If China's navy has a long history. In ancient times, it was called navy, not navy.
In other words, there was a navy during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The water war in Wu Chu is the record of the first water war in China.
Later, due to the needs of the war, it was constantly improved and popularized many water warfare tactics. It can be said that China's ancient navy has appeared, and in the process of gradual development, it can be said that China is one of the birthplaces of the world's navy.
After the Spring and Autumn Period and the early Warring States Period, the continuous development of Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the continuous achievements of economic and technological development in southern countries, China's navy gradually reached its peak.
Why is Daming Navy so powerful? It originated from the Chaohu Navy of Zhu Yuanzhang in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, and became famous in the water war with Fanyang Lake.
After Zhu Yuanzhang unified the whole country, he hoped to restore China's status as a sovereign state in the surrounding areas and rebuild China's prestige. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang began to develop the navy.
By the time he became an ancestor in the Ming Dynasty, Daming was already in a leading position in the world, and the famous Zheng He fleet was only a mobile fleet of the powerful imperial navy in the Ming Dynasty.
In fact, Zheng He made seven voyages to the Western Seas in the early Ming Dynasty. At that time, the Ming Dynasty really hoped that China's navy would reach the top of the world and spread the prestige of the Ming Dynasty throughout Asia and Africa.
It can be said that the primary reason for the development of the Ming navy was the needs of the rulers. The second reason is that the Ming Dynasty was backed by a strong economy.
At that time, the comprehensive strength of the Ming Dynasty ranked first in the world. Therefore, the development of the Ming navy is backed by the economy.
In the early Ming Dynasty, Daming had a navy of 3,500 warships. After defeating the Japanese aggressors, Zheng He made seven voyages to the Western Seas and was defeated one after another, challenging the Daming naval battle.
It can be said that China was the largest maritime country at that time.
It lasted until the middle and late Ming dynasty, from the orthodox period of the Ming dynasty to the Jiajing period. First of all, the coastal garrison is empty and the navy's morale is low.
The second fleet was downsized and its ships were damaged. Third, the coastal defense strategy has regressed. Three reasons led to the gradual decline of the navy.
In addition, during the reign of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, the glory brought by the ocean was enormous. However, due to the decline of the Ming dynasty and the decline of the treasury, the decline of the treasury in the Ming dynasty has been unable to obtain rich profits.
Therefore, after Ren Xuan, the sea defense line began to shrink, the ocean fleet was recalled, the construction of large ships stopped, the island base was released, and the policy of abandonment and retreat seriously damaged the navy, and the coastal defense line was pushed back to the coast from the high seas and even the ocean.
In addition, the inward migration of population has led to the shift of population center of gravity. Therefore, the economy and maritime politics of the Ming dynasty no longer needed maritime trade, and the navy of the Ming dynasty turned from prosperity to decline.
However, it was not until Zheng Chenggong recovered Taiwan Province Province that the Ming navy was defeated. However, because China's military center of gravity has always been in the army, the advantages of the navy gradually stagnated in the Qing Dynasty.
Later, because the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 opened the door to China and the Beiyang Navy was established, the navy had to be re-developed. However, due to various reasons, the ultimate failure was the Ming Dynasty.