Korva is a scroll of the internet’s best ideas.
Java fined 60,000 liang of gold
The marketplace killings
The Ming treasure fleet reached Java while the Regreg civil war was at its height. Chinese soldiers and merchants came ashore in western Java to trade. King Wikramawardhana of the western court, husband of Hayam Wuruk's daughter, believed his rival in the east had brought them to join the war. His soldiers swept down on the marketplace from all sides, and when the smoke cleared, 170 Chinese merchants and sailors were dead and the rest had fled to their ships.
China's response
Admiral Zheng He had enough soldiers to invade and tip the war, but he treated his wounded and sent envoys to the Yongle Emperor for instructions. Thirty years earlier, China had avoided war with the powerful Majapahit by sending money and goods. Now Majapahit was weak and divided, and the king sent a groveling apology. The emperor answered that he had held back an army only because the king had shown he could repent, and that the 170 who died innocently required 60,000 liang of gold.
The payment
A year later, a Javanese ship reached China with only a sixth of the sum and a letter explaining that the bankrupt kingdom could pay no more. The emperor replied that he wanted distant peoples to acknowledge their guilt and had no wish to enrich himself with their gold. In 1424, when a king in Sumatra died, his son sent his letter asking to succeed him to the Chinese emperor, with none to the king in Java.
Why did Ming fleets sail to Java at all?
The Yongle Emperor sent Zheng He's fleets to bring distant rulers into the Ming tribute system and to show Ming power across the seas. The first voyage left in 1405 and returned in 1407. It visited Java, Sumatra, Ceylon, and Calicut on India's southwest coast. Envoys from foreign courts often returned with the fleet to present tribute at the Ming capital.
Why did China demand tribute from other kingdoms?
Under the tribute system, foreign rulers acknowledged the Chinese emperor as their superior and sent gifts to his court. In return they received trade rights, recognition of their own rule, and gifts from the emperor. The gifts the emperor sent back often cost more than the tribute he received. Ming records list dozens of states that sent tribute missions during the early 1400s.
Why was Majapahit split into two courts?
Majapahit's king Hayam Wuruk died in 1389 and left no clear arrangement for who should follow him. His nephew and son-in-law Wikramawardhana took the main throne. Bhre Wirabhumi, a son of Hayam Wuruk by a lesser wife, ruled the eastern part of the kingdom and refused to accept Wikramawardhana's authority. The resulting Regreg war ended in 1406 with Wirabhumi's defeat.
More from Fall of Civilizations
