Fate of the Chinese Treasure Fleet

I'm gonna quit pussyfooting around. I suggest a prequel scenario. One that takes place at or slightly before the point of departure from known history during the Ming Dynasty. The setting is the Imperial Court of Ming, Emperor of China.

Introduction to the Ming Dynasty

Emperor Zhu Di
The Ming dynasty (1368-1644) was a Chinese dynasty, a Chinese imperial family, as distinct from the dynasty that came before it (the Mongol, or Yuan, dynasty of Chenghis and Kubilai Khan) or the one that followed it (the Manchu, or Qing, dynasty. To demonstrate Ming power, the first emperors initiated campaigns to decisively defeat any domestic or foreign threat. The third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di or the Yongle Emperor, was particularly aggressive and personally led major campaigns against Mongolian tribes to the north and west. He also wanted those in other countries to be aware of China's power, and to perceive it as the strong country he believed it had been in earlier Chinese dynasties, such as the Han and the Song; he thus revived the traditional tribute system. In the traditional tributary arrangement, countries on China's borders agreed to recognize China as their superior and its emperor as lord of "all under Heaven." These countries regularly gave gifts of tribute in exchange for certain benefits, like military posts and trade treaties. In this system, all benefitted, with both peace and trade assured. Because the Yongle emperor realized that the major threats to China in this period were from the north, particularly the Mongols, he saved many of those military excursions for himself. He sent his most trusted generals to deal with the Manchurian people to the north, the Koreans and Japanese to the east, and the Vietnamese in the south. For ocean expeditions to the south and west, however, he decided that this time China should make use of its extremely advanced technology and all the riches the state had to offer. Lavish expeditions should be mounted in order to overwhelm foreign peoples and convince them beyond any doubt about Ming power. For this special purpose, he chose one of his most trusted generals, a man he had known since he was young, Zheng He.

Emperor Zhu Zhanji,
Need info.

Emperor Zhu Qizhen
The seventh and final voyage (1431-33) was sent out by the Yongle emperor's successor, his grandson, The Xuande Emperor. This expedition had more than one hundred large ships and over 27,000 men. It visited all the important ports in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean as well as Aden and Hormuz. One auxiliary voyage travelled up the Red Sea to Jidda, only a few hundred miles from the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. It was on the return trip in 1433 that Zheng He died and was buried at sea, although his official grave still stands in Nanjing, China.

Admiral Zheng He:
Zheng He was born Ma He to a Muslim family in the far southwest, in today's Yunnan province. At ten years old he was captured by soldiers sent there by the first Ming emperor intent on subduing the south. He was sent to the capital to be trained in military ways. Growing up to be a burly, imposing man, over six feet tall with a chest contemporaries said measured over five feet around, he was also extremely talented and intelligent. He received both literary and military training, then made his way up the military ladder with ease, making important allies at court in the process. When the emperor needed a trustworthy ambassador familiar with Islam and the ways of the south to head his splendid armada to the "Western Oceans," he naturally picked the talented court eunuch, Ma He, whom he renamed Zheng.

Wang Zhen*:
Eunuch. Had initial control over Zhu Qizhen, seven-year-old son of Zhu Zhangi who becomes Emperor (1436 - 1449). Initially, Zhu Qizhen is controlled by the most powerful of eunuchs, Wang Zhen

Other roles:
Members of the Imperial Court (yet to be designed), members of the Ming family (who might or might not be at court), Minister of War, generals, Confucian scholars, Buddhist priests, philosophers, physicians, artists, concupines, proper Ladies of the Court, Mongolian upstarts ~~ the sky is the limit.

I'm not quite sure where the point of departure would be. Perhaps Zeng He never dies? Perhaps we have to go back before the seventh voyage to the time of the Yongle emperor?

Or we could begin where the last recorded Ming Emperor is about to decide whether or not to destroy the Treasure Fleet. History records that he called his senior advisers together to present arguments before he would make his decision.

Against the backdrop of a daring coup détat orchestrated by the Minister of War, Zhu Qizhen reclaimes the throne. The minister of war, who had led the resistance, is executed as a traitor, and Zhu Qizhen orders a shrine built for his beloved tutor, the tyrant Wang Zhen. More important for the future of Chinese seafaring, eunuchs continue to be involved in foreign trade. Private merchants, aided and abetted by the eunuchs, flourish at the expense of official tribute trade missions.

*1449: Wang leads an expedition against the Mongols on the northwest frontier. During this campaign, the Mongols capture the Emperor Zhu Qizhen and hold him prisoner. 1450: Emperor Zhu Qizhen gets free from Mongols and is reinstated as Emperor. Tension and rivalry exist between Confucian scholars and other advisors, particularly the court eunuchs. AGAIN ~ Emperor Zhu Qizhen faces the urgent question: Should the court resume the voyages or end them?