Editing Ming dynasty (section)

==== New capital and foreign engagement ====
Yongle demoted Nanjing to a secondary capital and in 1403 announced the new capital of China was to be at his power base in Beijing. Construction of a new city there lasted from 1407 to 1420, employing hundreds of thousands of workers daily.{{sfnp|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=272}} At the center was the political node of the [[Imperial City (Beijing)|Imperial City]], and at the center of this was the [[Forbidden City]], the palatial residence of the emperor and his family. By 1553, the Outer City was added to the south, which brought the overall size of Beijing to {{convert|4 by 4+1/2|mi|km|round=0.5|abbr=off|order=flip}}.{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|p=194}}

[[File:Noel 2005 Pékin tombeaux Ming voie des âmes.jpg|thumb|The [[Ming tombs]] located {{convert|50|km|mi|abbr=on}} north of Beijing]]

Beginning in 1405, the Yongle Emperor entrusted his favored [[eunuch]] commander [[Zheng He]] (1371–1433) as the admiral for a gigantic new fleet of ships designated for international [[treasure voyages|tributary missions]]. Among the kingdoms visited by Zheng He, Yongle proclaimed the [[Kingdom of Cochin]] to be its protectorate.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sen |first=Tansen |title=The impact of Zheng He's expeditions on Indian Ocean interactions |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=79 |issue=3 |year=2016 |issn=0041-977X |doi=10.1017/s0041977x16001038 |pages=609–636}}</ref> The Chinese had [[Foreign relations of Imperial China|sent diplomatic missions]] over land since the [[Han dynasty]] (202&nbsp;BCE{{snd}}220&nbsp;CE) and engaged in [[Economy of the Song dynasty|private overseas trade]], but these missions were unprecedented in grandeur and scale. To service seven different tributary voyages, the Nanjing shipyards constructed two thousand vessels from 1403 to 1419, including [[Chinese treasure ship|treasure ships]] measuring {{convert|112|to|134|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length and {{convert|45|to|54|m|ft|abbr=on}} in width.{{sfnp|Fairbank|Goldman|2006|p=137}}

Yongle used [[woodblock printing]] to spread Chinese culture. He also [[Ming dynasty military conquests|used the military]] to expand China's borders. This included the [[Fourth Chinese domination of Vietnam|brief occupation of Vietnam]], from the initial invasion in 1406 until the Ming withdrawal in 1427 as a result of protracted [[Lam Sơn uprising|guerrilla warfare]] led by [[Lê Lợi]], the founder of the Vietnamese [[Lê dynasty]].{{sfnp|Wang|1998|pp=317–327}}