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Mongol Japan

1274 POD: The storm that decimated the Mongol invasion force at Hakata Bay does not materialize allowing the Mongols to mass their forces on the beach and break through the Japanese defences. Upon doing so the advantages held by the Mongol invasion force become more apparent as the Japanese troops are defeated despite inflicting heavy casualties. As a result of their fierce resistance, the Mongols respond by annihilating every living thing they find on the island of Kyushu.

1275: Having completed their conquest of Kyushu and gained a more intimate knowledge of Japan the combined Mongol/Korean army supported by a fleet of around 700 ships launches another campaign against the remaining Japanese forces on Honshu and Shikoku. It is during this time that the Kamakura Bakafu government, fearing that the Imperial government at Kyoto would align themselves with the Mongol invaders, moves against them.

However this move only serves to further complicate matters in Japan as it ends up pushing enemies of the Kamakura Bakafu into the arms of the Mongols. Upon capturing the royal family they were promptly exiled to the Oni Islands off of Kyushu while the Kamakura Bakafu crowned Emperor Fushimi effectively reducing the court to an Imperial puppet. Yet the prospect of a losing war with the Mongols coupled with the increasing unpopularity of the Kamakura Bakafu prompt many to voice their dissatisfaction with the current regime.

1276-77: Japan is plunged into a civil war as the Emperor Go-Uda escapes from exile on the Oni Islands. Upon landing on the coast of Honshu he is met by several disaffected samurai who escort him southwards until he meets with the opposing Mongol forces. There Go-Uda strikes a deal with the Mongols, agreeing to reduce Japan to their tributary state in exchange for his restoration to the throne. One of his first moves is to establish a new court in Southern Honshu under the supervision of the Mongols. From there he begins to issue Imperial proclamations calling for loyal samurai to rise up and move against the forces of the Kamakura Shogunate and their puppet child emperor.

Though initially these proclamations have little effect, as the tide of the Honshu campaign begins to turn in favour of the Mongols more and more disaffected Japanese samurai defect to the Mongols and Emperor Go-Uda. The scales are further tipped in favour of the Mongols when they capture the Imperial capital of Kyoto and dethrone the young Emperor Fushimi, restoring Go-Uda to the throne. Following the restoration of Go-Uda many samurai abandon the cause of the Kamakura Shogunate, either laying down their arms or joining the growing number of Japanese in the Mongol army. Also during this time, many temples side with Go-Uda and the Mongols bringing their armies of warrior monks with them.

Faced with such overwhelming odds, the Kamakura Bakafu quickly collapses. Several military defeats see further disintegration of Samurai power and in 1277 Kamakura itself is burned to the ground after the Mongol army arrives to find the entire Hojo clan having committed suicide. The era of the Kamakura Bakafu is over, the Mongol years have begun.

1277-1324: The reign of Go-Uda begins as a child emperor like many of those before him under the domination of his father the cloistered emperor Kamenaya. However the events of the Mongol Invasion have resulted in his restored reign having a completely different set of circumstances than his initial reign. Despite the massive bloodshed and subjugation that occurred during the Mongol Invasions the so called “Mongol Period” that emerged from the bloodbath of the 1270’s saw Japan emerge as a much stronger nation.
The early period of Go-Uda’s reign would see the central government take large strides to reassert its power. With the power of the warriors broken by the Mongol campaigns the Imperial government under Go-Uda and his advisors were quick to make sure that the diarchic Shogunate system would never again see the light of day. Not only were the remaining Samurai incorporated into the new Imperial Army that was being formed, but a massive land reform program was being enacted. Borrowing heavily from Chinese sources the Imperial government confiscated hundreds of private estates or “shoen” and drastically reduced the power of the temples and powerful lineages. Had they tried to do this without the support of Kublai Khan and the Mongols it is unlikely they would have succeeded.

This land reform was mirrored by a military reform that saw the resurrection of a more Chinese style army. Though this army would see little use it would prove key in settling the northern portion of Honshu Island which would be brought under the control of Japan with the aid of the Mongols and cooperative Samurai. Following the neutralization of the Emishi in northern Japan, the need for the Samurai as mounted warriors all but disappeared further weakening them in the larger political scene. Those samurai that did survive both the Mongol invasions and the northern campaigns were quickly transformed into a hereditary professional army of mounted archers.
Land and Military reforms were also accompanied by administrative and bureaucratic reforms. During this time the power of the Emperor was increased dramatically as the court was streamlined along a Chinese model. Much of the Emperor’s ceremonial duties were eliminated or regulated to religious officials leaving the Emperor free to rule the country in his own right.

