Tracing China: Through history, dialogue between ancient and modern

Chapter 185
During Zhu Di's Yongle period, the Ming Dynasty had the strongest national strength, and in terms of economic strength, it was also second to none in the world.

During Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, each time he led nearly [-] troops and more than a hundred ships, forming a powerful maritime fleet.

The historical records are also:

In 1405, Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty sent eunuch Zheng He to lead a large fleet overseas. This fleet consisted of more than 200 ships, with more than [-] soldiers, sailors, craftsmen and other entourages. It was the largest fleet in the world at that time. largest fleet.Zheng He led the fleet on seven voyages, reaching the farthest east of Africa. The huge naval power made the countries along the way daunting. Zheng He's fleet once wiped out Chen Zuyi, the pirate leader in Southeast Asia, captured the king of Ceylon alive, and beat Sumatra hard. Invincible, Megatron exotic.

But Zheng He's fleet was so powerful, but he did not establish an overseas colony like the Westerners.

So why didn't Zheng He's fleet establish overseas colonies?

There is no plundering of wealth.

Nor was it possible to establish colonies overseas.

What makes people even more different is that Zheng He's fleet was just a normal trade. After swearing the country's prestige, it brought back some overseas treasures symbolically.

This point has a completely different purpose from those ambitious navigators in the West.

Regarding this issue, online viewers are also expressing their opinions, giving their own ideas and opinions.

"In my opinion, in the Ming Dynasty, when there were markets and resources in the country, it would be better to spend energy on developing colonies than to do a good job in our own country?"

"At that time, the most powerful Ming Dynasty in the world, with its overwhelming military superiority, was able to treat small countries as equals, respect their sovereignty and territory, and give without looting. This is a truly powerful mentality from the inside out. "

"The small-scale peasant economy will inevitably lead to a restrained national character. There is no need for expansion at all, and naturally there is no need to colonize. You say that rubber is good in Southeast Asia, but the Chinese do not even know what rubber can do, and sit on wooden wheels every day. Let's go, don't think your butt hurts, you are still beautiful."

"Colonial expansion is due to the lack of resources of the great powers. If they can't satisfy their needs at home, they go out to explore; when did my great dynasty lack resources? So the western land powers sailed to sea to grab things, and my heavenly kingdom sailed to sea to give things. Because we My ancestors looked down on those places and those barbarians from the bottom of their bones. Mr. Zheng's trips should be considered tourism, right?"

"It should be driven by no profit. The great European age of exploration found that Asia was so rich, and they all wanted to come to trade to make a fortune. Zheng He went out and only found some little Luo Luo who was not profitable and no one was interested."

"Because Zhu Yuanzhang issued a document at the beginning of the founding of the country-"Emperor Ming Zu Xun", and his attitude towards overseas countries is "Don't be a Chinese patient, and don't raise your own troops." Simply put, under the premise of peace, "Don't fight casually. Do not take the initiative to fight. "This attitude is similar to the current commitment not to use He weapons first. It is clear that the attitude towards the South China Sea countries and the 15 countries including North Korea, RB and Ryukyu is "do not fight against the barbarians."

"Colonies need to be managed. The Ming Dynasty didn't even know how to take care of its own frontiers. How could it have the heart to open up new colonies? In a state where the local products are rich and there is no need for new income from the colonies, such things as colonization are completely out of control. It's a thankless effort."

"The voyage to the Western Seas was not intended to discover the New World. In the early stage, it was mainly to find Emperor Jianwen. Later, Zheng He wanted to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca. It was almost enough to do business along the way and add bragging. Therefore, even if the New World was discovered, it was unconscious. Westerners looking for the New World, to put it bluntly, ultimately seek wealth, but the Ming Dynasty did not have this need.”

……

In the lens.

Zheng He, the person involved, began to answer this question.

According to him.

Why didn't Ming Dynasty invade small countries?Do not establish so-called colonies.

The main reason can be summed up in three words - "No need!"

Zheng He began to analyze the situation for the two hosts from 800 years later.

To sum it up in Lin Feng's words, it is also very simple. Colonial conquest is also based on income. If the investment is greater than the income, no one is willing to do a loss-making business.

What if Daming really wants to engage in the concept of "colonies"?

The first choice, of course, is Southeast Asia, which is rich in products and close to the geographical location.There is no big country or strong army there.

To colonize, you need to garrison first.

The first thing the garrison faced was the disease barrier. The whole territory of Southeast Asia is tropical and the ecology is primitive. Up to now, there are still barriers, and various tropical diseases are rampant.

On this point, Lin Feng agreed.

Because later, the colonists of the western continental powers established immigration points, and none of the more than 1000 immigrants survived a year later.

Even the residents of Nanguang who came from the subtropical zone went to Nanyang in the past, but half of them died.

After passing the disease level, it is a supply level. Food self-sufficiency is no problem, but weapons and clothing must be supplied by the mother country.

There is no way to fall behind locally.There is also the counterattack of the aboriginals. It is possible that a coalition of several aboriginal forces who were still fighting to death will form an attack.

