Скачать или смотреть $500M Fleet: Why China's Navy Was 5X Bigger Than Columbus

China's treasure fleet was 5X larger than Columbus—400-foot ships, 27,800 men, $500 million in costs. Then they destroyed it all. Here's the economics that explain why.

In 1405, 28 years before Columbus sailed, China launched the world's largest naval fleet. Admiral Zheng He commanded 317 ships including 62 massive treasure ships—each 400 feet long, dwarfing Columbus's 85-foot Santa Maria. The fleet cost approximately $500 million in today's dollars and carried 27,800 men across seven voyages to Africa, Arabia, and beyond.

But after 1433, China dismantled the entire fleet and banned ocean exploration. The economics explain everything: the Mongol threat required military spending, Confucian officials opposed expensive maritime ventures, and the treasure fleet's costs—while impressive—couldn't justify returns during wartime. China turned inward for 400 years.

Today, China's Belt and Road Initiative is spending $1-8 trillion on infrastructure across 150+ countries. It's the treasure fleet strategy reborn: build influence through massive spending. Will it end the same way?

*TIMESTAMPS:*
0:00 - $500M Fleet Compared to Columbus
3:15 - Evidence #1: Fleet Construction Records
8:45 - The Economic System Behind the Voyages
12:30 - Evidence #2: Why They Stopped
18:00 - The Human Cost
20:45 - Evidence #3: Belt & Road = Treasure Fleet 2.0
24:00 - What This Means Today

*SOURCES:*
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_tr...
https://afe.easia.columbia.edu/specia...
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chin...

#economics #china #history #silkroad #zhenghe #columbus #documentary #trade #beltandroad #navalhistory #mingdynasty #treasurefleet #exploration #maritimehistory #chinesehistory

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