Ming ends treasure-ship voyages

Timeline

1. 1433Nanjiang · NanjingZheng He's seventh Western Seas fleet returned to Nanjing in the seventh month of the eighth year of Xuande, and commander Zheng He died on the homeward journey. Though the court still maintained the tributary trade framework, it had no intention of organizing another expedition of comparable scale, and the treasure-ship fleet entered a de facto end phase.
2. 1434–1435Beijing · BeijingIn his later years the Xuande Emperor shifted fiscal and military priorities to northern frontier defense and domestic affairs, no longer approving new treasure ships. The Longjiang treasure-ship yard in Nanjing gradually fell into disuse, ocean-going envoy posts were cut, and only routine investitures of nearby tributary states were retained.
3. 1435–1436Beijing · BeijingAfter the young emperor's accession, the regency of the Three Yangs continued the retrenchment, formally halting ocean-going envoy dispatches and large ship construction. Coastal defense resources were redirected to garrison repair and wokou suppression, the treasure-ship era was declared over, and private overseas trade was gradually restricted.