Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 281

A Tale of Two Cities
Munsang College, Cheung, Chin Wai - 16
Have you heard of the Ming Treasure Voyages? No? They were a fleet that undertook a special
mission from the Ming Dynasty of China. Instead of stealing gold from the places, they gave away treasures.
I am honoured to tell you the story of the voyages as a young man on the fleet! Hold on and buckle up, and
here we start!
At first, I was just a farmer in the Canton Province, with all but my field and the hoe. All of a
sudden, someone announced the recruitment of some workers for the “New Journey”. No one knew what
exactly it was, and the law was a draconian one. To be honest, no one dared to give it a shot. I got nothing
left; my family members were all killed in an epidemic and I was the only one who survived. I took the
plunge then.
I still remember the day: It was the summer solstice when we gathered in a port. The ship was
enormous! Only later was I told that I would be one of the people who would be on the ship! I was filled
with excitement: What could I see? What would I experience? Flooded by excitement, we then entered the
ship. Only after I stepped onto it did I find out that the inside was such a grand place, with well-decorated
oil lamps and smooth floor tiles. How silly were my fellow villagers who did not dare to give it a shot and
go onboard!
I was allocated as the one in charge for tidying up the place of meeting, like in the palace of the
Indian palace. Don’t think that this position is simple! It involved a lot of things, like to prepare all the bits
and pieces. Here, I am going to tell you some fun (or not-so-fun) things that I came across with this
position.
The Ming Dynasty was unimaginably luxurious! As I was given the permission to enter all the
petite storage rooms, I found out that we the Ming Dynasty people lived in a lavish fashion. All the plates
we brought were of the highest quality, made of the best ceramics and painted by the best artists in the
Ming. Holding one in hand could make me the most glamorous man of my country. When they were
under the sunlight, the sunlight simply cast the rays back to the sky, leaving not a single bit of residue. But
this is always reasonable; we don’t show others our worst face, do we?
One of the grandest palaces is the Mogadishu palace. The wall was painted in an array of colour,
which was also shiny in the daytime. The king met us with great excitement, and offered to give us
audience in a grand room. When we arrived at Mogadishu, we were to talk with the peasants there too.
From the grapevine, I somehow found out that the king was a cruel man, who collected excessive taxes
from the people. This was what made the Mogadishu palace shiny and glamorous; built on a puddle of
blood, sweat and tears of the fellow people. We left with great excitement, but my heart went out to the
people there.
We visited a poor state too, Ceylon (they said). Ceylon is actually an island, just next to India. It is
Siri Lanka today. Ceylon was such a poor place that there were not even a bit of weed on the port we
arrived. They had no palace or grand castle, but we were only offered to stay in a hut built by some fellow
people. Through gesturing with the people there, I could see that people have great relationship under the
leadership of the so-called “head of the village”. In fact, the head worked as hard as every other Ceylon
people did, and worried as much as every other Ceylon people worried. This was truly a scene for every one
of us to learn from.
On this fleet I have learnt a lot. What amazed me most was not the grand and luxurious palaces,
but the strong bonding that tied all citizens of the place together to face the best or the worst. Leadership is
less about commanding others than empathizing with fellows on their difficulties for a common good.
This is truly a voyage that I will never forget.