As a result of these reforms the practice of rule by cloistered emperors ended with Go-Uda becoming the first emperor to not retire prematurely in centuries.
Intensive government reforms were accompanied by major changes in Japanese life as contact with the continent increased and became official. New grains plants and agricultural practices all debuted on the islands during this period providing for a population boom that more than compensated for the loss of life that occurred during the Mongol invasion. These new agricultural practices and the wealth they created greatly stimulated the Japanese economy resulting in somewhat of a “Golden Age”. Furthermore Japanese culture and science also benefitted from exposure to the Continent and the spanning empire of the Mongols.

Despite Go-Uda’s reign as well as that of his son and, to a lesser extent, grandson being characterized as one of Mongol domination, actual Mongol influence in Japanese affairs was minor. Aside from military assistance during the Emishi campaigns the Mongols stationed very few troops on the Japanese islands. Diplomatically they maintained around a dozen or so officials in Kyoto for the duration of the Yuan dynasty. Perhaps the biggest impact they had was through marriage as the young Emperor Go-Uda was married to one of Kublai Khan’s daughters shortly after his restoration. Their progeny would rule Japan for centuries and provide a lasting legacy for Kublai Khan’s bloodline.
Following Go-Uda’s death in 1324 his son by his Mongol Princess wife assumed the throne as emperor. Go-Nijo at 39 he was well into adulthood at the time of his ascension and as a result provided the Japanese Imperial line with a strong Emperor that it desperately needed.

1324-1345: Go Nijo’s 21 year reign would be a rather tame one at best. A descendant of the Great Genghis Khan, perhaps Nijo’s greatest contribution to Japanese history was the adoption of the Mongol compound bow by the Japanese aristocracy replacing the traditional Japanese Longbow. During the early years of his reign he faced a concerted effort by the aristocrats, temples, and warriors to regain the power they had lost during the reign of his father. However Nijo’s martial skill coupled with charisma and experience proved to be too much and during this time Imperial power only increased. It would be during Nijo’s reign that Japan would break from the Mongol Yuan dynasty in re-establishing it’s civil service exam system in an effort to create a more efficient meritocratic bureaucracy. Go-Nijo would reign for 21 years before dying at age 60. He would be succeeded by his Grandson the Emperor Go-Daigo who would assume the throne at the age of 21 and prove to be one of Japan’s most celebrated emperors.

1345-86: Many claim that the ascension of Go-Daigo to the Chrysanthemum Throne marks the end of Japan’s “Mongol Period” however for much of his reign Japan remained, at least in name, a tributary state of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. Only the collapse of the Yuan dynasty brought about an end to the Japanese tributary relationship with China.

Most of Go-Daigo’s fame is a result of his continuation of the tradition of Martial Emperors established by his father and to a lesser extent, his grandfather. This martial skill manifesting itself in a proficiency in mounted archery (using the Mongol Composite bow) as well as general ship came into particular use when the leader of the Imperial army opted to revolt against the crown during the 1350’s. Knowing that the Yuan were going to be of no help, Go-Daigo marshalled those samurai loyal to him as well as the Imperial army and defeated the rebel forces thereby securing his own rule. It would be this victory outside the walls of Kyoto itself that many point to as the official end of Japan’s Mongol Period.

Following the brief insurrection in the 1350’s, Go-Daigo set about to assert the power of Imperial Japan by establishing a tributary system akin to the one possessed by the now rapidly fading Mongol Dynasty. He began by ordering the construction of Imperial Shipyards to construct the first Japanese Navy. The latter half of the 1350’s and the early 1360’s saw these shipyards constructed in record time and a sizeable number of ships produced and manned. These ships were not new designs however and were primarily copies of the fleet used by Kublai Khan to invade Japan.

The Imperial Japanese Navy would be put to use in the late 1360’s with the subjugation of the Ryukyu Islands. Consisting primarily of divided islander principalities the islands proved to be no match for the combined might of Imperial Japan. The Japanese invasion would see these islands unified for the first time in their history into the Ryukyu Kingdom, a tributary state of Japan.

Encouraged by their success in the Ryukyu Islands but by no means satisfied, the Japanese Empire continued to look south in order to expand their meagre repertoire of tributary states. The island of Taiwan became the next target for Japanese ambitions as their naval vessels ventured southward from Okinawa and took the Penghu Islands in the Early 1370’s. These campaigns would be mirrored by extensive campaigns on Taiwan itself as the Japanese threw their support behind the Popora people and proceeded to establish the Kingdom of Middag which by the end of the decade ruled (at least in name) over the entirety of Taiwan in addition to the Penghu Islands.

It would only be in the final years of Go-Daigo’s reign that Japan would begin to turn its attention towards the continent itself. Initially wary of attacking his former ally, with the complete collapse of the Yuan Dynasty now complete Go-Daigo felt secure enough to begin pursuing an expansionistic policy towards Asia proper. Yet despite undertaking massive preparations for a continental campaign, Go-Daigo died before such a campaign could be launched.

