Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 210

He was well aware of how rare this opportunity was. He and Yamagata had been fighting over this issue for seven or eight years, and as a result, almost all of the Choshu faction's comrades sided with Yamagata. These former comrades had no desire to change the current system because they were the beneficiaries of the current system.

Even Inoue Kaoru couldn't understand Ito's intention to suppress the military. In Inoue's view, the military was the foundation of the Choshu faction. If they lost control of the military, then the Choshu faction would lose power.

Therefore, Inoue Kaoru, who had always been his closest political ally, sided with Yamagata when Ito attempted to suppress the military's influence on politics.

Originally, Ito Hirobumi had General Kodama as an ally in the army. Although Kodama did not completely agree with the theory that the military should be subordinate to the government, he supported the political idea that military strategy should be subordinate to political strategy and that political strategy should take into account national defense and security.

Itō also attempted to achieve military obedience to the government by supporting Kodama's reforms within the army, but Kodama's sudden death interrupted the army reform plan.

In fact, Ito has now lost control of the military, which is a major reason why he wants to step down from his position as Governor-General of Korea.

When Kodama was alive, he could use Kodama's support within the army to force the army to obey him. It was not enough to have the emperor's edict to endorse his command of the army. Without supporters within the army, the orders he issued could not be truly carried out by the army.

Therefore, strictly speaking, Lin Xinyi had actually become his most trusted political ally in the military. The others were not politically aligned with him and were merely seeking his support for promotions. Ito Hirobumi's primary purpose in summoning Lin Xinyi for a meeting was to ascertain whether Lin Xinyi's political beliefs had truly changed, or whether Lin Xinyi's past behavior in front of him was merely a facade.

But now that Lin Xinyi has laid his teachings before him, Ito is in a very awkward position. If he were to pursue the matter, it would mean that his previous teachings to Lin Xinyi were all lies, which would only cause a breakdown in their relationship and bring him no benefit whatsoever.

There was no personal grudge between him and Lin Xinyi. Strictly speaking, their relationship was more like that of teacher and student. This is why he asked Lin Xinyi so frankly, because he felt that Lin Xinyi was not an outsider to him, and he could still say a few words from the heart.

His opinion of Lin Xinyi stemmed from the fact that Lin had violated his taboo by directly making political proposals to cabinet ministers in his capacity as a military officer, which was beyond his tolerance.

However, if Lin Xinyi did this in order to realize his teachings, then the matter becomes somewhat unclear.

Even if Lin Xinyi's statement was a evasive one, his summary was not wrong. In recent years, he has indeed been working hard to guide Japanese politics towards civilian politics in order to correct the legacy of the excessive military power in the early Meiji Restoration government.

Even though outsiders say he is too flexible in politics, Hirobumi Ito's political stance is still very clear. Every change in his political stance is aimed at solving the most pressing problems in Japanese politics.

The most pressing political issue in Japan today is that, following two consecutive victories in foreign wars, the military's interference in politics has increased, making the suppression of the military the most urgent political issue in Japan today.

After Lin Xinyi offered this explanation, Ito Hirobumi knew he couldn't pursue the matter any further. Otherwise, the outside world would perceive a change in his political stance, which would throw the political forces that had originally supported his suppression of the military into disarray, resulting in a political defeat for him.

Despite their prestigious political status, the elder statesmen can fall from grace very quickly if they encounter political difficulties. For example, Kiyotaka Kuroda went from being the leader of the navy to a universally despised murderer of his wife in the blink of an eye.

Ito was also aware that his political reputation was far less than it had been right after the Sino-Japanese War. Since he abandoned the feudal clique politics and turned to the people's party politics, his political reputation had been declining. The forces that still supported him were mainly those who shared his political ideals rather than his interests. So if he became ambiguous in his political stance, people would only distance themselves from him.

After careful consideration, Ito Hirobumi spoke up: "Establishing a system in which the military is subordinate to the government is certainly a political proposition I advocate. But as a military officer, is it appropriate for you to represent the Navy in discussing political propositions with cabinet ministers?"

