Majapahit fell because its mandala system proved fragile: after Hayam Wuruk's death, succession disputes triggered the Paregreg civil war, and the empire's depleted, bankrupt state let Ming China, Muslim trading powers, and rising sultanates like Demak strip away its power until the capital was taken in 1478.

204:00ambitious and outward-looking ruler known as the Yong Lur Emperor. The Yonglur emperor was a patron of learning and sponsored the writing of a great encyclopedia made up of 23,000 written scrolls in an attempt to record all the world's knowledge. He was fascinated by everything and especially the world outside of China as he recorded in his work Ming Taong Baoun or the valuable teachings of Emperor Yong Lur.

204:58Whenever I can find the time, I read history books and the classics so as to avoid idol living. I constantly remind myself that the world is so vast and state affairs so important that I cannot succumb to laziness and complacency for even a moment. Once one has succumbed to laziness and complacency, everything will become stagnant. As a result of this fascination with the outer world, throughout his reign, he

205:35sent out a flurry of diplomatic missions to all corners of Asia, letting everyone know that China was once again open for business. And as part of this effort, he ordered the construction of a grand fleet designed to sail around the region and remind the people of every land of the might of China. To build his fleet, the Yonglur Emperor ordered the construction of a vast shipyard at a place called Liang or

206:18Dragon River. This sprawling industrial complex was built at the point where the Yangti River is met by the smaller Chin Wai in the Ming capital of Nanjing. And it would be the largest shipyard anywhere in the world. On its seven long large docks, at least 100 ships could be built at any one time. To help in his mammoth effort, the Yonglur emperor invited more than 20,000 craftsmen to work here on his ships. And

206:58timbers of elm, cedar, and campfor were brought in enormous quantities to the city of Nanjing, transported from inland ports down the rivers on flatbottomed barges. The noise of the shipwrights shouting and calling. The thump of the massive beams being lifted into place. The beating of chisels and hammers on nails. All of this would have sounded over the rooftops of Nanjing in the early years of the 15th century. For China, it was

207:30the sound of industry and progress. But for the power of Majapahit far across the sea in the south, it might as well have been the sound of nails being driven into its coffin. By the year 1405, as the regreg civil war dragged on in Majapay, the Yonglur emperor had completed his grand fleet. And now all he needed was an admiral to lead it. The man he chose was a unic, a giant

208:11named Jungh. In some ways, Jungha was an unlikely candidate to become China's most famous sailor and admiral. For one thing, he had barely any sailing experience. But he had spent much of his life serving the Yonglur Emperor as a military commander and had proved himself a capable and loyal general. Jungha was a Muslim born into a devout family in the southwest of China, but he had been captured during the wars of the

208:53preceding decades and had been castrated and brought up a unic as a kind of military slave. One writer named Yuan Jong describes his towering stature with perhaps some exaggeration. He was 7 ft tall and had a waist about 5 ft in circumference. His cheeks and forehead were high, but his nose was small. He had glaring eyes, teeth as white and well-shaped as shells, and a voice as loud as a huge bell. He knew a