When the emperor comes to modern times, history collapses!

Chapter 119: Seven Voyages to the West, and the Treaty of Shimonoseki

Zhao Kuangyin stood up immediately: "Old Zhu, what did you just say? Are you kidding?"

"My tomb was robbed, and it was robbed several times!"

Old Zhu said with a smile: "Because this is indeed the case with our records."

“It’s only been a few hundred years.”

"You can ask Xiao Zhu. I guess in modern times, there should be more people visiting your mausoleum!"

Zhao Kuangyin asked hurriedly: "Xiao Zhu, is it true that my tomb has been robbed many times?"

Zhu Ming searched for it.

"Indeed, many people visited here, which was mainly due to the environment during the Song Dynasty."

"The Jin people moved south, and the court moved to another place."

“Who will take care of the original mausoleum?”

“It’s normal to be stolen!”

"Don't worry, your tomb has been protected!"

Zhao Kuangyin cursed: "That daring man dared to rob my tomb. If I catch him, I will kill him!"

Zhu Ming: "It's been quite a few years, so it's a bit difficult!"

Old Zhu consoled him and said, "Who hasn't been robbed? Old Yang is even worse off than you. He even dug up his own grave once."

Zhao Kuangyin asked: "Is this the reason why you won't build the imperial mausoleum?"

Lao Zhu: "Show him how you protect them there."

Zhu Ming found a few videos, and Zhao Kuangyin suddenly felt that it would be better not to protect him.

I'll pry open the coffins for you, leaving no corner untouched.

If you have never seen tiles before you die, you can still use them after you die!

"I have decided that I will not build the imperial mausoleum anymore!"

"I have to tell everyone in the world that there is nothing in my grave!"

Emperor Wu of Han felt uneasy and asked anxiously, "Where is my tomb?"

Zhu Ming continued searching.

"Old Liu, you'd better hold on. Your tomb may have more visitors than Old Zhao's. Three years after you opened it, someone started buying and selling the funerary objects stolen from your tomb. Later, it was even dug up and robbed by several large armies."

Emperor Wu of Han was surprised: "Stolen by the army?"

Zhu Ming: "Later, there were armies that specialized in tomb robbing. You must have been robbed by a professional tomb-robbing general and his army!"

Emperor Wu of Han felt a tightness in his chest.

"Who invented such an immoral army that specializes in digging up human graves? Aren't they afraid of being punished by God?"

Zhu Ming: "So, why did you bury so many things?"

"It is normal for the army that has no food or money to rob tombs in order to survive."

"Especially the imperial mausoleum, there are real treasures inside!"

Lao Yang: "Humph, if you knew what happened to me, you should be happy!"

Emperor Wu of Han was a little curious: "Old Yang, your tomb was also robbed?"

Lao Yang: "I feel like it might as well have been stolen."

Zhu Ming took out the video.

See how Lao Yang's tomb was discovered.

And the whole process.

I saw two teeth and was visited by others.

Suddenly I felt a little balanced.

Emperor Wu of Han took a deep breath and said, "Old Yang, I have to say, your two teeth are quite beautiful!"

"I will stop the mausoleum construction after I return. It would be better to use the money to fight against the Xiongnu in the north!"

Zhu Ming: "I think you should repair it and add more murals and texts to tell future generations what the era you lived in was like."

“Perhaps it can be used as a tourist attraction or museum in the future to boost local development.”

When it comes to tourist attractions, all emperors are depressed.

Yang Guang looked at Zhu Di and said, "Brother, your shipbuilding technology is quite good. I will send someone to learn from you later."

Zhu Di patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, big brother. I promise to teach you how to do it."

Lao Zhu asked, "Why did you think of building a ship?"

Lao Yang: "I just want to see the whole world and mark it in advance so that I can conquer it when the time comes."

"Especially those places rich in mineral resources, we must occupy them!"

The First Emperor was shocked: "No wonder everyone says you have foresight and think far ahead. Unfortunately, the current level of the Qin Empire is limited. Let's deal with the surrounding areas first."

Emperor Wu of Han envied: "I have to defeat the Xiongnu first. As long as the Xiongnu is not defeated, the Han Dynasty will have no time to spare."

Li Yuan laughed: "Cousin, you work hard, our situations are similar, and when I take care of the aristocratic families, I can follow your path!"

Zhao Kuangyin: "When will a descendant come to help me, the founding emperor?"

Old Zhu patted Yang Guang on the shoulder and said, "As expected of Old Yang, you think the same as me. I have asked someone to research a large ship that can sail far into the ocean."

