Why did Zheng He go to the West seven times? What's the purpose?

Zheng He's voyages to the West have always been highly praised by Chinese and foreign historians, explorers, navigators and geographers, enjoying a high reputation.

Such as the world-renowned French sinologist and explorer Paul? Peliot called Zheng He's voyage to the Western Ocean a great voyage of China people in the15th century.

Dr. Sun Yat-sen also called this an extraordinary move by China.

However, a careful analysis of the purpose and practical significance of Zheng He's voyage to the West will reveal that this is sheer nonsense.

Although Zheng He's voyage to the Western Seas was of great historical significance to the great geographical discovery and the development of overseas trade, it was almost meaningless to the Ming Dynasty.

The purpose of Zheng He's voyage to the West.

"Cheng Zu has doubts about Huidi and wants to find traces", "He wants to show off his army in foreign countries and show the prosperity of China". It is clearly recorded here that there are two purposes for going to sea, one is to find Zhu Yunwen, and the other is to show Wade of the Ming Dynasty.

Thousands of people went to Nanyang to look for Zhu Yunwen with great fanfare. Isn't this bullshit? What will happen if you find it? What will happen if you can't find it?

How many actions and threats does an exiled emperor have without the Central Plains and the Daming people? Many historians are skeptical about this, not without reason.

As for Wade, who announced the demise of the Ming Dynasty, this is a common fault of some emperors who thought they were extremely powerful in history. Today, it seems that Ming Taizu Judy changed the long-standing policy of forbidding the sea and ordered Zheng He, the eunuch, to go to sea for the first time in the third year of Yongle (1405), which started overseas trade to some extent.

But what is the result?

According to historical records, Zheng He's feat of going to the West rewarded foreign countries with a large number of tributes, which triggered the economic panic of the Ming Empire. Silver alone costs 6 million taels a year. This figure needs further study, but at least it shows that it costs a lot. This does not include the awards of more than 20,000 officers and men who went to the West with Zheng He.

Due to the fleet carrying a large number of copper coins abroad to buy goods, resulting in a large outflow of copper coins, resulting in domestic? Money shortage? It has seriously consumed the national treasury reserve and caused a large-scale depreciation of coins.

In the 22nd year of Yongle (1424), after Zheng He's sixth voyage to the West, Judy, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, died, and Zhu Gaochi, the Emperor Renzong, succeeded him. In his imperial edict, he announced that he would stop going to the west. Zhu Gaochi was emperor for about a year, and he didn't consider going to the Western Ocean. During the whole period of Zhu Gaochi, there was no such thing as going to the West.

It was not until the fifth year of Xuande (1430) that Emperor Xuanzong of Ming Dynasty remembered that Zheng He had not returned with a large number of foreign envoys, so he ordered Zheng He to go to the Western Ocean again, that is, Zheng He went to the Western Ocean for the seventh time.

According to Zhu Yunming's "Former News" in Ming Dynasty? According to The Journey to the West's records, the scale of this trip is 27,550 people, and its scenery is no less than that of its ancestor Judy. The voyage reached the southern tip of Africa, near mozambique channel. It is said that Zheng He died on this voyage, but the voyage did not end there.

In the ninth year of Xuande (1434), Wang Jinghong, as the ambassador, was ordered to lead the fleet to the Southeast Asian countries again. When he came back, the old emperor was dead.

In the first year of orthodoxy (1436), when the little emperor Ming Yingzong was young, the assistant minister announced that he would stop purchasing and building overseas in the name of Ming Yingzong, thus ending his trip to the Western Ocean. I can't seem to play anymore.

Zheng He's voyage to the West nominally opened up overseas trade, which is very pleasant to say, including tribute trade, official trade and folk trade. But in fact, they are doing some business at a loss, purely making money at a loss.

The so-called official trade and non-governmental trade are actually the foil of tribute trade, otherwise it will not be unprofitable and we will not be able to play any more.

Tribute trade, right? Politics first? , not for the purpose of profit, give more and take less, how long? No matter how big the family business is, it can't stand such a toss. Thick to thin? It will be unsustainable in the end.

After that, the world hegemons such as England, Spain and the Netherlands all started from overseas trade. Everywhere people went, they plundered wealth, but they didn't scatter their money around the world.

This was the result of the announcement of Wade in the Ming Dynasty, and he finally put himself in.

Some scholars believe that the Ming Dynasty exported China's technology and imported some new craft products, raw materials and technologies, which affected the development of domestic handicrafts.

China just ordered some good things and spread them overseas. I have nothing left. Let's see what I typed.

