When it comes to the Ming Dynasty, I believe that everyone will think of the eunuch dictatorship, and the eunuch dictatorship of the Ming Dynasty has reached its peak.
Some people say that the economic strength of the Ming Dynasty is not good, and foreign trade is not good. Although the economic strength of the Ming Dynasty has declined, China's foreign trade strength has done very well.
The most famous of these is Zheng He's voyage to the West, which not only promoted the development of his own economy, but also established friendly international relations and strengthened China's ties with the world.
Allowing Chinese culture to spread throughout every country that passes through it has also opened up our foreign trade industry and caused the culture of other countries to flow into China.
What makes us strange is that in the team of Zheng He to the West, there are no young girls, only old women and midwives?
Let's not talk about age, let's talk about why we don't bring women on board. Women's physical strength is originally worse than that of men, in case of seasickness or physical discomfort, they have to stop the ship to rest, wasting too much time, and may eventually return home from the ocean, not only twenty-eight years, but about thirty years.
There are a specified number of people on board, so the crew on board must have the basic knowledge of sea navigation, and our supplies are limited, so the captain will be very strict with the personnel on board.
So why did Zheng He go to the West but take the old woman? Girls in ancient times began to cultivate cooking and tailoring from an early age.
Cooking and textile technology are compulsory courses for every girl. Therefore, when Zheng He went to the West, he would select some rural women, who began to cook from an early age, and at this age, they were already skilled.
Sea navigation, generally take many days, can not go to the sea, clothes will inevitably have friction, these middle-aged women will help them sew these clothes, I believe that for these middle-aged women, these are within their ability.
So it is reasonable to say that these things can also be used by young girls, but why must it be an old woman?
Another point of Zheng He's voyage to the West is the exchange of cultures between countries. China's embroidery culture has a long history. Ancient women began to practice embroidery from an early age.
In order to better spread Chinese culture and not let Chinese culture fall off the chain when it spreads, so bring these middle-aged women, these women are very mature, very good at embroidery, much more skilled than those little girls.
Performing Chinese culture in front of foreigners is not humble and profane, and basically there will be no mistakes.
Why bring a midwife?
Some primitive tribesmen, who do not know how to deliver babies and do not know hygiene, give birth to children in noisy places, and after giving birth, cut off the umbilical cord of the child with stones, so that the child either dies prematurely or is not in good health.
Bringing a midwife is to help them. Let them know the importance of hygiene and teach them the techniques of delivering babies. This small act, the meaning of the later is very profound.
The ships that Zheng He went to the West were not ordinary people, they were all veterans who had been sailing at sea for more than ten years. The women and midwives also lived by the sea and were carefully selected.
It is precisely because they know that they live by the sea, they are more adaptable to the sea than the average person, and do not have to worry about them affecting the progress of the voyage.
Anyone who has been on a boat knows that if you get seasick, it is a very uncomfortable thing, dizziness, extreme physical discomfort, and it is very uncomfortable.
But after living on the seashore for more than ten years and sailing at sea for more than ten years, how can they be seasick, even if the ship rocks left and right, it will not feel sick and uncomfortable, and it will not even affect them. No matter what they were doing, the rocking of the ship could not cause them discomfort.
Another important reason is that women are more disciplined than adolescent girls. Some girls have a very short temper, it is not easy to manage, and the more beautiful the girl, the more difficult to discipline, and many girls are very timid, a wind will frighten the wow, not to mention that everything on the sea is still unknown.
Those women are different, they have experienced a lot, mature and stable personalities, generally say what to do, can bear hardships, the courage is not so small, there will be less fighting, less team disharmony.
Today's teenage girls belong to adolescence, the bud of love, say it out. Men and women in love are irrational and will do a lot of incredible things for love.
The reason why Zheng He's voyage to the West went so smoothly is because Zheng He's management is very good. If you were taking girls at the same time, Zheng He's team would have no shortage of young teenagers and single teenagers.
The two have a pair of eyes, this is the place to go to the West as a honeymoon place, young men and women are always impulsive, if they do something that causes the girl to become pregnant, they cannot abandon the girl to the side of the road.
If there is any danger in the middle, a boat of people still have to nervously protect the girl, two months before giving birth to a child, two months of delay, and confinement, but also have to raise children.
The time delayed along the way will be many, many, and it will not be easy to manage, it will cause riots, there will be infighting between the members of the group, there will be a lot of things that we cannot predict in advance.
We all know that Zheng He is a eunuch, so he will not have the impulse of a young man, he will not be alone, so he will be the calmest and most accepting person in the whole team.
It is precisely because of this point of Zheng He that there will be no young girls on the ship, and there will be no problems on the upper side.
In fact, there should be a point, let the family follow the sea is to pay others, the emperor will not give so much money for Zheng He to squander, so Zheng He has to control his own costs.
You can't go over budget, and you have to find the people you need in the budget, which requires the crew to have multiple skills.
In any dynasty, it was always much more expensive to hire men than women, so Zheng He used more money to hire crew members and a small amount of money to hire those women.
Don't look at the small amount of money, but you can hire a lot of women, and the salary of one crew member is equivalent to the salary of eight women.
This is the reason why Zheng He did not take young girls to the West, only old women and midwives. Not only is it conducive to the spread of our culture, but also to the needs of its own fleet, in a limited budget, to meet its own requirements, this is the cleverness of Zheng He.
Although Zheng He's voyage to the West affected the domestic financial problems, he brought trade channels to the country, strengthened cultural exchanges between countries, and left his own sailing routes, introducing the characteristics of coastal countries and local folk customs, and making full preparations for future navigation.
It has to be said that the culture of various countries that Zheng He did spread to the West not only spread the culture of his own country, but also brought back the culture of other countries, which promoted the transmission of culture and improved China's navigation technology.