"Once we have finished cleaning up the north, we can start sailing across the ocean."

"This time, the Ming Dynasty will lead the Age of Exploration!"

Zhu Di chuckled and said, "I have a capable man named Zheng He under my command, who is preparing to build a ship and sail!"

Even if Zhu Ming failed history, he knew who Zheng He was.

"This Zheng He was very powerful. He made seven voyages to the West and visited many places."

Zhu Di asked in surprise: "Are you telling the truth?"

Zhu Ming nodded: "Of course."

"Let me tell you the story of Zheng He's seven voyages to the West!"

"Zheng He's voyages to the West were long-distance voyages during the Yongle and Xuande years of the Ming Dynasty.

The first voyage was in the third year of Yongle.

In the third year of Yongle, Zheng He's fleet sailed from Liujiahe in Suzhou to Fujian, and then set off from Wuhumen in Fujian.

Arrived in Champa (present-day south-central Vietnam).

Zheng He then sailed towards Java.

When the fleet arrived in Java, it encountered civil war between West Java and East Java.

When Zheng He landed to trade, he was mistaken for the army of the Eastern King and 170 of his men were killed.

As this was the first time Zheng He encountered such a thing, he tried his best to remain calm and deal with it calmly, and the matter was resolved peacefully.

After that, he went to Sumatra, Malacca, Ceylon, and finally arrived in Calicut.

On behalf of the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He bestowed the kingdom with a silver seal and an imperial edict, and built a pavilion and erected a stone tablet. The inscription on the tablet said that the Kingdom of Guli "is more than 100,000 miles away from my country, with similar people and things, and the same customs. I have engraved this stone here to show it to future generations forever."

On September 2, the fifth year of Yongle, Zheng He led his fleet back to China.

The second voyage was in the fifth year of Yongle
Shortly after returning to China, Zheng He made his second voyage to the West.

This time he mainly visited Champa, Java, Siam, Malacca, Nanwuli, Kayila, Ceylon, Cochin, Calicut and other countries.

He returned to China in the seventh year of Yongle.

During this voyage, Zheng He made a special trip to Ceylon to make donations to the Buddhist temple on Mount Ceylon and erected a stele with an inscription to commemorate it forever.

The inscriptions are in Chinese, Tamil and Persian, and they pay respect to Buddha, Vishnu and Allah respectively. The Chinese inscription reads, "I donate gold and silver woven gold, silk banners, incense burners, vases, lamps and candles to the Buddhist temple as offerings, and I hope the Buddha will see it."

This stele was discovered in Sri Lanka in 1911 and is now preserved in the Sri Lanka National Museum.

the third time:
In October of the seventh year of Yongle, Zheng He set out again shortly after returning to China.

Zhu Di ordered the chief eunuch Zheng He, the deputy envoy Wang Jinghong and Hou Xian to lead more than 27,000 officers and soldiers, and 48 ships to set sail from Liujia Port in Taicang, passing through Champa, Bintanglong, Chenla, Siam, Kalimantan, Jiaolan Mountain, Java, Chonggara, Jilimendi, Calicut, Malacca, Pahang, East and West India, Longya Kama, Tanyang, Sumatra, Huamian, Ambergris Island, Cuilan Island, Aru, Ceylon, Kolan, Cochin, Bengal, Brahmaputra, Dhruva, Mukden, Sulu and other countries.

In Manjica, Zheng He built warehouses, and stored the money, grain and goods needed for his voyage to the West in the warehouses for ready use.

Ships bound for various countries also gather here when returning.

On the return journey, Zheng He's fleet visited the Kingdom of Ceylon again. The King of Ceylon, Arikunaru, lured Zheng He into his kingdom and sent 50,000 troops to besiege Zheng He's fleet. He also cut down trees to block Zheng He's way back.

After Zheng He found that his way back was cut off, he said to his subordinates: "The main force of the bandits has already been dispatched, and the capital must be empty. They will think that we have come from afar and are weak and cowardly and cannot do anything. If we attack their capital unexpectedly, we can expect victory."

So, Zheng He took advantage of the fact that the enemy had left in full force, leaving the country empty, and led his 2,000 officers and soldiers to raid the royal city of Alegunaer at night. He broke into the city and captured Alegunaer and his family alive.

On July 6, the ninth year of Yongle, Zheng He's fleet returned home.

the fourth time:
At the end of the tenth year of Yongle, Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di ordered Zheng He to embark on a larger voyage.

The chief eunuch Zheng He and the deputy envoy Wang Jinghong were ordered to lead an army of more than 27,000 people and 40 ships.

