The most successful pirate of all time - Dian Murray

翻译人员: Riley WANG 校对人员: Echo Yang

“我不是鸟，没有罗网可以捕捉我： 我是个有独立意志的自由人。”

——夏洛蒂·勃朗特《简爱》

At the height of their power,

臭名昭著的加勒比海盗， 如黑胡子和亨利·摩根，

infamous Caribbean pirates like Blackbeard and Henry Morgan

在其势力的全盛时期，

commanded as many as ten ships and several hundred men.

可以号令十只船，

手下的船员多达数百人。

But their stories pale next to the most successful pirate of all time.

但在史上最成功的海盗面前， 他们的故事相形见绌。

Madame Zheng commanded 1800 vessels,

郑一嫂曾统帅1800只舰船，

made enemies of several empires,

与数个国家为敌，

and still lived to old age.

并且长寿终老。

Madame Zheng began her life as a commoner

郑一嫂是平民出身，

working on one of the many floating brothels, or flower boats,

在港口城市广州的 一艘水上妓院（也称花船）工作。

in the port city of Guangzhou.

By 1801, she had attracted the attention

直到1801年，她引起了郑一的注意，

of a local pirate captain named Zheng Yi, and the two soon married.

郑一是当地的一个海盗头目，

二人迅速结为夫妻。

Guangzhou’s fishermen had long engaged in small-scale piracy

广州的渔民长期从事小规模的海盗行为，

to supplement their meager incomes in the offseason.

以此补充捕鱼淡季的微薄收入。

But a successful peasant uprising in neighboring Vietnam

但在18世纪末，

邻国越南一场农民起义的成功，

at the end of the 18th century had raised the stakes.

提高了海盗活动的风险。

The victorious Tây Sơn rebels had unified their country

胜利的西山反叛军统一了越南，

only to face a Chinese invasion

只剩下来自中国的侵略，

and ongoing maritime battles with the Vietnamese rulers they had overthrown.

并且要与被推翻的越南统治者

进行持续不断的海上战争。

So they commissioned Guangzhou’s pirates to raid the coast

因此他们为广州海盗提供佣金，

令其突袭沿海地区，

and join the fight against their enemies.

加入到对抗敌人的斗争中。

Serving their Vietnamese patrons turned the Zhengs and other pirates

为越南人工作，

使得郑家人和其他海盗

from ragtag gangs aboard single vessels

从杂乱散漫的单船组织，

into professional privateer fleets

变成了专业的海军舰队，

with dozens of ships able to hold their own at sea.

拥有十几艘能够自主航行的船只。

In 1802, the Tây Sơn were overthrown

1802年，西山政权被推翻，

and the pirates lost their safe harbor in Vietnam.

这些海盗失去了越南的庇佑。

But instead of scattering,

但郑家并未四分五裂，

the Zhengs met the crisis by uniting the rival Cantonese pirate groups

而是联合了敌对的广东海盗，

into a formidable alliance.

双方结成坚定同盟。

At its height, the confederation included 70,000 sailors

在全盛时期，

这个联盟有多达7万名水手，

with 800 large junks

拥有800只大型帆船，

and nearly 1,000 smaller vessels.

近1000条小型船只。

Those were organized into six fleets marked by different colored flags.

这些船只和人员被编成6只舰队，

用不同颜色的旗子标记。

The Zhengs were unlike many other historically-known privateers,

历史上的知名海盗，

such as Henry Morgan or Barbarossa,

例如亨利·摩根和巴博萨，

who acted on behalf of various naval powers.

代表着多种军事力量。

Instead, the Zhengs were now true outlaws,

与他们不同，

郑家成了真正意义上的违法分子。

operating without support or approval from any government.

没有任何政府支持或允许他们的活动。

Zheng Yi met an untimely end in 1807,

郑一最终于1807年去世。

but his widow didn’t hesitate to secure their gains.

在稳固现有所得这一问题上，

他的妻子毫不犹豫。

Through skillful diplomacy,

郑一嫂通过高超的外交技能，

Madame Zheng took charge of the confederation,

获得了联盟的掌权。

convincing the captains that their best interests lay in continued collaboration.

说服其他海盗船长，

获得最大利益需要持续合作。

Meanwhile, she appointed Zhang Bao, the young protege of her late husband,

同时，她指定亡夫的年轻门生张宝，

as the commander of her most powerful squadron, the Red Flag Fleet.

作为最强力的海军队伍--“红旗帮”的指挥者。

Zhang became not only her right-hand man, but her lover and, soon, her new husband.

