Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 44

In other words, it was Chief of Staff Ito who brought prestige to the Military General Staff, not the other way around. Once Chief of Staff Ito had secured his positions as Prime Minister and Elder, he would eventually step down from the role of Chief of Staff and move to a higher position. At that time, the Military General Staff would be exposed for what it truly was.

Togo's body stiffened for a few seconds before returning to normal. He knew Lin Xinyi was right; not long ago, the Vice Minister of the Naval General Staff was concurrently the Director of the Naval Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of the Navy, a rank lower than the Vice Minister of the Navy. This was why the Vice Minister of the Naval General Staff hadn't been highly regarded in the past. However, with Chief of Staff Ito's promotion to Senior Officer, the Vice Minister of the Naval General Staff had gradually become an important position, almost equivalent to the Vice Minister of the Navy.

Togo Masamichi certainly hopes to maintain the current strong position of the Naval General Staff. The equal status of the Vice Minister of the Navy might be a bit beneath Kawahara, since he was a contemporary of Minister Yamamoto and was ousted in the competition. However, for him, it is a step forward, since he has never reached that level.

Togo picked up the teacup in front of him, concealing his unease, and said somewhat awkwardly, "Your thinking isn't entirely wrong. Prime Minister Ito has now stepped out of the navy's circle and will likely focus more on politics in the future. However, Prime Minister Ito is unlikely to abandon the Naval General Staff and will certainly strive to secure some independent powers for it."

Lin Xinyi disagreed, saying, "I don't think it's the best way to fight for power with the Navy Ministry. The struggle between the General Staff and the Navy Ministry will only lead to a division within the Navy, which is obviously not conducive to internal unity. Moreover, the current power structure of the Navy Ministry is not easily shaken."

I think that if things proceed in this direction, it might actually allow Minister Yamamoto to win over sympathizers within the Navy, thereby forcing Prime Minister Ito to abandon his interference in the conflict between the Ministry of the Navy and the Naval General Staff. Without Prime Minister Ito's support, the Naval General Staff will certainly lose to the Ministry of the Navy.

Dongxiang struggled for a moment, then gave up after a few seconds and asked Lin Xinyi, "So what do you think the Military Command should do to maintain its current position?"

Lin Xinyi calmly replied, "Japan is a society that values ​​rules. These rules are not only explicit but also implicit. Sometimes, implicit rules are even more inviolable than explicit rules. For example, the senior-junior system and the disciple system. Once these implicit rules are broken, one will be abandoned by others and isolated from the entire society."

Therefore, Japanese people are generally sociable. Individual Japanese people can freely criticize their superiors and even the government in private conversations. However, in groups of two or more, Japanese people tend to agree with the opinions of those in higher positions and do not insist on their own opinions. The opinion of the group is even greater than that of the individual.

Therefore, to maintain the Naval General Staff's current position, at the very least, a tacit rule within the Navy must be established, with the Naval General Staff at its core. Only when the entire Navy believes that, although the Ministry of the Navy possesses various powers, the Naval General Staff is the core of the Navy, will the Naval General Staff be truly capable of counterbalancing the Ministry of the Navy.

After thinking for a while, Togo Masamichi said, "What you said makes some sense, but how can such unspoken rules be established? The Navy Ministry holds real power, which cannot be easily suppressed by the Military General Staff, which has little power."

Lin Xinyi said, "Roads are made by people walking on them. Once people walk on them a lot, they will believe that there really is a road here. Just like in the past, people thought that the position of principal of the naval academy was either used to exile high-ranking officials or to place junior officers to gain seniority."

However, with Principal Kawahara and Principal Togo both rising to important positions in the Naval General Staff, the promotion path from Naval Academy Principal to Vice Minister of the Naval General Staff has become fixed. From now on, there will certainly be many naval officers seeking the position of Naval Academy Principal followed by Vice Minister of the Naval General Staff. Once the practice of consecutive principals becoming Vice Ministers of the Naval General Staff is established, everyone will assume that to become Vice Minister of the Naval General Staff, one must first serve as Principal of the Naval Academy.

