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Chapter 3 The Emperor’s Choice

Moving the Capital

Another far-reaching thing that Zhu Di did was to move the capital, and moving the capital no matter where Dynasties are a big deal. Zhu Di's capital move was undoubtedly the one that had the greatest impact on later generations. Today's Beijing has tens of millions of people and countless high-rise buildings. It is the capital of our country and one of the most prosperous cities in the world. The starting point of all this came from a decision made by Zhu Di.

In March of the first year of Yongle (AD 1403), the Mongolian army attacked Liaodong and looted a lot. The local commander Shen Yong was incompetent. He was unable to resist and failed to report to the leadership in time. When Zhu Di heard about this, he was very angry. He immediately killed Shen Yong and summoned ministers to inquire about the reasons for the deterioration of the military situation in the north.

Zhu Di asked his ministers that the northern defense was so weak that the Mongolian army seemed to be in an uninhabited country. How could this continue? Who should be responsible for this?

However, to Zhu Di's surprise, although none of the ministers spoke, they were not timid. Instead, they looked at him blankly. An unknown fire arose in Zhu Di's heart, and he was about to explode. Suddenly, his mind changed and he retracted his words.

Why?

Because he finally understood why these ministers had been staring at him, and the person responsible for this was himself!

In the defense system of the Ming Dynasty, the main people responsible for the defense of the north were King Yan Zhu Di and King Ning Zhu Quan. However, during the Battle of Jingnan, Zhu Quan was kidnapped by him, and he also ran to Nanjing and became the emperor. , without the two of them on the northern border, it is basically an undefended area. How can we blame others?

Nanjing is a very good place, and it is also very suitable for establishing a capital city because it has a dangerous terrain, good feng shui, and is a major food producing area. Since China's economic center had moved southward at that time, the capital city was established here. Very conducive to maintaining the rule of the Ming Dynasty.

But the problem is that the accommodations in the Ming Empire are not independent houses. There are several unfriendly neighbors in the north of the empire. These neighbors often enter the house and take away what they like without the owner's permission. stuff, and never write an IOU. That's it once or twice, what's the point of continuing like this?

Sending troops to attack has no effect, because these neighbors are basically composed of guerrillas, using the policy of "you advance, I retreat, you retreat, I come back again". They themselves are nomadic and do not farm. , the daily work is to run around on horseback, and idleness is also idle. If you don’t rob me, who will rob you?

It’s impossible to crusade, let alone ignore it. This is really a problem.

Although the military and political situation was the main reason for later moving the capital, there are other reasons that cannot be ignored. This is the characteristic of Zhu Di himself.

Is Zhu Di personally related to the capital move?

The answer is yes. If you still remember, we have mentioned before that although Zhu Di was born in Nanjing and has a Nanjing registered residence, he went to Peking when he was 21 years old and lived there for twenty years. , although he did not transfer his household registration (it was not difficult to enter Peiping back then), his living habits have been completely northernized.

According to historical records, Zhu Di preferred northern food and liked Korean kimchi very much. At that time, the North Korean king Li Bangyuan once sent a North Korean chef (fireman) to serve Zhu Di, and he readily accepted it. He wanted to come to Zhu Di who liked northern tastes. I'm not too interested in southern food. Although the north is windy and sandy and far inferior to the beautiful mountains and rivers in the south, Zhu Di has always lived in such an environment. For him, what is familiar is the best.

Of course, the main reason why Zhu Di moved the capital was political needs. Now that he had made up his mind, let's move it.

Wait a minute! This does not mean that relocation is possible. Moving to the capital is not moving. It is definitely not just packing your bags and calling a moving company. The biggest problem is that Zhu Di did not move to Peking alone. If so, it would save trouble.

Moving the capital not only requires moving away Zhu Di, but also several of his wives, princes and ministers, and soldiers and civilians. These people also need to find places to live and build houses.

