Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 233

New Tales of the Ming Treasure Voayages
West Island School, Mak, Clovis - 14
Li Zhong woke up to the sound of crashing waves smashing into his warship. He was the
commander of one of the many warships in Admiral Zheng He’s armada. The massive fleet had left the city
of Nanjing 2 months ago, carrying gold, silk, and other treasures to be gifted to foreign countries as a show
of wealth and power. Li Zhong joined his second-in-command Yang Han on the starboard side of the
deck, watching as the mighty waves continued to pummel the wooden sides of the ship. Their mission was
to protect the huge treasure boats at all costs; Those ships were gigantic - each one over one hundred
metres long and fifty metres wide; However their precious cargo was to be defended by smaller but more
maneuverable warships like the one Li Zhong commanded. The journey so far was peaceful and nothing
was out of the ordinary, except for one sighting of a pirate fleet, but the treasure fleet continued on past the
pirates, as if they were invisible. Everyone was prepared for a long and exciting journey, hungry for
adventure.
Ahead of them, the fleet started turning left towards the coastline, signaling a visit to the local
region. The fleet had already stopped at 3 destinations before this, each time with servants and soldiers
bringing some of the goods ashore to gift and trade. All 3 times the servants came back with valuable objects
and materials, with one country even sending a diplomatic envoy to sail with the Chinese. Yang Han
yawned, and said: “This may turn out to be more boring than I expected. I’m starting to wish for somebody
to attack our ships so we can actually do something”. Li Zhong laughed and replied: “It’s better to be bored
and safe than to be lying at the bottom of the ocean with your body split open by a cannonball!” Yang Han
groaned in reply. A sailor walked up to Li Zhong and bowed deeply, before standing up straight and
reporting: “The admiral wishes for Commander Li to join him on his ship.” Li Zhong acknowledged him,
and called for a smaller vessel to bring him to the treasure ship which Zheng He commanded.
As Li Zhong strode into one of the large rooms used for meetings between the admiral and other
officers, he was surprised to see that there was only one other officer in the room apart from Zheng He.
Usually when the admiral called a meeting most officers would be summoned; This would be a special case.
Commander Huang Yitian sat at the back of the room, with a empty seat next to him, and Zheng He sat
with his back facing the door, looking down at a map. Li Zhong walked a couple steps past the admiral,
bowed, and sat down next to Huang Yitian. Zheng He looked up from his map, and announced: “In 3 days
we will be arriving on the western coast of Ceylon. You two will accompany me to bring our gifts to the
Alagakkonara family there.” Li and Huang both bowed and agreed. Li Zhong went back to his ship, and
notified Yang that he would be in charge of his ship in his absence. Yang Han asked: “Why do you think
the admiral would personally go to bring gifts and also bring two high ranking officers with him? Does he
expect a large opposition or someone very important like the royal family?” Li replied: “We will be meeting
this Aqa-Aka-Ala something family, which is a powerful feudal family there. They have several family
members and relatives in important positions in the country. Maybe the admiral just wishes to be more
careful dealing with such powerful people.” Yang muttered “Hmm…”, and then both men stood silently,
watching the tall mountains ahead slowly approach for a couple of minutes, before returning to their rooms.
Soon the announcement was made for the fleet to arrive at the nearest port; Li and Huang were
busy making preparations for their trip, as Zheng He organised a select amount of goods to be brought as
gifts. By the time all the servants and guards had brought everything ashore, the three officers were already
waiting in a nearby pavilion, discussing the details of their trip. After half an hour Zheng He announced:
“Let us go now.”, and with that, the caravan of soldiers, servants, and carts of gifts started moving forward
slowly towards the Alagakkonara residence. As they marched closer and closer towards the centre of the port
city, their surroundings slowly became more and more luxurious. Near the coast, most houses were only
small huts, with little decoration, but as they advanced inland, houses soon became large, carefully designed
and decorated buildings, some even having spectacular gardens and water fountains. Not long after they saw
their destination; a massive grand residence with several courtyards around 3 main buildings. In front of
them was a line of polished stone steps, that led up to the courtyard of the largest and grandest building. The
gates above the stairs opened, and two servants appeared, beckoning them into the courtyard.