The death knell slandered Zheng He's voyage to the West and did not affect the development of Daming.

Zheng He was born in Kunyang County, Yunnan Province in 1371. He is an Islamic Hui nationality, whose original name is Ma He, and the word Xiao Sanbao. At the age of 11, he was captured and entered the palace, and later became the assistant of Zhu Yuanzhang's fourth son, Prince Judy. After he acceded to the throne, I heard that he was brave and good at fighting, and made many brilliant achievements. He was given the surname Zheng, renamed Zheng He, and was promoted to eunuch in the inner palace. In the third year of Yongle, Zheng He led a huge fleet to the Western Ocean for the first time. In the long 28 years, Zheng He's fleet crossed more than 3 countries in Asia and Africa, sailed more than 1, miles, established political, economic and cultural ties with other countries in the world, and completed the great historical feat of seven voyages to the West.

After Zhu Di, the founding father of the Ming Dynasty, ascended the throne, he strengthened political centralization, eliminated the power of the king, enhanced military strength, opened up and consolidated the frontier, and maintained national stability. Economically, it is necessary to restore and develop agriculture, support industry and commerce, and make the economic prosperity in the early Hongwu period develop into Yongle period. Powerful political and economic forces laid the foundation for the opening up of the Ming Dynasty.

After Zhu Di launched a "tough battle" and seized the throne from his nephew Zhu Yun _, he never found his own emperor Zhu Yun _. In Zhu Di's view, this is naturally the most worrying thing. Judy suspected that she had fled overseas to take refuge, fearing that she would pose a threat to herself in the future, so she sent Zheng He to the Western Seas to spy on the whereabouts of Emperor Wen Jian to prevent future troubles. Another point is that in the middle and late Hongwu period, many countries in Southeast Asia failed to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty as scheduled, which made Zhu Di feel that China's suzerain status was losing, and leaders in some areas even hindered and destroyed China's official and private foreign maritime trade. This is unbearable for Zhu Di. Therefore, Judy has a grand plan in mind, that is, to send envoys, open up sea lanes, rebuild the majesty of China, and restore and expand diplomatic relations with foreign countries. Zhu Di's idea was supported by Zheng He and others, so he sent Zheng He and his minister Wang Jinghong to the Western Regions. The so-called "West Sea" is today's Nanyang and Indian Ocean.

China has a long history of shipbuilding, and its shipbuilding technology has been in the leading position in the world for a long time. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, ships built by people could reach Japan from the east. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the fleet was able to sail to Java, Cambodia, India and Sri Lanka. In the Tang Dynasty, the big ship built by China could accommodate 6 to 7 people, but in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the hull was enlarged to accommodate nearly 1, people. Thanks to the use of the compass, people can sail safely and reliably on the vast sea. If before the Tang Dynasty, China people used to go to western countries by foreign ships, then in the Tang Dynasty, especially after the Song Dynasty, foreign businessmen went to the Persian Gulf and other western places by China ships. The shipbuilding industry in the early Ming Dynasty has a long history, advanced shipbuilding and navigation technology and strong national strength, which provided a solid technical condition and material foundation for Zheng He's voyage to the West and the large-scale construction of ocean-going fleets.

During the 28 years from the third year of Yongle to the eighth year of Xuande, Zheng He led seven men to the Western Seas. Zheng He set sail from the mouth of the Yangtze River, first through the Taiwan Province Strait, then through the South China Sea, to countries around the South China Sea, then through the Malacca Strait into the Indian Ocean, then through Ceylon, then westward to the west coast of India, then along the Persian Gulf, or across the Indian Ocean to the Arabian Peninsula, then to the south bank, and finally to the east coast of Africa. Zheng He sailed back and forth between the Taiwan Province Strait and the South China Sea. His fleet traveled all over the countries around the South China Sea, went deep into the Red Sea, and reached Tian Fang on the east coast of the Red Sea and Marin on the east coast of Africa. In a word, the scale of these seven ocean voyages is unprecedented. According to the records in Ming History, Zheng He led more than 27, people during his voyage to the West, including decision makers and commanders in charge of major operational organizations such as navigation, diplomacy, military affairs and trade, technicians in charge of astronomical observation, weather forecast and navigation operation and maintenance, translators, doctors, procurement, logistics and military guards. And several messengers to find the whereabouts of the emperor Wen Jian. There are 62 ships, 44 feet long and 18 feet wide, unprecedented in scale. After several voyages, the proportion remained roughly the same.

