Why did the Yongle emperor send Zheng He on his voyages of exploration, what did they accomplish, and why were they ended?
The emperor did so to establish trade routes and get tributary states from Southeast Asia. Xenophobia, the fear of all things foreign, played a small role in ending it, but the main reason why was because Zheng He died. And to show how important he is, the emperor orders all the ships to be destroyed in his memory.
And how important was Zheng He? He sailed all over the place, and very likely reached the Americas. However, we have no proof because the emperor ordered all records, all ships, and all equipment to be destroyed.
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