The Ming Dynasty was an incomparably powerful dynasty, and as a country controlled by the Han Chinese, the Ming Dynasty never bowed to the nomadic people. Even if the Qing army rode into the pass and Li Zicheng invaded Beijing, the last monarch of the Ming Dynasty chose to hang himself with full integrity. During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He went to the West many times, which brought economic and diplomatic prosperity to the Ming Dynasty, and Zheng He himself was even famous as a eunuch in the annals of history. But when Zheng He went to the West, why did he take a group of women in their fifties to the sea without a girl? What is the reason behind this?
Zheng He's fleet to the West was vast, and relevant Ming historical sources record that there were more than 300 treasure ships in the fleet at that time. The displacement of the first ship, daifuku, reached a staggering 2,500 tons. In order to successfully complete the mission of the Western Ocean, the entire fleet has made full preparations in all aspects. Especially in that era, the average life expectancy of people was around forty or fifty years old. Fifty or sixty-year-old people can already be considered advanced age, so why did Zheng He take a group of women in their 50s to the sea? First of all, Zheng He took a group of women in their 50s to the sea in order to solve the most important problem, that is, the problem of eating.
Ancient women learned how to take care of housework at home from an early age. Life's seams and mending and the necessary cooking skills are natural for these women in their 50s. In addition to cooking, these women in their 50s have an important task. That is, to pass on the technique of delivery to the women of primitive tribes. Zheng He found that many local women did not understand the knowledge of production in the process of going to the West, which led to the unfortunate death of most of the children born to local women. The women in their 50s selected by Zheng He all know some midwifery knowledge. These women can help the women of the primitive tribe to give birth smoothly, and the natural fleet can get closer to the locals and resolve some unnecessary contradictions.
Zheng He took a group of women in their 50s to sea, and another important reason was to control costs. Zheng He's envoy to the West requires money in all aspects, and the cost of middle-aged women is much less than that of young girls. The low salaries coupled with the fact that these women were proficient in all kinds of life common sense that the girls were not proficient in, they were indispensable helpers on the voyage. Therefore, Zheng He took a group of women in their 50s to go to sea, which is a very wise choice.
Taking young girls out to sea is certainly not easy to manage in all aspects, and they lack life experience. Once there are some unexpected situations in the process of sailing, the girls will certainly not be able to deal with them in time. In addition, the purpose of not bringing young girls to sea is to prevent young women from having relations with the crew and locals. After all, older women are more able to fight for Zheng He at the cost of their lives. Women went to sea with Zheng He just to earn money, and their home was in Daming, so they must miss their homeland. The girls are in the budding period of youth, and once they have a relationship with the locals, it is difficult to follow Zheng He back to their homeland. It should be known that in ancient times, the most important resource was population, and young girls were an important resource that could promote population reproduction. The process of sailing is long, life at sea is lonely, who can guarantee that the girl can think of her homeland? Therefore, compared with taking a group of young girls to the sea, taking a group of middle-aged women to the sea is more convenient for Zheng and management.
From this small detail, it can be seen that Zheng He has spent a lot of thought on going to sea. It was precisely because of his careful planning that the difficult task of sending out to the West could be successfully completed. There are still many historical mysteries in Zheng He's mission to the West, such as: Zheng He went to sea to find Emperor Jianwen? Was Zheng He's mission seven or nine times? Where did Zheng He himself die? These questions need to be further verified by historians.
However, it is certain that the eunuchs who were entrusted by Zhu Di with heavy responsibilities and were responsible for sending envoys to the West were three. The first person is Zheng He, the second person is Wang Jinghong, and the third person's name is Hong Bao. In 1405, Wang Jinghong, Zheng He and others made their first mission to the West. In the years that followed, Wang Jinghong accompanied Zheng He on his mission to the West five times, and Wang Jinghong, like Zheng He, once became the envoy to the Western fleet. Following the two of them, the envoy to Nanyang was Hong Bao, another eunuch trusted by Zhu Di.
During the Reign of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang sent troops to attack Yunnan. As a teenager, Hong Bao was captured along with Ma He. After being escorted back to Nanjing, Ma He was renamed Zheng He, and Hong Bao retained his original name. If Zhu Di sent Wang Jinghong and Zheng He on an envoy to Nanyang to find the whereabouts of Emperor Jianwen from the sea. Then almost at the same time that Zheng He first sent an envoy to Nanyang, Hong Bao was also appointed by Zhu Di to envoy to the Western Regions. Zhu Di sent Hong Bao on an envoy to the Western Regions, most likely in the hope of finding Emperor Jianwen from the Western Regions. Zheng He's last mission to the West, Hong Bao also led a team to sea as the main envoy of the fleet. These are recorded in detail on epitaphs unearthed from Hong Bao's tomb discovered in Nanjing in 2010.
References: Records of Emperor Ming Yingzong, Zheng He Goes to sea