Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 117

They walked into a room and sat down. “Listen,” Zheng He said, “we haven’t raided a single city during
this expedition.”
The Emperor frowned.
Before the Emperor could talk, Zheng He continued, “Instead of raiding, we befriended a multitude of
people, and then traded resources. We also -”
The Emperor cut him off. “So you could have earned more resources. But instead decided to make some
friends. You have disobeyed my order despite me granting you so many men and ships.”
“And I have shown you just how effective this method can be. We prevented casualties and injuries on
both sides, obtained more than enough resources, and made alliances that could help us in the future. Not
only will we acquire an abundant amount of resources, but we will also gain political power.” Zheng He
said with confidence.
“Fine, I will give you a chance to prove what you said is correct. You will set off on another expedition
next month, with more ships and men. I will give you one month’s time to obtain 500 ships worth of
resources. If you return late or with insufficient resources, you and all of your crew will die.” the Emperor
said.
Zheng He looked at him dead in the eye and answered, “Sure.”
One month passed, and they started their expedition. They went to another series of places and befriended
other groups of people, as well as trading large amounts of resources. They obtained enough resources in
three weeks time, and were ready to head back home.
BOOM! The ship shuddered, and a horde of people ran up to the dock to see what was happening. At
first, they didn’t see anything, but when the ship shuddered again, they saw it.
Chen Zuyi and his gang of pirates closed in and ran onto the ship. They hurried their way to the storage
rooms and raided them as quick as possible. In a few minutes, they had carried over 50 boxes of resources
onto their ship, and were about to escape. Zheng He grabbed Chen Zuyi by the arm and pulled him back
onto his ship. He grabbed a knife and ordered Chen’s people to return the boxes. Soon, they ran back to
the ship to save their captain, and the battle began. Knives and swords slashed at one another, and every so
often, a torch would be thrown across the ship. Arrows flew across the entire ship, and not a single inch of
the dock was not covered by blood. After an hour long battle, all of Chen’s men were either dead or kicked
off the ship. They tied up Chen Zuyi and locked him in a prison cell in Chen’s own private ship. They
took the ship and left.
When they arrived home, the Emperor was once again impressed, and decided to reward Zheng He and
keep supporting the expeditions of the ship.