Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 224

Knowing that he could not reconcile with the Choshu faction, Yamaguchi maintained close ties with the reinstated Tojo Hideaki. He needed to use Tojo to find a way out for himself. If he could not stay in the army, he thought that going to the Marine Corps would be a good option. Therefore, he actually made many suggestions on the construction of the Marine Corps Command. He even promoted several of his own people among the young officers and generals that Tojo transferred from the navy. So he was aware of Tojo Hideaki's visit to Hayashi Nobuyoshi.

He came to visit during the New Year to find out how Tojo and Hayashi Shin'ichi had discussed things, so that he could have a clearer assessment of the future of the Marine Corps, since it was related to his future options.

However, he was quite surprised when he saw Hideaki Tojo. Although he did not know what Tojo and Shinji Hayashi had talked about, Tojo's fighting spirit was obviously ignited, as if he had returned to the state of being completely focused on his studies during his time at the Army University.

Yamaguchi was well aware that Tojo Hideaki's mental state was actually very poor after he was forcibly discharged from the military. Even after being reinstated by the Navy, Tojo was still worried, fearing that he would become a pawn used by the Navy to deal with the Army. In that case, his comeback would become a farce. But the Tojo Hideaki he saw today was clearly in a completely recovered mental state. The confidence in his eyes could not be faked.

Upon entering Tojo's study, Yamaguchi earnestly inquired of Tojo what good news he had received from his visit to Hayashi Shin'yoshi that made him so energized.

Facing his friend Yamaguchi, Tojo Hideaki did not try to hide anything, but he did not know how to explain it to Yamaguchi. After all, the other party was still a member of the army, and he certainly could not reveal the future positioning of the navy.

After much deliberation, he could only hint at it this way: "In the past, everyone thought that I was the only one in the country who could understand the theory of war. However, after visiting Lieutenant Colonel Hayashi Shin-yi, I felt that my understanding of the theory of war was not deep enough. If there is anyone in Japan who truly understands the theory of war, I think that person is Lieutenant Colonel Hayashi, not me."

My conversation with Lieutenant Colonel Lin was incredibly insightful, and it gave me a deeper understanding of the concept of military subordination to politics. These past two days at home, I've been reconsidering the Marine Corps' role in the nation's foreign policy. Only by understanding what kind of foreign policy the country needs can the future of the Marine Corps become clear…”

Yamaguchi's thinking was indeed led astray by Hideaki Tojo. He ignored what promises Hayashi Nobuyoshi had made to Tojo and instead discussed Hayashi Nobuyoshi's understanding of war theory with Tojo. After all, the reason why the book "On War Theory" became popular in Japan was because it was jointly promoted by the first-term students of the Army War College. As a soldier, he was naturally more interested in war theory.

718 chapter

Author: Fuchun Mountain Residence Number: 4962 Comments: 0 Update Date: 2023-08-27 12:54:37

After bidding farewell to Tojo Eikyo, Yamaguchi Keizo boarded his carriage and pondered for a while before instructing the driver to change course and go to Tamura Iyozo's residence. Tamura had returned from studying in Germany and served as an advisor to the Army War College, essentially acting as an instructor there, and was also Yamaguchi and others' teacher.

When Admiral Kodama was still alive, it was Tamura who helped Kodama win over these graduates from the Army War College and protected Tojo and Yamaguchi, who were not favored by the Choshu faction. Although Tamura remained silent when the Choshu faction took action against Tojo and Yamaguchi this time, Yamaguchi knew that Tamura was also walking on thin ice at the time, in order to preserve the pan-Choshu faction led by Kodama. Therefore, he did not confront Yamagata and Katsura Taro directly.

Of course, Yamaguchi wasn't entirely unconcerned about this. He knew very well that Tamura was not Admiral Kodama and lacked the self-awareness of a faction leader like Kodama. He was too weak in factional struggles, which was why he wanted to find a way out for himself in the Navy. He really didn't think Tamura would stand up to the pressure from the Choshu faction for him.

Although Tamura showed some initiative when he was transferred from Chief of the General Staff to Minister of the Army, and was not as tolerant of the Choshu faction's claims as before, Yamaguchi still could not place all his hopes on Tamura, because no one could guarantee that Tamura would not be weak again at the critical moment.

Of course, Yamaguchi still hoped to maintain a certain relationship with the current Minister Tamura. After all, who would want to start over in a different place if they had no other options? After Tamura took office as minister, he also showed some ideas for reforming the army organization, which made Yamaguchi have certain expectations for him. So he ultimately did not refuse to establish a certain connection with Tamura.

As the newly appointed Minister of the Army, Tamura was naturally busy during the New Year holiday, with a large number of visitors keeping him somewhat overwhelmed. However, upon hearing that Yamaguchi had come to his door, he still managed to take some time to speak with him privately. Yamaguchi also took the opportunity to report to Tamura some of his conversations with Tojo, attempting to bring Tojo Hideaki back into the Army. This was actually Tamura's request to Yamaguchi.

