And the three dynasties, seven envoys successively, and more than thirty countries. The nameless treasures taken are incalculable, and China's waste is not worth it.
This is the record of Zheng He's voyage to the West in the History of Ming.
After Ming Chengzu Zhu Di ascended the throne, he reused the eunuch Zheng He to go to the West many times, and Zheng He took a huge fleet to various countries, at that time other countries were still in the stage of obscurity, relatively speaking, the Ming Fleet was very powerful. So why didn't the powerful Ming fleet do business or occupy colonies? In the process of Zheng He's voyage to the West, he spent a lot of money and consumed manpower and material resources, but he did not do business and did not rob the colonies.
First look at the process of Zheng He's voyage to the West, the first time Zheng He went to the West, passing through sumatra, where the huge Ming Dynasty fleet was targeted by a group of pirates. This group of pirates, named Chen Zuyi, plundered the merchant ships here, and Zheng He was furious and decided to eliminate the harm for the people and get rid of this group of scourges, in the "History of Ming" record:
And the envoys beckoned, Zu Yi surrendered, and subtly invited robbery. And the great defeat of the multitude, the capture of ancestral righteousness, the sacrifice of prisoners, and the slaughter of the city.
Zheng He beheaded five thousand pirates, and Chen Zuyi was also captured and later beheaded for public display. If Zheng He occupied this place and set up overseas provinces or colonies, he could reap huge benefits, but the Ming fleet did not do so.
Zheng He went to the West for the third time, and when passing through the Mangaga area, the king of Manrakya came to ask for help, and it turned out that the Siamese state had sent heavy troops to prepare to invade Manrak, and the king of Manrakat asked Zheng He for help. As soon as Zheng He struck, the Siamese state announced its surrender, and later the Siamese state also sent emissaries to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty.
On the way to the West for the third time, passing through Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan king wanted to attack Zheng He's fleet, but was greeted by the Ming Fleet, and the Sri Lankan army was also defeated and chose to surrender. Zheng He, on behalf of the Ming Emperor, expressed his approval of Sri Lanka's surrender, and the matter passed.
Zheng He went to the West for the fourth time, passing through Sumatra again, and this time there was a coup d'état in Sumatra, where the king killer killed the king and ascended the throne himself as emperor. Zheng He looked at it, roared, plotted to usurp the throne, I can spare you. Zheng He ordered the fleet, and another fat beating, killed the king-killer and supported the new king to ascend the throne.
If Zheng He wanted to turn Sumatra into a colony this time, it would be a matter of one sentence, but the Ming fleet still did not do so. From this until the seventh voyage to the West, Zheng He did not do business and the second did not occupy the colonies, so what was the purpose of the Ming Dynasty going to the West?
The first reason is to look for the missing Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao, after the Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Di ascended the throne, the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao escaped from the palace and could no longer be found, and Zhu Di was a usurper, so he was worried that Emperor Jianwen would be restored again, so he sent Zheng He to find the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao. In the Ming History:
Cheng Zu suspected that Emperor Hui had died overseas, and wanted to trace it, and wanted to show off his army in a foreign land to show China's wealth and strength.
Zheng He's going to the West consumed manpower and material resources, regardless of the cost, in order to find Emperor Jianwen, to see people die to see corpses, so Zheng He was not interested in doing business and robbing colonies, just to find Emperor Jianwen and complete the tasks given by Zhu Di.
The second reason was even more far-reaching, with Zheng He traveling from Taicang, Jiangsu Province, through the Pacific and Indian Oceans, visiting more than 30 countries, reaching as far as the Red Sea and East Africa. In these countries, Zheng He preached the strength of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the cultural, economic and other aspects of the situation, so that these countries knew the strength of the Ming Dynasty.
A hundred years later, many countries thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty, such as Arab countries and Southeast Asian countries, came to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute, and all became vassal states of the Ming Dynasty. Zheng He did not plunder, but adopted a peaceful approach, interacting with other small countries and making other small countries voluntarily submit. They traveled thousands of miles to the Ming Dynasty and established deep diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty. Effortlessly, these small countries all submitted to the Ming Dynasty and became overseas vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty did not need to send troops to garrison, did not have to give money and goods, these countries became the overseas territories of the Ming Dynasty, which shows Zheng He's wisdom.