Gavin Menzies claiming Leonardo Da Vinci was a fraud?

Here's an interesting story I found on The Anomalist about a new claim from historical revisionist Gavin Menzies concerning the great Leonardo Da Vinci:

Gavin Menzies, the retired British Royal Navy submarine commander who defied the accepted tale of the New World's discovery with his 2002 book 1421 that claimed the Chinese discovered America 70 years before Columbus, is at it again. The amateur historian claims to have proof a Chinese ambassador visited the Pope in Rome in 1434 with manuscripts illustrating many of the inventions attributed to Leonardo. Will Menzies' claims change historians' views of the factors that led to the Renaissance?

Now I've read Menzies' previous book, 1421: The Year China Discovered America. The book is about a Chinese explorer named Zheng He who Menzies credits with discovering America and mapping out much of the world long before Columbus or later explorers came along.

I thought the book was a fascinating read, and though he seemed to stretch a bit on certain points, overall made a very convincing case. Of course before one can be convinced about such a thing an independent review of his presented evidence is in order. I have not yet spent the time to make that review, however I know there are sites out there that do attempt to refute Menzies.

We'll see what evidence Menzies has dredged up about Da Vinci, and whether or not it holds any water. Should be interesting.