ved. This made the reign of Yung-lo the most magnificent period of
the Ming epoch, but beneath the surface decay had begun. Typical of the
unmitigated absolutism which developed now, was the word of one of the
emperor's political and military advisors, significantly a Buddhist
monk: "I know the way of heaven. Why discuss the hearts of the people?"

9 _Navy. Southward expansion_

After the collapse of Mongol rule in Indo-China, partly through the
simple withdrawal of the Mongols, and partly through attacks from
various Chinese generals, there were independence movements in
south-west China and Indo-China. In 1393 wars broke out in Annam.
Yung-lo considered that the time had come to annex these regions to
China and so to open a new field for Chinese trade, which was suffering
continual disturbance from the Japanese. He sent armies to Yuennan and
Indo-China; at the same time he had a fleet built by one of his eunuchs,
Cheng Ho. The fleet was successfully protected from attack by the
Japanese. Cheng Ho, who had promoted the plan and also carried it out,
began in 1405 his famous mission to Indo-China, which had been envisaged
as giving at least moral support to the land operations, but was also
intended to renew trade connections with Indo-China, where they had been
interrupted by the collapse of Mongol rule. Cheng Ho sailed past
Indo-China and ultimately reached the coast of Arabia. His account of
his voyage is an important source of information about conditions in
southern Asia early in the fifteenth century. Cheng Ho and his fleet
made some further cruises, but they were discontinued. There may have
been several reasons, (1) As state enterprises, the expeditions were
very costly. Foreign goods could be obtained more cheaply and with less
trouble if foreign merchants came themselves to China or Chinese
merchants travelled at their own risk. (2) The moral success of the
naval enterprises was assured. China was recognized as a power
throughout southern Asia, and Annam had been reconquered. (3) After the
collapse of the Mongol emperor Timur, who died in 1406, there no longer
existed any great power in Central Asia, so that trade missions from the
kingdom of the Shahruk in North Persia were able to make their way to
China, including the famous mission of 1409-1411. (4) Finally, the fleet
would have had to be permanently guarded against the Japanese, as it had
been stationed not in South China but in the Yangtze region. As earl