Peace Talks

Also called: Ming–Japanese peace negotiations

Shen Weijing of Ming and Konishi Yukinaga of Japan spent over three years arranging a peace that hid each side’s terms from the other; it collapsed in 1596, and Japan invaded again the next year (the Jeongyu War).

After the Japanese withdrew to the southern coast in 1593, the war turned to negotiation. Hideyoshi demanded a Ming princess as consort for the Japanese emperor, the reopening of licensed trade, the four southern provinces of Korea and Korean princes as hostages. Ming meant only to invest Hideyoshi as "King of Japan" and receive tribute. Shen Weijing and Konishi each reported to their own court as if the other side had submitted.

The deception came out in the ninth month of 1596, when Ming envoys invested Hideyoshi as King of Japan at Osaka Castle. Finding he had won neither land nor trade, Hideyoshi raised his armies again. Joseon had been kept out of the talks throughout, while the Japanese built castles along the southern coast and stayed. Shen Weijing was later executed by Ming.