However, based on his meeting with Tojo today, Yamaguchi drew a preliminary conclusion about Tamura: "From Tojo's perspective, he is satisfied with his current situation, but he has not completely let go of his resentment towards the army's unfair treatment. It will probably not be easy to get him to side with the army."

However, Tamura's focus was not on this. Although if Tojo Hideaki could put aside his prejudice against the army, it would be a great achievement for him as the Minister of the Army to regain face in front of the navy. But the name of another person he heard in the conversation drew Tamura's attention.

He couldn't help but interrupt Yamaguchi and press, "Tojo said that Lieutenant Colonel Hayashi Nobuyoshi understood war theory? Did he really say that?"

After a few moments of silence, Yamaguchi cautiously replied, "Tojo's original words were that if there is truly one person in Japan who understands the theory of war, then that person is Lieutenant Colonel Hayashi Nobuyoshi, not himself. I think Tojo might be exaggerating a bit; he probably has a special fondness for Lieutenant Colonel Hayashi Nobuyoshi to utter such excessive praise..."

Tamura looked at Yamaguchi in silence for a long while before saying, "Do you think Tojo is the kind of person who would praise someone against his own will?"

Yamaguchi was stumped by the question. He thought for a while before seriously saying, "It doesn't seem so. If Tojo were willing to lower himself, there would have been no need for such a strained relationship with his seniors like Katsura Taro and Hasegawa. Could it be that Lieutenant Colonel Hayashi Nobuyoshi really understands 'On War'? That's incredible. He doesn't seem to have ever studied abroad. How could he possibly understand it..."

Tamura glanced at the student, sighed, and said, "Some people are indeed geniuses. They can understand most of the knowledge that is difficult for ordinary people to comprehend after just one reading. Lin Xinyi should be one of these geniuses."

Tojo was too rigid in his dealings with people, but he was no mediocre scholar. He could accept Lieutenant Colonel Hayashi Nobuyoshi's understanding of the theory of war, so such an evaluation was not an expectation or encouragement for a younger generation.

No wonder he was so knowledgeable about European tactics; that makes sense now…”

Yamaguchi hesitated for a while before speaking, "Even if Lieutenant Colonel Lin Xinyi is a genius, aren't you giving him too much attention, teacher? The difference in status between him and you shouldn't make him worth your concern, right?"

Yamaguchi's thinking was actually quite straightforward. There was a disagreement between the Army and Navy, but this was a confrontation between organizations. Tamura's opponents should be Prime Minister Yamamoto and Minister Kawahara. Focusing on a lieutenant colonel would obviously not help the overall situation.

Tamura was also greatly disappointed by Yamaguchi's political sensitivity, which is probably why the Choshu faction demoted Tojo and dismissed Yamaguchi. Because Yamaguchi always acted directly and without any tact, although the opposition was proposed by Tojo Hideaki, it was Yamaguchi who jumped the gun the most. Therefore, Yamaguchi was the one who made the Choshu faction the most dissatisfied.

He pondered for a moment, then offered Yamaguchi a suggestion: "The current focus of the disagreement between the Army and Navy is their respective defense policies, not the previous allocation of military spending. The Navy now has two people who truly understand war theory, but how many does the Army have? If the two sides were to argue about defense policies, do you think we could win against the Navy? Worst of all, one of them was trained by our Army; if they were to argue before the Emperor, the Army would lose all face..."

Yamaguchi suddenly realized something and exclaimed in surprise, "The Navy brought Tojo back to active duty, could it be just to slap the Army in front of the Emperor? Who came up with such a vicious plan...?"

Seeing Tamura's expression, Yamaguchi couldn't help but change his mind and guess, "Could it be this Hayashi Shin-yi? This kid has such big ambitions, and he's just a lieutenant colonel, yet he dares to scheme against the army?"

Tamura shook his head and said, "It may not be that he was plotting against the army. Maybe it was just something he did on the side. The new naval strategy is his masterpiece. Without the new naval strategy, Yamamoto would not have been able to form a cabinet. If Yamamoto had not made progress, the position of minister would not have fallen into Kawahara's hands."

This is what's even more alarming, because if the navy were focused on targeting the army, we could counter their moves. But the navy is merely digging a few traps for the army as it advances. Even if we defend against them, we're distracted and unable to stop the navy's advance. The gap between the army and navy will continue to widen, eventually leading to a complete divergence.

Seeing Tamura involuntarily reveal his troubles, Yamaguchi truly sensed Tamura's apprehension about the new naval strategy. This was clearly not the impetuousness of past disputes over military spending; those disputes subsided once the spending ratios were settled, and any lingering resentment was usually salvaged in the next spending debate. Tamura's current apprehension about the new naval strategy, however, revealed the mentality of a pursuer, fearing that those ahead would suddenly disappear.

As an elite member of the first class of the Army War College, Yamaguchi had a certain understanding of strategy. He knew very well that the so-called new naval route was essentially a complete naval strategy. In classical Europe, strategy was called "the way of the general," and in 1770, the French translated this term into "strategy," thus making it a term used in modern European military affairs.

