Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 -1 2019 | Page 156

The First Voyage
Holy Cross Lutheran School, Chiu, Ho Tsun Anson - 10
The evening before the first voyage, the emperor held a banquet. It was to celebrate Zheng He leaving
China. There was lots of food on the table. It was a high class banquet. Everyone had to eat politely and
wasn't allowed to spill any food, not even a tiny drop. There were some people singing and dancing. Zheng
He ate very greedily because he knew he had to leave for a very long time. His friends and crew were
nervous because they thought the pirates would attack and destroy their ships. Zheng He said, "Don't be
nervous everyone, we won’t let the pirates catch us." Everyone then calmed down.
Today was the day of the voyage. Everyone waved goodbye. The emperor gave Zheng He a lot of
money in case he wanted to trade something. They then set sail; on the way to Sumatera they passed the
Philippines. They waved to the people on shore. Then they saw some bananas on some trees. They traded
some rice dumplings for the bananas and then continued their journey. Just as they were about to arrive at
Sumatera, do you know what happened next? A lot of ships showed up! It was Chen Zuyi, the leader of the
pirates and his crew. Then a war started. Five thousand pirates were killed. Ten ships got burned by the
cannons and seven ships were stolen. Chen Zuyi and Zheng He were fighting. Zheng He was about to die,
but thankfully a crew member saved his life by pushing Chen Zuyi off the boat. Zheng He and his crew
arrived in Sumatera and found the treasure of the Ming treasure voyages.
On the way back to China, more pirates showed up. Somehow Chen Zuyi had survived. He wanted to steal
the treasure. Zheng He fired cannons at Chen Zuyi's ship. Chen Zuyi’s ship sunk to the bottom of the
ocean! Zheng He and his crew returned to China. They gave the treasure to the emperor. The emperor
said, "Thank you, but there are still more voyages." Zheng He and his crew took a twenty-four hour rest
and then set sail again.