Zheng He brought overseas hard and excellent hardwood to China, which improved the hardwood operation skills of China craftsmen. Blue and white porcelain is made of imported Ma Su Li Qing as colorant.

These things are really necessary, but the cost is huge. It would be great if you could get them back.

Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas were also described as outflanking the Timur Empire, sweeping Zhang Shicheng's old headquarters, solving the problem of army demobilization, obtaining overseas tribute, easing financial expenditure, exploring the possibility of reaching Mecca by sea, and welcoming Buddha's teeth. These purposes are even more open-minded.

Timur Empire, in today's Uzbekistan, went to Nanyang to explore the strategic front in order to attack Uzbekistan.

Sweeping the headquarters in Zhang Shicheng is as absurd as looking for the whereabouts of Zhu Yunwen. There is nothing to do in the Ming dynasty, and it hurts to be idle.

How many people believed in Islam in the Ming Dynasty? Is it necessary to explore the sea route for pilgrimage to Mecca?

Buddha's teeth are noble, but not so exciting.

You may want to earn a little when you go to sea for the first time, but you often lose money in order to make money. Can we continue to ease the tight fiscal expenditure?

From the leopard's point of view, Zheng He's voyage to the West itself really has no practical significance, which leads to many inexplicable purposes.

Tribute trade is the purpose of going to the west, the hope of establishing an overseas tribute system, and basically a great success of the Ming Dynasty. It can't be said that the Ming dynasty was a fat man with a big face, and it did have that strength. But after all, it can't stand such a toss, and if it can't persist, it will decline.

Zheng He's voyages to the West are indeed of positive significance, but there are also many places worthy of reflection. Especially in today's world economic integration, it is necessary to seriously consider this issue and vigorously develop overseas trade. Whether it is foreign cooperation or foreign aid, the historical experience of going to the West is worth learning, and it is very important not to make the same mistake.

Zheng he's seven voyages to the west? What's the purpose?

I've been thinking about this for a long time. I don't think a smart and calculating man like Emperor Yongle would send his confidant out for no reason, would he? Public tourism? Yes, seven more times. There is no such good leader in the world. Since this is not your delegation? Travel? , there must be another purpose. What made Zhu Di, the Ming emperor, spend so much money and 28 years in pursuit?

Isn't it? Money? Forced?

When did eunuch Sambo start his voyage to the West? The third year of Yongle (1405) was the third year when Emperor Judy of Yongle ousted his nephew and became emperor on his own.

Judy started on 1399? Battle of Jingnan? , 1402, Nanjing, changed its name in the second year? Yongle? . As we all know, he robbed his nephew of the throne. He didn't come from the right path. It was Beiping that made him rich? The land of Longxing? . Nanjing is the place where his father Zhu, his eldest brother Zhu Biao and his nephew all lived. Does his nephew still live there? Missing? . He drove away his relatives and took someone else's place. Out of the shame of being an emperor, living in such a place must be uncomfortable. Psychological pressure, thieves, always worried that my father and brother would come back in the middle of the night to beat him and scold him for not being authentic.

So, from the first day of the first year of Yongle, I began to ask the minister of rites to give him advice and say yes? Since Beiping was the place where emperors flourished, we should follow the system of emperor Gaozu and set up another capital? Judy got the message and immediately began to make an imperial edict. This? Beiping upgraded to? Beijing? . Then, as a precautionary measure to prevent ministers from jumping out to object, he began to plot with his confidants? The plan to move the capital to Beijing? He doesn't want to stay in Nanjing for a day. Therefore, since 1403, there have been many rich people in the south, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, all of whom are married and have children. When they arrived in Beiping, they settled down in Beijing quietly, and their business and land were soon settled. They looked like permanent residents. Then a large number of farmers began to appear in the suburbs and nearby villages, and began to cultivate land and live and work in peace.

These are all pre-immigration work secretly instructed by Emperor Yongle. But this secret migration of wealthy families and farmers comes at a price. Not much to say, you always give people five years tax exemption when they come from home, and you always have to arrange land and shops, right? There may be some compensation for demolition, which will cost a lot of money. In addition, the planning has just begun, and Beiping is far from the specifications of a national capital. Now that I'm the emperor, do I have to live in the original one when I move back? Yanwangfu? That obviously won't work, so what should I do? Build a new palace! The city walls should also be expanded, the streets should be widened, the minister's housing problem should also be considered, and some luxuries should be shown off. When Zhu Tongzhi and his confidant forget it, it won't work. . . The severe shortage of funds forced monk Yao to beg for alms. Although the national treasury is still full, it is the national treasury after all, and it should take care of the operation of the whole country. If it is misappropriated a lot, then if we fight with people or have a famine, it will be a big problem for the state treasury to have no money.