Although the Japanese introduced modern military concepts such as strategy and tactics, the only truly strategic planning Japan undertook was the Sino-Japanese War. After the Nagasaki Incident in 1886, Japan began planning for the Sino-Japanese War and spent nearly ten years completing its war preparations. Although this strategic plan seemed very naive, the Qing government could have preemptively interrupted Japan's war preparations if it had paid even a little attention to Japan's movements. However, the incompetent and corrupt Qing government chose to turn a blind eye, allowing the Japanese to complete this clumsy strategic plan.

Faced with a war launched by Japan after much deliberation, the Qing government was virtually powerless to retaliate, allowing Japan to reap the enormous rewards of its strategic planning. Consequently, in the war against Russia, the army attempted a similar strategy. However, the Japanese flawed understanding of strategy led to a result in the Russo-Japanese War that differed greatly from their expectations. Simply put, Japan's vision of the outcome was too optimistic, failing to be reflected in its strategic planning. Most notably, Japan had absolutely no idea how to get the Russian Empire to acknowledge defeat and accept its exorbitant demands.

Simply put, according to the Japanese vision of the war outcome, the Japanese army obviously needed to reach St. Petersburg. However, Japan did not have the national strength to do so, and Britain and the United States could not possibly invest so much money to support Japan. If the goal was merely to expel Russia from the Korean Peninsula or even Manchuria, then Japan's war reparations plan would be far too absurd.

The reason why the Sino-Japanese War was able to achieve its expected results was that Japan's goal when it launched the war was actually to expel China from the Korean Peninsula. As for the amount of reparations and the cession of the Liaodong Peninsula demanded in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, they were simply outrageous demands made after a great victory. These irrational demands directly led to the Triple Intervention, which almost allowed the Qing Dynasty to overturn the war.

In fact, the Japanese did not understand why the Qing Dynasty would honor the Treaty of Shimonoseki if it was willing to cede Kwantung and Jiaozhou to Russia and Germany. In reality, the Qing Dynasty could have used this exchange of interests to gain the support of Russia and Germany, reorganize its army, and refuse to honor the Treaty of Shimonoseki. In that case, the British would certainly not have sided with Japan in the East Asian confrontation with Russia and Germany, and Japan would have been forced to withdraw from the Korean Peninsula because it gained nothing.

However, Japan's successful risky move in the Treaty of Shimonoseki led the Japanese to completely neglect the study of strategic thinking, continuing to dream that they could do whatever they wanted simply by winning the war. But army elites like Yamaguchi did know that without a strategic vision to oversee the overall situation, waging war was tantamount to suicide.

The reason the Army cannot abandon the Continental Policy is that it has been tested in the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, and is currently the most viable strategic concept for the Army. As long as this concept is tweaked and refined, the Army can continue to expand. To switch to another strategy, let alone whether it can succeed, simply convincing the government and the people is an enormous problem.

Before acquiring Mindanao, the Navy's southward expansion policy was merely wishful thinking. Apart from a few businessmen with investments and businesses in Southeast Asia, Japanese politicians and businessmen did not believe that the Navy's southward expansion strategy could be realized. After all, the Southeast Asia was currently occupied by established European powers, and only the Dutch seemed easy to bully. However, the Dutch East Indies had long been coveted by Britain and the United States, and they would not allow Japan to invade the region.

In other words, the Americans voluntarily ceded Mindanao. Giving up such a large island in peacetime was a miracle comparable to the French and Russian sales of North American land to the United States, which bolstered the confidence of politicians and businessmen in the naval southward expansion strategy. The southward expansion strategy thus transformed from a naval wishful thinking into an alternative of equal importance to the continental policy.

A new naval roadmap gradually emerged in the Army after the Army and Navy discussed national defense policies following the war. This new roadmap was essentially a naval reform plan designed to ensure the smooth implementation of the southward expansion strategy. Although the Army only had a general understanding of this new roadmap, and the Navy could not completely hide it—after all, naval systemic reforms cannot be concealed—the Navy did manage to keep the core plans tightly under wraps. Even with only a general understanding, the Army was greatly shaken.

Although Yamaguchi was marginalized in the army, as a first-term graduate of the Army War College, he still had a group of close juniors in the military. These officers would promptly report some rumors in the military to him. For example, regarding the discussion on the new direction of the navy, the young officers in the army had a basic consensus that the army was not doing enough to promote the mainland policy. Although the high-ranking officers talked about the mainland policy every day, they did not reform the entire system like the navy to adapt to the implementation of the mainland policy.

Although the new naval route was intended to fulfill the navy's southward strategy, the army officers had no complaints about it, only expressions of amazement and admiration. Yamaguchi understood the officers' feelings, because war is the art of command, and a good strategic plan is a captivating masterpiece for soldiers.

Although the new naval route infringed upon the interests of the army, the navy was ultimately still part of the Japanese military. Army officers would eventually shift their perspective from the army's self-interest to Japan's viewpoint when considering this strategic plan. From Japan's perspective, the new naval route would seem to be another classic comparable to the theory of sea power. Japan finally had something in its strategic thinking that could rival the great powers.

