter the Chiba region and develop their basic supporters was to prevent these retired naval officers from turning to militarism and eventually combining with the remaining local landlord forces.

This is not unfounded. The army is actually strengthening its control over rural areas. After being unable to resist the downsizing plan, the army began to promote the establishment of the Veterans Association proposed by Terauchi Masatake. Tanaka Giichi, the head of the Military Affairs Division of the Army Ministry, put forward the idea that "good citizens are good soldiers, and good soldiers are good citizens" as the goal of the Veterans Association.

Lin Xinyi was well aware that the army's rural militia would eventually unite with the landlords who controlled the villages, thereby further strengthening the landlords' control over the villages. This was something that Yan Xishan later learned in Shanxi, which is why Yan Xishan was able to be the local tyrant of Shanxi for decades. Without external forces, it was difficult for the locals to deal with such a tight-knit reactionary organization.

His decision to involve retired naval officers in local politics was not to pave the way for naval militarism, but to break the landlords' monopoly on local politics. Therefore, it was necessary to bring social progressives into the local areas to transform the feudal order and establish a more progressive urban-rural integration order, which was essentially the differentiation and suppression of agriculture by capital-dominated industry.

Capitalism triumphed over feudalism by breaking the economic ties between peasants and landlords and establishing an economic link between peasants and the market. When landlords could no longer control peasant production, they also lost their political power over the peasants. The army's current vision for the Japanese economy is to manage the nation as a large landowner, with peasants producing for the army rather than the market.

The army's economic order conception was most vividly demonstrated in Taiwan and North Korea. The chaebols were merely royal merchants used by the army to collect rent, and almost all of these rents were invested in the military. Even the investment in industry was carried out for military purposes.

Therefore, although Japan's zaibatsu had some characteristics of capitalism in this era, they were not actually true capitalists. They never broke away from the category of government merchants during the shogunate era.

Shibusawa Eiichi was well aware of this. His capital projects ultimately succumbed to the oppression of domestic feudal power and were eventually divided up by state-appointed merchants. This was also why Shibusawa Eiichi was willing to fully support Hayashi Nobuyoshi, because within the Japanese military and political establishment, only Hayashi Nobuyoshi's views best aligned with his own perspective on capitalism.

Although Ito Hirobumi supported him, he only regarded the Shibusawa Group as his personal businessmen, rather than truly believing that capitalism could change Japan. This was the root cause of the growing estrangement between Shibusawa Eiichi and Ito Hirobumi.

The development of the industrial center in Chiba Prefecture also fostered a strong relationship between the Naval Cultural Division, led by Hayashi Nobuyoshi, and Tokyo Imperial University. This period coincided with a surge in the number of talents trained by the Imperial University. Previously, Japan's scientific and technical personnel primarily relied on students who had studied abroad, but after 1906, scientists and technicians trained by the Imperial University began to emerge, though their competitors suppressed these graduates.

Although the Japanese government has long had plans to reduce the number of foreign technical personnel and replace them with domestic talent, this plan is similar to the Qing Dynasty's program of sending young students to study in the United States. While it has achieved good results in replacing skilled craftsmen, foreigners rank first and overseas students second in terms of high-end talent such as engineers. Apart from liberal arts students who can enter the government, it is almost impossible for domestic university graduates to get jobs in charge of large projects if they do not have overseas study experience.

Therefore, it is much harder to get into the humanities programs at Imperial Universities than to the science and engineering programs. And even after graduating from an Imperial University, science and engineering students often find it difficult to stand on their own without studying abroad. Some of Tokyo's famous landmark buildings were designed by foreign architects. As for students graduating from domestic architecture programs, they can only go to Manchuria, where Japanese people are considered foreigners and are therefore more valued.

The construction of the Chiba Prefecture Industrial Center involved numerous projects within a concentrated timeframe. As a result, while a few key projects invited foreign design firms, many less important projects, under the initiative of the Naval Cultural Affairs Division, involved numerous domestic architectural firms. This led to a strong connection between the Naval Cultural Affairs Division and the Imperial University.

In early April 1910, Hayashi Shin-ichi, as a representative of the Naval Culture Department, gave a lecture at the Department of Architecture of Tokyo Imperial University. Although the lecture was about the development of Chiba Prefecture's industrial center, Hayashi Shin-ichi shifted the topic to urban planning and believed that Japan, as a late-developing industrial country, did not need to follow the European urban construction route, but should plan its cities according to the latest industrial and technological civilization.

Lin Hsin-yi compared the urban development of Berlin, Paris, London, and New York, and then concluded that, "...the development history of these cities illustrates one thing: with the continuous innovation of transportation technology, urban space is becoming larger and larger, and the past pattern of adjacent residential areas and factory areas can actually be broken."

The subways of Berlin and London, and the streetcars of New York, all demonstrate that cities can be divided into functional zones from their previously chaotic layouts, thereby greatly reducing construction costs and improving the efficiency of urban operations…

Hayashi Nobuyoshi's speech was well-received by faculty and students of the Department of Construction at the Imperial University, and also received support from Chiba Prefecture Governor Goto Shinpei, who also gave a speech. Goto Shinpei expressed his intention to use Chiba City's development as a pilot project for urban planning and encouraged everyone to visit Chiba Prefecture to participate in construction projects. Goto Shinpei's response to Hayashi Nobuyoshi's speech effectively confirmed that his next goal was to become the mayor of Tokyo.

Shinpei Goto's political goals gained the support of Nobuyoshi Hayashi and his political group, signifying Goto's shift from the army to the Tokyo-Nagano faction, representing the political power of the Kanto region. The price Goto paid was further support for the navy and Kanto forces' control over Chiba Prefecture, leading to the rapid disintegration of the army's political base in Chiba.

In April of that year, the Wuhan Conference passed a resolution to establish the Asian National Autonomous Alliance, which would support the basic political rights of all ethnic groups in Asia, oppose colonialism and racial oppression, and advocate the principle of ethnic equality for multi-ethnic countries, while opposing ethnic violence.

Subsequently, China, Japan, the Pacific Federation, the Republic of Chita, and South Korea decided to establish the Asian Joint Fleet to safeguard navigation security in East Asia and the Pacific. This joint fleet would not carry out any invasion missions, but would only support the defense of regional peace, combat piracy, and prevent invasions of areas belonging to the alliance.

Britain and France questioned China and Japan, primarily inquiring whether the joint fleet signified an alliance between their countries and Germany. Japan and China denied this, and Berlin declared that the German East Asia Fleet was incorporated into the Pacific Federation, which was not part of the Austro-German alliance and enjoyed diplomatic autonomy.