The delegation included 868 officials, 26800 soldiers, 93 commanders, 2 deputy commanders, 140 clerks, 430 centurions, 1 minister of the Ministry of Revenue, 1 astrologer, 1 instructor, 2 servants, 180 medical officers and doctors, 7 chief eunuchs, 5 deputy eunuchs, 10 junior eunuchs, and 53 eunuchs including the translator Ma Huan, the imam of the current mosque, Hasan, and the commanders Tang Jing, Wang Heng, Lin Zixuan, Hu Jun, and Ha Tong.

He was sent as envoy to Malacca, Java, Champa, Sumatra, Cochin, Calicut, Nambori, Pahang, Kelantan, Kayila, Belumos, Bela, Lusan and Sungai Rata.

This time, Zheng He's fleet first arrived in Champa, and then led the large fleet to Java, Malacca, and Sumatra.

Another team was sent from Sumatra to reach Liushan (now the Maldives Islands).

The large fleet led by Zheng He sailed from Sumatra to Ceylon.

In Ceylon, Zheng He again dispatched the fleet to Kayil (now on the east coast of the southern tip of the Indian Peninsula), and the large fleet sailed to Calicut, and then directly from Calicut to the largest island in the Persian Gulf - Qeshm Island in Hormuz (now in Iran).

Qeshm Island was an important metropolis for commercial exchanges between the East and the West at that time.

During this voyage, Zheng He's fleet bypassed the Arabian Peninsula and arrived at the East African Kingdom of Malindi for the first time (some say present-day Malindi in Kenya; others say present-day Somalia).

After Zheng He arrived in the country, he read out the imperial edict and bestowed titles on the king and others. It was also during this voyage that Zheng He led the Ming army and the local armed forces of Sumatra to defeat and capture Suganla, who was plotting to usurp the throne and led his troops to intercept and kill Zheng He's fleet.

Moreover, in response to the visit of Zheng He's delegation, the State of Malin sent an envoy to China to offer a giraffe. This magical animal immediately shocked the court and the people, and people even thought that this was the legendary "Qilin".

In August of the 13th year of Yongle, Zheng He's fleet returned to China.

the fifth time:
In the 15th year of Yongle, Zheng He was ordered to sail to the West for the fifth time.

Many countries came to pay homage to the Ming Dynasty.

Zheng He was ordered by the imperial court to send envoys from various countries back to their countries and conduct visits.

According to the "Zheng He Pilgrimage Stele" signed by Pu Heri, Zheng He went on a pilgrimage in Quanzhou on May 16, the 15th year of the Yongle reign.

In the autumn of the same year, Zheng He led his fleet to set off, accompanied by the monk Huixin, generals Zhu Zhen, Tang Jing and others.

Zheng He's fleet first arrived in Champa, and then successively reached Java, Pahang (now part of Malaysia), Ceylon, Sariwani, and Cochin.

In Cochin, Zheng He, on behalf of the Ming Dynasty, granted the king a seal and edict, named a large mountain in the country as the National Guard Mountain, and erected a monument with an inscription.

After the fleet arrived in Ceylon, Zheng He sent a fleet to Liushan, and then sailed west from Liushan to Mugudusu (now Mogadishu, Somalia on the east coast of Africa) and Malin Kingdom.

Zheng He's large fleet was divided into two groups when it arrived in Calicut. One fleet sailed to Zufar (now Dhofar in Oman), Adan and Lasa (now Yemen) on the Arabian Peninsula, and the other fleet went directly to Hormuz.

This time, Hormuz paid tribute to lions, leopards, and western horses; the Kingdom of Adan paid tribute to "unicorns"; Zufar paid tribute to long-horned horses; Mugudusu paid tribute to spotted deer and lions; Blawa paid tribute to thousand-mile camels and ostriches; Java and Guli paid tribute to the lamb.

In August of the 17th year of Yongle, Zheng He's fleet returned home.

the sixth time:
In the first month of the 19th year of Yongle, Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty ordered Zheng He to send envoys from 16 countries back to their countries.

During this voyage, Zheng He's fleet officially arrived at Zufar.

The countries and regions that the fleet arrived at successively included Champa, Siam, Calicut, Ceylon, Lioshen, Sumatra, Malacca, Gambari (southwest India), and Manbasa (now Mombasa, Kenya).

In September of the 20th year of the Yongle reign, Zheng He's fleet returned to China, carrying with it envoys from Siam, Sumatra, Hattan and other countries to pay tribute.

Seventh time:
In June of the fifth year of Xuande, Ming Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji ordered Zheng He to sail to the West for the seventh time.

