Chapter 274 The dividends of the Age of Discovery must not be missed

As early as the third year of Yongle, the Ming Dynasty had already embarked on Zheng He's magnificent and spectacular voyage to the West.

It was so early that it even surpassed the later Age of Exploration.

In addition, the scale of the fleet led by Zheng He to the West was far larger than the fleets under the command of Prince Henry, Da Gama, Columbus, Magellan and other figures.

However, it is regrettable that the Ming Dynasty ultimately missed the Age of Discovery.

We failed to join in and become participants in this epoch-making civilization process in human history.

So what was the reason that caused the Ming Dynasty to miss such a rare opportunity?
Later historians believe that it can be explored from the following aspects.

First, the Ming Dynasty itself lacked the internal driving force to actively participate in the great era of navigation.

In contrast, European countries such as Portugal, Spain, Britain and the Netherlands showed such great enthusiasm in participating in the Age of Navigation.

The root cause is that these countries generally have small land areas and scarce natural resources.

Once the resources on land are exhausted and reach their limit, they will have no choice.

The only way is to turn our eyes to the vast ocean and find new opportunities to sustain our own survival and development.

Engels once said: "What the Portuguese are looking for on the coast of Africa, in India, and throughout the Far East is gold.

The word "gold" was like a magic spell, driving the Spaniards across the vast Atlantic Ocean to the other side of America.

When the white man first set foot on those newly discovered shores, the first thing he sought was gold.”

There is no doubt that precious resources such as gold, silk, and spices are like a surging torrent.

It became a powerful driving force for European countries to join the great era of navigation.

Dating back to the early 15th century and the early 16th century, this ancient period was the most prosperous period of the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty had a vast territory, a large population, and its agriculture had developed to a very advanced level.

In the second year of the Wanli reign, the Spanish traveler Martin de Rada arrived in Fujian.

He stayed here for more than two months.

Faced with the scene before him, Martin de Rada could not help but be astonished and expressed his sincere admiration for the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty!
Later, when he recalled this experience, he could not help but express his admiration and wonder.

In his memoirs, Martin de Rada wrote: “The people here have plenty of food, they wear fine clothes, and their homes are furnished in the most beautiful and magnificent ways.

It is particularly worth mentioning that they are hardworking and are all shrewd and capable businessmen or trade experts.

All this, coupled with the fertility of the land itself, makes it a country that is recognized as rich and prosperous by the world. "

Since it is such "the world's leading wealthy country", how could there be any adventurer willing to take risks?

How about setting foot on the rough sea to explore the unknown new continent?

Second, the Ming Dynasty had no demand for new sea routes.

Before the 15th century, the trade routes between the East and the West were not smooth and transportation costs were extremely high.

As a result, the prices of goods shipped from the far East to the West soared to six to ten times their original prices!
It is for this reason that European countries are eager to open up a new waterway connecting Europe and Asia.

However, the ancient land of China has been a country based on agriculture since ancient times.

Most areas are immersed in a self-sufficient small peasant economy model and do not need to rely on imports from Europe to make a living.

Moreover, in Europe at that time, there was really no product that could impress people and be exported to China. In addition, there is another crucial factor to consider.

When the Ming Dynasty was just established, the imperial court issued a strict maritime ban in order to resist the frequent harassment and invasion of coastal areas by Japanese pirates.

This ban not only explicitly prohibited merchants from the Ming Dynasty from going overseas to engage in business activities, but also imposed strict restrictions on foreign merchants entering the Ming Dynasty to conduct trade.

As a result, all the sea routes that had been opened up were blocked.

It is simply a fantasy to want to open up a completely new route.

Third, the Ming Dynasty’s ocean-going navigation technology was clearly lagging behind that of European countries.

As early as the beginning of the 15th century, with the significant improvement of scientific and technological levels, the continuous expansion of geographical knowledge, and the continuous strengthening of shipbuilding technology capabilities.

It has become natural for European countries to embark on ocean voyages.

However, although the Ming Dynasty has a long coastline, China is not essentially a maritime country, but a typical land-based country.

On this vast land, there is transportation between the south and the north, as well as between the east and the west.

Apart from relying on traditional land transportation, we can only rely on the world-famous Grand Canal.

This made the Ming Dynasty's navigation technology significantly lag behind that of European countries.

Throughout the long history of Chinese civilization, the Tang Dynasty has always been recognized as a prosperous dynasty that attracted worldwide attention.

However, what is unexpected is that even such a glorious and splendid Tang Empire.

The eminent monk Jianzhen experienced five tragic failures in his voyage to Japan, until the sixth time he finally succeeded.

Through this phenomenon, it is not difficult to find that the level of navigation technology during the Tang Dynasty was indeed not very advanced.

In comparison, the Song Dynasty was the dynasty that reached the pinnacle of ancient navigation capabilities.

The key reason for this is that the Song Dynasty did not promulgate and implement the strict maritime ban.

As a result, overseas trade became extremely prosperous.

It is precisely because of this that the navigation technology of the Song Dynasty was able to achieve a rapid and significant improvement.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. After the Song Dynasty, navigation technology fell into a trough again.

Looking back on the famous "Zheng He's Voyages to the West" during the Yongle period, it was actually just a slow journey along the coastline.

The degree of difficulty and danger is simply incomparable to the ocean expeditions experienced by Western navigators such as Da Gama, Columbus and Magellan.

Therefore, it can be asserted that even though there were explorers in the Ming Dynasty who were willing to join the great era of navigation.

However, due to the relatively backward navigation technology at that time, they were ultimately unable to travel far.

Nor could it leave a significant mark in the history of world navigation.

4. The reason why ocean voyages during the Ming Dynasty were difficult to sustain development.

One of the important reasons is the lack of solid interest support behind it.

In ancient society, there was a unique "tribute system".

This system stipulated that neighboring countries would send envoys to China to offer tributes to express their respect and submission to the Central Plains dynasty.

(End of this chapter)