Zheng He’s journey wasn’t just about exploration and trade. In fact, the emperor paid for the journeys because he wanted to show the rest of the world how powerful China was in the
15th century. When Zheng He accepted the animal gifts from Yemen, the emperor thought
that these gifts were given as “tribute,” which is kind of like a fee or tax that a vassal state pays
to its ruling state. A lot of people in Yemen thought this idea was funny, and that the Yongle
The Emperor didn’t understand how the rest of the world worked. Why do you think this is?