[True Origin, Restore the Historical Truth 022]
From 1405 to 1421, Zheng He's fleet made a total of 5 voyages. Menzies, a member of the Royal Navy, said Zheng He's fleet had reached the southernmost tip of the East African coast on its fourth cruise. On its sixth voyage, from 1421 to 1423, Zheng He's fleet accomplished the great feat of reaching America and circumnavigation of the globe, and drew a complete map of the world.
According to some studies, shortly after the sixth voyage of Zheng He's fleet began on the second day of February (March 5, 1421) in the 19th year of Yongle, major changes occurred in the dynasty, and Zheng He soon mysteriously "retrieved the Middle Way" in September of the 19th year of Yongle (November 1421). Menzies argued that not the entire fleet was returning. Zheng He's fleet to the West has always been "large" and "sub-sected" in terms of system, that is, the entire fleet is a multi-branch fleet, and the visits to countries along the route are not all fleets and concurrent, and many visits are completed by branch fleets alone. After Zheng He's "Middle Way Retrieval", the rest continued to visit, and the sixth voyage would last until October 1423. During this period, four large "branches" led by Hong Bao, Zhou Man, Zhou Wen and Yang Qing respectively carried out real exploration. Here are the routes offered by Menzies:
Hongbao Fleet Route: Departing from China, passing the Indian Ocean, bypassing the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Verde on the west coast of Africa, then sailing southwest, crossing the Atlantic Ocean to South America, passing through the Strait of Magellan, and then south to South Shedrand Island in Antarctica, and then crossing the Pacific Ocean to the south coast and west coast of Australia in the northeast, passing through the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, and returning to China.
Zhou Man's fleet route: departing from China, reaching Cape Verde on the west coast of Africa, sailing southwest to South America, crossing the Strait of Magellan, heading north to the west coast of Peru, crossing the Pacific Ocean, reaching the east coast of Australia and New Zealand, and then returning to China.
Zhou Wen Fleet Route: Starting from China, arriving at Cape Verde on the west coast of Africa, sailing northwest to Puerto Rico, Cuba and other places in Central America, and then heading north along the east coast of North America, circling Greenland, returning to China through the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Strait.
Yangqing Fleet Route: Departing from China, crossing the Indian Ocean to the southernmost Cape of Good Hope in Africa, then along the east coast of Africa, the Arabian Sea and the coast of the Bay of Bengal, and returning to China via the South China Sea.
To complete such a task as the fleet, it is far from being accessible by manpower and natural wind power, that is, it must have mechanical power and be able to absolutely control the course and speed of the ship. What machinery? It's the steam engine.
