Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 9

“Don’t be so pessimistic, and have confidence in our men! I am sure that even with only two thousand men, we can still win
against the twenty-thousand Gampola troops.” Soon, the men of the fleet assembled. “All men of our great Ming Empire!” ordered
Zheng He, “We are going to take action tonight! We are going to attack Kotte, the capital of Gampola! We must let the ignorant king
know how strong our mother country is!”
“Long live our Emperor!” chanted the men.
At the same time, Alakesvar was discussing with his courtier the plan of a surprise attack. “Now, that we have cut off Zheng He
and his men. What should we do next?” the king asked.
“The Chinese troops are now probably in a mess, as their admiral is cut off from his men. If we launch a surprise attack on them
we will win, and then we will get the treasure, and the ‘Sinhalese dream’ is going to come true!” suggested the courtier, excitingly.
However, no sooner had they planned the sudden attack than they were suddenly attacked. Zheng He and his men reached Kotte
before dawn. They had never thought that Zheng He would meet his men at night, and that he would choose to attack the capital
when it lacked troops for defense.
After Zheng He had gathered his men, he gave a short briefing, telling them how to attack the palace and where to find King
Alakesvar. When everyone was ready, Zheng He commanded, “Attack!” then everyone charged towards the palace with only a few
soldiers guarding the gate.
“What’s that noise?” the king asked his courtier.
“I…I don’t k…know…” murmured the courtier, thinking of the chance of Zheng He’s men attacking the troops. The moment
they were wondering what happened, the door of the palace was suddenly demolished, and all the Chinese troops entered the palace.
“Catch the fat one!” ordered Zheng He, “That is the king!” Alakesvar and his courtier were so shocked, that before they could
think of how to escape, they were already captured by Zheng He’s men. Zheng He then walked to the tightly tied king, pointed at
him and accused him of conspiracy, “You have planned to stop us from returning to our motherland, you have planned to rob the
treasures of our great Ming Empire, and you have even planned to murder us! How dare you!”
The palace was in total silence, but it was quickly broken by the Gampola troops. “My men!” Alakesvar exclaimed, “Fight!
Protect me!”
“Men fight for your lives!” ordered Zheng He, just after the king’s command.
Although the number of troops of Gampola was ten times that of Zheng He, Alakesvar had sent his best soldiers to Colombo, so
soon they crumbled, and were defeated.
“So what should we do with the captured king?” Zheng He asked Wang Jinhong.
“We should bring them back to China, and let our Emperor decide.” Wang Jinhong suggested.
Half a year later, Zheng He and Wang Jinhong returned to China, reporting to their emperor with the captured Alakesvar,
accusing him of his crimes. After hearing the report, the emperor praised Zheng He and Wang Jinhong for the great job, he rewarded
them and their men very well. As for the ex-king of Gampola, he was harshly punished by the emperor for his ignorance and greed.
He was exiled to the Mongolian Gobi Desert.
Another half year later, the edict by the emperor had reached Gampola, the island where the king had suddenly disappeared from.
People of the island were all shocked when they heard the news. “Alakesvar, the king of Gampola, is now officially banished,”
announced the edict, “You now have a chance to choose a new ruler who is virtuous to become your new king.”
At last, Parakramabahu was chosen by all the people of Gampola, and agreed to become the new king, who is now known as
Parakramabahu VI. The name of the kingdom was also changed from “Gampola” to the name of the capital, “Kotte”. Parakramabahu
was a very nice king who treated his people well. He also kept a good political and economic relationship with the Ming Empire. And
the most important thing was, that Chinese treasure fleets had never experienced hostilities again, so Zheng He could finish his
missions safely from then on.