Beiping had been fighting for many years, and the streets and palaces had to be rebuilt, and the city layout had to be rearranged. Moreover, the people who went to Peking with him were not ordinary people, and a large amount of money was needed to settle these people. The difficulty is definitely no less than rebuilding the capital.

Although these problems are difficult to solve, they can still be solved after all. There is another bigger problem before Zhu Di. If this problem is not solved, moving the capital will be in vain.

We know that Zhu Di’s main reason for moving the capital was to control the northern border and ensure national security. It is said that moving the capital can solve this problem, but have you ever thought about it, there is one more thing that is necessary.

That is food.

Beiping is not a grain-producing area, and moving the capital will inevitably bring an influx of people (Chinese people have always had the habit of traveling to big cities). These people have to consume a lot of food, and they have to control the borders. A large number of soldiers must be raised. Although the Ming Dynasty implemented military camps (soldiers farmed in peacetime and fought in wartime), which could solve the food problem of some armies, the elite troops in the capital (such as the Three Battalions) did not farm, so What can a group of people eat? They can't drink from the northwest wind.

The more serious problem is that just ensuring food for the soldiers and people in Peking is not enough, because the Ming government may often go out to visit those less friendly neighbors and teach them a little lesson. Before the troops and horses are moved, food and grass go first. If you send 100,000 people to fight, you have to prepare food for 100,000 people, and the food production near Peiping is absolutely not enough to guarantee these operations.

Some people may say, what kind of problem is this? Isn’t it enough to transport grain from the southern grain-producing areas to the north?

If you think so, congratulations, you have finally found the difficulty of this problem.

The reason why the food problem has become the biggest obstacle to moving the capital is transportation. In that era, there were neither trains, cars, nor airplanes. To transport food, we could only rely on manpower. Today we take modern transportation. It also takes a lot of time for tools to travel from Nanjing to Beijing. In those days, it took more than a month for people to go there. And we should not ignore one issue, that is, the people who transport food also need to eat. No matter how dedicated they are to their duties, you should have a clear understanding: they will never starve to death before they eat up all the food they transport.

So if you find someone to transport grain by land, you must prepare extra rations for the transporter and ask him to push two grain carts on the road, transport one and eat one, and wait until he reaches the destination. Handing over the portion that has not yet been eaten is considered a handover. And the extra rations you prepare may be more than the food he transported.

If any government is willing to use this method to transport supplies for a long time, then there is only one fate waiting for this government - bankruptcy.

Therefore, the only option left for the Ming Dynasty government was river transportation (also known as water transportation).

Yes, the problem seems to have been solved. The answer is very simple. Wouldn’t it be possible to transport food by ship to complete the transportation task quickly and in large quantities? Then why do you have to go in such a big circle?

I can guarantee that I have absolutely no intention of teasing anyone. I can answer this question in two words:

It doesn’t make sense.

At that time, the rivers from the main grain-producing areas in the south to the north were not smooth. The canals were blocked and the river diversions brought great inconvenience to the river transportation at that time, unless the Ming Dynasty ships were amphibious. Otherwise, it is absolutely impossible to have a smooth journey. Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, suffered great losses in this regard. When he was fighting in the war, he needed to mobilize military rations from the south to Liaodong and Peiping, but the river transportation was blocked. In desperation, he had to take the sea route and transport it via the Bohai Sea. There was no way around it. He said that because the wind and waves were too strong and it was very unsafe, he was thankful that half of the ten kilograms of military rations could be delivered.

However, river management is not something that can be brought up casually. Everyone should still remember that the fuse of the Yuan Dynasty's demise was river management. Water conservancy projects are definitely a key investment project for the country in any era. It requires a lot of money and a lot of labor.

And if too much money is spent and the foundation of the country is shaken, the problem will be serious (the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty is an example), so this matter is the same as repairing books. You should not even think about it when the country is not strong and prosperous.

Zhu Di's era was a prosperous one.

After the long-term recovery during the Hongwu period, coupled with Zhu Di's correct governance strategy, the Ming Dynasty at that time had enough economic strength to accomplish things that were previously unimaginable. Yongle Dadian has also been built, so it is natural to do some water conservancy.