This is precisely what Tamura fears. As Minister of the Army, he is well aware that the Army has yet to come up with a perfect plan for the continental policy. After all, reforms to the Army system are bound to be obstructed by the Choshu faction. Therefore, a new Army policy that has not been approved by the Choshu faction cannot gain their support.

The army and navy sat together to discuss national defense policy. The army could only discuss past plans with the navy. Although the continental policy was proposed by the opening-up faction in the Edo period and improved by the Meiji Restorationists, it was still a flawed and impractical plan. It could only be said that it was barely reasonable in general terms, but it could not gain any support internationally because the continental policy not only offended its neighbors but also infringed on the interests of the European powers.

Therefore, the mainland policy can only be discussed in slogans within Japan. If the entire country were to actually invest in it, it would face a lot of opposition. During the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, there were considerable anti-war voices within Japan. It was only because Japan ultimately won both wars that these voices were quelled.

However, compared to the ultimate goal of the continental policy, Yamagata Aritomo believed that the end point of the continental policy was to occupy the Manchurian region; the radical officers in the military believed that all areas outside the Great Wall of China should be occupied, namely the Manchurian and Mongolian regions; as for the ronin, they fantasized about occupying the entire East Asian continent, entering China like the Manchus, and becoming the new suzerain state of East Asia.

Japan struggled to even control the Korean Peninsula and had to be mindful of the attitudes of European countries, fearing another Triple Intervention. Japan's weak national power prevented it from openly displaying its ambitions for Manchuria and Mongolia. This meant that the only publicly announced aspect of the army's continental policy was the occupation of the Korean Peninsula to secure the Japanese archipelago; that was all.

After its revision, the Japanese Navy's southward expansion strategy openly declared its commitment to addressing the freedom and democratic needs of various Asian peoples, maintaining close ties with the Chinese and Indian peoples, and upholding the basic human rights of the Asian people. While the Navy's propositions attracted the attention of the great powers, their newspapers were not entirely unanimously critical. Some European and American newspapers believed the Japanese Navy harbored ambitions for overseas colonies, but at least the Japanese Navy's propositions were not unreasonable. Shouldn't the basic human rights of Asians be guaranteed? The horrific crimes committed by the Belgians in the Congo were a consequence of the lack of protection for the Congolese people's basic human rights. Therefore, the Japanese propositions naturally had their rationale.

Therefore, if the Navy's publicly declared new direction clashed with the Army's unspoken continental colonization policy, it would be only natural that the Army would lose face before the Emperor. Yamaguchi realized that he was not Tamura, and therefore could not feel the political pressure the Navy exerted on the Army.

Chapter 719

Author: Fuchun Mountain Residence Number: 5084 Comments: 0 Update Date: 2023-08-28 14:12:22

In fact, the customs of the Meiji New Year were not much different from those in China. It should be said that the ways of celebrating the New Year within the Confucian cultural sphere were largely the same, the core of which was a holiday for bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new, and for families to reunite and rest. Of course, the Western influence brought by the Meiji Restoration had a great impact on Japanese New Year customs, such as replacing the lunar calendar with the Gregorian calendar and replacing in-person visits with postcard greetings.

These changes to New Year customs by the Meiji Restoration government were essentially symbolic actions to express Japan's acceptance of civilization. However, much like the Japanese character, although the changes were significant, the essence remained largely unchanged. They merely altered the time and utilized the conveniences brought by modern technology, without altering the core of New Year culture.

This was actually the first time Lin Xinyi had ever formally enjoyed the New Year's celebrations. He hadn't had the opportunity to do so in the past, but with the arrival of the New Year in 1909, he could finally experience what it was like to be a normal family in this era. Although he wasn't very familiar with Japanese New Year customs, Mu Zi was quite knowledgeable about them. Even though she had been raised as a geisha since childhood, Mu Zi had received a complete Japanese education in being a virtuous wife and mother.

So he just had to do as Mu Zi instructed. Mu Zi was also very interested in this. In the past, she had never had the opportunity to manage a family life. Although she had received the education of a virtuous wife and loving mother, she could only exercise the power of the mistress of the house in this family. Mu Zi once told Lin Xinyi, "...becoming the mistress of a family was her biggest dream when she was a child."

Lin Xinyi could understand why Mu Zi had such an ideal, because most geisha were unlikely to reform themselves, and even if they did, they would only become mistresses, or even concubines. Geisha wives of reformers like Ito Hirobumi and Katsura Kogoro were extremely rare and legendary. If it weren't for that great era, it would be difficult for such stories to appear.

Therefore, for most geisha, their ideal is not to become famous, but to become a housewife in an ordinary family and thus escape from this circle. Faced with Mu Zi, who was immersed in family life, Lin Xinyi naturally did not interfere with her arrangements, and except for the New Year's shrine visit, he let her have her way in everything else.