The same thing could be replicated with the Naval General Staff. If the Chief of the Naval General Staff continues to serve as Prime Minister, the Navy will implicitly accept the unspoken rule that only the Chief of the Naval General Staff can participate in politics. If the Chief of the Naval General Staff is a potential Prime Minister, what audacity the Ministry of the Navy would have to refuse the Naval General Staff's requests? At that point, the Ministry of the Naval Staff would likely become the Navy's representative within the government.

After a long silence, Togo finally said speechlessly, "We are supposed to be discussing the status of the Military General Staff. Why are you bringing up the appointment of the Prime Minister again? That's the Emperor's and the elders' prerogative, not something we can decide."

Lin Xinyi looked at him and said softly, "Didn't Principal Dongxiang just join a plan to decide the appointment of the Prime Minister? Did we fail?"

Togo stammered, "This, how can this be the same? Lord Ito is, after all, a senior elder..." He suddenly stopped, realizing that Ito's position as a senior elder was something he had secured on Hayashi Nobuyoshi's advice. Looking at it this way, it seemed Ito's position as prime minister was indeed obtained through naval planning, not through the Emperor and the senior elders.

Lin Xinyi looked at Dongxiang, who was deep in thought, and then slowly said, "Actually, there are only two ways to get the appointment as prime minister: either you are more qualified than others, or others are less qualified than you. As long as we make a thorough plan, it shouldn't be a problem for the Military Command to produce one or two more prime ministers."

Togo's eyelids twitched. Although he knew he shouldn't ask, as the topic was somewhat treasonous, he couldn't help but ask, "So, what can be done to get the Military General Staff to produce another prime minister?"

Lin Xinyi said confidently, "It's just about expanding territory. Why does the army pursue the continental policy so diligently? Because war not only allows the military to control a large amount of resources, but also allows military generals to rise to prominence. Therefore, if the navy wants to monopolize the prime minister's position, it must block the army's continental policy and then implement the navy's southward expansion policy."

Although Chief of Staff Ito failed to expel the Americans from the South Seas this time, he did open up a passage for the navy to go south. The navy's next target was the Dutch. By uniting all forces, the navy could force Britain to retreat to Malacca and abandon its support for the Dutch, thereby liberating the South Seas from the Dutch.

Whoever accomplishes this, I think they will become a national hero. They would be the second Chief of Staff Ito. In the southward expansion policy, the army will never be the main player, and naturally, it will never be able to compete with the navy for the prime minister's position.

Unlike a year ago, Togo Masamichi was no longer as averse to challenging the British. Although the British navy had become much stronger, far surpassing the Japanese navy, strangely, Togo's fear of the British navy had diminished considerably.

He now believed that with the right strategy, it was possible to force the British to make concessions. At this point, he was completely convinced of Lin Xinyi's conclusion that Britain's national power was declining and that as long as they did not seek the Strait of Malacca, the British would not be determined to wage war.

Based on this fundamental assessment, Southeast Asia was not an untouchable territory for Britain, but rather an external force that the British were striving to maintain, one that could be relinquished under certain conditions. However, how to get the British to abandon the Dutch was a problem that Togo struggled to solve. He could only once again turn to Lin Xinyi for advice.

Unlike his earlier eloquent speech, Lin Xinyi pondered this issue for a considerable time. This reassured Dongxiang somewhat; he hoped Lin Xinyi would consider the matter carefully and not offer a hasty solution.

Chapter 150 Enemies of Domains and Financial Cliques

Lin Xinyi was not thinking about solving the problems of the Military General Staff, but rather how to address the increasingly radical militarism that would inevitably arise in Japan's overseas colonization. Even in later generations, China and Russia, which suffered greatly from fascism, were not filled with large numbers of people who loved fascism? Under a system of private ownership, appropriating the property of others has never been a crime.

Acquiring Mindanao provided a foothold for the southward expansion policy, but it did not change Japan's militaristic nature; it merely shifted the dominance from the army to the navy. Without guidance and restraint, the army and navy will ultimately compromise under the banner of militarism. The naval research institute will then shift from its current center-right stance to a right-wing or even far-right position. Unless the individual also shifts their stance, they will be abandoned by the organization.

This is why he had to switch his support to Togo. Ito and Kawahara had already secured their positions with this achievement, and they were unlikely to take any major political risks. On the contrary, Togo needed to take political risks to establish his own status.

