이율곡의 십만양병설은 임진왜란용이 될 수 없다 －동북방의 여진 정세와 관련하여－

Abstract

Yul-gok's argument of nurturing 100,000 soldiers against possible foreign enemies has been so far regarded as an argument for Imjin Waeran for some reason. If Lee Yi really had suggested such an argument, it would have been a response to Yeojin's intrusion of northern area, not to Japan's. In 1583, when Lee Yi was the Minister of War in Joseon, Japan was in a political crisis since Toyotomi Hideyoshi didn't take over the reins of the government right after the death of Oda Nobunaga who put Japan just around the unification of the whole nation. In addition, the threat that Joseon felt from Japan at that time was at around the Japanese riots of the year Ulmyo and was not recognized as nurturing 100,000 soldiers. Meanwhile, in the northeastern area of Joseon, Nitangeu's rebellion against the government broke out, which made mounting tension. The rebellion brought about huge crisis awareness to the Joseon Royal Court as much as the Court had to pick up elite soldiers at each province, and dispatch them one after another to the northeastern area; the king commanded the recruited servants from Buddhist temples to make weapons. Nitangeu's rebellion was the extent that Yeojin's 30,000-odd soldiers riding on horseback were mobilized to sweep through the Six Garrisons called 'Yukjin', and that is the reason why the argument, if it is true, is not for against Japan, but for against Yeojin in the northeastern area. Thus, it could mean that such giant tsunami as Imjin Waeran engulfed all the issues sparked by the Nitangeu's rebellion in the 1580s. After all, the northeastern issues that Yul-gok took pains to deal with have ended up the argument for against Japan due to the outbreak of Imjin Waeran.