Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 93

Ming Treasure Voayage
Harrow International School Shanghai, Horsnell, Ella - 13
As I lye on my death bed, my life flashing right in front of my eyes.
I remember to the day I was ripped and stolen from the heart of my family. By this age I knew the
reality by this age, I was eleven, I knew I would never be able to see them ever again… I think being
forcefully dragged out of my own home, to what the other boys called ‘ the torture chamber.’ They made us
queue in an everlasting line. Unfortunatley the majority of us knew what our melancholy faits were coming
to. I felt so nauseous, why would anyone want to do this to innocent boys like me?After the excruciating,
agonizing pain of becoming a eunuch.
After that horrifying experience, I was introduced to Zhu di, the son of the emperor. Only after
knowing Zhu di for a short time we instantly bonded, and gained a powerful friendship. Shortly after
meeting Zhou di his father passed away. Unfortunatley to Zhu di disapproval, the throne was passed onto
his elder brother. Zhu di and I skeemed and divided to dispose of his elder brother. This made citizens lided
causing a civil war, however after several months of battling China resulted in peace.
Eventually Zhu di in 1405 sent me with a fleet of men on a voyage to convey China’s supremacy.The
ships were mighty and grand, Zhu di filled eight boats full of gold, Jess and silk. They were each four-
hundred feet long he traveled with an estimated 28,000 sailors. He brought marines and translators.
We set off from Nanjing our first destination was Vietnam, I remember it very well as we arrived
the kindly greeted, we presented them with our gifts, they thought of it as a remarkable gesture.
Then after our voyage to Vietnam, we would be going to Malaysia, to our horror there was a
dreadful tempest practically waiting for us, it was devastating and extremely prettifying to lose four small
ships in the frightful storm. I distinctly remember the ear-shattering, piercing thunder it was louder than a
chandelier being smash into billions of individual shards. Eventually we arrived in Malaysia we were pleased
by the delightful exotic weather and the gleaming sun. We gave our lucky gifts (which consisted of gold and
silk.) We gave them to the locals, as their faces lit up with contentment. The cuisine was nothing like we
had ever tasted before, it was quite upsetting to leave a place that had such a heavenly manner.
Despite this, we continued with our travels next stop Sumatra, Indonesia! We were greeted with a
sour harsh greeting. All the locals were armed and they clearly viewed us as a threat. They forcefully claimed
that they expected gifts, however due to there vulgar greeting Zhu di refused to give them our presents. We
ended up in conflict, it brutal and physical and after three days of war China won and fled, although some of
the crew members were severely wounded and harmed.
Next on the list was Jarva, Indonesia this time we were prepared and armed, with weapons
surrounding our ships. At first the locals were intimidated by our powerful weapons and thought we were
there to loot their town and cause kaos, as a result we put our weapons down. We reassured them that we
were only here to bring them gifts from China, we gave them the gifts and they were thankful and pleased.
After that we sailed to Sri Lanka, on the way we ended up getting lost, but almost immediently we
got back on track. Sri Lanka was fascinating we saw new techniques such as eating foods with their hands,
however they were quite reluctant to accept our gifts.
Next stop, the tip of India we arrived armed and protected, but they fought us before we could step
foot on land. They raided our ships loot. They slaughtered hundreds of our men with their imposing army,
we had to vigorously retreat, as we raced for our lives. We rapidly put up our sails and sailed away.
By this time there were scurrilous rumors about a Chinese pirate, his name was Chen Zhu yu he
was stealing goods from the coast of Indonesia, so that’s where we headed. To catch this pirate and Robb
him of his steals. We captured him and his crew and held them in captivity, shortly after we decided we
were going to execute him in Nanjing.
Unfortunately Zhu di had a sudden death. Everyone was very pity full to hear the tragic news.
Before they funeral we had a wake, where we kept an overnight vigil for Zhu di paintings and sketches with
an assortment of candles surrounding him, with beautiful white flowers symbolizing death in Chinese
culture. We sent out invitations to everyone he knew.We all wore white gowns and white hats to the
funeral. At they funeral we burnt his most valuable replicated possessions that meant a lot to him and had a
special place in his heart, we made sure he would have everything he desired so that he could enter the spirit
world with happiness containing all the objects he would need.Then as a symbol of keeping the spirits away,
we gave everyone of our guest a piece of red string to hand on their front door nob. We then burnt him in
a roaring, mighty fire.