张宝不仅是郑一嫂的左膀右臂，

也成了她的情人，

不久之后则成为她的新一任丈夫。

Madame Zheng consolidated her power through strict military discipline

郑一嫂通过严格的军事纪律，

结合出奇先进的律法准则

combined with a surprisingly progressive code of laws.

来巩固自己的权力。

Female captives were theoretically protected from sexual assault,

女性俘虏受到保护，免于遭受性侵，

and while pirates could take them as wives,

尽管海盗可以娶这些女子为妻，

mistreatment or infidelity towards them was punishable by death.

但若出现虐待或不忠行为，

他们都会被处以死刑。

Under Madame Zheng’s leadership,

在郑一嫂的领导下，

the pirates greatly increased their power,

海盗们大幅提升了自己的势力，

with 200 cannons and 1300 guns in the Red Flag Fleet alone.

仅红旗帮就有200台大炮和1300支枪。

Within a few years, they destroyed 63 of Guangdong Province’s 135 military vessels,

几年间，他们摧毁了

广东省135艘军舰中的63艘，

forcing their commanders to hire more than 30 private junks.

迫使这些广东指挥官

雇佣30支海盗帆船。

Madame Zheng was so feared that Chinese commanders charged with apprehending her

郑一嫂令中国将领感到恐惧。

那些得令逮捕郑一嫂的将领们 大部分时间都不敢出海，

spent most of their time ashore,

sometimes sabotaging their own vessels to avoid battle at sea.

有时甚至破坏自己的舰船 以避免海上战争。

With little to stop them,

没有什么能够阻止海盗们了。

the pirates were able to mount successful —and often brutal—

他们对沿海地区的

驻防部队、村庄和市场等发起快攻，

raids on garrisons, villages, and markets throughout the coast.

突袭往往能够成功却同样残忍。

Using her administrative talents,

郑一嫂通过自己的管理才能，

Madame Zheng established financial offices in cities and villages,

在城市和村庄建立了金融机构，

allowing her pirates to extract regular protection payments on land and sea alike.

使得她手下的海盗能够

在陆地和海洋定期收取保护费。

This effectively created a state within a state

这实际是在一国之内建立了新国家。

whose influence reached far beyond the South China Sea.

它的影响远不止中国南海区域。

At the peak of her power,

在郑一嫂实力鼎盛时期，

Madame Zheng’s confederation drove five American schooners

她的联盟将五艘美国纵帆船

to safe harbor near Macao,

驱逐到靠近澳门的安全港，

captured a Portuguese brig,

占领一只葡萄牙横帆双桅船，

and blockaded a tribute mission from Thailand

截断了泰国的进贡船只，

—all in a single day.

这些都发生在同一天。

But perhaps Madame Zheng’s greatest success lay in knowing when to quit.

但也许郑一嫂最大的成功 在于她知道何时退出。

By 1810, increasing tension between the Red and Black Flag Fleets

1810年，红旗帮和黑旗帮的 对立愈发剑拔弩张，

weakened the confederation from within

这从内部削弱了联盟的力量，

and rendered it more vulnerable to attack from without.

导致联盟更易受到攻击。

So, when the Chinese government, desperate to stop the raids,

中国政府迫切想要结束海盗们的突袭，

offered amnesty in exchange for the pirates’ surrender,

当他们提出对海盗进行招抚时，

Madame Zheng and Zhang Bao agreed, but only on their own terms.

郑一嫂和张宝根据个人意愿 同意了政府的招安。

Their confederation was successfully and peacefully dismantled in April 1810,

1810年4月，海盗联盟成功地和平解散。

while Zhang Bao was allowed to retain 120 junks for personal use

张宝仍可保留120只帆船自用。

and became an officer in the Chinese navy.

他成为了中国海军的将领。

Now fighting pirates himself,

张宝现在成了打击海盗的一方，

Zhang Bao quickly rose through the ranks of military command,

他迅速升官，

and Madame Zheng enjoyed all the privileges of her husband’s status.

郑一嫂享受着 丈夫地位带来的一切特权，

After Zhang Bao died in 1822,

1822年，张宝去世后，

Madame Zheng returned with their eleven-year-old son to Guangzhou,

郑一嫂带着11岁大的儿子回到了广州。

where she opened a gambling house and quietly lived off the proceeds.

她在此地开了一间赌坊，

并靠此收入生活。

She died at the age of 69—an uncommonly peaceful end to a pirate’s life.

她去世时已69岁，

这对海盗来说是不同寻常的和平结局。