However, the presence of military weapons and soldiers was no doubt intended to display the might of the emperor and gain the allegiance and tribute of peoples without the use of actual force, as was indeed the case in the majority of places visited.
After the Yongle emperor died, the voyages of the treasure fleet ceased for six years. Then the Xuande emperor, Zhu Zhanji (1399-1435), ordered one final voyage in 1430 that also served a diplomatic purpose. As well as encouraging peace between Siam and Malacca, it intended to reverse a decline in the tribute trade and again display the majesty of the Chinese Empire, reinforcing the authority of the new emperor.
The voyages of Cheng Ho need to be understood in the wider context of Chinese seafaring and relationships with outsiders. Although his voyages were impressive for their scale and grandeur, they were not unique as diplomatic expeditions. Twelve centuries before his voyages, China carried out a diplomatic mission which spanned two decades and included visits to southeast Asia and the Arabian Sea, reaching as far as the eastern Roman Empire.
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