Zheng He's fleet sailed from Longjiang Pass and headed for Changle, Fujian.

During the Hou Feng period, he engraved the "Monument to the Miraculous Response of the Heavenly Concubine" and cast a bronze bell, leaving important historical materials for future generations to study Zheng He's voyages to the West.

It is recorded that there were 27550 people on this voyage.

The fleet passed through Champa, Java, Sumatra, and Calicut, and headed south to the Mozambique Channel at the southern tip of Africa, and then returned.

Unfortunately, when the fleet sailed near Guli, Zheng He fell ill due to overwork and died in the early spring of the eighth year of Xuande.

In the same year, the eunuch Wang Jinghong led the voyage back home.

After hearing this, several emperors couldn't help but feel curious about Zheng He.

Except Emperor Wu of Han.

Everyone else has seen modern maps.

I have a clear understanding of the vastness of the ocean.

The First Emperor sighed: "They are all eunuchs. Compared with Zheng He, Zhao Gao is not even worthy of carrying his shoes!"

Emperor Wu of Han: "The sea is so vast that it takes two or three years to sail across it."

Lao Yang: "Can we have Zheng He come to the Sui Dynasty to train a group of seafarers?"

Lao Zhao: "The Song Dynasty also needs to train a group of seafarers."

Old Zhu: "It was not easy for Zheng He to have you. You basically lived on the sea all the time."

"It's only because you, the fourth brother, are gone that we can rest for a few years!"

Zhu Di was pleasantly surprised: "Haha, you are indeed a talent that I value. You really make me proud!"

"I'll give him a promotion when I get back!"

Zhu Ming continued:

Zheng He's voyages to the West were the largest and longest maritime voyages in ancient China, with the most ships and seamen, and were also the largest series of maritime expeditions in world history at that time.

It was a display of the powerful national strength of the Ming Dynasty at that time. The fleet led by Zheng He traversed the oceans, carried out peaceful exchanges with Western countries, and realized tribute from all nations. Unfortunately, this was also the last world event in ancient Chinese history!
In the tenth year of Ming Xuande, the Ming Dynasty promulgated a series of maritime ban policies. Five years later, the number of ships in Zhejiang had dropped by more than half.

In the 13th year of the Hongzhi reign of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty issued another order: "Those military and civilians who build large ships without permission" or "those who take prohibited goods to sea to trade in vassal states" will be sentenced to death and their entire families will be sent to the border as soldiers.

This policy caused the advanced shipbuilding technology that had been passed down in our country for hundreds of years to be lost forever as the craftsmen grew old.

In this way, the Ming and Qing dynasties not only implemented a maritime ban, but also implemented a policy of closing the country to the outside world, causing Yanhuang to miss the Age of Discovery.

China's economy and technology were gradually surpassed by the West. In the late Qing Dynasty, the West used cannons to blast open the country's doors and forced the Qing Dynasty to sign a series of unequal treaties!

Several emperors frowned when they heard this.

"What? We were surpassed by Western countries. How could those uncivilized people surpass us?"

"We also signed unequal treaties. And it wasn't just one, but a series?"

"The Qing Dynasty is incompetent, what a waste!"

"Why didn't the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty come in? If I see him, I will make him taste my fist!"

"Just listening to it makes me angry!"

"I never thought that there would be such a thing behind our Ming Dynasty. Fourth Brother, look at what you have done!"

Zhu Ming: "If you knew the contents of the treaty, you would probably be even angrier!"

Even though Japan was such a small country, it still forced the Qing Dynasty to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki.

Let me give you a brief account of the contents of the treaty.

1. Cede territory: Cede the Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan, and the Penghu Islands to Japan. This not only caused large tracts of territory to become Japanese colonies, but also severely weakened the Qing Dynasty's national defense and facilitated Japan's further invasion of China.

Zhu Ming opened the map on his mobile phone and pointed out where they were.

2. Compensation: million taels of silver to Japan.

Among them, Japan demanded that the Qing Dynasty cede the Liaodong Peninsula, but failed due to the interference of Russia, Germany and France.

The Qing Dynasty needed to pay an additional 3000 million taels of silver to Japan, which was called "Liao redemption fee."

Adding these 2.3 million, it would be million taels of silver.

If the loan can be fully repaid within three years from the date of ratification of the treaty, the remaining amount will be interest-free, except for the interest already paid or the principal payable within two and a half years or less.

3. Opening of trading ports: The Qing Dynasty also opened Shashi, Chongqing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou as trading ports;

4. Allow Japan to invest and build factories in the Qing Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)