National systems are established to be obeyed, not to be arbitrarily broken. In the navy, only the Minister of the Navy and the Chief of Staff can make political declarations. Don't you understand that?

After pondering for a few moments, Lin Xinyi calmly replied, "I have reported to the Marquis several times since I returned to Japan. The Marquis should know that what I have reported these times is proving one thing: war in Europe is inevitable, and Western powers such as Britain, France, the United States, Germany, and Russia will not be able to intervene in East Asia on a large scale before the end of this war."

Therefore, the past few years have been a critical period for the establishment of a new order in East Asia. Once this period is missed, when the war in Europe ends and the Western powers turn their attention back to regions outside Europe, Japan will not be able to establish any new order in East Asia, because Japan simply does not have the strength to do so.

So why do we need to establish a new East Asian order? Because we must create a small East Asian trade circle outside the Eurocentric world trade system so that Japan can win the status of a truly independent economy.

If Japan cannot be economically independent, then what gives it the right to have an independent voice in the international order?

Furthermore, despite numerous internal conflicts within Europe, it functioned almost as a unified whole within the global colonial system. This explains why Europeans were able to conquer vast swathes of Asia. Similarly, even if Japan defeated Russia, it could not achieve true independence because Japan was too small and weak. Defeating Russia was already a stroke of luck; how could it possibly withstand successive attacks from European countries?

Therefore, if Japan wants to stand on equal footing with European and American countries in the international order, it needs a region as its backing.

Only with the support of East Asian countries can Japan avoid confronting the entire power of Europe alone. European countries will also weigh the costs and benefits, thus abandoning the possibility of war with Japan.

Only when Japan gains the possibility of peace, and national defense and security are relegated to a secondary position, can a system where the military is subordinate to the government be established. It's impossible for a country that constantly needs to guard against attacks from Europe and the United States to have its military not as a priority.

Therefore, I believe that this period of development cannot be missed. Once Japan misses this period of development, it will fall into the cage set up by Europe and the United States. At that time, talking about international status will be illusory. We can only obey the international order set up by Europe and the United States, and then be constantly plundered by Europe and the United States through trade, and eventually lose our national economic and political independence.

So it's not that I want to interfere in politics, but that Japan needs a clear political and economic direction. This should have been the responsibility of the elder statesmen and ministers, but clearly no one was willing to take on this responsibility, so I had no choice but to take action.

Lord Hou is right; soldiers should indeed not interfere in politics, but the premise is that someone must be held accountable for politics. If politicians are unwilling to take responsibility, then even if it's not me, other soldiers will step forward to take responsibility for politics.

In my opinion, I know better than other soldiers where Japan should go, and to prevent the power abandoned by politicians from being picked up by madmen, I must first ensure the safety of that power. That is my initial motivation for the current operation…”

Chapter 687

Chapter 687 　

Ito Hirobumi remained silent for a few moments before sighing and saying, "Are you still dissatisfied with how the North Korean issue has been handled?"

Lin Xinyi came today to formally state his political stance, so unlike in the past when he only expressed his position indirectly, he looked directly at Ito Hirobumi and replied: "In fact, I have always believed that Japan has gone astray in its foreign relations since the Treaty of Shimonoseki. The theory of leaving Asia and joining Europe is a dead end, and it will not go any way."

Ito Hirobumi was not surprised by Hayashi Shin-yi's statement, because Hayashi Shin-yi had repeatedly stated in his analysis reports that Japan could not come together with European and American countries. Whether it was cultural origins or political systems, the differences between East and West were insurmountable gaps.

Hirobumi Ito himself viewed the "leaving Asia and joining Europe" theory from a pragmatic perspective. He needed to use the public opinion surrounding this theory to eliminate domestic conservatism and thus complete the political reforms required to open the country to the world. Furthermore, the public opinion surrounding "leaving Asia and joining Europe" could gain international recognition from Europeans, thereby securing some international support for Japan's external expansion.