Unlike Judy's purpose of showing off force, Zheng He linked the ocean with the prosperity and security of the country. He believes that mastering maritime power plays a vital role in safeguarding national security. He once advised the rulers of the Ming Dynasty: "If you want to make the country rich and strong, you can't ignore the ocean. Wealth takes away the ocean, and danger comes from the ocean. Once the king of another country wins Nanyang, China will be in danger. " This is the summary of Zheng He's sailing career, and it is also the earliest exposition on sea power in the world.

Before Zheng He's voyage to the Western Seas, Southeast Asian countries doubted each other and competed with each other. This directly affected the security of southern China, and was not conducive to the stability and development of the Ming Dynasty. In this situation, Cheng Zu of the Ming Dynasty sent Zheng He to lead a fleet to the Western Ocean, claiming that "China is safe, four foreigners are blessed, and peace is shared equally", which eased the contradictions among countries, safeguarded the safety of maritime traffic and improved the international prestige of the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, the threats to the security of the Ming Dynasty mainly came from two aspects: the Japanese invaders in the East China Sea, the remnants of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty in the north and the Timur Empire in the northwest. During the period of Zhu Di, he changed the passive defense strategy in the early Ming Dynasty, took the initiative to attack, moved the capital to land, and personally conquered Mobei; Zheng He's boatmen were set up at sea to attack the enemy and anti-Ming forces, to implement strategic encirclement from the sea, to strategically contain the northwest, and to ease the pressure on the north of Ming Dynasty.

Zheng He is engaged in political diplomacy, but also shoulders the mission of economic and trade exchanges with western countries. The trade activities of Zheng He's fleet respected local customs and exchanged on an equal footing, which enabled China to import a large number of special products from Asia and Africa, and many countries also donated many precious animals. On the one hand, the introduction of these items became a luxury of the royal family, on the other hand, it stimulated the development and prosperity of handicrafts and urban economy in the Ming Dynasty.

due to the influence of feudal system at that time, Zheng he's voyage to the west inevitably had many disadvantages. Zheng He's trade activities during his voyage to the West were mainly official trade, which was not effectively combined with private foreign trade. Zheng He's voyage to the West pushed the foreign relations in the form of tribute to the peak of "from coarse to fine", and exchanged a lot of material wealth for formal vassal relations among overseas countries. As a result, the expenditure is huge and the national treasury is empty. Just as Zheng He's sailing career was in full swing, opposition from the ruling and opposition parties came and went. Later, the driver Liu Daxia secretly destroyed Zheng He's seven voyages to the West and his experiences. When Ming Xianzong traced Zheng He's voyage to the Western Seas, Liu Daxia pointed out: "The Three Treasures' voyage to the Western Seas cost hundreds of thousands of silver dollars and grain, and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians. What's good for the country? This is a bad policy, and the minister should be a person with strict discipline. Although the old situation exists, it should be destroyed and uprooted. Why should we investigate whether it exists? " In this regard, Liang Qichao pointed out: "After Columbus, there were infinite Columbus, and after Vigo da Gama, there were infinite Vigo da Gama." I don't have a second Zheng He except Zheng He. "This is an incisive portrayal of the lack of systematic management in opening to the outside world in the early Ming Dynasty.

The success of Zheng He's seven voyages to the Western Ocean made the maritime trade between China and the West develop day by day. One by one, they sailed along the route of the river, making the sea that had been silent for decades lively again, so that some people asserted that the Silk Road in China had moved from the windy northwest to the rippling southeast.

Zheng He died on his way home from his last mission. His body was transported back and buried at the foot of Niushou Mountain outside Zhonghua Gate in Nanjing. Zheng He not only attracted the attention of the international community with his navigation technology ahead of the West, but also represented a cultural spirit, a value orientation of China people to overcome difficulties and obstacles and a determination to open up to the outside world for cultural exchanges. Zheng He's spirit of serving the country is eternal, and it is a precious spiritual wealth of the Chinese nation, which is worth inheriting and carrying forward by future generations.