After clarifying his thoughts, Lin Xinyi finally spoke to Dongxiang Zhenglu: "In my opinion, all foreign policies are just a continuation of domestic politics. Therefore, in order to formulate foreign policies, we must first figure out who our supporters are in the country, or what kind of group can firmly support us, even if we suffer a temporary setback in the political struggle, they will continue to support us."

Such questions were rather profound for Togo, after all, he had spent most of his life studying the navy. Although he experienced the tail end of the anti-shogunate movement, he did not become a core member of the anti-shogunate faction, but was merely a follower. Therefore, his understanding of society and politics was limited to the idea that all people are equal under the emperor.

Of course, the idea of ​​equality for all under the Emperor is ultimately just a slogan. A society divided into three equal parts—Emperor-feudal clans, financial cliques-citizens—is more in line with the current perception of most people. But this doesn't mean that no one in Japan understands the true state of society; otherwise, the government wouldn't have implemented increasingly stringent laws and regulations on public order and media control.

Seeing Dongxiang's troubled reaction, Lin Xinyi knew that the other party was definitely not a reasonable person, so he said, "Could you give me a piece of paper and a pen?"

Togo didn't see anything wrong with it at all, and quickly got up to get a pen and paper from his desk. Taking the pen and paper from Togo, Lin Xinyi drew a pyramid, then drew a few horizontal lines, wrote a few lines on the side, and placed the paper in front of Togo.

"If Japanese society is like this pyramid, then removing the ruling group at the very top, the remaining society can be divided into four classes: capitalists, landlords, workers, and farmers. What we need to do now is to find our staunch supporters, or base, among these four classes—the group that will not abandon you no matter how you rise or fall."

Togo stared at the diagram on the paper for a long time before looking up and asking, "Does such a group, no, such a base of support, really exist? I always feel that Japan doesn't seem to have such a group."

Lin Xinyi looked at him and replied, "In the past, no one truly represented their interests. The rulers only sought their support to satisfy their own desires, not to govern in order to protect their interests. If they themselves were disloyal to others, how could they expect others to remain loyal to them?"

Togo Masamichi remained silent. He understood what he meant. Whether it was the Satsuma-Choshu government or the shogunate, what they needed was for the people to pay taxes and serve in the military, not for the people to be the masters of the country. So no matter how nicely they spoke, it was nothing more than chanting the slogan of returning power to the Emperor, not returning power to the people. Under the rule of Satsuma-Choshu, the Emperor, who had never been regarded as having a political identity, had now almost truly become the last hope of the people for politics.

After thinking for a long time, Togo pointed to the diagram and asked, "Why is it shaped like a pyramid?"

Lin Xinyi replied, "The number of people in these classes is just like that shown by the pyramids, with fewer people at the top and more at the bottom. However, in terms of the resources they control, the smaller upper class actually has more than the larger lower class, or at least they are equal. Therefore, I think the pyramid shape is most suitable for describing the different social classes."

After thinking for a moment, Togo tentatively asked, "So, it's easier to win the support of the capitalist and landlord classes than the lower classes. Because they are fewer in number and easier to win over, and they have much more resources than the lower classes."

Lin Xinyi nodded and said, "That's true. The ruling class at the top is basically composed of capitalists and landlords, so it's relatively easy to win their support. But now everyone knows this, so capitalists and landlords have too many choices. They naturally become bargain hunters, supporting whoever offers them more benefits."

Yamagata, Itō, and other elder statesmen were leaders who initiated the Meiji Restoration, and they naturally formed close ties with some capitalists and landowners. Through policies involving the transfer of substantial benefits by politicians, these individuals formed what are now known as the zaibatsu (financial cliques) of Japan.

Although Chief of Staff Ito wasn't the founder, his appointment as a senior member naturally brought him the support of the Satsuma financial clique. However, this path isn't suitable for you. Because you're not from Satsuma, advancing to seniority would be too difficult, and your connections with these financial cliques are too limited; you wouldn't be their first choice.

Togo fell silent once again. He knew that what Lin Xinyi said was true. If someone who was not from Satsuma wanted to join the core of the Satsuma faction, he would inevitably be opposed by most people because he was blocking other people's path to advancement.