However, Hirobumi Ito himself understood that the idea of ​​leaving Asia and joining Europe was wishful thinking on the part of the Japanese. Whether Europeans would truly accept the Japanese as a member of European countries was a rather unpredictable question.

After all, the Indians who were conquered by the British are not considered Europeans to this day. Indians are still considered Asians in Europe, and they are still a discriminated-against race in Britain.

Indians don't need to shout about leaving Asia and joining Europe. India's elite directly support the British monarch, who also wears the crown of Indian emperor. Therefore, as subjects of the British Empire, Indians should be Europeans.

However, in Britain, Indians are not even as well-regarded as Japanese. White landlords who refuse to rent to Asians also treat Indians as Asians rather than their British compatriots. Even among some white landlords who are reluctant to rent to Asians, Japanese are more popular than Indians and Chinese.

However, Japan's diplomatic elites would not publicize this kind of news to the public. Japanese diplomats would only say how Britain supported Japan's enlightenment, but would not say that the British public treated all people of Asian descent equally and would not regard the Japanese as an exception.

If such news were to spread widely in Japan, the voices of the Japanese people supporting the idea of ​​"leaving Asia and joining Europe" would likely disappear considerably.

Therefore, not all Japanese elites who studied in Europe were supporters of the "leaving Asia and joining Europe" theory. Thus, although Konoe Atsumaro advocated learning Western technology and systems after returning from his studies abroad,

However, he opposed getting close to the West, believing that East Asians were Japan's natural allies. Europeans looked down on people of Asian descent, and Japan could not expel itself from the ranks of Asians and then join the ranks of white people, because Europeans would not accept that.

However, Hayashi Shin-yi and Konoe Atsumaro's diplomatic views were not entirely consistent. Konoe Atsumaro believed that while confronting the white powers of Europe and America, Japan should conquer the East Asian peoples by force in order to quickly enhance its strength.

From this perspective, Konoe actually partially supported the Army's continental policy, but he advocated a limited conquest strategy, namely, weakening China to a level weaker than Japan, so that they could coexist peacefully.

After acquiring part of the East Asian continent, Japan could replace China as the suzerain state of East Asia, which is a development of the Sinocentric theory proposed during the Edo period.

To be fair, the Duke of Konoe's advocacy of East Asian unity and cultural identity did not lack support from various sectors of the country. Even Ito had the idea of ​​letting him try his hand in diplomacy. However, Konoe's attempt to obtain the power to form a government touched the interests of too many people.

Even Ito was unwilling to let Konoe obtain the right to form a cabinet, because Konoe was a supporter of the Emperor's personal rule, and if he formed a cabinet, it might disrupt the political stability that had been established since the promulgation of the Meiji Constitution.

The Meiji Constitution contained only articles that protected the Emperor's power, but no articles that constrained it. Therefore, the balance of power in the political situation depended entirely on the politics of elder statesmen and the military. When a member of the nobility who advocated for the Emperor's personal rule became the Prime Minister of the Empire.

This would make it possible for the Emperor to rule in his own right, allowing the Konoe Cabinet to bypass the old guard and bring the military under government control under the guise of the Emperor's rule.

Therefore, the Duke of Konoe could only die of illness in time. It was only after the Duke of Konoe's sudden death that Ito Hirobumi hurriedly began to plan the compilation of the Imperial Household Law, adding a patch to the Meiji Constitution.

After Konoe's death, the diplomatic view of East Asia sharing the same language and culture began to decline. Without Konoe as a banner, no one else could withstand the pressure from the military, which was clearly unwilling to accept this view of limited conquest.

Hayashi Shin-yi's proposal was actually more moderate than Konoe's. He argued that the Korean Peninsula should not be conquered, but rather that all East Asian peoples should unite to fight against the white European powers. He believed that Japan would naturally become the leader of the East Asian peoples in this confrontation.