In the ninth year of Yongle (1411 AD), Zhu Di ordered Song Li, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, to manage the river to ensure the smooth flow of the river. Song Li was a very capable water conservancy expert. He completed the task. After that, Chen Xuan, the Governor of Water Transport, further dredged the river, and water transport from the north to the south has been unimpeded ever since. As the saying goes, "from the mouth of the Antarctic River to the Datong Bridge in the north, the transport route is more than 3,000 miles." The food problem was finally solved.

Other work on moving the capital has also been in progress. The offices of various central departments had been repaired as early as the seventh year of Yongle (1409), and the construction of the capital began in the fifteenth year of Yongle. , which lasted for more than thirty years before ending.

Seeing that the opportunity was ripe, Zhu Di officially issued an order in the 19th year of Yongle (1421 AD): Move the capital!

The original capital was renamed Nanjing, and Beijing was confirmed as the new capital of the Ming Empire. From then on, the city of Beijing officially became the capital of the Ming Dynasty, which lasted for more than 200 years, but its history It did not end with the demise of the Ming Dynasty. On the contrary, it continued to exist and develop vigorously, and eventually became one of the most influential cities in the world.

When we today wander in the modern city of Beijing and look at the bustling scene with tall buildings and busy traffic, we should not forget that it was a man named Zhu Di who laid the foundation for all this more than 500 years ago. the basis of.

It should be noted that Zhu Di had quite a modern consciousness when he was building Beijing. He paid great attention to the overall planning of the city, built several main lines and branch lines, and planned the urban area of ​​Beijing into a shape. Neat blocks were laid out, with strict rules against haphazard construction and a complete sewer system.

The famous buildings in Beijing such as the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven that we see now were all based on the foundations laid during the Zhu Di era (and have been renovated by the Qing Dynasty since then). Particularly worth mentioning is the Forbidden City. It covers an area of ​​170,000 square meters and took 20 years to complete with countless laborers. It was originally only a place for the emperor to live. The common people had absolutely no connection with it and did not buy tickets to visit this place. But this does not affect its place in history. Now the Forbidden City, as a historical treasure of the Chinese nation, has become the pride of every Chinese.

It is undeniable that this is Zhu Di's achievement, which cannot and cannot be erased.

It is worth mentioning that the capital move was not smooth sailing and everyone responded. In fact, few people agreed with Zhu Di's decision.

The reason is very simple. Except for those people who Zhu Dijing could not bring over, most of the ministers of the imperial court have lived in the south for a long time. Their wives and children are all in Nanjing, and their friends and social connections are also here. Who is willing to follow Zhu Di to the north to enjoy the wind?

Not long after the capital was moved, a fire broke out in the palace, and natural disasters occurred in many places across the country. At that time, people called them "natural disasters." The ministers naturally attributed these things to - they were all caused by the capital move. disaster.

Although Zhu Di was ruthless and ruthless, he was still a little flustered because of his insufficient knowledge of natural science theories, so he asked the officials for their opinions in order to make up for his mistakes.

But what he didn't expect was that the ministers took this opportunity to launch a fierce attack on him.

Many ministers wrote letters stating the harm of moving the capital, and stated that the reason why there were natural disasters was caused by moving the capital. Among them, Xiao Yi's words were the most intense. Historical records record that "Yi's words were particularly severe." As for what he said, it is not listed, but he probably scolded Zhu Di. As everyone knows, Zhu Di has never been a person who swallows his anger. His response was also very straightforward and he killed Xiao Yi directly.

This is a hornet's nest. You must know that scholars are not easy to mess with. They have listened to the words of sages since childhood and consider themselves disciples of saints. So what about the emperor? Afraid of you?

As a result, many ministers wrote letters one after another and made a lot of comments. They also held a public debate outside the Meridian Gate. They said it was a debate, but the opinions at the meeting were completely one-sided. In fact, it was a criticism meeting against Zhu Di. If it were another ordinary meeting, The emperor was likely to be shaken when he saw so many subordinates opposing him, but Zhu Di was not an ordinary emperor. He insisted on his views and strengthened his determination to move the capital.

