For later Chinese people, Zheng He's voyage to the West undoubtedly means that Chinese civilization was once at the peak of the world in the maritime industry, which was a good thing that made people proud.

However, there are many different opinions on the reason. The more recognized statement is that Emperor Jianwen's whereabouts during the Jingnan Campaign are unknown. According to investigations, he may have gone to Nanyang. Therefore, Chengzu Zhu Di ordered Zheng He to lead a fleet to sea to search for Emperor Jianwen's whereabouts to eliminate future troubles.

This statement was also widely circulated among the people of the Ming Dynasty. According to this statement, Zheng He's sailing was eventually terminated because Emperor Renzong believed that the actions of going to Southeast Asia were huge and not worth the loss. It was a wise act that compliments with the people's feelings.

But in fact, in Xie Hong's view, this reason is more like a fabrication by historians, and it is pure nonsense.

Emperor Jianwen is just a loser. No matter whether he dies or lives, even if he appears in the Ming Dynasty again, he should not make any big fuss. For such a person, Zhu Di will mobilize people to send people to Nanyang? Even if Emperor Jianwen is really in Nanyang, he is not stupid. Seeing such a big fanfare, can he still stand up and not run away?

Moreover, Zheng He's fleet was farthest to southern Africa and Australia. Some people even found out that Zheng He's fleet discovered America before Columbus. Could it be that he ran so far just to chase Zhu Yunwen? Could it be that Zhu Yunwen is also a superman who wears clothes?

What's more, if this logic is applied, Ming Daizong should have fought in the north to Oirat, and then snatched the captured Yingzong back and slaughtered. Otherwise, how could he sit on the dragon throne with peace of mind?

But in fact, this incident did not happen. Yingzong was let go by the Tartars himself. After returning to the capital, he survived peacefully and finally restored the throne.

By analogy, Xie Hong really doesn't believe it. With Zhu Di's courage and courage, Zhu Yunwen, who was not even a scumbag, would be worried and even mobilized for him.

You should know that when Zheng He first went to the West, the fleet was extremely large, with more than 27,000 people and more than 200 sea ships, of which most of them were treasure ships with a capacity of more than 5,000! This fleet was just to catch fugitives?

What a joke, even in the middle and early stages of the Age of Discovery, such a fleet would be enough to sweep across Europe. To use such a fleet to capture Zhu Yunwen, unless Zhu Di suffered from paranoia and depression at the same time.

In fact, according to the information learned by Xie Hong and analyzed, Zheng He's first two voyages to the West should be purely military operations, in order to deter Japanese pirates who harassed coastal defense from time to time, and to crack down on the Nanyang pirate group headed by Chen Zuyi, and to clear obstacles for the next maritime trade operations.

The Japanese pirates were self-evident. During the Mongolian Yuan period, the invasion of the *** people against Japan caused hostility to Japan. Especially after the two defeats of the Japanese conquests, the Japanese became even more arrogant and took advantage of the chaos at the end of the Yuan Dynasty to attack the southeast coast, which continued until the early Ming Dynasty.

When Zheng He's fleet set off, not only did the Japanese pirates along the coast of Ming Dynasty be wiped out, but the Japanese mainland was also shocked. The king said that the Japanese pirates were composed of Japanese bandits and had nothing to do with the Japanese court. He also sent a navy army to cooperate with the Ming army's clearance operation.

For a long time after that, Japanese pirates no longer appeared in the borders of the Ming Dynasty, which restored normal order to the Ming Dynasty.

Chen Zuyi was from Chaozhou, Guangdong. During the Hongwu period, he went to the South China Ocean with his family. Then, he was entrenched in Malacca for more than ten years. At its peak, he had more than 10,000 warships and more than 100 warships appeared on the sea surfaces of ***, Taiwan, the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean and other seas. Not only did he rob passing ships, but he even forced some small countries in the South China Ocean to pay tribute to him. He was a majestic hero who dominated the sea for a while.

Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was very angry with this man. During the Hongwu period, Chen Zuyi had a reward of 500,000 taels. During the Yongle period, the reward increased fifteen times, becoming 7.5 million taels! This number is almost equivalent to the income of the Ming Dynasty in the year, which shows the importance he attached to him by the two founding emperors of the Ming Dynasty.

The one who eventually eliminated Chen Zuyi's pirate forces and captured him alive and brought him back to the Ming Dynasty was Zheng He. This happened in the fifth year of Yongle, which was during the process of Zheng He's first voyage to the West.

Therefore, Xie Hong can be confident that unless Zhu Di clearly knew that Zhu Yunwen had defected to Chen Zuyi, his voyage to the West would not have been to capture the young man, but a military action that included the purpose of expanding the sea area. Moreover, this military action was extremely successful.

Whether it is Jiangnan, Fujian and Guangdong, it was after the sea routes were opened that large-scale maritime trade began to develop. With the advancement of Zheng He's fleet, private merchant ships followed him and greatly expanded the scale of maritime trade.

As for profits, whether there is or how much, it is actually lost in history. But Xie Hong believes that even if the official fleet is in a loss state, the private merchants have made a fortune. Then, the navy has opened the way, how can it not make money?

From the beginning and end of the voyage to the West, we can also see that the mentality of the scholars and officials changed from initial support to opposition, and in the end it turned into a boycott.