If you are well prepared, the Ming army will have no problem hanging and beating.

The stronghold has been established, what can I get from the local area?tropical fruit?
No problem, the people in the mainland of Ming Dynasty can eat dragon fruit... dried.Coconut… dry.Considering the cost of transportation, it is estimated that the rich and powerful should eat well, and the rich and powerful should have good food.

What about the pepper equivalent of gold in Europe?The place of origin is one hundred catties and ten taels of silver.

What you need to know is that one shipment of silk ceramics from Daming can be exchanged for ten shipments of spices overseas.

And many spices can be produced by Daming itself.

What about precious wood?
Phoebe, sandalwood... the special purpose for the emperor's old children has nothing to do with diaosi.

What about food?This is not bad, the tropics are cropped three times a year, and rice is imported to Daming.

At the end of Ming Dynasty, there were successive years of severe drought in the Northwest, and hungry peasants flocked to join the army.

A large amount of imported rice has made grain in the Northwest even cheaper.The people barely had enough to eat.

The Northwest Rebels were wiped out from the source.

However, food must go to coastal ports before going to the northwest.

The price in the northwest is cheap, and the coastal grain-producing areas are cheap.

The well-fed bankrupt peasants in the south of the Yangtze River will not be less effective than the hungry people in the northwest.

If you can't import food, then just enter money.

Good idea, ancient China has been deflation for a long time.That is to say, there is less metal currency.

The reason?
Just look at the tons of copper coins in the tombs of nobles.It is also unearthed in large numbers abroad.

The reason for the fall of the Ming Dynasty was that the government had no money and expropriated farmers.If there is gold and silver imported from Southeast Asia... the gold, silver, copper and precious metal mines in Southeast Asia are more scarce than the Central Plains.

Look at the natives of a certain island in Southeast Asia until World War II, and the Ming copper coins are still in circulation.

What about Peacock Kingdom?

In the process of colonizing the Peacock Kingdom and subduing the natives, the country will only see huge sacrifices and investments. Anti-war is certain, and the rewards will be huge after defeating it?

Moreover, the Peacock Kingdom is notoriously self-interested, even the military salary is greedy, so it would be strange not to be greedy for your taxes.

Because the distance is too far, supervision and suppression are not easy.

It is easy to listen to the tune and not listen to the announcement, and eventually it will lead to a situation of separation, such as the independence of the United States.

The next Arabia, the most famous specialty in the Arab world is oil. The question is, after the conquest, why do we need oil?
It is not recommended to go to Xilu. Before the industrial revolution, there was no money.

It is not recommended to go to the black continent, the situation is more complicated than Southeast Asia.Moreover, there is a surplus of labor force in Ming Dynasty, so there is no need to import Heishu.

You can't get to America and Oasis. Zheng He's fleet is mostly flat-bottomed lucky boats with hard sails.The advantage is that the sailing is stable and the load capacity is large, but the disadvantage is that the ability to resist wind and waves is weak, the sail is difficult to repair and operate, and it cannot sail in the ocean.In fact, Zheng He's fleet also sailed along the coastline.All in all, the Deming fleet will lose money if it goes out to colonize or do business.

The last one is about the system. In the end of the Ming Dynasty, when the commodity economy was developed, the imperial court could not collect much industrial and commercial taxes and tariffs. Do you think he can collect overseas profits and taxes thousands of miles away?If you can’t make a profit, you will lose money, and if you lose money, you can’t do it.

So when Chengzu died, due to various reasons, he sailed to the west without a vigorous fleet.

In the end, Lin Feng said, "The younger generation thinks there is another reason, which is "the sky is high and the emperor is far away. ""

Zheng He looked over, "Tell me about it."

Lin Feng said:
"The farther the place is from the emperor, the weaker the imperial power's ability to control that place, but the threat to the imperial power will not decrease."

"If you open up a new territory overseas, someone has to take care of it. Then one day the person in charge gets upset and establishes himself as king, and the emperor can't take care of it, because it's too far away. But what if that person calls back one day? Some people in the sky are also upset with the emperor, what should we do?"

Zheng He nodded, acquiescing to the statement.

At this time.

Bailu suddenly asked, "If Cobrun, the first voyager in the West, first discovered the Ming Dynasty, or encountered the Ming fleet on the sea, what would happen after that?"

Unspoken.

When the two powerhouses meet, who wins?
Hearing the question raised by the beautiful host Bailu, many viewers were amused.

Columbus leads the fleet.

Can it compete with the fleet led by Zheng He?Comparable?
"The system shaping function is turned on."

"Architecture on the scale of Columbus' second voyage west across the Atlantic in 1493 AD."

After a few seconds.

Beyond the ocean.

Really, there is a Western Land Fleet.

It was a huge fleet led by Columbus, with a total of 17 ships and more than 1200 people, carrying weapons and a large number of specially trained wolfhounds.This is an expeditionary colonial fleet.

Zheng He's fleet.

VS
Columbus fleet.

Two time and space, two east and west fleets that cannot possibly meet, are about to meet at this moment.

(End of this chapter)