"Don't say any more. It's my decision to move. It must be moved. I have the final say and that's it!"

It takes courage for Zhu Di to do this. , he dared to stick to his point of view and never give in even though the opponents were in the majority. In fact, the opinions put forward by many ministers were also very pertinent. For example, moving the capital would waste people and money, lead to corruption, etc., which are all objective facts. But history will prove that Zhu Di's choice was correct.

In history, there often appear some very capable people who can predict the future development of things before the situation is unclear. For example, Zhuge Liang can figure out the future of the world in a shabby thatched house. Third level, but Zhuge Liang's thinking is free of cost. Even if he thinks wrong, no one will bother him.

What tends to cause trouble is choice, that is to say, certain immediate interests must be sacrificed in exchange for longer-term interests in the future. This kind of choice is often extremely painful, because the immediate benefits are visible to everyone, but the long-term benefits are invisible. It’s like asking everyone to drop the money they already have and follow you to dig for gold. Gold mines are certainly tempting, but there is a big question mark as to whether they really exist. If you say there are, then you will? Why?

More than a hundred years later, the great reformer Zhang Juzheng fell into this kind of choice, because those ministers would rather wait for death holding the little property in their hands than go with him. an unknown road.

Zhu Di was such a very capable leader and a leader who dared to make choices. He knew that moving the capital was a major project that was time-consuming and labor-intensive, but he accurately judged that it would affect the long-term stability of the Ming Empire. The biggest factor is Mongolia in the north. If you want to live peacefully in the future, you must give up your immediate interests and move the capital to Beijing. Otherwise, the Ming Dynasty would not be able to escape the fate of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Compared with Zhang Juzheng, Zhu Di has an advantage - he is an emperor, and he is also an iron-fisted emperor, an emperor who dares to take insults and go his own way, so he can always stick to his beliefs, so he finally completed it Moving the capital is a difficult task.

Zhu Di's move to move the capital aroused opposition from everyone at the time, and many people also asserted that the move was not feasible. However, Yu Qian, who stood at the top of Beijing and looked into the distance nineteen years later, would not think so.

History is the final judge of the development of things. In the near future, it will tell everyone without a doubt: Zhu Di's decision is correct.

Chapter 4 After Zheng He, there will be no more Zheng He

We have introduced before that Zhu Di sent two groups of people to find Emperor Jianwen, one was Hu Hui, and we have learned about him. As mentioned before, many people are not familiar with Hu Hui's life. This is not surprising because he was engaged in secret work and it is not good to publicize it.

But the fate of the other group of people was completely different. Not only was he famous at that time, but his name was also remembered in history and will be remembered throughout the ages. This is the famous Zheng He fleet and their seven voyages to the Western Seas.

We are both carrying out a secret mission, but the circumstances are so different. We can’t help but ask: We are the same people, why is the gap so big?

There are many reasons, such as the size of the team, additional missions, etc., but in my opinion, the greatest credit for achieving such a feat should go to the commander of this fleet-the great Zheng He.

The word "great" cannot be overstated when used on Zheng He. He was not a member of the royal family, nor did he have a prominent family background, but he achieved a legend with his own efforts and wisdom - the Chinese Maritime legends, there were countless princes and generals in history before Zheng He, and there will be many after him, but there is only one Zheng He.

After Zheng He, there will never be another Zheng He - Liang Qichao

Let us introduce the magnificent life of this great navigator.

Zheng He was born in the fourth year of Hongwu (1371). His original name was Ma Sanbao. He was from Yunnan. He was smart and studious since he was a child. What is even more rare is that he had a strong interest in navigation since he was a child. It is said that in China at that time , Navigation is not a popular subject, and Yunnan is not a place to go to the sea. Why did Zheng He like sailing?

