Emperor Zhu Di

Emporer Zhu Di is sometimes credited as the most successful figure of Ancient China. He moved the capital city to Beijing along with how he issued one of the greatest explorations of time that changed the world forever, before it was thought to have happened by other civilizations/empires.  He commanded them in 1413 to search the South China Sea and in turn, they discovered the world with a vast array of islands, and even continents.  The admirals, Hong Bao, Zhou Man, Zhou Wen, Yang Qin, and Zheng He explored that and some of them kept sailing onwards.  They ended up performing ground-breaking feats without them even realizing completely.  They were the first to discover Antarctica, Australia, and the Americas.  While doing this, they even charted their travels.  One other phenomenal achievement was that they circumnavigated the globe almost a century before Ferdinand Magellan.  He assembled a great empire, but it all came crashing down on May 9, 1421 when lightning struck the Forbidden City and burned the Empire.

-Trevor S.