An Analysis Of The Relations Between Northern And Southern Troops To Aid Korea In The Early Period Of Imjin War (1592-1593)

After the outbreak of the Imjin War,the Ming Dynasty appointed Song Yingchang urgently as the management of Korean,and ordered him to mobilize troops of Ji Zhen,Bao Ding,Xuan Fu,Da Tong,Liao Dong,including soldiers from north and South,to gather in Liao Dong in order to await the arrival of Li Rusong,the governor to resist Japanese aggression.On December 25,1592,Li Rusong led the army across the Yalu River,opening the prelude of the Ming Army's resistance to Japan and its assistance to the Korean.At the beginning of the Imjin War,Li Rusong led northern and southern troops through three major battles,namely,Pyongyang,Kaesona and Bitiguan.The relations between northern and southern troops also fluctuated with the progress of these wars.By discussing the process of the early Imjin War,it is not difficult to find that behind the fluctuation of northern and southern troops relations,it reflects the great changes in politics,military affairs and even social culture in the late Ming Dynasty.During the Longqing period,Qi Jiguang used southern troops as an "example" to train northern troops in Jizhen,and created a "three-dimensional defense system of infantry,cavalry and car troops cooperative operations".Because of its good combat effectiveness,the Ming court continued to recruit southern troops to defend the Mongolian tribes such as Tatar.However,the "high salary" of southern troops attracted the jealousy and discontent from northern troops.Frictions and conflicts between the two sides continued to arise,so that some people proposed to "liminate"southern troops to ease the contradictions between the two sides.After the outbreak of the Imjin War,Li Rusong led northern and southern soldiers to assist the Korean in resisting Japan and achieved great success in Pyongyang,reversing the disadvantageous situation on the Korean battlefield in one fell swoop.However,Song Yingchang made the relationship between northern and southern surge and the contradiction begin to appear.Li disagree with Song about different reward ranges.After the Battle of Bitiguan,Li Rusong led northern troops to survey the terrain without taking the southern troops.He returned from the ambush and frustration and did not command the army to go on fighting.The generals of southern troops were already dissatisfied with Li Rusong.They pointed out the contradictions directly in front of the Korean monarchs and officials.They constantly criticized Li Rusong who not only for his cowardice but also for obstructing the generals of the southern troops from going to war.Li Rusong blamed Song Yingchang for his withdrawal in the face of pressure from Korea and southern troops.So far,the contradiction between northern and southern troops has further intensified.After the Battle of Bitiguan,the records of Li Rusong and his northern troops in Xuanzu Shi Lu became more negative,while those of the southern generals were more positive and positive who had been showing their positive battle attitude in the ears of the Korean monarchs and ministers.The discord between the both sides became the focus of Xuanzu Shi Lu's records at this stage.The Korean monarchs and ministers believed that the uneven merits of Pyongyang led to a struggle between the two sides,which affected the smooth progress of the war.However,in view of the political,military,economic and social cultural development and changes in the late Ming Dynasty,in the early period of the Imjin War,behind the fluctuation of the military relations between northern and southern troops was essentially the contradiction between the guest soldiers and the main soldiers brought about by the recruitment system in the late Ming Dynasty,the contradiction between the "new army" and the "old army" after the new military reform in the late Ming Dynasty,the inconsistency between the civil and military forces under the policy of reverence of literature and dethronement of the drawbacks of reward system bring about such problems as taking meritorious service and inviting meritorious service.As the foreign lands,Korean lacks a real understanding of the essence of the internal relations of the Ming Army.They are often used to stand in their own position and take the Korean own interests as the starting point,thus resulting in differences in cooperation between the Ming and Korea,and further affecting the historical writing of the image and relationship about northern and southern troops in the relevant historical materials.