Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 57

New Tales of the Ming Treasure Voayages
ELCHK Lutheran Academy, Wong, Hayley - 13
Pirates. We’ve all seen the movies of one-eyed, peg-legged pirates who rob and plunder ships at sea. But
this image isn’t exactly accurate. Back then, I too was a “pirate”, however, I wasn’t killing innocent lives for
my own desire; in fact, my crew and I actually carried cargoes of gold, silk, and other valuable items to trade
and give away as gifts. But things weren’t exactly just plain sailing for me… here is how the journey began.
On June 29th, 1429, the Xuande emperor ordered for the 7th and final voyage of the Ming
Treasure Voyages. He appointed general Zheng He to command the fleet. I had been living with my older
brother who was appointed to be on the ship. But just after my older brother was appointed, he got ill and
passed away. Back then, I was a peasant girl who dreamt of reaching the different corners of the world. I
loved exploring and I was very brave. Although girls weren’t exactly allowed on the ship, I had to follow
my intuition and reach for my dreams. I disguised myself as my brother, and the guards who guarded the
main gates were too stupid to recognize that I was a girl. Then, I had to follow the second step of my plan;
which was to actually get on the ship. The news of my brother's death was never publicly announced
because we didn’t “matter” much inside the palace; therefore, I used his name and got on the ship with my
brother’s role.
The ship set sail in the year 1430, and this time, it had over 100 large ships and over 27,000 men.
We visited all the important ports in the South China Sea, as well as the Indian ocean, red seas and much
more.
On the first few weeks, there wasn’t much to see or do. I started to make new friendships within
the crew. I had a few friends that were also soldiers, but the person that I got along with the most was
Zheng He’s wife. I told her about my secret and how I planned to get on this ship by disguising myself as a
man. We talked a lot since there wasn’t much to do, but I would have to pretend that I was serving her in
order to get in her cabin.
A month passed by, and instead of blue skies and plain waters, I started seeing different islands. We
then reached the land which is now known as India. My role was mainly to just bring and present the goods
to foreign merchants, so I did. We were arriving on the Indian shore, and the crew and I helped to dock the
ship. I watched when Zheng He started to communicate with the foreigners, he showed them the gifts in a
generous voice, and in return, they accepted it and were very welcoming to bring us on shore. The clouds
seemed very grey and the locals said that a storm was coming towards us, so the foreign merchants offered
places for us to stay until the storm goes by.
After the storm passed, we said our goodbyes and left with a new alliance between two countries.
Everyone got on the ship, and once again, we were off with another great start. A few days had passed, and
again, nothing much seemed to happen. I helped with cleaning the cabins, but most of the time, I would
just have long conversations about life with Zheng He’s wife. We would talk about how life would be
outside of the palace, we talked about social problems, but most of the time, we would just talk about our
dreams and wishes that we knew, would never happen.
One day, when I went to talk to Zheng He’s wife, I didn’t notice that there was a guard following
me. Since I was disguised as a man, the guard thought that I went in for other reasons. He tied my hands
with a rope and brought me to our commander, Zheng He. Turns out, Zheng He was already speculating
about my visits, and sent a guard to follow me. At this point, I couldn’t help but think if I should tell Zheng
He that I was actually disguised as a man this whole time, or not say anything and get locked up. Either way,
I would probably get sentenced. So, I decided to tell the truth, in hopes that the general would set me free.
However, that was not the case at all.