Because, looking around at the various ethnic groups in East Asia, only Japan is currently capable of directly confronting the white European powers.

Hayashi Shin-yi's assertion became even more accurate after Japan won the war. Before this war, even Ito and Yamagata were uncertain whether Japan could defeat the Russian Empire. After all, since the Battle of Vienna in 1683, wars between yellow-skinned and white-skinned nations had never been won by yellow-skinned people.

Of course, in the eyes of Europeans, Russia was not exactly a pure white country, but as the Tsarist Russia that defeated Napoleon, it was indeed a white country, so Europeans did not think Japan could win this war.

Britain and the United States strongly supported Japan because they were worried that Japan would lose too badly, while the French did not intervene because they believed that Russia would win.

But the outcome of the war surprised Europeans. Both Japan and China shattered the Europeans' fixed image of Eastern peoples as weak and incompetent, and the Japanese also greatly enhanced their confidence in white people.

In the past, the Japanese felt that they were just students in front of Europeans, so whatever the teacher said was right. But after this war, the Japanese felt that they should be able to graduate and that Japan should have a voice in the international arena.

However, for Hirobumi Itō, this war undoubtedly proved that Shinji Hayashi's theory was correct: there was no intellectual difference between yellow and white people; the difference between the two sides lay in the huge difference in productivity brought about by the Industrial Revolution.

Therefore, once the yellow race completes industrialization, it will naturally force the white race to acknowledge that both sides are equal.

However, Lin Hsin-yi pointed out that industrialization cannot be accomplished by a single country or ethnic group. If Japan attempts to complete industrialization on its own and then represent the yellow race in competing with the white race for world resources and markets, then Japan is heading down a dead end.

Japan is just one of the yellow races. The world is currently divided into white people, yellow people, and other people of color. White people are the dominant race in the world. They not only completed the Industrial Revolution first, but also ruled most parts of the world.

People of color have completely lost the possibility of industrialization because they do not even have an independent country with a population of more than ten million. A country with a population of ten million is the starting point for industrialization. Countries with a population of less than ten million cannot industrialize on their own and can only rely on external industrial input.

The yellow race also has the potential for industrialization because it has several independent states, including the Ottoman Empire, China, Japan, and Persia, and its total population is much larger than that of the white race.

China, India, and the Yamato people together make up more than 40% of the world's population, while the white population accounts for only 20%. Therefore, once the yellow race completes industrialization, it may be able to retaliate against the white race.

In other words, only with the support of people of color and Asian descent could Japan lead 80 percent of the world's population against 20 percent of the white population, because these 20 percent of white people account for at least 80 percent of the world's productivity. Without the support of the vast majority of people of color and Asian descent, Japan could not possibly compete with the white powers.

Therefore, Lin Xinyi's diplomatic viewpoint was to help people of Asian and non-Asian descent industrialize, thereby gaining the resources and population to counter the industrial capabilities of white people, and ultimately forming a new world order. This viewpoint is clearly more ambitious than Konoe's view of East Asian unity and ethnicity, and most importantly, it is more logical.

Konoe's hardline diplomacy was actually incompatible with Japan's national strength. In fact, not to mention the pressure exerted by the united white European powers, the mere change in the British Empire's supportive attitude towards Japan would have plunged Japan into panic. Hayashi Nobuyoshi's racial industrial competition, on the other hand, hid Japan behind the yellow and colored races, forming a broad economic alliance against white people.

Since it is not a direct military and political challenge to white people, at least in the early stages, there is no possibility of a crisis of national confrontation. Once a few countries with initial industrialization emerge among the yellow race, the risk of confrontation with white people will not be borne by Japan alone, and the danger will be greatly reduced.

The only problem is that Lin Xinyi's diplomatic approach did not initially bring any benefits to Japan. Instead, it required Japan to make sacrifices from the very beginning. Simply put, it meant that the Japanese were made to go hungry while supporting other Asian countries.

