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Nanjing

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The Cabinet July 25, 2026 · Longjiang shipyards, Nanjing

The Treasure Fleets of Zheng He, Which Sailed to Africa and Back — and Were Then Deliberately Forgotten

Between 1405 and 1433 the Ming admiral Zheng He led seven expeditions of up to 300 ships and 27,000 men across the Indian Ocean — to India, Arabia, and the Swahili coast, returning once with a giraffe for the emperor. Then China turned inward: the voyages stopped, and the records were left to rot or worse. Europe's small ships entered an ocean the treasure fleets had vacated.

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The Cabinet June 27, 2026 · Nanjing

The Failed Civil Service Candidate Who Decided He Was the Younger Brother of Jesus Christ and Started a Civil War That Killed 20 Million People

Hong Xiuquan failed the Qing civil service examination four times. After his 1837 nervous breakdown he became convinced he was the second son of the Christian God and the younger brother of Jesus. The 1850-1864 Taiping Rebellion he led against the Qing dynasty killed approximately 20 million people — the deadliest civil war in human history.

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