None of Zheng He fantastic voyages would have been possible with out the support of the Ming government. Like the transatlantic voyages of Western European nations a century later, Zheng He relied on the financial, technological, and political support of the Ming emperor Zhu Di, commonly known as the Yongle Emperor, meaning perpetual happiness. As the third ruler of the young dynasty,  Zhu Di immediately set sought a new vision for the newly revitalized China. Zhu Di caused enormous controversy with in the imperial court for his unorthodox and radical endeavors, such as the sponsorship of Zheng He treasure fleet. The Ming Court was divided into two philosophical camps, on one side were the      conservative Confucius  bureaucrats who saw these voyages beyond the empire as wasteful. China was in their belief the wealthiest and most sophisticated civilization on earth with nothing to gain from barbarians across the ocean. It had barely a few decades since China had liberated its self from more then a century of rule by the Mongols, a fact that had been sired into the soul of the Chinese people resulting in a deeply xenophobic culture. On the other hand the Eunuchs, who's greedy and keniving nature, greeted these expeditions with much fanfare.

http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org/articles.php?searchterm=002_zhenghe.inc&issue=002