This is certainly difficult for Japan's political elites, military personnel, and ordinary people to accept. For them, what matters is what benefits Japan can gain in the present, not what kind of new world order Japan can achieve in the future.

For example, while Ito Hirobumi rationally accepted Hayashi Shin'ichi's diplomatic ideas, he believed that Japan should lead the industrialization of people of color and yellow races and then confront the white colonial system, which seemed to be feasible.

In the face of real politics, however, he ultimately yielded to the military and the chaebols, agreeing to the plan to annex the Korean Peninsula, only to snatch away the position of Governor-General of Korea, which the army considered a sure thing.

Therefore, when Hayashi Shin-yi emphasized that politicians were unwilling to take responsibility, Ito Hirobumi immediately understood why Hayashi Shin-yi was doing this. He had abandoned Hayashi Shin-yi's advice, but Hayashi Shin-yi was clearly unwilling to give up his own political views, so he took action to correct Japan's current political course.

At this point, Ito could no longer criticize Hayashi Shin-yi for interfering in politics as a military officer, because Hayashi Shin-yi was not interfering in politics for power, but to uphold his own political ideals, which Ito knew and agreed with, but he simply did not have the courage to promote them.

Although Ito Hirobumi felt that Hayashi Shin-yoshi was too idealistic in politics and lacked a realistic understanding of politics, he undoubtedly felt some sympathy for Hayashi Shin-yoshi's actions and was no longer as angry as he had been at the beginning.

Therefore, Ito followed up by saying, "If you say that annexing the Korean Peninsula is a problem, then that is indeed a problem. But what's wrong with the Treaty of Shimonoseki? Without the large indemnity obtained from the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Japan would have gone bankrupt after the Sino-Japanese War."

However, Lin Xinyi clearly did not see it that way. He replied firmly, "Because the Treaty of Shimonoseki stimulated the public's wishful thinking, making them believe that war was the shortcut to solving the current social problems. But we all know very well that no government would have signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki."

The Qing Dynasty and Li Hongzhang were irreplaceable adversaries. If the Japanese treated every war as if it were the Qing Dynasty and Li Hongzhang, they would pin their hopes for solving social problems on repeated military adventures, and the so-called civil service system in which the army is subordinate to the government would never be established.

The Russians have proven this in this war, but the Japanese are still immersed in the false illusion created by the Treaty of Shimonoseki, refusing to acknowledge that the Treaty of Shimonoseki was an accident and that the current outcome of the war is the reality of the normal world. Under such circumstances, pushing for the annexation of the Korean Peninsula is nothing more than a compromise with these warmongering fanatics who refuse to accept reality.

While you advocate for the establishment of a civil service system, you are actually creating obstacles to its implementation. I would like to ask you, Lord Marquis, when the elders are no longer around, who can stop these war fanatics from turning Japan into a vassal state of the military?

You say I'm interfering in politics, but aren't the very policies formulated by the elders the ones who started this whole thing?

Although Hayashi Shin-yi boldly criticized the elder statesman politics in front of him, Ito Hirobumi did not feel much anger, because he now also felt the elder statesman politics was hindering him.

The Genroto system was originally intended as a check and balance on the Emperor system stipulated in the Constitution. However, due to the division on constitutional issues, the Genroto House had to be abolished, which eventually led to the unspoken rule of the Genrotos' involvement in politics. In reality, this concentrated the power of governance from the collective of meritorious officials who founded the Meiji Restoration Government into the hands of a few people, which was also the political foundation of the long-term regime.

Before the Treaty of Shimonoseki, the elder statesmen shared a common goal: to stabilize the domestic political situation, break China's suzerainty over East Asia, and turn the Korean Peninsula into Japan's sphere of influence to form a security barrier against Japan. Therefore, the elder statesmen were still able to work together.

After the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Japan's national security was guaranteed. At this time, political differences emerged among the elder statesmen. For example, Yamagata advocated a military expansionist approach, while Itō advocated developing the domestic economy to alleviate social conflicts.