Mu Zi's suggestion to visit the Yasukuni Shrine for the New Year was actually made out of consideration for Lin Xinyi's military status. However, Lin Xinyi clearly declined the suggestion and instead proposed a place most popular with Tokyoites.

Asakusa Kannon-ji Temple. Mu Zi actually prefers Asakusa Kannon-ji Temple. Although the famous Kaminarimon Gate was burned down in the first year of Keio, the main hall and the five-story pagoda are still the oldest buildings in Tokyo. Therefore, Tokyoites feel that visiting Asakusa Kannon-ji Temple is a tradition of the old Edo period.

To Mu Zi's surprise, they did not travel by horse-drawn carriage or similar means of transportation on this day's visit. Instead, Domoto Keiichi drove them in a large, enclosed, automated vehicle. If Domoto's family hadn't been in the vehicle, Mu Zi would have been tempted to investigate how the vehicle operated automatically.

Of course, Domoto's family was also very excited, as it was their first time riding in an automatic vehicle, and they kept praising how fast it was. Only Lin Xinyi seemed relatively quiet, because this medium-sized bus, which was converted from a truck, could only seat about 13 people, including the driver. The interior was actually quite rudimentary; the upper part of the vehicle was just a canvas covered with steel pillars, making it neither safe nor comfortable.

The speed that amazed the Domoto family was actually only 15 to 20 kilometers per hour, which was slower than even a train. The car could reach a maximum speed of 35 kilometers per hour on a good hard surface. However, although the roads in Tokyo had been renovated, they were still not suitable for such high speeds because the roads were too narrow.

However, for ordinary Japanese people, cars, like trains, are simply divine artifacts from another era. They have no idea how cars work and can only worship them, just like they worship all sorts of strange and wonderful gods. Shintoism in Japan claims to have eight million gods, most of whom are considered miracles sent by the gods because of incomprehensible natural phenomena, and were eventually enshrined by the Japanese.

If trains hadn't become widespread, the Japanese might have even created a train deity. That's why train drivers have always been a highly respected profession in Japan, with a status similar to that of a Shinto priest. Motor vehicles arrived in Japan relatively late, which explains the great curiosity that Muko and Domoto's family had about them.

However, while riding the train, Lin Xinyi was thinking about how it was time to put the construction of the highway system in the Tokyo metropolitan area on the agenda. Without a sound highway system, it would be impossible to develop the automobile industry. In his view, Japan's large expenditure on railways was more of an investment inertia than a genuine belief among Japanese entrepreneurs that railways were the engine of Japan's industrial development.

As an island nation, Japan should have established shipbuilding as the leading industry, similar to Britain, to drive the development of its entire heavy industry. However, as a late-developing country, Japan is insignificant in international trade and global industrial capacity. As a result, Japan's shipping industry cannot compete with European industrial nations, and it does not have enough domestic industrial products for export.

The Japanese shipping industry paid a huge price to preserve the shipping routes between Japan and China, forcing the United States to withdraw from the Pacific routes. Before the development of the US West Coast, the most important Pacific routes were the triangular trade between the US, Japan and China, with the Japan-China trade route being the most important. Since the US shipping industry could not compete with Japanese shipping companies on the Japan-China route, it had to abandon the US-Japan and US-China routes in the triangular trade.

However, the Japanese shipping industry can only suppress American shipping companies whose economic center is on the US East Coast. Facing shipping companies like those from Britain and Germany, which are based on global trade, the Japanese are somewhat powerless. Previously, the Japanese shipping industry could leverage its geographical advantage of proximity to China to compete with Germany for shipping business in China's coastal waters and the Yangtze River. However, with the cooperation between Germany and Wuhan, the Japanese shipping industry has lost a significant amount of business on the Yangtze River, effectively locking up its future market.

Compared to the fiercely competitive shipping industry, Japan has more room for development in the railway industry. On the one hand, railway construction on the East Asian continent is just beginning. Although countries are increasing their investment in East Asian railways, the geographical distance from Europe has made the development of railways in East Asia slow.

In modern history, the only country that developed railways so rapidly despite being far from Europe was the United States. However, the Americans completed their large-scale railway construction through the development of their own steel industry. The total steel production of East Asia combined was less than the annual output of a medium-sized steel plant in the United States. Therefore, the railway construction in East Asia was entirely dependent on imported steel, and naturally, it was not very fast.

For the great powers, securing railway construction rights in East Asia was a sure-fire way to make money. This is why Japan actively invested in railways, not only to build domestic transportation arteries but also to vie for control of railway construction across the East Asian continent. Due to the weakness of the Qing government, Japanese businessmen believed this business was low-risk, at least safer than competing with Britain and Germany in shipping. This led to their increasing habit of investing in railways.

However, Lin Xinyi believes that as China's political system transitions to a modern society and its economy aims for industrialization, railway construction on the East Asian continent will eventually form a closed market. Japan cannot demand that China relinquish its railway construction rights in the same way it treats its colonies, so Japan's railway development has very little room for growth.

