In the late sixteenth century, Toyotomi Hideyoshi decided to invade the Ming Dynasty to resolve the domestic problem of having too little land to grant to his vassals.
Hideyoshi therefore asked the Kingdom of Joseon for permission to pass through its territory to invade Ming, but in the end he decided to annex Joseon first, then Ming, and thus fulfill his dream of dominating Asia.
In April of that year, Hideyoshi sent 160,000 Japanese pirates to invade Joseon, beginning the "Bunroku Campaign."
King Seonjo of Joseon had no choice but to send envoys to seek help from his suzerain, the Ming Dynasty, in order to repel the overwhelming enemy. Ming was still fairly powerful at the time, so it soon dispatched a large army to Joseon, and the two sides began fierce fighting.
From then on, they fought intermittently across the Korean Peninsula for several years...
Later, Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in Fushimi Castle in Kyoto. After his death, the invaders could no longer sustain their campaign and had no choice but to retreat in panic. Then, with victory in the Battle of Noryang, Japan's delusional "snake swallowing an elephant" ambition to invade Joseon and then conquer Ming was finally shattered, while the Toyotomi regime began to crumble.
By this point, the Tokugawa family had all but wiped out the Toyotomi family's power and was taking its place, bringing Japan's chaotic Sengoku era to an end.
However, as the country entered the peaceful Edo period under the shogunate, the shoguns and lords, now settled in, sought to ensure their own extravagant lifestyles. While continually intensifying their exploitation of Japan's common people, they also turned their eyes toward the wealthy Ming Dynasty next door.
However, in the late Ming period, the "tribute" system used a tally system, and the government enforced a