This place on Korean peninsula has left too much blood and tears for Chinese. During Tang Dynasty, Tang Dynasty army was stationed between Baijiang Village and Japan; during Ming Dynasty, there was Battle of Wanli for aid to Korea; However, this place is not a province of China, which we are very sorry about.

North Korea and South Korea today are not ancient Joseon. Gojoseon refers to Jizi Joseon, Weimang Joseon, and Goguryeo, which are ethnic regimes in Northeast China. Today's North Korea and South Korea were actually created by Korean people. The Han nationality was divided into Mahan, Chenhan and Bianhan during Han Dynasty, and they were called "Three Han", located in present-day South Korea. The earliest country established by Korean people was Silla, which later allied with Tang Dynasty to destroy Baekje and Goguryeo, and its territory gradually retreated to north. After that, it went through two stages of Goryeo and Li Dynasty. During Li Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang called it "Joseon." History proved that this name was wrong and should have been called "Korea." Silla, Goryeo, and Li Dynasty were vassal states of China, and so it was in all dynasties.

Map of Qing Dynasty drawn by Americans

During Huangtaiji period, Qing Dynasty launched two wars against Li Dynasty, making North Korea a vassal state of Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty has always treated North Korea very favorably, with little to no interference in its internal affairs. Since modern times, due to invasion of Western colonists and rise of Japan, Korea again began to face a crisis. Japan has always viewed Korean Peninsula as first step in its outward expansion, hoping to use it as a springboard to attack mainland China. At time, Qing Dynasty's attitude towards North Korea was relatively vague and only satisfied with China's nominal suzerainty over North Korea. In 1876, Japan and North Korea signed "Treaty of Ganghwa", which indicated that North Korea had gained ability to exercise diplomacy on its own, and suzerainty of Qing dynasty began to crumble. Li Hongzhang, who at time was Beiyang's minister, believed that on one hand, he was satisfied with North Korean vassal and tribute, and on other hand, he did not want to waste his strength on North Korea, so he chose to calm down.

In 1879, Japan directly annexed Ryukyu, another vassal state of Qing Dynasty, which caused Li Hongzhang to feel a slight crisis. He feared that North Korea would become a second Ryukyu, so he began to interfere in Korean affairs. In reality, Li Hongzhang's intervention was mostly diplomatic: he demanded that all countries recognize Qing dynasty as North Korea's overlord when they signed treaties with North Korea. So North Korea signed treaties with Western countries one by one. In 1882, Renwu Mutiny took place in North Korea. At this time, Li Hongzhang and Ding Yu left their posts. Zhang Shusheng, who handled Li Hongzhang's affairs, sent troops to North Korea at suggestion of Minister Li Shuchang. in Japan and crushed rebellion. However, Qing dynasty still did not abolish North Korea's diplomatic rights, so North Korea signed Treaty of Jemulpo with Japan, and Japan gained right to station troops in North Korea.

After Li Hongzhang took over again, he continued to garrison 6th Battalion in North Korea. However, at this time, status of Qing Dynasty in North Korea was clearly shaken. Firstly, after opening of North Korea, Kaihwa party advocated reforms in North Korea, offering to rely on Japan and break away from Qing dynasty. Secondly, after winning Sino-French War, Li Hongzhang actually signed a treaty with France, which led to fall Vietnam to France, and Chinese system suffered greatly. Third, Japan has stepped up its penetration of North Korea. In 1884, "Jasheng coup" planned by Japan and Kaihwa broke out in North Korea, which was suppressed by Yuan Shikai, who was in North Korea. But Li Hongzhang didn't dare question Japan, he just remained vague. Japan took opportunity to sign Seoul Treaty with North Korea. In second year, Li Hongzhang signed "Tianjin Treaty" with Japan, agreeing that two countries would withdraw their troops from North Korea at same time. In fact, this is a recognition of independence of North Korea, but Li Hongzhang treats this treaty complacently and believes that goal of not entering war has been achieved.

Facing Korean Crisis caused a lot of opinion in Qing Dynasty. He Ruzhan wrote a letter to Prime Minister Yamen "North Korea Diplomatic Negotiator" and put forward two strategies: first strategy is to follow example of Tibet and Mongolia to appoint ministers in North Korea to oversee domestic and foreign affairs. affairs of North Korea; worst strategy is to team up with other countries to control Russia, but North Korea must sign treaties with other countries as a vassal state of China, and treaties should also be chaired by China. In 1880, Huang Zunxian put forward "North Korea Strategy", original meaning of which was to create a province in North Korea. Sheng Xuanhuai and Yuan Shikai advocated sending "Jianguo" to North Korea to control all power in North Korea. , then this opportunity should not be missed."

Yuan Shikai

Li Hongzhang listened to many suggestions. He wanted to tighten control over North Korea, but did not dare to either remove king of North Korea or send an overseer. However, Yuan Shikai himself appointed a "supervisor" in North Korea, ignoring Li Hongzhang's advice and controlling all aspects of North Korea. “Supervision of North Korean policy, all powers of North Korea in domestic and foreign affairs gradually came under control of China. Customs supervision, political consultants, all recommended by China, and two types of merchants, soldiers and patrols were set up as military aid. China has been present for some time. The strength of North Korea has already crushed Japan and Russia.”

However, what Yuan Shikai did in North Korea intensified conflict between North Korea and Qing Dynasty, and also became one of reasons for start of Sino-Japanese War. The editor reviewed relevant historical materials, but did not see that Zhang Jian, Yuan Shikai and others proposed to create a province in North Korea, and many online articles are not credible. Zhang Jian's "Six Strategies for Consequence of North Korea" is circulating on Internet, which contains sentence "please help affairs of Han Xuantu and Lelan counties, abolish them as counties; “There is no original text for a long time, and no one knows what he wrote. Moreover, these "Six Strategies for Consequences of North Korea" were presented to king of North Korea, and king fully agreed with them, and they were also approved by many North Korean ministers. Well, this article doesn't exactly suggest creation of a province, otherwise king wouldn't have appreciated it so much after reading it.

In 1894, a war broke out between China and Japan, in which China lost. Japan personally chose Li Hongzhang in Shimonoseki, Japan to sign a treaty ceding Taiwan, Liaodong and other places to Japan, and at same time stipulated that Qing dynasty should recognize Korean independence. Since then, Korea has been under Japanese control. Li Hongzhang advocated "coastal defense" and left Xinjiang all his life, but who was he defending against? He gave Vietnam to France, and after this failure was forced to give Korea and Taiwan to Japan. I think he guarded Zuo Zongtang and Feng Zicai.