In comparison, improving the highway system and promoting the development of the automotive industry are the leading industries with the greatest potential for future growth for Japanese industry. The United States is currently shifting from a railroad-based economy to a highway-based economy. For at least the next twenty years, Japan's automotive industry will not face any competitors, as this is a completely new market where everyone is essentially outside their own territory.

If Japan's industry could develop steadily for twenty years, no one in the country would want to go to war. Only when the economy declines would the starving proletariat and peasants want a revolution, while the ruling class, who control most of the social wealth, would advocate for foreign wars. This was the safest way to deal with Japanese militarism, and it was also the way Hayashi Shin-yi had to take. Without this path, he couldn't get those interest groups onto the anti-militarist path.

As for Domoto, who followed Lin Xinyi, he was unaware of Lin Xinyi's interest in the automobile business, but he did feel the charm of automobiles. With automobiles, it was much faster and more convenient than horse-drawn carriages for someone like him who often went on field trips. Moreover, taking care of horses was much more troublesome than maintaining machines. So, not long after using automobiles, he completely gave up traveling by horse and carriage.

Domoto had always admired Lin Xinyi's insight into new things, which made him feel that following Lin Xinyi meant there was no possibility of failure, because Lin Xinyi always made the right choices. For example, regarding the introduction of automated vehicles, the naval high command didn't really care. It's said that the army attached great importance to the large-scale use of automated vehicles for logistical support by the Chinese military, but the army's emphasis was just to buy a few trucks to dismantle and copy. No one even suggested a practical plan for using automated vehicles in logistical transportation.

However, under Lin Xinyi's insistence, the Naval General Staff took the lead in establishing a small convoy, mainly to provide logistical support for the Yokosuka base, replacing some of the manpower and horse-drawn carriage transportation. Furthermore, the Naval General Staff was actively promoting a dual-use plan, namely, that all short-distance naval land transportation in the future should be converted to motor vehicles. To cope with the need to increase transportation capacity in the event of war, the solution was to promote the development of the civilian motor vehicle industry. Simply put, the navy would train a number of drivers and motor vehicle maintenance personnel, so that when these naval soldiers retired, they could be immediately absorbed into the motor vehicle transportation industry, thus solving the employment problem for retired naval soldiers and providing skilled workers to society.

Initially, many felt that the plan wouldn't be very beneficial to the navy, and would instead consume a lot of its resources, essentially using those resources to train skilled workers for society rather than soldiers for the navy. However, the autonomous vehicle fleet introduced by the navy quickly created a new trend near the Yokosuka naval base.

Compared to human and horse-drawn carriages, the speed of motorized vehicles is self-evident, especially for seafood. The freshness and survival rate of seafood transported by motorized vehicles are unmatched by horse-drawn carriages and human labor. Tokyo Bay is Japan's largest fishing ground, so fishermen and restaurants near Yokosuka quickly realized the benefits of this mode of transportation. Since the Navy's transport fleet provides some civilian services, especially willing to order motorized vehicles on behalf of civilians and provide maintenance services, private groups quickly began ordering motorized vehicles from the Navy to run private transportation.

The Navy's automobile procurement business is suspected of tax evasion because the automobiles purchased by the Navy from China and shipped back to the country are not commodities but overseas assets of the Navy. However, the automobiles sold to the civilians are surplus materials of the Navy. Therefore, by changing hands in this way, the Navy's logistics department is actually engaged in smuggling.

However, Japan had no prior large-scale commercial projects importing automobiles, so no one would bother the Navy. But for civilian transporters, ordering automobiles from the Navy meant receiving a full set of after-sales services, which was much more convenient than ordering cars directly from trading companies. Ordering cars from trading companies meant that if they broke down, they had to be shipped back overseas for repairs, and even minor problems required transporting them to the trading company's headquarters, which was extremely troublesome.

Therefore, although the Navy sold used trucks for as much as 3000 yen, orders exceeded 100 vehicles by the end of 1908. In fact, after exceeding 100 vehicles, the Navy Logistics Factory had already considered the Naval General Staff's suggestion to establish a small automobile assembly workshop, importing parts directly from China and Germany, and then assembling and producing them themselves.

Unlike the army, Lin Xinyi valued automobiles, but not for war purposes. Instead, he considered them from the perspective of social needs. The army focused too much on the needs of war, so it was very critical of the automobiles and believed that they were not mature enough to replace mules and horses. After all, there were not many flat terrains in the places where war broke out.

However, Lin Hsin-yi, starting from the needs of society, opened the door to the private autonomous vehicle transportation industry. It seemed that the Navy was initially subsidizing the private transportation personnel, but as the number of private vehicle orders increased, the Navy found that it seemed to be able to gain benefits from it. The money that was previously subsidized for maintenance technology training and driver training is now being gradually recovered from the sale of autonomous vehicles. In fact, some private individuals have begun to look for ways to pay for the Navy to teach them driving and maintenance skills, because autonomous vehicle transportation can indeed make them money.

