zheng he

Ming China's Yongle Emperor sent maritime expeditions under Admiral Zheng He to establish imperial control over the maritime trade, to bring the maritime trade into the tributary system and to force foreign countries to comply with the tributary system. But the expeditions were stopped to divert...

I was reading through Zheng He by Zhou Zibin, given to me by my professor who is from mainland china. In chapter 27 of the book, the book records using ming records that in 1410, a drought in the lucrative fur trade had created a small economic downturn which was negatively impacting the...