Meanwhile, the victorious career of the Japanese had been checked in Chiushu, in attacking which place they were repulsed. Moreover, plague broke out in the camp and provisions were exhausted. Under these circumstances the Japanese were not unwilling to listen to proposals of peace made by a Chinese envoy, Chom Wei-king. Hideyoshi dictated seven articles as the basis of a treaty; first, that in order to secure amity between the two empires, a Chinese imperial princess should become the consort of a Japanese imperial prince: second, that permits for commercial intercourse should be sent to Japan; third, that the ministers of the two countries should exchange a friendly convention; fourth, that Korea should be divided into halves, one to belong to Japan, and the other, including the four provinces and the capital, then in Japanese hands, to be restored to Korea; fifth, that Korea should place in Japan's hands, as pledges of good faith, her prince royal and certain ministers of the crown; sixth, that Japan should restore to Korea the two Korean princes whom she had taken prisoners; and seventh, that influential Korean subjects should give written promises of submission to Japan. The Chinese envoy objected to the two conditions relating to the marriage of a Chinese princess with a Japanese prince, and to the partition of Korea. Hideyoshi, however, urged him to return to China and report the situation to his sovereign. Meanwhile, he ordered the Japanese generals to send back the two Korean prisoners, and to renew the attack on Chiushu, pending the conclusion of peace. But, after some further parleying, the Chinese envoy finally refused to comply with Hideyoshi's suggestion, and no answer to Japan's conditions was received from the Chinese emperor. Hideyoshi, now concluding that peace was impossible, began to make preparations for himself leading an army to attack China. At this juncture the envoy who had been sent to Japan, as well as other Chinese statesmen, suggested to their emperor that what Hideyoshi really wanted was an imperial commission appointing him king of Japan. The Chinese emperor accordingly dispatched another envoy to Japan carrying a gold seal and a headpiece specially manufactured for the purpose. In 1596, Hideyoshi gave audience to this envoy in the castle at Fushimi, and ordered him to read the documents with which he had come entrusted. The envoy complied, but when he came to the clause where it was stated that the Chinese government appointed Hideyoshi to be king of Japan, the _taikō_ became greatly enraged. Seizing the document he threw it and the headpiece on the floor, and declared that his intention was to become king of China, and that the Chinese government should learn how little it had to do with the sovereignty of Japan. He dismissed the Chinese and Korean envoys, and issued orders for a campaign against China. In February of the following year, the Japanese generals assembled at Nagoya in Hizen, Kiyomasa and