A Study On The Issue Of Provisions And Funds For The Ming Army In The Imjin War

At the end of the 16th century,the Imjin War that occurred in the East Asian world had a profound impact on the Ming,Japanese,and Chosǒn.In 1592,Toyotomi Hideyoshi,the Kampaku of Japan raised troops to invade Chosǒn.Chosǒn was defeated by the Japanese army and gradually retreated,so it requested the Ming Dynasty send troops to rescue it.The Ming Dynasty protected the security of its territory,actively mobilized troops and sent troops to Chosǒn to defend Japan.As the saying goes:Before the army and horses move,provisions and funds go first.For the hundreds of thousands of Ming soldiers who fought in Chosǒn,the supply of provisions and funds became one of the key factors determining the outcome of the war,and in the Imjin War,the problem of provisions and funds scarcity occurred.This has attracted the attention of later scholars to this issue.Among them,the views of Korean scholars are more representative.They believed that the responsibility for the lack of provisions and funds in the Imjin War lies with the Ming Dynasty.The lack of provisions and funds provided an excuse for the Ming Dynasty to delay the war,and the priority of provisions and funds to the Ming army affected the provisions and funds supply of the Chosǒn’s army,and even directly led to the disintegration of the Chosǒn’s army.Obviously,Korean scholars have made negative evaluations of the Ming Dynasty during the Imjin War.However,such an evaluation not only goes against basic historical facts,but also carries a strong nationalist tendency.One is to ignore the enormous efforts made by the Ming Dynasty to rescue Chosǒn and resist Japan.The Ming army’s entry into Chosǒn for combat is a huge systematic project,including the Ming Dynasty’s understanding of the issue of provisions and funds during the Imjin War,as well as the preparation,transportation,and management of the Ming army’s provisions and funds during wartime.If any link goes wrong,it will affect the supply of provisions and funds for the Ming army.Second,the disintegration of the Chosǒn’s army is fundamentally determined by the cohesion of the Chosǒn itself,rather than the problem of provisions and funds.What’s more,most of the Chosǒn’s army has lost confidence in defeating the Japanese army because of its insufficient combat effectiveness.In other words,the priority of provisions and funds to the Chosǒn’s army cannot reverse the trend of its disintegration.Therefore,in order to comprehensively understand the role and appearance of the Ming Dynasty in this war under the tribute system,it is necessary to conduct further research on the issue of the Ming army’s provisions and funds during the Imjin War.From the early Ming Dynasty until the outbreak of the Imjin War,the supply of provisions and funds for the Ming army underwent an evolution from provisions and funds to silvers.In the Imjin War,Chosǒn was plagued by war and faced difficulties in preparing provisions and funds.The Ming army relied on the supply of silver for its provisions and funds system,but it was difficult to sustain it due to Chosǒn’s lack of silver.The Ming Dynasty had to transport provisions and funds to Chosǒn to supply the Ming army.However,in foreign wars,the supply lines of provisions and funds was too long,which made it difficult to transfer provisions and funds.The supply of provisions and funds for the Ming Army at the front was always in trouble.In order to ensure the supply of provisions and funds for the Ming army,the Ming Dynasty and Chosǒn actively cooperate,took a series of measures to raise and transport provisions and funds,and strengthen management.Due to the prolonged invasion of war and limited national strength,Chosǒn’s provisions and funds preparations were generally effective.The Ming Dynasty invested a large amount of manpower,material resources,and financial resources,which increased exponentially in the later stages of the war compared to the early stages.The main reason for the shortage of provisions and funds for the Ming army is the difficulty in transportation.Due to the high cost and difficulty of land transportation,both the Ming Dynasty and Chosǒn actively explored more economical and convenient sea transportation.Due to the long-term implementation of the maritime ban policy in the Ming Dynasty,it was difficult to start shipping provisions and funds by sea.In the early stages of the war,with the promotion of the Ming Dynasty officials such as Song Yingchang,the sea transportation was opened.However,due to many problems with transportation within Chosǒn,the supply of frontline provisions and funds remains difficult.In the later stage of the war,with the promotion of Xing Jie and Zhang Yangmeng,and others,measures such as opening more Tianjin shipping and strengthening shipping management were taken to improve shipping efficiency and achieve more significant transshipment results.In order to ensure the supply of provisions and funds for the Ming army,the Ming Dynasty and Chosǒn also established their own provisions and funds management systems based on wartime needs.In the early stages of the war,the Ming Dynasty established a provisions and funds management system with the core of Administer,while Chosǒn established a provisions and funds management system with the Yeong-uijeong and the Hu Cao’s Judgment as the core.In the later period of the war,the Ming Dynasty added the "Du Xiang Shi Lang",the Manager,and the Haiphong Road,while the Chosǒn were jointly responsible by Beibian Division and Hucao,further improving the provisions and funds management system.However,Chosǒn sent a large number of officials with different names such as "Procurators","Inspectors","Observers",and "Dispatchers",causing confusion in local provisions and funds management,and even appearing "multiple orders and mutual constraints".The supply of provisions and funds not only affects the combat effectiveness of soldiers,but also directly affects the direction of the war situation.During the Imjin War,the lack of provisions and funds had a serious impact on the garrison and suppression of the