Since the money in the national treasury can't be used too much, you have to find a way to do it yourself. So I gave the task of doing market research and finding ways to make money to my heart. Did this survey really let them find out? Doorways? . The society at that time, spices? It has a high status and a wide range of uses. Has always been a symbol of nobility. It can be said that the price is higher than gold. However, China still does not produce these spices, such as kaolin, gold and silver incense, sandalwood, pepper, Dalbergia odorifera and so on. This is hardly found in the Central Plains and other places, and it is imported from the western regions. These spices have been in short supply, and princes and nobles have been buying them at high prices, even the royal family is no exception. It has just been discovered that these precious spices are abundant in Southeast Asia in the west, and they are very cheap in the local area. Only at that time, the imperial court banned the sea, and the people could not trade in the sea, resulting in no large-scale import to China. But who is it? With the emperor as the backer, others can't go to sea, but we can!

So, does Judy have another terrier? Ma Zi? After much discussion, we decided to do it! First of all, what is Zhu Deming's idea? Now that the Ming dynasty is rich and the people are safe, isn't it time to go outside and publicize China's national prestige in the Central Plains? Reason, proposed to build? A treasure ship to the west? The town serves the barbarians, while letting the state treasury allocate funds for shipbuilding, while letting people buy porcelain, silk, tea and other special products of the Central Plains. Secretly tell ministers? I got a tip that the missing Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen had escaped from the sea and appeared in the Western Regions. I want to kill the grass so that everyone can live in peace? Hearing this, the ministers still have this meaning? Then you must support it when you go to sea, or you will be suspected of being an accomplice of Emperor Wen Jian, and your death will be in vain. In this way, under the coaxing and deception, materials and treasure ships going to the west can be quickly raised and built.

When the preparations were almost finished, Emperor Yongle added: This time, everyone knows what I am going to do. To put it bluntly, I'll handle it. Family affairs? Yes, I won't embarrass you. Let my courtier Zheng He lead you! Ministers think that makes sense! I didn't expect the emperor to be so considerate that he even thought of this. So, I didn't express any opinions, even Judy's huge military expenditure and a large number of troops on board readily agreed. 1June, 405, Zheng He, the eunuch of Sambo, was photographed all his life, and took more than 27,800 people in more than 200 ships with different functions to set sail in John, Liuhe Town, Taicang City, Jiangsu Province.

Zheng He's first voyage to the West lasted more than two years, and he returned at 1407 10, passing through southern Vietnam, Java, Sumatra, Malacca, the southwest coast of India, Sri Lanka and other countries and regions. After you came back, you not only brought back a few pirate leaders, but also brought back many messengers from small countries. Most importantly, Sanbao eunuch also brought back a large number of pepper, Dalbergia odorifera and sappan (precious medicinal materials, good dyes for leaves, and roots used as medicine). These spices are not valuable in the local area. You can buy 1 00 Jin for1silver, but in Daming, you can sell 10 silver per Jin, which is 100. In addition, there are a large number of jadeite, jade, agate, ruby, sapphire and other gems.

At this time, it seems that Judy is very clever from the beginning. He sent Zheng He, the most trusted emissary, to the Western Seas. Now that he is back, Zheng He knows exactly what he has gained and how much he has gained. Then, he made it clear what should be turned over to the state treasury and what should be put into Judy's private pocket. So there it was: Zheng He took 7 million taels of silver when he went out for the first time, and when he came back, he only had1million, and the rest was given to small countries along the way, in exchange for a bunch of gems, and the rest was gone. As we all know, silver is used to buy spices.

This time, Judy is happy, practical and newly decorated? House? The money fell! Give it to me as soon as you are happy. Therefore, the envoys of small countries who came back with Zheng He to pay tribute to Judy received a lot of rewards because they thanked them for providing spice trade. From then on, when Judy became rich, he began to be willful. He began to send people to pick wood, burn bricks and tiles, find someone to draw a map to redesign Beijing, and prepare to build a big building. From the end of 1407, Judy, with deep pockets, couldn't wait to leave the Prince's prison and go to Beijing to live permanently. Judy tasted the benefits of going to the west and continued to appoint an envoy to continue his voyage. After all? Emperor Wen Jian? If you don't catch it, keep catching it. If you can't catch it once, then twice and three times. . .