All told his 41 year reign saw Japan’s power rise to meteoric heights, well beyond the expectations of any observer. By the time of his death Japan’s navy was arguably one of the most powerful in Asia and it’s army was pound-for-pound one of the best in Asia. All of these achievements fell heavy on his heir Go-Kameyama who took the Chrysanthemum Throne at 15.

1386-1434: The Reign of Go-Kameyama would mark the start of Japan’s overt involvement in Asian politics. Named after his great-great grandfather, Go-Kameyama became the heir apparent following the death of his father in 1383. This decision was supported by his uncles, themselves Imperial princes and eager to assert their own power as regents. As Go-Kameyama himself was a rather vain fellow, it would be these regents who would go on to dominate the throne and oversee the execution of Emperor Go-Daigo’s Asian policy.
After consolidating their power as Imperial regents the Council of Princes made their initial move in the 1390’s intervening in the Korean Civil War.

Having initially demanded that the kingdom of Goryeo give the Japanese Armies free passage in order to invade Northern China only to be repulsed, the Council of Princes now offered the services of the Japanese army to the flagging Goryeo Dynasty. Faced with an immensely powerful rebel force King U was forced to accept the aid of Japan in exchange for becoming a tributary state.

The resulting civil war between the rebel forces under Yi Seong-gye and those of the Goryeo Dynasty and the Japanese Empire would be a long and protracted struggle. However eventually the Goryeo Dynasty began to reassert itself and take back much of what it had lost from the rebels thanks in no small part to the large contingents of Japanese troops now under its command. With most of the fighting now concluded, the Japanese Empire took to consolidating its control over Korea and preparing for the next logical step: China

As with Korea, the Japanese hoped to take advantage of internal turmoil in China. Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait long, as the ascension of the Jianwen Emperor in Nanjing set off a civil war within the newly established Ming Dynasty. Challenged by his uncle Zhu Di, the Jianwen Emperor found himself without significant military support with his control barely extending out from his capital at Nanjing.

Knowing that their prospects of successfully subduing China were next to nil, the Council of princes opted for a more pragmatic solution. Diplomats were promptly sent to the beleaguered court at Nanjing and the services of the Japanese Empire offered to the Jianwen Emperor. In the negotiations that followed the Japanese Empire pledged its support to the Jianwen Emperor in exchange for the Chinese recognition of the Japanese Empire and its tributary states as well as substantial subsidies. The resulting Treaty of Nanjing signed in 1401 brought the Japanese Empire into the Ming Civil War.

Due to the dire straits of the Jianwen Emperor the Japanese Empire found that its troops would need to be utilized almost immediately. Their intervention in the Ming Civil War would primarily consist of two different campaigns: The Northern and the Southern Campaign. Of the two the Southern Campaign was more important as it revolved around the Imperial Capital at Nanjing and involved the forces of the Jianwen Emperor and Zhu Di. The Northern Campaign was a diversionary measure intended to split the focus of Zhu Di and strengthen the camp of the Jianwen Emperor.
Despite being outnumbered by the forces of Zhu Di the Japanese troops involved in the China campaign managed to not only hold their own but score successive victories. This was due not only to the superior quality of their troops but also their adoption of new technology, notably cannons from Korea, and excellent generals. As a result of these factors the Japanese Empire was able to score several victories against the forces of Zhu Di and prolong the conflict.

Fortunately for all sides involved, the Ming Civil War didn’t last long as in 1404 Zhu Di was assassinated leaving the Jianwen Emperor as the sole claimant to the throne. However many within China disliked his reliance on the forces of the Japanese and felt he was little more than their puppet. Faced with the prospect of a continued war in China the financially exhausted Japanese Empire decided that discretion was the better part of valour and proceeded to extricate itself from Chinese affairs content with the Treaty of Nanjing.
Following the Ming Civil War the Japanese Empire proceeded to rest on its laurels and consolidate control over its newly established network of tributary states. During this time these tributaries would experience large amounts of Japanese immigration as the population of the Home Islands began to outstrip the amount of resources available.

As Go-Kameyama began to grow old the question of succession was invariably raised. Exhibiting traits similar to his ancestor Genghis Khan the Emperor had, by the time of his death, fathered an estimated 20 sons. Again the Council of Princes sought to extend their power by adopting the continental practice of selecting the heir to the throne. This however clashed deeply with the interests of the Eldest son of Go-Kameyama, a veteran of both the Korean and Chinese Wars.

Following Go-Kameyama’s death a civil war would erupt between the council of princes and his eldest son. His eldest son, who would eventually take the name Go-Shijo, quickly rallied support from the military as well as the general populace assuming the mantle of “warrior emperor”. Using this support he defeated the forces of the Council of Princes and established himself as the ruling Emperor of Japan executing the treasonous Council of Princes as well as numerous contenders to the throne.
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