Why? It’s not that Zheng He’s fleet has swept the sea route, which is useless to them. This is not counting. The most important thing is that the imperial fleet has begun to make money. Zheng He is a eunuch. Obviously, the money he earns will not enter the treasury, but will only enrich the emperor’s inner treasury. How can the literati and officials not be jealous? How can they not resist?

During the Yongle period, they could not deal with Zhu Di, so they could only grit their teeth secretly. However, when Zhu Di died, Zhu Gaochi, who was confused by them, was no match for him. He directly issued an imperial edict and called back the fleet that was on the seventh voyage, and then issued a sea ban.

The ending of the fleet that once stood at the top of the world is sad. They may have rotted quietly in the dock, or become a number in the Ministry of Works' inventory, but in fact they went to other places and changed to other owners...

In short, this fleet disappeared, and China's navigation civilization was completely terminated. Although the harbor was still prosperous and the maritime trade continued, no one was concerned about improving navigation technology and expanding the national waters, because those things obviously had nothing to do with making money, and they would only become burdens.

It is precisely because of this that the allusion of the Three Treasures Eunuchs voyage to the West was also very secretive among the people of the Ming Dynasty. Especially in inland places like the capital, except for the stories they heard when they were young, or the rare objects they saw, no one could tell the details of this allusion.

He only knew that there was something but didn't know the details, but it felt even more mysterious. Therefore, after Wu Yongjian entered Zhenbaozhai, after only a few words, his attention was firmly attracted.

"But the fleet of the Sanbao eunuchs left Mantaga and walked south with the wind. It was a scene of dozens of days... There was no land on the vast sea, and it was like a cape. On this day, the water and food on the ship were about to be gone. The Sanbao eunuchs were really worried. At this moment, a cheer suddenly came from the observation deck. When the Sanbao eunuchs were looking up, they saw a black line suddenly appearing in the south... When they were closer, they looked at it again, it was a huge island!"

"Wow!"

They are all told in the routine of Romance, but compared to familiar stories such as the Three Kingdoms, Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Sailing Record of the Three Treasures Eunuch, which is the commentary that Hou Defang is talking about, gives people a sense of freshness and mystery. Everyone's emotions fluctuate with the ups and downs of the story. Every time the storyteller sells a secret, it will be amazed.

Even Wu Yongjian, who had just heard it, subconsciously called out, and forgot to go upstairs into the private room, but stood in the middle of the stairs and stopped and listened.

In the past, when encountering this situation, the people who maintained order in Houdefang would definitely come to drive him away, but now those people are also listening to the storytellers with full concentration. Where can they distinguish God from taking care of other things?

"The eunuch Sanbao was overjoyed when he saw this and immediately sent an order to dock the fleet and sent spies to investigate... It doesn't matter if he doesn't explore, but he was shocked when he explored. This island is not as good as a continent than an island. Don't say that it is a small place like Mantaga, even if it is not far from my Middle-earth Celestial Empire!"

The storyteller's eyes were full of blood. This story was the latest one. In order to recite it, he and his colleagues stayed up all night before they could go on stage to comment today. There were also many mistakes and omissions during this period, but none of the listeners cared about it. They just listened to the stories and ignored the flaws.

The audience was very tolerant, and he became more and more excited as he spoke, with fewer mistakes and fewer mistakes, and the narration became more and more vivid.

"The eunuch of the Three Treasures found a high mountain and climbed up to see the distance. The vastness could not be seen at first glance, and it seemed like an endless feeling. In the wilderness plain, all kinds of unheard of rare beasts were everywhere... Among them, there was a strange beast with horns on its head and spots on its body, which was like a deer-shaped figure, but it was extremely long..."

"Qilin!" A sudden scream came from the audience. In ancient legends of chemistry, Qilin looked like a deer, with a horn on its head, a scale on its body, and a tail like an ox. After hearing the storyteller's description, everyone was shocked.

"There is another beast, with a rat head and neck, short forelimbs, and a thick hind limbs, and a large body, and more than half a person tall. The most amazing thing is that the beast has a bag in front of it, and putting the young beast in a bag to raise it is really amazing, and it makes people puzzled..."

"What is this?" The previous one can have similar allusions, but this time, they can't even find the allusions. Everyone is very strange, but they can't understand them when they ask for advice.

"It's okay if it's just a strange beast. After the three treasure eunuchs explored, they found that the island's gold mines were everywhere and silver was everywhere, but it was somewhat similar to the rumored Treasure Island..."

"Wow!" Who doesn't love gold and silver? What's more, it's a big island full of gold and silver, it's simply a myth!

"That's not all. It's similar to the South Ocean. The island is hot all year round, with overgrown grasses. Although the grains are different from the Central Plains, they can all be eaten. The best thing is that the grains can grow for three seasons a year. Guests, think about it, can there be food in such a place? "

"That's not it!" Hou Defang was amazed. Most of the other teahouses in the capital were like this. People were amazed and had their own thoughts.

The things in the commentary make people feel that they are listening to myths, but everything is described in detail, and some are quite consistent with the legends passed down by old people. Even if they are edited, they should not be able to compile this level? You must know that the actual owner of Hou Defang has always been known for his extensive knowledge and high means, and it is not surprising that he can know these secrets.

If these are true, it would be fascinating. No wonder Grandpa Chengzu had to send people to sea back then. This was not a waste of money. It was clearly a treasure hunting adventure overseas?

What? Don’t you believe it? Do you believe it or not? I believe it anyway!
Chapter completed!