After I transmigrated to the Yongle era of the Ming dynasty, the first thing I did was volunteer to sail west before Zheng He could.
Zhu Di was skeptical, so I laid out the map of the world I had drawn with my own hands.
“Your Majesty, look: nine-tenths of the world’s wealth lies across the seas. The Portuguese and the red-haired barbarians are sharpening their blades. In a hundred years, they’ll divide the oceans among themselves and threaten our Chinese lands.”
“If Your Majesty trusts me and gives me twenty years, every sea reached by the sun and moon will become a route for the Great Ming, and every foreign kingdom yet to submit will pay tribute to us.”
From then on, I led a fleet far beyond its time, cutting through the waves on distant voyages.
We built a city in Malacca, stationed troops in the Indian Ocean, and raised the sun-and-moon banner at the Cape of Good Hope. The nations of Europe trembled at our approach.
Twenty-two years passed in the blink of an eye. At the top of the Forbidden City, the Yongle Emperor received envoys from every nation.
The Western envoys knelt, trembling. “P-please, Your Imperial Majesty, designate sea routes for us.”
Why has the update been discontinued? Is it because there is no measurement? Can we resume updating now that we have enough?