From this perspective, it might not have been a bad thing that Hayashi Nobuyoshi rejected Saigo Tsurudo's suggestion. Because of Hayashi Nobuyoshi's refusal, the Satsuma faction, apart from the Yamamoto lineage, generally held him in a positive light.

Togo withdrew his gaze and looked at Hayashi Shinichi, saying, "So, you mean to win over the support of workers and farmers? Is this the basis for the land reform and workers' protection laws you proposed to Chief of Staff Ito?"

Lin Xinyi reached out and flipped the blueprints in front of Togo over to him, then said, "In terms of the stability of Japanese society, it's actually an inverted pyramid. The lower down you are, the more dissatisfied the people are. Farmers have to sell their children to make a living, and workers work themselves to the bone just to survive."

Can such a society really be maintained in the long term? Why does the army launch foreign wars? Isn't it just to transfer the dissatisfaction of the domestic people with the government onto other countries?

Therefore, if the navy cannot find a way out for the lower classes, then the number of people leaning towards the army will increase, and the number of rational people leaning towards the navy will decrease. Without public support, the navy will be left dependent on the army for survival.

Togo finally nodded in response, "I also support the land reform concept advocated by the naval seminar, but with my current strength, I'm afraid I can't push it forward much. After all, Prime Minister Ito and Chief of Staff Kawahara still have reservations about the land reform policy, believing that it would offend too many people in the navy."

Lin Xinyi didn't think Togo would be more radical than Ito and Kawahara in their positions; he'd probably just be weaker, since he didn't have as much confidence as Ito and the others. However, he wouldn't point that out at this moment. He simply said to Togo, "The so-called 'offending too many people' actually means offending too many people with the ability to speak out. After all, the common people can't really make their voices heard. If they could, they could become a powerful political force."

Dongxiang nodded in agreement, and Lin Xinyi continued, "So why don't we give the grassroots a voice and let them know who supports them? Then, when they are suppressed by the upper echelons, they will naturally seek our help. At that time, it will be them seeking our help, not us seeking their support, so why would they abandon us?"

Togo finally took Lin Xinyi's propositions seriously. He had two concerns about seeking help from the working class and peasantry: one was that the working class and peasantry were not strong enough, and the other was that they would be fickle and abandon him. If the working class and peasantry truly possessed a powerful force and firmly supported him, then he would naturally not oppose Lin Xinyi's propositions.

However, he looked at Lin Xinyi and asked, "How can we achieve the goal you mentioned?"

Lin Xinyi took the paper, wrote a few more lines, and then pushed it to Togo, saying, "If we divide political leanings, I think we can divide them into three factions: left, center, and right. The right faction consists of the so-called supporters of the feudal lords, most of whom are elite bureaucrats who advocate strong control from the top down. The center faction consists of intellectuals who advocate political reform. They see the current social crisis in Japan and want to carry out reforms, but they are afraid of touching the interests of the feudal lords and zaibatsu. The left faction consists of liberals and socialists who advocate political reform in Japan and completely abolish the rule of the feudal lords. However, one advocates restricting the zaibatsu, while the other advocates completely dismantling the zaibatsu."

The left wing naturally supports a series of political and economic reforms centered on land reform; the only difference lies in their differing goals for reform. The reformists fear the power of regional warlords and financial magnates, but they don't entirely endorse the left's comprehensive reform plan. However, they are prone to compromise, so neither the left nor the right wing can effectively deter them from coming to power.

Our current option is to cooperate with the left wing, using them to organize grassroots forces and form a new military-political alliance. Of course, once such a new political alliance takes shape, it means we will become enemies of regional cliques and financial magnates. Principal Togo, are you prepared for this?

Chapter 151 The Crimson Cherry Blossom Party

Togo Masamichi was obviously unprepared for this, and could only listen. However, Hayashi Shinji wasn't disappointed. As long as Togo still harbored ambition, he would inevitably take that step; otherwise, he would never have been able to cross the threshold from Vice Minister to Chief of Staff. Kawahara was able to become Chief of Staff because he was from Kagoshima and a true member of the Satsuma faction. Togo, on the other hand, clearly had no chance of crossing that threshold.

