For later generations of Chinese people, Zheng He's voyage to the West undoubtedly represents that Chinese civilization was once at the pinnacle of the world in navigation, which is a good thing that makes people proud of it. 【】

However, the reason for it is that there are different opinions, and the more recognized theory is that Emperor Jianwen's whereabouts in the Battle of Jingyan are unknown, and according to the investigation, he is likely to have gone to Nanyang, so Chengzu Zhu Di ordered Zheng He to lead a fleet to the sea to find the whereabouts of Emperor Jianwen to eliminate future troubles.

In the Ming Dynasty, such a saying was also widely circulated, and according to this theory, Zheng He's navigation was terminated in the end, also because Emperor Renzong believed that the move to the South Seas was huge and the gains outweighed the losses, and it was a holy move to sympathize with the people's feelings.

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

Emperor Jianwen is just a loser, whether he is dead or alive, even if he appears in Daming again, he should not be able to make any big waves, for such a person, Zhu Di will send people to Nanyang? Even if Emperor Jianwen is really in Nanyang, he is not stupid, seeing such a big fanfare, can he still be stupid and not run?

Moreover, Zheng He's fleet went as far as southern Africa and Australia, and some people even verified that the detachment of Zheng He's fleet discovered America earlier than Columbus, could it be that he ran so far just to chase and kill a Zhu Yunwen? Could it be that Zhu Yunwen is also a superman who wears underwear outside?

What's more, if this logic is applied, Ming Dynasty Sect should have gone north to conquer Warat, and then snatched the captured Yingzong back and slaughtered him, otherwise how could he sit on the dragon chair with peace of mind?

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

By analogy, Xie Hong really didn't believe that with Zhu Di's bravery and courage, he would worry about Zhu Yunwen who was not even a scumbag, and even mobilized the crowd for it.

You must know that when Zheng He first went to the Western Ocean, the size of the fleet was extremely large, with more than 27,000 people and more than 200 sea ships, of which more than 5,000 treasure ships accounted for most of them! A fleet of this size just to catch fugitives?

What are you kidding, even in the middle and early stages of the Age of Discovery, such a fleet is enough to sweep Europe, and use such a fleet to catch Zhu Yunwen, unless Zhu Di suffers from paranoia and depression at the same time.

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

Needless to say, in the Mongol and Yuan dynasties, due to the Mongols' invasion of the Wa State, it attracted the hostility of the Wa State, especially after the failure of the two conquests, the Wa State was even more arrogant, taking advantage of the chaos at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there were attacks on the southeast coast from time to time, and it continued until the early years of the Ming Dynasty.

When Zheng He's fleet set off, not only the Ming coastal area was swept away, but also the Japanese mainland was shocked and inexplicable, saying that the king of this table confessed guilt, and said that the Japanese were composed of Japanese bandits, and had nothing to do with the Japanese court, and sent a naval army to cooperate with the Ming army's clean-up operation.

For a long time after that, the Japanese invaders ceased to appear in the Daming Sea Frontier, so that the Daming Sea returned to normal order.

Chen Zuyi is a native of Chaozhou, Guangdong, and during the Hongwu period, his family went to Nanyang. Then, he entrenched in Malacca for more than ten years, with more than 10,000 people and more than 100 warships at its peak, infesting the seas of Yueben, Taiwan, the South China Sea, and the Indian Ocean, not only plundering passing ships, but even coercing some small countries in the South Seas to pay tribute to him.

Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was very resentful of this person, during the Hongwu period, Chen Zuyi had a reward of 500,000 taels, and in the Yongle period, this bounty increased fifteen times, becoming 7.5 million taels! This figure is almost the same as the annual income of the Ming Dynasty, which shows the importance that the two founding emperors of the Ming Dynasty attached to him.

In the end, it was Zheng He who eliminated Chen Zuyi's pirate forces and captured him alive and brought him back to the Ming Dynasty, and this incident also happened in the fifth year of Yongle, that is, after Zheng He went to the Western Ocean for the first time, in the process of returning home.

Therefore, Xie Hong can say with great confidence that unless Zhu Di clearly knows that Zhu Yunwen has taken refuge in Chen Zuyi, it is impossible for the operation to go to the West to arrest the young man, but a military operation that contains the purpose of expanding the sea area, and this military operation is extremely successful.

Whether it is Jiangnan, Fujian or Guangdong, it is after the sea route is opened up, large-scale maritime trade began to develop, with the march of Zheng He's fleet, the civilian merchant ships followed, greatly expanding the scale of maritime trade.

As for the profit, whether there is or not, and if there is, it has actually been lost in history, but Xie Hong believes that even if the official fleet is in a state of loss, the private businessmen have made a lot of money. That's a sea trade with a navy opening the way, how can it not make money?

From the beginning and end of the Western operation, we can also see the change in the mentality of the scholars, from initial support, to opposition, and finally to resistance.

Why? It's not that Zheng He's fleet has already swept the sea routes, and it's useless for them, that's not all, the most important thing is that the imperial court's fleet has begun to make money. And Zheng He is a eunuch, obviously, the money he earns will not go into the treasury, but will only enrich the emperor's inner treasury, how can the scholars and doctors not be blushing? How not to boycott?

