jQuery AJAX变量

This should be really simple but it's after 2am and I'm struggling!

So I have a PHP file that outputs a database query in JSON format. The plan is then to use Columns (https://github.com/eisenbraun/columns) to format this JSON into a simple table.

The page has a box with a value, when clicking on this value, I want to use AJAX to get the result from my PHP script and display a table.

Currently, I have the table loading at the same time as the page;

<script>
$(document).ready(function(){

  var json1 = <?php include($inc.'xx\sp1.php');?>;
  $('#sp1').columns({data:json1});

  var json2 = <?php include($inc.'xx\sp2.php');?>;
  $('#sp2').columns({data:json2});
});
</script>

with the links on the value being;

<a class='btn btn-secondary' data-toggle="modal" href="#sp1">
<a class='btn btn-secondary' data-toggle="modal" href="#sp2">

How can I set the variables (Json1 & Json2) and load the data via an AJAX on click event? I know it's staring me in the face and it's hugely frustrating!

Really simple one to be fair but I'll use alcohol and tiredness as an excuse!

$('#hf1djm883j').on('click',function (e){    
    $.ajax({
    type:'GET',
    url :"includes\\files\\private\\798shwo3ixxd\file6llps.php",
    dataType: 'json',
    success: function(data) {        
    $('#mmshh5e').columns({data});  
    }
    }); 
});