However, just as Togo got up to see Hayashi Shin-yi off, he asked him a question: "Why do you regard the feudal lords and zaibatsu as rivals? With the path you have paved for yourself, you can easily enter the core of the Satsuma faction step by step. I believe that the other members of the Satsuma faction will not have any objections to this."

Standing at the doorway, Lin Xinyi looked at Dongxiang Zhenglu and asked in return, "How long do you think the warlord politics can last, Principal?"

Togo Masamichi was stumped by the question. Just as he stood there thinking, Hayashi Shinji continued, "An outstanding talent like Akiyama Saneyuki, who received systematic naval strategic thinking training under the guidance of US naval strategic experts, is by no means the person in the Japanese Navy who understands the prospects and technological direction of the world's navies the most right now."

If the Satsuma clan truly cared about the country and the navy, shouldn't such a person be given important responsibilities upon returning to Japan? However, the Ministry of the Navy sent him to the Naval Academy to gain seniority, which I don't quite understand. After gaining seniority, won't the cutting-edge theories and technologies that Akiyama Saneyuki was exposed to become outdated?

The feudal clan system had become an obstacle to Japan's progress, just as the shogunate had been in the past; the situation was similar. The shogunate, which hindered Japan's progress, was overthrown by the Meiji Restorationists, ultimately ushering in the Meiji era.

Now, some of the organizations left behind by the Meiji Restorationists have become another corrupt shogunate. So, should we inherit the aspirations of the Restorationists and continue to push Japan forward? Or should we close our eyes and follow these corrupt organizations, only to be overthrown by the people once again?

Therefore, it's not that I chose the regional cliques and zaibatsu as my opponents, but rather that I intend to side with the victor. This time, the victor is not on the side of the regional cliques and zaibatsu, that's all…”

In the days that followed, Togo lived a relatively peaceful life. Kawahara Yoichi escorted Tomioka Sadayasu to his new post and also awarded medals to Hayashi Shinji and other key members of the Naval Research Conference. A total of 47 key members of the Naval Research Conference were awarded medals, including 29 from the 32nd class and 18 from the 31st and 33rd classes, all of whom received the Order of the Blue Paulownia Leaf, 7th Class.

Inside the student auditorium, the students of all levels looked at the members of the Naval Seminar who were receiving their medals, feeling a mixture of envy and frustration. After all, these people had previously been unwilling to align themselves with the Naval Seminar organized by Lin Xinyi, and even if they joined later, they would only be peripheral members, completely unable to keep up with the core members.

However, in the eyes of these trainees, some of the core members were not particularly outstanding. The reason they were able to enter the core was simply because they joined early and did whatever they were told. But the Naval Seminar organization had already taken shape, and no matter how much they looked down on these members who had gained an advantage through time, they now had no choice but to follow behind them.

Of course, in Lin Xinyi's view, although there were some differences in the level of these members, their talents were not too different. The truly outstanding people, such as the 33rd class's reading genius Toyota Teijiro, had already entered the core of the club, although he always wanted to follow behind him, which made him seem like his secretary.

Inoue Tsunomatsu and Takano Isoroku had some disapproval of this junior. Inoue's assessment of him was, "He can repeat every word spoken by Hayashi Shin-yi, but he just can't offer his own opinions. It's as if he's Hayashi Shin-yi's alter ego."

Isoroku Takano shared this sentiment, believing that this genius's motives for entering the naval seminar were not pure; he wasn't there out of interest or to pursue ideals, but simply to gain experience. Just look at the cautious yet ecstatic expression on Teijiro Toyoda's face when he received his medal—it's clear he got away with it.

Of course, everyone who received the medal, except for Lin Xinyi, was overjoyed. After the awarding ceremony, as everyone walked out of the auditorium and waited for the photo session, Inoue Tsunetatsu looked at the medal on his chest and blurted out, "I think we should form a Kiri-yaba Party. The organization of the naval seminar is still too loose; it can't truly reflect our aspirations."

Hori Teikichi stood to the side, watching Hayashi Shin'ichi talking to Kawahara, Togo, and Tomioka in the distance, and said leisurely, "The Kiriha Party? Are you planning to expel Shin'ichi?"