This is almost a replica of the conflict between the pro-Korean and pro-open-door policies before the Satsuma Rebellion. However, the Choshu soldiers, such as Yamagata, who used to stand with the pro-open-door policy, have now become military expansionists like Saigo. Furthermore, due to the Treaty of Shimonoseki, the military also tends to favor expansionism rather than domestic development, which has caused the domestic policy faction led by Itō to lose a lot of support.

Before 1900, criticizing the Genro politics in front of Ito would inevitably be seen as an attack on him by Ito. However, after 1900, even Ito Hirobumi himself became somewhat disgusted with the Genro politics, because there were too many factional interests in the Genro politics, making it difficult for him to dominate politics through the council of Genro.

Those around Ito were naturally aware of this, which is why Hayashi Nobuyoshi dared to speak frankly about how the old guard politics were outdated. Before Hayashi Nobuyoshi pointed this out, Ito still harbored a certain degree of wishful thinking.

He believed that he could compromise in reality to achieve his political goals, but when Lin Xinyi pointed out that the elders had diverged in their political interests, Ito Hirobumi finally realized that in the past, the elders could move forward by compromising because everyone's goals were the same, but now everyone's goals are not the same, and the consequence of compromise will inevitably be to give way to one side.

As Lin Xinyi said, concessions on the North Korean issue will only stimulate the military's expansionist desires, not make the military accept the government's leadership. Expansionism cannot make the military subject to government constraints. The goal of expansionism is to make the government cooperate with the military in war preparations.

At this point in the conversation, Ito Hirobumi finally gave up the idea of ​​reprimanding Hayashi Shin-yi. If military intervention in politics had become a trend, then criticizing a mere lieutenant colonel like Hayashi Shin-yi would be utterly pointless, because the military was making great strides toward leading the country, so what was the point of pruning the branches and leaves?

If this trend is not reversed, his envisioned civil service system will inevitably fail.

From this perspective, although Lin Hsin-yi interfered in politics, at least his interference was aimed at preventing the military from controlling the government. In the end, it was clear that preventing the military from hijacking national policies was more important.

After much deliberation, Ito finally spoke, asking, "So how do you intend to resolve the North Korean issue? It's probably too late to halt the annexation of North Korea now..."

Chapter 688

Chapter 688

Lin Xinyi glanced at Ito Hirobumi but couldn't discern any change in the other's expression. He thought to himself that it was impossible for Ito to be so weak as to ask him for advice; this was most likely a test to see if he had considered how to resolve the North Korean issue.

He hesitated for a moment. Expressing his political stance to Ito and telling Ito that he was already thinking about how to deal with the North Korean issue were actually two different things. The former was just a young man expressing his desire for independence, while the latter might be seen by Ito as political ambition.

However, he quickly realized that even if Ito saw it as political ambition, it was better than Ito being wary of him. The reason he was able to sit here and express his ambitions to Ito was because of the trust built up through their correspondence over the past few years. Without this trust, Ito would not have called him here to inquire at all, but would have taken action directly.

Although the political alliance he has formed has cornered the army, if Ito Hirobumi stands with Yamagata, the navy may not win this political game. This is because the navy's political foundation is indeed shallow. Now it is relying entirely on interests to lure all parties to its side. Ito and Yamagata together represent the full power of the Choshu clique that used to control Japanese politics. Even the Imperial Household would have to back down in the face of this power.

Therefore, even if he couldn't persuade Ito to side with the Navy, he should at least maintain Ito's neutrality, and hiding his own thoughts would prevent Ito from continuing to trust him.

Having thought it through, Lin Xinyi calmly said to Ito Hirobumi, "The key to resolving the Korean issue lies not in the army, but in the opinions of the people of both Korea and Japan. As long as the people of Korea and Japan realize that annexing Korea will not benefit them, they will oppose Japan's attempt to annex Korea. Without the support of the people, annexing Korea will be a solo effort by the army, and we can simply sit back and watch it fail."

