Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 254

New Tales of the Ming Treasure Voayages
Buddhist Sin Tak College, Tse, Tim - 16
My name is He. My story of adventures all began back in 1404. It was a freezing cold Winter when I was
appointed by the Emperor of Ming Dynasty to set sail for visiting some foreign countries for the first time.
The purpose of this was pretty obvious: we have to ally with countries nearby to strengthen both our
economy and military power. Therefore, in the seven ships were countless gold and silk which were
considered the grandest materials in China. No one would ever guess that there were 6 more voyages sailing
with me.
"Dear Emperor, please allow me to bring along enough soldiers and powerful weapons to ensure our
safety?" The original plan was to have only me, some of my subordinates and a multitude of old women
who were good at sowing. Yet, I knew that it was not going to work. Definitely not. How could we
protect ourselves when we encountered enemies?
With the blessing of the Emperor he replied, "Yes, please have my elite soldiers and heavy weapons on all
the ships."
It took a total of nine months for preparation. With all the "presents" and weapons like the fire cannons and
guns packed, we (consisting of over 2000 people) set sail at Qing Long Harbor. Lying on the upper deck of
the biggest junk enjoying the sea spray, I felt unprecedentedly relaxed without realizing how enormous the
challenges would be.
Time flew by, it seemed like 3 months had passed in a split second. We had visited Vietnam where we were
treated like premium guests. The reason was quite patent: China and Vietnam had been friendly to each
other since the 13th century for the safety of both countries’ armies. The local people gave us boxes of fresh
fruits, making all the ships aromatic.
The three months were not easy. The crewmen often told me that they missed their homes and their
families. I was a bit homesick too, not having been with my wives and sons for such a long time.
Fortunately, life on the ocean was not unacceptable as we were all well fed by those old women. They were
just like our moms, sowing our clothes and taking prefect care of us.
However, peace did not last long.
Around two weeks after we left Vietnam, troubles ensued. It was a cloudy day. “Captain, there are ships
with big fire cannons! What should we do now?!” the soldiers screamed. Honestly I had no idea what to do
at that time since I had never encountered any form of military attack before. I panicked, sweating all over.
“CAPTAINNN, those ships are getting closer. They have no intention to stop!” Having no choice, I
ordered the soldiers to open fire and others to stay on the lower deck. The first shot missed, so did the
second and the third.
"Stop your Chinese ship right now!' shouted the captain of the unknown fleet of ships. “We are the pirates
who rule this region. No one shall pass without my permission. Stop or you will die!”
At the very moment, one of their ships was destroyed. All of us were shocked, with our mouths open.
"Pirates over there, drop all your weapons now or we will open fire!" completely frozen with horror, I
could not even say a word, seeing another group of people wearing weird costumes with grass skirts trapping
the malicious pirates.
I kept my mouth open until the leader of them came to me."We are soldiers from Thailand. I am sorry that
we did not come in time. You are safe now,' he said softly, like he was whispering.