Inoue Tsunomatsu was speechless for a moment, and Toyoda Teijiro couldn't help but interject, "Why not call it the Isshinkai? We'll unite around Chairman Hayashi and work together to strengthen the Navy."

These words left the surrounding students speechless, even though they all shared the same thought. Since following Lin Xinyi could earn them medals, they should naturally stick with him. After all, aside from an oddball like Lin Xinyi, even the sons and nephews of Minister Yamamoto Gonnohyōe—no, even members of the imperial family—couldn't lead everyone in receiving medals at the school.

But hearing Toyoda Teijiro say such things made everyone feel strange. They had originally followed Hayashi Shin'ichi for the ideal of strengthening the navy, but now, after hearing what he said, it seemed as if they were dependent on Hayashi Shin'ichi.

This person really doesn't know how to talk; that was the first thought of the surrounding members. But thoughts aside, things still had to go on. Building a smaller, more tightly knit group than the Naval Research Society had become a shared need for these core members. They had invested so much time and energy in the Naval Research Society; they couldn't just let it all go to waste after graduation, could they?

Therefore, everyone quickly ignored Toyoda Teijiro's words, and Takano suggested, "We all support the Southern Expansion Theory, so why don't we call ourselves the Southern Expansion Association?"

After listening for a while, Hori Teikichi felt that the names these people proposed were more and more bizarre. Putting aside what Toyoda Teijiro said afterward, Isshinkai was actually more palatable. He had to interrupt the members' suggestions and said, "Why don't we wait for Shinji to come back and ask him what he thinks? Even if we want to establish an organization, there has to be a charter, right? Who is more suitable than him to come up with this charter?"

Lin Xinyi met the new principal, Tomioka Sadayasu. He hadn't expected that this man was also from Nagano Prefecture. However, Shinano Province was divided into many small domains, and the relationships between them weren't particularly close. Yet, Tomioka Sadayasu treated him with great kindness, showing no sign of distance. For a moment, Lin Xinyi began to wonder if this man was truly working for Minister Yamamoto.

However, he had no intention of causing any conflict with the new principal. The current naval seminar had already become something that Ito and Kawahara had their eyes on, and if Yamamoto really wanted to get his hands on it, he would have to ask Ito and Kawahara first.

Moreover, for him, the naval seminar organization was no longer able to accommodate him. After all, the organization's main purpose was to connect students and people from all walks of life to learn and discuss the direction and development theory of the navy, and it was not suitable for doing any practical work.

This time he realized that the naval seminar was too loosely organized, so he could not fully grasp the direction of events, which ultimately resulted in the powerful arbitrarily changing the plan.

After taking photos with the three principals and the awarding members, and concluding the entire awarding ceremony, Lin Xinyi heard the members' requests. After thinking for a while, he said, "Indeed, naval seminars are more suitable for student clubs. After graduation, we probably won't have much time to participate in such seminars. We should indeed form a small, close-knit group to strive for a clearer goal. My proposal is to strive for the modernization of the navy. I think this aim should not offend the naval veterans."

Lin Xinyi's suggestion did indeed receive a positive response from everyone; at least developing naval modernization would not be a taboo subject within the military. Although Commander Sa set a bad precedent by forming cliques within the military, they were also the most averse to others forming cliques. If the naval seminar hadn't been a student group, it would have been ordered to be canceled long ago.

Inoue Tsunomatsu immediately asked, "So, what name should we choose?"

Lin Xinyi glanced at the trees beside him and casually said, "Let's call it the Crimson Cherry Blossom Gathering. I prefer red... cherry blossoms."

After the medal-awarding ceremony, Lin Xinyi, on behalf of the cadets, saw off the 31st class of graduates. Soon after, the naval academy welcomed a new class of cadets, including both North Koreans and Chinese. The Ministry of the Navy had historically considered North Korea and China as hypothetical enemies and therefore had consistently prohibited them from applying to the naval academy.

With the intervention of the Naval General Staff, the Navy's hostile targets began to shift, and restrictions on North Koreans and Chinese applying to naval academies were lifted. Especially after the Japan-China alliance, and Japan's acquisition of the right to assist China's Hainan Island naval port, in order to further strengthen cooperation between the two navies, the Ministry of the Navy finally relented on the issue of Chinese applying to naval academies, agreeing to allow the Chinese Navy to send personnel to study there.

