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Zheng He is perhaps the most celebrated Chinese Muslim explorer and admiral, and during the early decades of the 15th century headed a vast fleet with both merchants as well as soldiers, is said to have reached even as far as the eastern coast of Africa. Think of him as China's version of Christopher Columbus.

China under the Ming dynasty eventually turned away from voyages of exploration and allowed its fleet to rot and wither, as well as issuing the hai jin, which banned all maritime activities, which effectively destroyed the economy of settlements along the coast. This ban was continued under the Qing dynasty.

Suppose that China remained a seafaring empire, and developed at a pace equal to (or even greater than) that of Europe. How much would this have changed what actually happened in OTL?
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