Ming army.After the Ming army entered Chosǒn,there was a shortage of provisions and funds.Although Song Yingchang and others boosted their morale through rewards and won the victory in the Pyongyang Campaign,the shortage of provisions and funds prevented the Ming army from quickly recapturing Wangjing,leading to a stalemate in the war situation.The Japanese army withdrew from the Chosǒn’s capital,and the Ming army followed in pursuit.However,due to difficulties in provisions and funds supply,the implementation of the Ming army’s tactics was affected.In the later stages of the war,due to difficulties in providing provisions and funds,Chosǒn’s military recruitment and suppression decisions continued to change,and even experienced iterations.At the end of the thirtieth year of Xuanzu’s reign,the Ming army’s southward expedition was constrained by the supply of provisions and funds,and even affected the success or failure of the war.Especially during the Battle of Shimoyama,the Ming army originally besieged the Japanese army in Shimoyama Castle,but due to a lack of provisions and funds,they had to withdraw from the siege.In the autumn of the 31 year of Xuanzu’s reign,The Ming army once again marched south to suppress,but there was a situation that"during the campaign,provisions and funds will be provided,while during the retreat,there will be a shortage".During the war,there were also serious differences in military strategies between the Ming Dynasty and Chosǒn due to provisions and funds supply issues.Due to difficulties in providing provisions and funds,Chosǒn disregarded the actual situation of provisions and funds shortages among the Ming army,constantly urging the Ming army to advance southward in an attempt to defeat the Japanese army and end the war in a short period of time.The Ming Dynasty,on the other hand,continuously adjusted its strategy and tactics based on the actual situation of the war situation and the supply of provisions and funds.Whenever the war situation falls into a stalemate,the Chosǒnn monarchs and courtiers will accuse the Ming army of using provisions and funds.During the war,the Ming Dynasty’s Liaodong,Shandong,and Beijing Tianjin regions became provisions and funds supply bases for the war due to their geographical proximity to Chosǒn.While undertaking the task of raising and transporting provisions and funds,the three regions also need to address internal social governance.Liaodong actively defended against the invasion of prisoners and resumed production;Shandong actively responds to natural disasters and promotes the cultivation of coastal islands;Beijing and Tianjin,especially Tianjin,have added governor to actively undertake northern coastal defense and cultivate coastal wasteland.The officials of the Ming Dynasty,represented by the governor,not only did a good job in the preparation and transportation of provisions and funds assigned by the central government of the Ming Dynasty,but also managed local social governance within the government,seeking a balance between the two,reflecting the strong emergency response capabilities of the Ming Dynasty in special circumstances.On the other hand,Chosǒn suffered damage from war and famine,resulting in a large number of deaths and a very poor livelihood.Production was unable to recover,and disaster relief work had nowhere to start.The ravaged Chosǒn people still have to bear the heavy task of raising and transporting provisions and funds,making it difficult for them to make a living.During the process of raising and transporting provisions and funds,officials ignored the hardships of the people’s lives and repeatedly oppressed them.Although Chosǒn has taken a series of measures such as relieving hungry people,encouraging people to cultivate,prohibiting wine making,prohibiting slaughter of cattle,and reducing taxes to restore production,the results have not been significant,but have actually affected the work of preparation and transportation.Against the backdrop of the tribute system,the Ming Dynasty and Chosǒn actively carried out military and political cooperation around the supply of provisions and funds for the Ming army.Due to differences in specific measures,management systems,and emergency capabilities between the two sides,it has been difficult to provide provisions and funds for the Ming army.Therefore,the Ming Dynasty and Chosǒn conducted a series of negotiations on the preparation,transportation,management of the Ming army’s provisions and funds and suppression strategies.During the negotiation process,both the Ming Dynasty and Chosǒn made compromises and concessions,as well as engaged in opposing struggles.The main reason for this is that the Ming Dynasty and Chosǒn have different national interests due to different response measures on the specific issue of the supply of provisions and funds for the Ming army.Due to Chosǒn’s limited ability to raise and transport provisions and funds,in the specific negotiation process,the Ming Dynasty often transferred more benefits to Chosǒn based on the principle of small words.In the Imjin War,it should be noted that the preparation,transportation,and management of provisions and funds for the Ming army in foreign wars had special characteristics,as well as the impact on the Ming army’s provisions and funds supply system,especially the important impact on the provisions and funds supply in the Late Ming Liaodong War.The main reason for the difficulty in providing provisions and funds for the Ming army was the severe weakening of the Chosǒn wartime response ability,which led to the shortage of provisions and funds and dare not venture south.This resulted in a prolonged war,which was not intentionally delayed by the Ming dynasty.Due to the difficult supply of provisions and funds in Chosǒn,the Ming Dynasty invested a large amount of manpower,material resources,and financial resources to win the Imjin War,which consumed the national strength of the Ming Dynasty and accelerated its decline.But under the tribute system,the Ming Dynasty maintained the stability of the traditional international order in East Asia and played the role of a major power.