Meanwhile, Togo Masamichi also returned to Tokyo with Kawahara Yoichi and officially took over as Vice Minister of the Naval General Staff. At this time, although the Naval General Staff was still in the Ministry of the Navy building, the foundation of the Naval General Staff building in Shinagawa had been completed, and everyone in the Naval General Staff was full of vigor and no longer as accommodating as before when facing officers of the Ministry of the Navy.

Of course, the Ministry of the Navy was much more polite to the Naval General Staff at this time, and no longer regarded it as a subordinate agency as before, since Prime Minister Ito was still paying attention to it.

The first official task facing Togo Masao upon taking office was the year-end general officers' conference, where various naval prefectures and the Ministry of the Navy met to discuss budgets and personnel. However, the biggest issue this time was how to deal with the Mindanao issue. Since the Navy had acquired Mindanao, it naturally had the right to make priority recommendations. However, after listening to the discussions for two days, Togo found that the suggestions put forward by these generals were not as well-organized as those of his students.

Chapter 152 Naval Officers' Meeting

Togo initially held the Navy in high esteem, knowing that his future was essentially in the hands of the top few members of the organization. If these individuals were dissatisfied with him, they could easily get him kicked out of Tokyo with just a few words.

No matter how outstanding a naval commander is, if he is not favored by his superiors, he will hardly have a chance to rise in the ranks. This is the clan system that the non-Satsuma-Choshu clan commanders hate the most, yet also deeply respect.

But when he actually sat in the Navy's decision-making meeting—the generals' meeting—he suddenly realized something: these warlords who held great power were not as far-sighted as he had imagined. They were not only short-sighted and could not see the Navy, no, they should see the world outside the military. They didn't even know what the lower and middle ranks of the Navy were thinking. They just kept clamoring for more budgets and more warships, as if that was the entire future of the Navy.

He suddenly realized that he might not be any less capable than these veteran naval officers in leading the navy. In the past, even if he had such thoughts, he would have just let them pass. But today, knowing that he had a group supporting him, he could no longer contain himself. He felt that Lin Xinyi was right when he said, "Rewards are proportional to risks; the greater the risk, the greater the reward. Those who are unwilling to take any risks should not join the military at all, because any military operation involves risk before it yields rewards."

So, at the officers' meeting on the last day of 1903, Togo Masamichi finally broke his silence and asked to speak. Normally, a general like Togo, who had only been promoted to major general for less than two years and was not a core member of the Satsuma faction, should only echo the opinions of certain people at this stage and should not have any opinions of his own.

However, with the Military General Staff currently in power, everyone was unsure whether Togo intended to speak for himself or on behalf of the Military General Staff. The former could be ignored, but the latter might be Prime Minister Ito's opinion. Everyone's attention turned to Kawahara Yoichi, who was standing beside Togo. Kawahara Yoichi remained calm, showing no intention of speaking, so everyone quieted down to listen to what Togo had to say.

Under everyone's gaze, Togo Masamichi, looking slightly nervous, said, "I am against the politicization of the Navy..."

Being the principal of Etajima wasn't without its advantages. At least Togo was the most direct observer of naval seminars, where he learned a great deal, such as stating his position before speaking to attract sympathizers. However, at the officers' meeting, his purpose in stating his position wasn't to attract sympathizers, but rather to distance himself from Minister Yamamoto, because it was Yamamoto's faction that advocated for the navy to take over Mindanao.

Although he also supported the navy taking over Mindanao, in the past he would have either supported Yamamoto or remained silent, since there was no third option. However, after witnessing Lin Xinyi's numerous speeches, he understood how to frame opponents with the same opinions as him as those with different opinions, and then take the lead in expressing that opinion himself.

Sure enough, as soon as he said that, the generals of Yamamoto's faction showed an expression of no surprise, while the generals who opposed Yamamoto's faction breathed a sigh of relief, believing that Togo was indeed speaking on behalf of the Naval General Staff, and that opposing Minister Yamamoto was the most correct thing for the Naval General Staff at the moment.