This eliminated the initial skepticism within the Navy regarding the Naval General Staff's proposal to develop automated vehicle transportation. The Navy's concerns primarily focused on whether the investment would improve combat effectiveness, but if the business could be self-sustaining, these doubts became meaningless. Moreover, the wages of automated vehicle drivers and maintenance personnel had reached 40-50 yuan per month, almost equivalent to that of civil servants and nearly double that of ordinary skilled workers. Therefore, the Naval General Staff's plan received enthusiastic support from naval personnel nearing retirement.

After the Russo-Japanese War, before the navy found its next enemy, discussions within the navy about improving combat effectiveness gradually declined, while discussions about how to arrange life after retirement gradually became the most concerning issue for naval officers and soldiers. Therefore, continuing to confront the Naval General Staff on this issue would only marginalize these people within the navy. As a result, the generals who strengthened training and discipline were gradually losing the support of naval officers and soldiers at the grassroots level.

After Kawahara became minister, Yamamoto's cronies in the navy attempted to maintain their control over the navy's lower ranks by reforming military discipline. Togo Heihachiro and Ijuin Goro were the main supporters of reforming military discipline. However, Togo only verbally warned the officers, while Ijuin Goro, after being transferred to the position of fleet commander, directly formulated a training plan for returning to work on rest days, which was to cancel the "Monthly Water Fire Wood Metal Metal" training outline for rest days.

After Kawara was transferred to the position of Minister of the Navy, and a large number of fleet officers entered the Naval General Staff, the Naval General Staff generally supported this training outline for reforming military discipline. The only one who opposed it was the Cultural Department, which was led by Hayashi Shin-yi, because the Cultural Department was the only department where fleet officers did not make up the majority of the staff, and the main backbone of the department came from personnel who had returned from India.

Unlike the staff officers who rose through the ranks from fleet officers who advocated for constant readiness for war, the staff officers who followed Lin Xinyi advocated for the subjective initiative in war, that is, for soldiers to understand why they were fighting. This was also the basic function of cultural education. If soldiers were trained to become numb and indifferent machines, what would be the use of cultural education?

However, mere verbal opposition cannot fundamentally change the general trend of reforming military discipline. After all, when mid-level leaders lean towards this trend, it is difficult for Kawahara Yoichi and Togo Masamichi to go against the mainstream opinion of the Navy. Therefore, while opposing mindless training, Hayashi Nobuyoshi proposed strengthening the professional education of officers and soldiers.

Lin Xinyi argued that many tasks are similar in operating warships and machinery. The navy should not only consider how to achieve victory in battle, but also the replenishment of civilian forces during a long war. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain a flow between naval soldiers and civilian reserves, and to enable naval soldiers to acquire multiple skills for a living. This is more conducive to the healthy development of the navy than simply carrying out artillery training and sea-resistant training.

From the perspective of the development of the autonomous vehicle industry, Lin Xinyi's propositions are changing the naval officers and soldiers' understanding of training. The previously rampant discussion on military discipline reform in the military is giving way to theoretical research on the vocational skills training of naval officers and soldiers. This is the root cause of Domoto's growing rapport with Lin Xinyi. He can always turn the tide in an extremely ingenious way and ultimately win the victory.

Chapter 720

Author: Fuchun Mountain Residence Number: 4941 Comments: 0 Update Date: 2023-08-29 13:32:19

Actually, Lin Hsin-yi had another side project when he visited the Asakusa Kannon Temple: to meet with the five yakuza leaders that Domoto had selected over nearly a year. He didn't think much of it, but he was worried that being too ostentatious would attract attention. That's why he arranged to meet them at a restaurant near the temple during his New Year visit.

The so-called yakuza members in Japan are actually quite diverse and are not limited to criminals and gangs. In fact, the largest yakuza groups in the Edo period were commercial groups that worshipped deities such as Shennong Daisai, Amaterasu Omikami, Hachiman Daisuke, and Kasuga Gongen. According to Japanese social customs, there were many small vendors in front of temples who did business with worshippers, which is actually similar to the traditional temple fairs in China.

However, unlike China, Japan's land area is too small. Although it has eight million deities, only a few temples can truly support commercial activity. Places that are simply tied together with ropes to form a shrine can only satisfy the spiritual needs of local residents, but cannot support small vendors.

Therefore, the vendors at Japanese temple fairs are actually stationary, unlike the more mobile vendors at Chinese temple fairs. To prevent other itinerant vendors from taking over their territory and to avoid being at a disadvantage in negotiations with the temples (since Japanese temples used to have monks serving as soldiers), these vendors formed small mutual aid groups.

Before the Meiji era, the mainstream of yakuza was small vendors operating in front of temples; truly vicious and desperate criminals were actually rare. Therefore, Japanese yakuza and ordinary society were clearly distinct, with their social circles rarely intersecting. However, the industrialization and commercialization of the Meiji era led to the bankruptcy of many farmers who had to seek a living in the cities. The rise of urban construction also required a large number of construction workers, and thus, the previously separate ordinary society and yakuza society began to intersect.