This is because Zheng He is a devout Muslim. His grandfather and father both believe in Islam, and all Muslims have the greatest wish in their hearts - to make a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. .

Pilgrimage to Mecca is the biggest wish of Muslims all over the world. The believers living in Mecca are lucky because they can always look up to the Holy Land, but for Zheng He at that time, this was really An extremely difficult thing. Mecca is in today's Saudi Arabia. Friends who are interested can connect Mecca to Yunnan on the map and then multiply by the scale to know how far away they are. Fortunately, his family's financial situation is not bad. Both his grandfather and father have been to Mecca. When Zheng He was a child, his father often told him about the thrilling experiences of sailing across the waves and trekking through mountains and rivers during the pilgrimage, and the thrilling experiences of traveling thousands of miles away. , strange people and strange things in foreign countries. These all deeply affected Zheng He.

It is precisely for this reason that the young Zheng He was different from other children of his age. He did not sit at his desk and recite the words of sages day after day in order to achieve fame in the future. He worked hard to exercise and learn knowledge related to navigation, because in his heart, he had the belief that one day he would ride the waves and make a pilgrimage to Mecca.

If his life continues like this, maybe in more than ten years, he will be able to realize his wish, fulfill the long-cherished wish of an ordinary Muslim, and then live an ordinary life.

But some people are destined not to live an ordinary life. Great missions and careers seem to have to be completed by these people chosen by God, even if sometimes in a very cruel way.

In the fourteenth year of Hongwu (1381), Fu Youde and Lan Yu followed the orders of Zhu Yuanzhang and went on an expedition to Yunnan. The Ming army was so powerful that it took only half a year to pacify the entire territory of Yunnan. It was this expedition that changed the history of Yunnan. Zheng He's fate. By the way, in this battle, Qi Xiang, a general in the Ming army, was killed. His sacrifice gave his family a hereditary military position and changed the fate of his family. From then on, his descendants practiced martial arts for generations. This Qi Xiang is just an unknown person. The reason why he is specifically mentioned here is because he has a very promising descendant-Qi Jiguang.

History is really elusive.

For the Ming government and Zhu Yuanzhang, this was just one of countless expeditions, but for Zheng He, this expedition was a turning point in his life, a painful and unknown turning point.

After the war, many children became prisoners of war. Supposedly, prisoners of war were just prisoners of war, and they were just forced to work as coolies. However, there was an extremely cruel practice for treating child prisoners of war at that time - castration.

The purpose of this practice is self-evident, and it is really unbearable to say more. Ma Sanbao, who is only 11 years old, is one of these unfortunate children.

It is not difficult for us to imagine the pain of Ma Sanbao back then. Countless dreams seemed to have left him, but history has told us countless times that the beginning of tragedy is often also the starting point of glory.

Tragedy or glory, it just depends on you and whether you are strong.

From then on, this eleven-year-old boy began to fight with the Ming army in all directions. The wind and snow in the north and the yellow sand of the desert left his traces everywhere. At his age, he should have been at home. Playing and having fun, he suddenly became a member of the war, running on the battlefield where rivers of blood flowed and corpses were everywhere. Swords and spears replaced wooden horses and dolls. In the military camp, no one would treat him as a child, and no one would take care of him. In war, no one can guarantee that he will survive tomorrow, so the only one who can take care of him is His is himself.

But how can an eleven-year-old take care of himself?

We can’t imagine how much hardship Ma Sanbao endured, how many times he escaped from death, but what we know is that the tragic experience did not erase the hope and belief in his heart. Survived and eventually became the great Zheng He.

Summarizing the childhood experiences of famous people in history (such as Zhu Yuanzhang, etc.), we can conclude that it is not a bad thing to suffer more in childhood.

After five years of wandering life, he met a person who influenced his life, this person was Zhu Di.

At that time, Zhu Di was still King of Yan. He took a liking to this taciturn but determined young man at a glance, and chose him to be his personal bodyguard. From then on, Ma Sanbao followed Zhu Di and became his of cronies.