However, they had clearly relaxed their guard too soon. What Togo Masamichi said next surprised everyone: "...Of course, it's unrealistic for the navy to be completely devoid of politics. Aren't our proposed naval budget, naval shipbuilding plan, the construction of ports in local areas, and the requisition of civilian ships as transport vessels for naval logistics all political actions?"

As everyone looked at Togo Masamichi with puzzled expressions, wondering what he was up to, Togo finally shared his opinion: "The Navy cannot be indifferent to political affairs concerning the Navy. However, it certainly shouldn't be overly concerned with political affairs unrelated to the Navy. Whether Mindanao should be governed by the Navy or handed over to the nation like Taiwan, I believe, depends on what Mindanao means to the Navy and how the nation will govern it. Simply put, it's inappropriate to abandon Mindanao just because the Navy is like a kappa that can't land."

Kataoka Shichiro, who advocated that "the navy is like a kappa, and it will definitely fail on land, so it's better to leave it to the army," was greatly dissatisfied upon hearing this. If it weren't for the fact that it was Ito's doing behind the scenes, he would have already refuted Togo, this audacious junior, to his face.

Now, he could only use a conciliatory tone to question Togo: "The Naval General Staff believes that giving up the rights to Mindanao is detrimental to the future of the Navy. So, you must explain how it will hinder the future of the Navy. You should know that when we first landed in Korea or Taiwan, there were large-scale riots. Without the army's intervention, we simply couldn't have suppressed them."

If the navy were to govern Mindanao itself, it would mean dealing with the indigenous people who resist our rule. Does the navy really have the manpower? If it can't handle it, and we have to call in the army, the navy will not only lose face, but it will also lose control of Mindanao just the same.

Most of the generals nodded slightly at Kataoka Shichiro's statement. Even now, the resistance in Korea and Taiwan has not disappeared. The army has put in a lot of effort to govern Taiwan, and the navy feels that it is not enough to spend money on itself. How could it waste resources on a deserted island?

Togo Masamichi used to think that a naval landing was a thankless task, because marines weren't meant for land warfare, especially protracted counterinsurgency operations, which he found particularly troublesome. However, he now sees it differently. While a naval landing is indeed impractical, it also has another advantage: the conflict between the navy and the locals is less intense. This is because the navy's focus is on controlling ports, not every village. Therefore, the navy and the locals can cooperate, unlike the army, which is constantly trying to seize land, naturally leading to hostility.

Therefore, in response to Kataoka's questioning, he boldly replied: "Why can't we give those natives the power of self-governance? Just like the United States dealt with the Native Americans and the Manchus dealt with the Mongols, we can give them a place as their settlement, where they can govern themselves, and outside the settlement they must obey the laws of the empire."

The entire Philippine archipelago has a population of about 700 million, and the population of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago, which the Americans ceded to us, is no more than one-tenth. This means that most of the land in these areas is still virgin jungle. If we simply acknowledge the portion currently owned by these native people and then take away the undeveloped parts, there shouldn't be any major conflicts between the two sides.

We are different from the Americans. The Americans need to extract money from the Filipinos, but what we need is the resources of the Philippines. Extracting money from the Filipinos is not of great significance to Japan, because the Philippines is not the end, but the beginning of the southward expansion strategy.

If we behave indistinguishably from the Dutch, Spanish, Americans, and British, why would the indigenous people of Southeast Asia support us? Why would European and American colonizers make concessions to their empires? If Japan pursues a southward expansion strategy based on colonialism, it is destined to fail, because Japan has neither the strength to challenge the European and American powers nor the moral high ground to gain the support of the local people.

Therefore, how we govern Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago will determine the success or failure of the southward expansion strategy. Giving the initiative to the army on this issue is tantamount to putting the navy's head in the army's noose, because the key to the success of the southward expansion strategy now lies in the army's hands.

This is my view on the issue of governance of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago.

After listening to Togo's speech, the generals in the conference room began to whisper among themselves. Most agreed that Togo's words made a lot of sense. The southward expansion strategy was no longer just a slogan, but a concrete implementation plan with tangible hope. After all, with the acquisition of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago, the South Seas had been opened to Japan. Anyone who still advocated that southward expansion was unrealistic at this point clearly couldn't be considered a member of the navy.