Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 1 | Page 70

The Ming Sea Voyages
St Stephen's College Preparatory School, Lam, Edwin - 8
A long time ago during the Ming Dynasty, China was very powerful and wealthy. The emperor
appointed Admiral Zheng to build friendships with other countries. The emperor gave him a fleet of five
boats and some of his men to start off the expedition: chefs, sailors, herbalists, mechanics, merchants, soldiers
and officials. They planned to sail through the South China Sea, Indian Ocean, and Persian Gulf to East
Africa, giving out gifts like silk and porcelain to foreign countries.
In 1405, the first expedition began. Among the many people was a little boy called Abo. He was 11
years old. He was short and thin, with long black hair and big round eyes. He was a housekeeper of the ship.
He had a lot of crazy ideas and possessed secret super power. He kept a pet monkey with him called Mink.
It had golden brown fur and was very clever. He always helped Abo in the adventures.
After several months of sailing in the South China Sea, they eventually arrived at Sumatra. Sumatra
was always attacked by pirates. Prince Sam of Sumatra requested help from the Chinese troops. Admiral
Zheng agreed and launched a battle against the pirates. But the pirates were too powerful and mischievous,
and the soldiers were too tired to fight after the sailing. They were losing at the beginning. Abo decided to
show his superpower. He created a tornado wind and it hit the wooden deck of the enemy’s ship. It crashed.
Then, he launched his secret weapons, banana bombs and a fire launcher. Mink used his banana lightsaber
and threw banana bombs and BOOM! Another ship exploded with bananas flowing into the sea.
The soldiers shot fire arrows and cannon balls towards the pirate’s ship to set them on fire. They
threw dusty bricks at the pirate ships to sink them. They defeated the pirates. Prince Sam was very happy.
Then they set sail to India and the days were back to normal, The soldiers continued their battle
training, and the officials took notes of the journey, and Abo and Mink had fun on the ship.
Finally, the fleet reached Ceylon. However, the fleet was not welcomed by the people there. The
King of Ceylon was rude and hostile. He was known as the Snake King because he wore snake skin with a
snake crown. He kept a lot of poisonous snakes in his palace as weapons. He was the worst villain yet.
Admiral Zheng was invited to the Snake Palace. The Chinese fleet was suddenly attacked by the
snake troops. Abo shot the lasers at Snake King but he threw Abo into the swamp full of poisonous snakes.
Admiral Zheng saw it and he threw the grapple hook towards the Snake King and BOOM! The Snake King
fainted.
They cheered and celebrated the victory. They returned back to China and the emperor rewarded
them with gold.