Gold will shine wherever it goes. Ma Sanbao is a man destined to achieve great things. In the subsequent Jingnan War, he followed Zhu Di through life and death and made great achievements. We have introduced it before, In the Battle of Zhengcunba, Zhu Di used his strategy to defeat Li Jinglong's seventh battalion and defeat the Southern Army.

Zhu Di also got to know this personal guard again. In the first year of Yongle (1403), after Zhu Di ascended the throne, he immediately appointed Ma Sanbao as the eunuch of the internal official. This was already the highest official position of the internal official. In the second year of Yongle, (1404), Zhu Di gave him greater honor and gave him the surname "Zheng". After that, he changed his name to Zheng He. This name is destined to shine in the annals of history.

You must know that giving a surname by the emperor was the highest honor in the Ming Dynasty. Later, after Zheng Chenggong was given a surname by the emperor, he regarded it as the greatest honor in his life. His subordinates also called him "Guo Surname Master" ”, which shows that Zhu Di had a high opinion of Zheng He.

When God wants you to suffer, it will often reward you with more. This is also common. Zheng He was placed in great importance by Zhu Di and became a popular figure in the court. As a minister of Zhu Di, he has already received There are many honors that others can't even imagine. I think Zheng He must have been satisfied with them back then.

But fate seems to make him a legend and make him famous throughout the ages. A greater mission and glory will befall him, and a greater career will be waiting for him to start.

Sail

Zhu Di had a deep-seated purpose in arranging Zheng He to go to sea. In addition to looking for Emperor Jianwen, Zheng He also shouldered the mission of conquering the world and being ambitious. This is roughly It can also be regarded as an old tradition in Chinese history. Any powerful dynasty will definitely take such actions, such as the Silk Road that connected the east and west during the Han Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, many students from developing and underdeveloped countries came to our country to learn advanced knowledge. Science, culture and technology are all manifestations of this tradition.

China is strong and admired by all nations. This is probably the biggest dream of emperors in history. China in history did not have many territorial claims. This is because we have always been very conceited. If you are rich, why should you snatch other people’s rags?

But as the saying goes, the edge will be revealed one day. The glory of China, which is powerful in the East, cannot be concealed. When its advancement and civilization are recognized by the world, it will dominate the world. The time will come naturally.

To be honest, when China was strong, although it had territorial disputes and wars with foreign countries due to the expansion of its power (such as the war between Tang and Arabia), it also launched wars against neighboring countries ( Such as the Battle of Goryeo), but generally speaking, China's foreign policy is relatively open-minded. We generously provide help to outsiders and spread the advanced scientific and cultural achievements of the Chinese nation to all parts of the world. The four great inventions are the biggest examples. .

Taken together, we can use four words to describe China’s tradition and purpose of thinking far ahead:

To convince people with virtue.

Now China has become a powerful country again. After a long period of war and recovery, as well as the hard work and hard work of several emperors who can be called labor models, the land of China has become a real peace. In the prosperous times, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the country had sufficient food and silver. It was time to do something.

What else is there around this huge country of ours? This is a question that every powerful dynasty is interested in. The Ming Empire was a powerful dynasty, and the land area around the Ming Empire had been explored by the expedition heroes during the heyday of the Han and Tang Dynasties. In comparison, the empire was The long coastline is more likely to arouse people's imagination. What kind of world is there on the other side of the wide sea?

The first thing that catches people’s eyes is the West. It should be noted that the term West had a different meaning in the Ming Dynasty than it does today. The so-called West at that time was actually Nanyang today. Although the previous dynasties also Ships were sent to sail through these areas, but it was a relatively simple operation and did not have a big impact. People were not very clear about what was on the other side of the sea, and Zhu Di, the ruler of the now powerful Ming Empire, was a person with A unique person, the reason why he is considered one of the rare wise monarchs in history is not because of his kindness or kindness, but because he did many things that no one has ever done in history.

Now, Zhu Di will entrust Zheng He to complete something that has never been done by anyone in history. This is an honor and a great trust.

