Why didn't Zheng He bring a lot of wealth to the Ming Dynasty for decades before and after his voyage to the West?

Zheng He didn't go to the West to collect money.

One of the tasks of Zheng He's huge fleet's voyage to the West is to declare its strength and develop relations with other countries. The second is to give gifts to express goodwill in establishing and developing friendly relations with those countries; Third, trade activities should be carried out to exchange handicrafts from China for local products from other countries.

Professor Li said that the main reason for the termination of Zheng He's navigation activities was that the whole navigation activities were completely manipulated by feudal imperial power, which determined the tragic ending of his termination. He pointed out that the specific reasons for the termination of Zheng He's voyage to the West are:

First, the policy of "favoring one over the other" eventually led to the emptiness of the national treasury. To achieve sustainable development, output must be greater than input. However, Zheng He's fleet had a large number of men and cost a lot. Every time he went out to sea, he spent a lot of money to support the treasury of the Ming government. The policy of "favoring one thing over another" violates the law of economic development, and the business of "losing money" is unsustainable.

Second, after the political goal is achieved, the importance of navigation activities declines. In the early Ming Dynasty, pirates were rampant, which affected the friendly relations between the Ming Dynasty and Southeast Asian countries. The purpose of Zheng He's early voyages to the West was to open up sea lanes and eliminate pirates, and another purpose was to maintain stable relations with western countries. After Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, the rulers of the Ming Dynasty thought that the political goal had been achieved and the navigation channel was smooth, so Zheng He's activities to the West seemed insignificant.

Third, the monopoly of maritime trade rights in the Ming Dynasty stifled the development of private trade, and private maritime trade was strictly prohibited in China. According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, private maritime trade will be carried out. With the continuous weakening of state power and the hardship of people's lives, many farmers have gradually become what the state calls pirates because of their rich income from overseas trade. This not only reduced the income of feudal countries, but also affected their politics. This is one of the reasons why Zheng He didn't continue, and the rulers of the Ming Dynasty implemented a stricter policy of sea ban.

Fourth, Zheng He's fleet was too large, and Ming officials criticized it a lot. It is estimated that during the Yongle period, there were about 2,000 new and rebuilt seagoing ships, each of which cost 78,200 taels of silver, which was enough to save 13 money and grain. In this regard, court officials criticized a lot and exerted considerable pressure, forcing the Ming Dynasty to terminate this activity.

Fifth, most of the goods needed by Zheng He's voyage to the West came from official handicrafts, and the supply became more and more difficult. There are about 300 thousand craftsmen engaged in official handicrafts, which belong to the compulsory unpaid labor under the feudal corvee system. Craftsmen's labor enthusiasm is very low, and they often run away and rebel. Due to the serious situation of the fugitives, it is impossible to complete the westward mission. The voyage to the west has lost its solid material foundation, and it is of course difficult to continue.

In addition, the political corruption of the Ming government led to various social crises. China's feudal autocracy based on small-scale peasant economy and its conservatism, as well as the change of coastal defense policy in Ming Dynasty and the decline of navy, were all factors that led to Zheng He's failure to continue. These factors are comprehensive and multifaceted, not isolated and unilateral.

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