Zheng He made seven voyages to the West. Zheng He is from Yunnan. His original name is Ma, and he is a Muslim. His grandfather and father have both been to Mecca for pilgrimage, so he knows something about overseas. Zheng He became an official when he was a father or a prince, and was promoted to eunuch in Jingnan because of his meritorious service.
Portrait of Zheng He's Journey to the West
His first "voyage" was in the third year of Chengzu, until the fifth year of Xuanzong (1405- 1430). In these 25 years, * * * has carried out seven missions. Today, he has a book "Zibao Shipyard from Longjiang Pass to Foreign Countries". Bao Shipyard is the shipyard in Xiaguan, Nanjing, and Longjiang Pass is Xiaguan. The map shows the first six routes (Ming Chengzu fell down on his seventh mission). According to scholars' research, Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas reached the northeast coast of Africa and the Persian Gulf as far as possible, and his footprints included the east and west coasts of India, Sri Lanka, the main islands of Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula. He has been to many places more than once. On his first mission, Zheng Heyou "killed more than 27,800 people" and took them aboard 62 huge ships (estimated to be about 140 meters long and 60 meters wide).
Wherever the fleet goes, there will be clothing rewards. "If you don't accept it, you will be intimidated by force." He handed over prisoners to North Korea three times and brought envoys from other countries back to North Korea. It is said that he has traveled to more than 30 countries. "There are countless unknown treasures with him, and the price of China is not insignificant.". Spending a lot of money is the main reason why no one sailed after Zheng He.
Zheng He went to the West to find Wen Jian? The reason why Cheng Zu sent Zheng He to the Western Seas in the Ming Dynasty was that "Cheng Zu suspected that Hui Di (Wen Jian) had died overseas, and he wanted to trace it to show that China was rich and powerful", which was the pedantic view of the Qing people.
Here is a brief introduction to the historical facts about his reign.
Zhu Yuanzhang died at the age of seventy-one, and was succeeded by his 22-year-old grandson, namely Wen Jian (reign time 1399- 1402), which is known in history as "talented and kind". Everyone hopes that the period of terror will pass quickly. Unexpectedly, only a few years after the reign of Emperor Wen Jian, there was a "difficult change". According to Ming Taizu, in order to consolidate Zhujiajian, twenty-four sons were appointed as captaincy, and the captaincy ranged from three thousand to nineteen thousand. All rituals are only "second to the emperor", and the local governor naturally obeys them. In particular, the captaincy sealed at the border is fully armed, and the border generals are also under their "constraints". Among them, Judy, the fourth son of Yan Jing (the capital of Yuan Dynasty), has a special position because of her hurry. A month before Mao's downfall, he ordered the commander-in-chief Hou to "obey the constraints." It is said that after the death of Prince Zhu Biao (1392), Taizu intended to establish a prince, and later made Zhu Yunwen, the second son of Zhu Biao, the great-grandson of the emperor, at the age of sixteen.
When Zhu Yunwen was in San Francisco, he told his teacher Huang Zicheng that the captaincy was armed to the teeth and lawless. That is to say, immediately after the accession to the throne, the plan of reducing vassals was implemented. He was most worried about the Prince, so he decided to start with the Prince's half-brother Zhou Wang, who was sealed in Kaifeng. At the beginning of Wen Jian's accession to the throne, he sent Li Jinglong to lead the troops, crossed Kaifeng House, "suddenly besieged the palace", captured Zhou Wang, abolished it as Shu Ren, and made Nanjing the capital. Abolishing the King of Zhou was the first step for Wen Jian to cut off the wings of the Prince of Yan. He connected and abolished more than four captains. Judy, the prince of Yan, knew that she was the last target to be abandoned, so she made preparations early. In the summer of the first year of Wen Jian (1399), Judy took "Jun Qing side" as the slogan. After that, the war lasted three years. 1402, Yan Bing entered Nanjing, and the palace caught fire. Emperor Wen Jian "didn't know where to go", and later his body was burned to death. Because people miss the "kindness" of Emperor Wen Jian, it is widely rumored that he disguised himself as a monk and escaped from the tunnel.
Portrait of Wendi Zhu Yunwen in Ming Dynasty
It has been concluded that Emperor Wen Jian was burned to death on the day of breaking the city. Even if Ming Chengzu became suspicious and made a request, there would be traces in China; If Emperor Wen Jian is overseas, he looks down on his husband, so there is no need to arrest him "wastefully". Emperor Wen Jian was in a great system, and some advisers were fierce and could not keep it. Cheng Zuying is very powerful and has a rock-like status. Why did he send someone overseas six times to find a "suspicious" or immortal husband? What could be more unreasonable than this? Meng Sen lamented that the Qing historians who revised the Ming history were biased, which was beyond their power.