No matter from which point of view, Zheng He is the most suitable candidate. He not only has rich navigation knowledge, but also has been tested for many years in wars, has high military literacy, and has a resolute and tenacious character. In the end, he must Many of the Western countries he visited believed in Islam, and Zheng He himself was a devout Muslim.

Ordinarily this is just a navigation mission. Why send a diverse talent like Zheng He? However, facts have proved that what Zheng He has to face on this voyage is not just the sea.

History will remember this day. On June 15, the third year of Yongle (July 11, 1405), Zheng He set sail from Wuhumen, Fujian, and began the greatest voyage in Chinese history. Zheng He stood on the bow of the ship, looking at the huge fleet that was about to set off and the vast sea in front of him.

He understood his mission and responsibilities on this voyage, but he did not know that at this moment, he was creating a piece of history that would be praised by future generations forever.

His heart was filled with excitement. The sea he had longed for since childhood was now right in front of him, waiting for him to conquer! A great journey is about to begin!

Set sail!

Invincible Fleet

We have repeatedly used the word fleet to refer to Zheng He’s fleet. It seems a bit exaggerated. How can a fleet that is both diplomatic and searching for people be called It's a fleet, but after reading the following introduction, I believe you will agree that apart from fleet, there is really no other word to describe his fleet.

Thanks to Chen Youliang, the hero of the generation, Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to shipbuilding technology. It is no wonder that Lao Zhu suffered a lot in the water battle with Lao Chen and almost lost his life. Under his encouragement, the Ming Dynasty's shipbuilding technology developed greatly. According to historical records, the largest of Zheng He's ships at that time was called the treasure ship. How big was this ship? "The big one was forty-four feet long." The ruler is eighteen feet wide; the middle one is thirty-seven feet long and fifteen feet wide." You can do your own calculations. According to this length, Zheng He could have held a sports meeting in addition to sailing. It would not be a problem to set up a 100-meter track.

And the sail of this ship is definitely not the single sail we see on TV. What is unimaginable is that it has twelve sails! Its anchor and rudder are both giant-sized. When turning, it requires hundreds of people shouting slogans and working together to swing it. In the 1950s, Nanjing City once excavated the Ming Dynasty treasure ship manufacturing site and unearthed a wooden pole. This wooden pole is eleven meters long. The question is, which part of the ship is this wooden pole?

The identification conclusion came out, leaving everyone stunned. This wooden pole was not the mast that people expected, but a rudder!

If you don’t understand what this concept is, I can explain. Everyone should know what a mast is. The so-called rudder stock is just the control linkage rod of the ship’s rudder blade. After calculation, this rudder stock connects The height of the rudder blade is about six meters. In other words, the rudder blade of this ship is three stories high!

Aircraft carrier, a veritable aircraft carrier.

This kind of treasure ship is the main ship of Zheng He's fleet, which is what we usually call the flagship. In addition, there are horse ships specially used for transportation, warships used for combat, and grain transporters. Grain ships and water ships specialized in transporting people between major ships.

Zheng He led such a fleet, and it truly deserves its name.

This is the situation of Zheng He’s fleet, so how many people did he bring to the Western Ocean?

"There are more than 27,800 soldiers."

To be honest, judging from this number, this fleet does not look like it is looking for people or doing diplomacy, but it is very suspicious that it is out to find trouble and fight. But the facts tell us that this is indeed a friendly fleet. Wherever it goes, there is no war or blood, only peace and friendship.

Being strong but not bullying, powerful but not dominating, this is the magnanimity and heritage of a great country and nation.

Zheng He's fleet sailed south, first arriving at Champa, and then they headed south from Champa, arriving in Java (Indonesia's Java Island) half a month later. This place is an important stronghold in the Strait of Malacca. You must pass through this place when going to Africa from the Strait of Malacca. At that time, this place was also a densely populated place with rich products. Of course, there was no unified Indonesian government in this place at that time. And to this day, we still don’t know who composed the island’s government at that time.