The construction and gambling industries became new hotspots for the rapid growth of yakuza members. Some farmers who were not originally from yakuza backgrounds also became yakuza members. Violence among yakuza members began to spread to civilian society, which was a major reason for the continuous rise in urban crime during the Meiji period. After all, yakuza members would not report violent incidents involving other yakuza members to the authorities; they would resolve them in their own ways. Only when civilians were harmed by yakuza members would they choose to report to the authorities immediately.

In rural areas, heavy taxes and usurious interest rates led to numerous incidents of farmers resisting taxes and interest payments. In cities, the influx of bankrupt farmers resulted in a high crime rate. This was Japanese society at the end of the Meiji era. If you only looked at domestic news about Japan without the victory in the foreign war, you wouldn't be surprised if a revolution broke out in Japan the next day. At this time, Japan and the Qing Dynasty were essentially the eldest and second eldest brothers.

The reason why Japan was able to maintain its power while the Qing Dynasty could not is that Japan at least had a strong army, which was enough to suppress internal resistance and also won victories in foreign wars. On the other hand, the Qing Dynasty suffered repeated defeats in foreign wars, which caused local warlords to completely lose their respect for the central government. As a result, the Qing Dynasty collapsed while Japan survived.

However, the fear of revolution among Japan's upper echelons is also evident; otherwise, they wouldn't have repeatedly strengthened the Public Security Law, elevating police power to a level exceeding the constitution. The severe crackdown on Japanese socialists by the police was not a targeted attack, but rather a common practice by the police against all those who advocate freedom and democracy. It wasn't until figures like Kotoku Shusui produced a series of reports on scandals within the Imperial Household that a specific crackdown on socialists was initiated.

However, the Japanese police's strict control over politicians does not mean they can closely monitor the vast underprivileged population. This is the best evidence of the police's inaction during the Hibiya arson attack. Those ronin (masterless samurai) hiding in the lower classes, by inciting the emotions of the masses, ultimately humiliated the seemingly tightly controlled police organization in Tokyo, forcing the military to intervene and quell the situation.

Lin Xinyi knew that although the Satsuma clique had a great influence in the Japanese police organization, the Satsuma clique was not necessarily on his side. Their cooperation was only temporary and based on mutual interests. When it came to a critical moment, the Satsuma clique was unreliable. Therefore, he needed to start building his own independent intelligence organization. In fact, labor unions were more suitable for building mass organizations of the proletariat. However, Japan's industry was too immature and the police force was too powerful, so workers were actually easy to monitor. On the contrary, the yakuza groups with their complex backgrounds were not easy to monitor by the police. After all, they were groups that were bound by the law and lived in the shadows.

Therefore, he wanted to establish an intelligence network in Tokyo and even the entire Kanto region. The fastest way to do this was to clean up the yakuza in Kanto. However, given the chaotic lives of yakuza members, he had Domoto spend nearly a year selecting several yakuza groups that still had some integrity and commissioned them to complete several tasks, eventually selecting five.

In this era, the yakuza had not yet been heavily infiltrated by capital, so they were all small, local organizations. Controlling a market or a street was considered a relatively powerful group. As for organizations controlling a city or region, they simply did not exist, because the gambling and market businesses currently operated by the yakuza could not support so many people to engage in monopolistic operations. Only when capital supported yakuza organizations and used yakuza members to defeat their competitors did Japanese yakuza organizations begin to grow into large-scale entities.

Because the current yakuza organizations are very small, almost no one spends any effort on them. As long as you have money, you can just find some people to do the work, so why bother to support such a group of people?

For example, the campaign team that needs to protect the propaganda team when running for a seat in the legislature is actually hired from various yakuza groups. When running for a seat in the legislature, the legislators do not rely on verbal debates, but on the monopoly of force. That is, I send people to drive away the propaganda teams of other people in the constituency, so the local voters only know my propaganda, and then they can only vote for me.

These violent campaign team members can't be kept on the payroll by lawmakers after the election, so short-term employment is the most cost-effective. Various yakuza groups also like this kind of short-term employment, which not only provides them with a certain amount of compensation, but also allows them to build relationships with the elected lawmakers. If they get into trouble, the lawmakers can plead for them with the police.

Therefore, apart from a few legislators who, due to the support of conglomerates, maintain fixed relationships with a few larger yakuza groups, most organizations and legislators have informal, cooperative relationships. Legislators and conglomerates treat these yakuza members like chamber pots—they're close when they need them, and discard them when they don't, with no need to expend much effort supporting them.

However, for Lin Xinyi, this temporary employment relationship was clearly not enough. He needed an organization capable of maintaining underground order, and even one that could confront the police organization under certain conditions, in order to ensure the timeliness and effectiveness of the entire intelligence network. At the very least, he could not find out about the social events that had occurred in the country later than the police commissioner.

If this cannot be achieved, then workers' organizations will be powerless against police raids, and once workers' organizations are destroyed, the workers' movement will fall into a low ebb, and a large number of workers will be absorbed by right-wing groups, eventually forming a white atmosphere, and the whole society will become a conservative opinion against the revolution.