Another school believes that Ming Chengzu went to the Western Ocean to treasure for the imperial court. According to historical records, there has never been an ancestor who was extravagant and greedy and was called "respectful and thrifty". He stayed in the army for a long time and often ate vegetables. An alchemist entered the "elixir". The emperor said, "This demon is also bait." A monarch who takes expeditions to the desert as his duty all day long cannot have a soft spot for rare treasures. It is true that Zheng He brought back some "nameless treasures" from overseas. "Unknown" means rare, so it is called "treasure" because of its strangeness! Obviously, Cheng Zu did not pursue this kind of thing, and sent large-scale envoys many times. It is a very important political and military task for Cheng Zu to send Zheng He to the Western Seas.
After Ming Taizu's recovery from China, Mongolia's prestige still shines for four generations, so he will send envoys to various places to tell overseas countries that the RMB has fallen, and the new government is willing to "help each other in the same boat and share its achievements with * * *". In the second year of Ming Taizu (1369), the Ming court wrote to Wang Xi, the king of Zhancheng, telling him that "I am the Lord of China, and the world is safe, and I am afraid that the four barbarians are unknown, so I sent envoys to report to all countries", hoping that all countries would "settle down and make a career, and Wang Yi will keep his position forever". However, there are also people who do not obey Mao's imperial edict. For example, in the thirteenth year of Taizu (1380), Java "lured (Ming) messengers and killed them", and Zhancheng also defrauded Zhenla's tribute. Similar incidents keep happening. In fact, Ming Taizu had no choice but to send a special envoy to condemn him, hoping that he would not "vent his anger on China" or "repent and turn over a new leaf". This is the main motive of Ming Chengzu's voyage to the West.
Secondly, Japan, which Mao left behind in Ming Taizu Legacy, said that Japan "cheated the Ming Dynasty (paid tribute) and conspired against treacherous court official Hu". Of the 36 countries that had contacts with China, Mao only "angered the Japanese". Mongolia's two expeditions to Japan failed, and Mao was really wary of this "cunning" neighbor. When he was in office, he intended to build a navy. Otherwise, Cheng Zu has only been in power for three years. How could he build such a powerful fleet at once? Sailors must have professional knowledge of navigation, including astronomical geography. How can they be cultivated in two or three years? Can you build a factory for large seagoing ships at once? The Hu case occurred in the thirteenth year of Taizu, and it has been twenty-five years since Zheng He first went to China. After the Hu case, Taizu had the motive to attack Japan, that is, he began to prepare for the development of the navy, but only changed the direction of use.
It took more than four years from the sneak attack on Japan to the fight against the Timur Empire. As soon as the news of the Ming court's roommate came out, it immediately attracted the attention of the Mongols. Timur, headquartered in India, heard the news and thought it was a good opportunity to attack the Ming Dynasty, so he reorganized the army and revised hundreds of thousands of troops to prepare for the Ming Dynasty. Timur is fit to die at this time (1405), and Chengzu is very alert to this matter. Mongolia is the enemy of his life, and he often stays in Yanjing. This is the main reason for his expedition to Lake Baikal. Timur's momentum is far from comparable to that of the disintegrated Northern Yuan Dynasty. He must plan ahead and understand the situation behind Timur Empire. It is better to find a country in the rear and break his left arm, so he sent Zheng He to the Western Ocean, which is different from that when Emperor Wu of Han sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions. Zhang Qian also brought back some nameless things, but that was not his main task.
Zheng he's route map to the west
The main reason why Cheng Zu used his father's navy to communicate with the West is as mentioned above, and the secondary reason is that Japanese arrogance is not as arrogant as it was in Ming Taizu's time. According to the party left by Zhang Shicheng in the early Ming Dynasty, "Japanese people often invaded Shandong coastal counties and states", and Taizu sent envoys to stop them. "If not, build your own army." Japanese Prince Huai Liang was not ordered to "invade Shandong again, turn to Haimin next to Wenzhou, Taiwan Province and Mingzhou, and then invade Fuzhou coastal counties." In the future, Japan's "tribute" did not have a "table", but was only a trade, and did not become a vassal.
In the fourteenth year of Taizu (138 1), Huai Liang wrote a disdainful book to Taizu, claiming that "even a small country has a plan to defend itself against the enemy". Although Mao "put all your eggs in one basket", in view of Mongolia's defeat, "no more soldiers", he kept a strict watch on the southeast coast while reserving the navy. When Cheng Zu ascended the throne, Japanese general Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (known as Yuan in Ming Dynasty) was named "King of Japan" for the sake of smooth trade, and his Mount Fuji was named "Mountain of Shouan Town and Country" by Ming Dynasty. Since Japan had been tamed, the rulers of the Ming Dynasty turned to defend Mongolia.