Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 300

New Tales of the Ming Treasure Voayages
Ying Wa College, Cheung, Jerry - 13
It was late at night, and the ship was sailing down the deep and vast ocean .He sat there with a frown, and
went to rest.
Wang was a fisherman living in the Ming dynasty. He had lived an average life, and had nothing special at
all. He was the least well known in the whole village, and only had a few childhood friends.
It was morning. Wang woke up at the screech of the rooster and carried out his daily routine. A quick
shower at the river next to his house that led to the sea. He then walked to his farm which was about a few
kilometres away as he was afraid of the other villagers taking his crops. Even though he didn’t care about
money, he still worked until dawn and make sure his crops were at top quality as he wanted to provide nice
food at a cheap price to the villagers. He was walking back to his cottage when a man caught his attention.
The man was in his fifties, and he was waving a sign and shouted, “Sailor wanted! Voyage to the unknown
land and even treasures!”
Wang was lying in bed that night. He couldn’t fall asleep. He had signed up as a sailor and was going to set
sail the next week. The following days, Wang sold his farm for a great sum of money and buried the money
in a chest right next to his cottage. He kept the cottage just in case the journey turned out to be a scam or
failure. He finally built the courage to see his childhood friends and said farewell just in case.
He tied up his bag and started his walk towards the pier. He saw the ginormous ship docked there, and it
made him even more excited. The boat was a hundred metres long and the sails were folded up neatly. The
man he had seen yesterday when going back home greeted him.
“Greetings, sailor. Please come with me.” he said. Wang followed the man and walked towards the
walkway to the boat. When he was about to board the boat, he looked back at the village one last time. He
spotted his house at a distance far away. ‘ One day, I’ll come back for you.’ he thought. He stood there with
massive belongingness to the village and totally forgot about boarding the ship.
“First time, eh? Don’t worry. You will see this place again one day.” the man said. Wang woke up from
his daydream and followed the man to his own cabin. “Take a stroll around the boat and familiarise yourself
with this place. You wouldn’t want to get lost! All the sailors will meet at the deck at dawn and we will set
sail at night.”
He didn’t have much to unpack much as he sold most of his stuff. He then took a stroll around the ship.
There were a lot of cannons by the ship’s windows to protect them from pirates when out at sea. He also
noticed a small shooting range on the second floor of the deck. Some people were practicing archery there.
Wang knew nothing about archery so he walked away. The ship was huge, and by the time Wang finished
exploring the ship, it was already night time.
Wang quickly ran up the stairs to get to the meeting at the deck. Lucky for him, the meeting had just
started. The captain of the ship was called Zheng He. This expedition was dedicated to search for land in the
western ocean and possibly build civilization there. The crew then had dinner at the deck and they cut the
rope connected to the bridge. After a whole week, they finally set sail.
The first few days were fine, and Wang stopped being the shy person he used to be. He knew that if he
won’t make it back, these people might just be his only friends. He met a man called Han at the pantry who
used to be a farmer too. They drank wine and often chatted with each other. They became close friends
after only a few days, and Wang felt glad that he had made a friend after isolating himself for so many years.
They encountered a few ships, but they meant no harm.
One particular morning, Wang was sleeping when he suddenly heard cries outside his cabin. “All sailors
wake up! Pirate attack!”. He woke up with a start. He immediately got dressed and rushed to the deck to see
what was happening. A large ship closed by, and Wang looked closer at the ship. The other ship’s sailors
were all dressed in rags and were holding knives on one hand. They did not look friendly. One brave sailor
started yelling words at the ship. Unfortunately, he immediately got shot down by an archer, redecorating
the nearby planks with a shade of crimson. Wang was startled. He had never seen anyone die as he lived
most of his life alone. He immediately ran down the stairs and reached for the cannons. However, they were
all occupied and were being used. Han was using one of the cannons, and he successfully shot down the hull
of the other ship. The pirate ship started sinking. Wang felt sorry, even though they were criminals.
During the attack, the ship had somehow only took damage from arrows. Zheng He sent some of the crew
down to pick the arrows of the ship and store them in the shooting range for future use. Wang picked the
arrows off while Han held the rope tied around his waist. After a whole afternoon, the crew successfully
picked all the arrows off. The number of arrows they picked had a total of a few hundred, which was a lot at
that time: In the middle of the sea with no supply refill.