During the Yongle period, they couldn't deal with Zhu Di, so they could only grit their teeth secretly, but when Zhu Di died, Zhu Gaochi, who was dizzy by them, was not an opponent, so he directly issued a holy decree and summoned the fleet that was on the seventh voyage back, and then issued a ban on the sea.

The fate of the fleet that once stood at the top of the world was tragic, perhaps they rotted quietly in the dockyard, or they became a number on the inventory of the Ministry of Works, when in fact they went somewhere else, changed owners...... In short, this fleet disappeared, and the seafaring civilization of China was completely terminated, although the seaports were still prosperous and the sea trade continued, but no one cared about improving navigation technology and expanding the country's seas, because those things obviously had nothing to do with making money, but only became a burden.

It is precisely because of this that the allusions of the Three Treasure Eunuchs to the West are also secretive among the people of the Ming Dynasty. Especially in an inland place like the capital, no one can tell the details of this allusion, except for the stories that the old people occasionally mentioned, the stories they had heard when they were children, or the rare objects they had seen.

I only knew that there was this but didn't know the details, but it was more mysterious, so when Wu Yongjian entered Zhenbao Zhai, after only listening to a few words, his attention was firmly attracted.

But it was said that the fleet of the Three Treasure Eunuchs left the country of Manchurian Canada and sailed southward with the wind, and it was a scene of dozens of days in a flash...... The vast sea can not see the land at all, it is to the end of the cape, this day, the ship has run out of water and food, the three treasure eunuchs are really worried in their hearts, at this moment, there is a sudden cheer from the lookout, the three treasure eunuchs hurriedly raised their eyes to look, but saw a black line suddenly appeared in the south...... When I looked closer, it was a huge island! ”

"Wow!"

They are all told in the routine of romance, but compared with the familiar stories of the Three Kingdoms, Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Three Treasures Eunuch Navigation Record, that is, the commentary that Hou Defang is talking, gives people a sense of freshness and mystery, everyone's emotions fluctuate with the ups and downs of the story, and the storyteller is amazed every time he sells a pass.

Even Wu Yongjian, who had just come in and listened to his ears, subconsciously shouted, and then forgot to go upstairs to enter the private room, but stood in the middle of the stairs and stopped to listen.

In the past, when this situation was encountered, the people who maintained order in Houdefang would definitely come to chase him, but now those people are also listening to the storyteller's narration with all their attention, where can they distinguish themselves from other things?

Seeing this, the eunuch of the Three Treasures was overjoyed, and immediately issued an order to dock the fleet, and sent spies to investigate...... It doesn't matter if you don't explore, but when you explore it, you are surprised, this island is not so much an island, but a continent, Hugh said that a small place like Manchu Canada, even if it is not far from my Middle-earth Celestial Empire! ”

The storyteller's eyes were full of bloodshots, these words were the latest to come out, in order to memorize it, he and his colleagues stayed up all night, and only today can he come to the stage to comment, during which there were many mistakes and omissions, but no one in the audience cared, they just listened to the story, and ignored those flaws.

The audience was very tolerant, and the more he spoke, the more energetic he became, the fewer mistakes and omissions, and the more vivid the narration.

"The eunuch of the Three Treasures found a high mountain, climbed high and looked into the distance, and the vast expanse could not be seen at a glance, but it seemed to be endless, and in the wilderness plain, all kinds of unheard of rare and strange beasts were everywhere...... Among them was a strange beast with horns on its head and spots on its body, like a deer, but it was extremely long......"

"Kirin!" There was an exclamation in the audience, the unicorn in the ancient legend of chemistry, is like a deer, with a single horn on the head, scales all over the body, and a tail like an ox's tail.

"And there was another beast, with its head and neck like a mouse, and its forelimbs short, and its hind limbs quite stout, and its body was quite large, more than half a man's height, and the most wonderful thing was that the beast had a bag before it, and it was wonderful to put the young beast in the bag and raise it, and it was so wonderful that it was incomprehensible......

"What is this?" The previous one can still have similar allusions, but this time, even the allusions can't be found.

"It's just a strange beast, but under the exploration of the Three Treasure Eunuchs, they found that the gold mines on the island are everywhere, and silver is everywhere, but it is quite 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 and legend!

"That's not all, it's similar to the land of the South Seas, this island is also hot all year round, overgrown with grass, although the grains are different from the Central Plains, but they are all edible, the best part, the grain can grow three seasons a year, all the guests, think about it, such a place, can there still be a lack of food?"

"Not really!" In Houdefang, marvel endlessly, and most of the other teahouses in the capital are such a scene, and people are amazed, but also have their own thoughts.

The things in the commentary make people feel like they're listening to myths, but everything is described in great detail, and some of them are quite consistent with the legends passed down from generation to generation, even if it's made up, it shouldn't be able to make it up like this, right? You know, the de facto proprietor of Houdefang has always been known for his knowledge and high means, and it is not surprising to know these secrets.

If these are true, it is too fascinating, no wonder Grandpa Cheng sent people to the sea back then, which is a wasteful move, it is clearly to go overseas to hunt for treasures and adventures?

What the? You don't believe it? Believe it or not, I believe it anyway!

(To be continued)