to await
his return, and even when he had resumed his residence at the capital he
showed no eagerness to give them an audience. On the pretence that the
hall of audience needed repairs, he kept them waiting many months before
he gave orders for their reception. It seemed that he was trying to
humiliate them in revenge for their dilatoriness in coming to him. It is
not impossible that he had already made up his mind to conduct an
expedition in any event into Korea and China, and the disrespect with
which he treated the embassy was with the deliberate intention of widening
the breach already existing.

Mr. Aston has given us an account of the reception which was finally
accorded to the ambassadors, drawn from Korean sources, and which shows
that they were entertained in a very unceremonious fashion. They were
surprised to find that in Japan this man whom they had been led to look
upon as a sovereign was only a subject. They presented a letter from the
king of Korea conveying his congratulations and enumerating the gifts(179)
he had sent. These enumerated gifts consisted of horses, falcons, saddles,
harness, cloth of various kinds, skins, ginseng, etc. These were articles
which the Japanese of an earlier age had prized very highly and for the
more artistic production of some of which the Koreans had rendered
material assistance. Hideyoshi suggested that the embassy should return to
their own country at once without waiting for an answer to their letter.
This they were unwilling to do. So they waited at Sakai whence they were
to sail, till the _kwambaku_ was pleased to send them a message for their
king. It was so arrogant in tone that they had to beg for its modification
several times before they dared to carry it home. The letter plainly
announced his intention to invade China and called upon the Koreans to aid
him in this purpose.

The ambassadors went home with the conviction that it was Hideyoshi's
intention to invade their country. At their instigation the government
made what preparations it could, by repairing fortresses, and collecting
troops, arms, and provisions. The country was a poor country, and had had
the good fortune or the misfortune to remain at peace for two hundred
years. The arts of war had been forgotten. They had no generals who could
cope with the practised soldiers of Japan. Firearms which had been
introduced into the military equipments of Japanese armies were almost
unknown in Korea. It is true