Ito Hirobumi was genuinely puzzled. He stared at Lin Xinyi and asked, "It's understandable that Koreans oppose Japan's annexation of Korea, but why do the Japanese people oppose it?"

Lin Xinyi said confidently, “A nation is not a person and cannot be regarded as a whole. A nation is the sum of all social contradictions, so there will inevitably be contradictions between the ruling class and the ruled class within a nation. The rulers can alleviate domestic contradictions by expanding conflicts between nations, but as long as the ruled class realizes that conflicts between nations have not solved their problem of being oppressed, they will naturally oppose the foreign wars launched by the ruling class.”

Why do the Japanese people oppose the annexation of Korea? Because the benefits gained from annexing Korea do not belong to all the Japanese people, but to a portion of the ruling class. However, the wealth and lives lost in the conquest of Korea must be borne by the people. Once the people clearly understand this, they will not be interested in the so-called plan to conquer the continent.

Today, the Japanese public lavishly praises the army's conquest of Korea because they are unaware of who paid the price and who gained from this war. I've heard that the newly established Oriental Development Corporation acquired the rights to develop barren lands of the Korean Empire. Who are the shareholders of this corporation? Why is it that the money and lives the nation sacrificed ultimately went to the army and zaibatsu (conglomerates) who obtained the rights to develop Korean lands?

Why are the allowances for soldiers wounded or disabled in this war insufficient to even cover their basic living needs? The army claims that Koreans are easy to conquer, yet there are daily attacks on Japanese soldiers and civilians in Korea. Are Koreans truly easy to conquer, or is the army concealing the truth by controlling news reporting?

If the public is made aware of what is actually happening in Korea, and is allowed to question the army's actions there, then the army's so-called honor of conquering Korea for the nation will be exposed. The army is invading Korea for its own and the chaebol's interests, not to help Japan conquer the Korean Peninsula. True conquest is not about acquiring land, but about winning hearts and minds; the army has not acted in this way in Korea.

Ito Hirobumi fell silent for a moment. He knew that what Lin Xinyi said was true. The news ban on the attack on Japanese by Koreans was approved by him. The purpose of doing so was naturally to eliminate the public's concerns that the conquest of Korea would become a long war. Although the Japanese liked to boast about the bravery of the Japanese army, they did not like to pay the price for a long war.

The Hibiya burning incident was a reaction of disappointment among a group of people who did not receive war compensation. After this incident, the people were not so proud of the honors the Japanese army had received in this war. This was directly reflected in the collapse of the Katsura Taro cabinet and the serious dissatisfaction among the people when the army brought down the Saionji cabinet.

Everyone in the country knows that the reason for the collapse of the Ito cabinet was its desire to end the war and develop the domestic economy, which hindered the ambitions of continental expansionists to continue the war on the continent. However, the formation of a new naval cabinet has now received almost unanimous support from public opinion.

Because the navy's proposed military downsizing plan could immediately alleviate the burden on the people, which was far more realistic than the army's plan to expand its military, conquer the continent, and then obtain war reparations like those in the Treaty of Shimonoseki.

In other words, this war has begun to awaken the public from the illusion that victory would bring huge spoils. Those fervent war supporters are no longer willing to easily support the war. After all, the Japanese have lost tens of thousands of lives in this war against Russia, which is in stark contrast to the meager losses suffered by the Japanese army in the Sino-Japanese War.

The navy was not a cabinet member chosen out of necessity by the public; rather, he enjoyed widespread public support. This support stemmed from the navy's political ideology, not from the public's identification with the navy. This demonstrates that the Japanese who cheered for military victories were not actually war enthusiasts; they simply loved victory, not war.

The Chinese, who have always been regarded as weak and easily conquered, have been constantly launching popular uprisings since the Opium War. From the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to the Boxer Rebellion, and now to the Wuhan regime, most of these Chinese are fighting for a vague and illusory ideal, which is something the Japanese could never do.