The most successful pirate of all time - Dian Murray

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

At the height of their power,

惡名昭張的加勒比海盜，

infamous Caribbean pirates like Blackbeard and Henry Morgan

如黑鬍子和亨利摩根， 在他們的鼎盛時期，

commanded as many as ten ships and several hundred men.

旗下有十艘海盜船和數百名手下。

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

但是跟史上最成功的海盜相比 他們的故事就相形見絀了。

Madame Zheng commanded 1800 vessels,

鄭一嫂坐擁 1800 艘船艦，

made enemies of several empires,

與數個帝國敵對，

and still lived to old age.

依然可以活到老。

Madame Zheng began her life as a commoner

鄭一嫂起初只是一介平民，

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

在海港廣州的水上妓院，或花船，

in the port city of Guangzhou.

做妓女的工作。

By 1801, she had attracted the attention

1801 年，她吸引了當地

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

海盜頭子鄭一的注意， 兩人很快就結婚了。

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

長久以來，廣州漁民都會 從事小規模的海盜活動，

to supplement their meager incomes in the offseason.

在淡季時補貼他們微薄的收入。

But a successful peasant uprising in neighboring Vietnam

但在十八世紀末，鄰邦越南爆發了

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

一場成功的農民起義， 提高了賭注。

The victorious Tây Sơn rebels had unified their country

獲勝的西山朝起義軍統一了越南，

only to face a Chinese invasion

卻發現得要面對中國的侵略，

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

還要與被他們推翻的越南統治者 繼續不斷打海戰。

So they commissioned Guangzhou’s pirates to raid the coast

所以他們委託廣州海盜突襲沿岸，

and join the fight against their enemies.

並加入戰爭，對抗他們的敵人。

Serving their Vietnamese patrons turned the Zhengs and other pirates

這個為越南資助者工作的機會， 讓鄭一夫婦和其他海盜

from ragtag gangs aboard single vessels

從搶奪落單船艦的蝦兵蟹將，

into professional privateer fleets

搖身一變成為專業私掠船艦隊，

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

擁有幾十艘船， 能夠自己在海上立足。

In 1802, the Tây Sơn were overthrown

1802 年，西山朝被推翻，

and the pirates lost their safe harbor in Vietnam.

這些海盜失去了他們 在越南的避風港。

But instead of scattering,

但他們沒有因此潰散，

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

鄭一夫婦面對危機的方式， 是聯合競爭的廣州海盜集團，

into a formidable alliance.

組成了令人生畏的聯盟。

At its height, the confederation included 70,000 sailors

在全盛時期，聯盟有七萬名海盜，

with 800 large junks

800 艘中式帆船，

and nearly 1,000 smaller vessels.

及近 1000 艘小型船隻。

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

這些資源被分為六個艦隊， 用不同顏色的旗子代表。

The Zhengs were unlike many other historically-known privateers,

鄭一夫婦跟其他史上有名的 私掠船船長不同，

such as Henry Morgan or Barbarossa,

如亨利摩根或者巴巴羅薩，

who acted on behalf of various naval powers.

他們是以海軍之名來行動。

Instead, the Zhengs were now true outlaws,

而鄭一夫婦是真正的法外之徒，

operating without support or approval from any government.

背後沒有任何政府的支持或許可。

Zheng Yi met an untimely end in 1807,

1807 年，鄭一早逝，

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

但他的遺孀毫不猶豫地 保住了他們的事業。

Through skillful diplomacy,

透過很有手腕的外交，

Madame Zheng took charge of the confederation,

鄭一嫂接管了海盜聯盟，

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

說服船長們，對他們 最有利的選擇就是繼續合作。

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

同時，她任命亡夫的年輕門徒張寶

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

擔任她旗下最強大的 「紅旗艦隊」的指揮官。

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

張寶不僅成為她的左右手兼戀人， 不久後，還成了她的新丈夫。

Madame Zheng consolidated her power through strict military discipline

鄭一嫂鞏固權力的方式， 包括嚴格的軍事紀律，

combined with a surprisingly progressive code of laws.

再結合先進到讓人驚訝的法律規範。

Female captives were theoretically protected from sexual assault,

規定禁止性侵女性俘虜，

and while pirates could take them as wives,

雖然海盜可以娶她們為妻，

mistreatment or infidelity towards them was punishable by death.

但若對她們有虐待或不忠， 就可能被處死刑。

Under Madame Zheng’s leadership,

在鄭一嫂的領導下，

the pirates greatly increased their power,

海盜的實力大增，

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

光是紅旗艦隊就擁有 200 門大炮和 1300 支槍。

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

幾年間，他們摧毀了廣東省 135 艘軍艦中的 63 艘，

forcing their commanders to hire more than 30 private junks.

迫使他們的指揮官 僱用三十多艘私人帆船。

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

鄭一嫂令人聞風喪膽，以致於 被派去逮捕她的中國指揮官

spent most of their time ashore,

大部分的時間會待在岸上，

sometimes sabotaging their own vessels to avoid battle at sea.

有時還故意破壞 自己的船艦以避免海戰。

With little to stop them,

幾乎所向無敵的海盜

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

得以成功地，且通常很殘忍地

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

突襲沿岸的駐軍要塞、村莊和市場。

Using her administrative talents,

鄭一嫂憑著她的管理才華，

Madame Zheng established financial offices in cities and villages,

在城市和村落中 建立了金融辦公室，

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

讓她的海盜在陸地和 海上取得定期保護費。

This effectively created a state within a state

這方式很有效地建立起一個國中國，

whose influence reached far beyond the South China Sea.

其影響力遠遠超出了南海。

At the peak of her power,

在權力最大的時候，

Madame Zheng’s confederation drove five American schooners

鄭一嫂的聯盟曾驅趕五艘美國縱帆船

to safe harbor near Macao,

去澳門附近的避風港，

奪得了一艘葡萄牙雙桅橫帆船，

captured a Portuguese brig,

and blockaded a tribute mission from Thailand

阻擋了一次泰國的進貢任務

—all in a single day.

——以上都發生在同一天。

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

但也許，鄭一嫂最大的成功之處 在於她知道何時放手。

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

到 1810 年，紅旗艦隊 和黑旗艦隊間的緊張關係

weakened the confederation from within

從內部削弱了聯盟，

and rendered it more vulnerable to attack from without.

使得聯盟更脆弱，無法抵禦外侮。

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

所以，當中國政府因為 非常想要阻止襲擊，

offered amnesty in exchange for the pirates’ surrender,

提出用大赦交換海盜投降，

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

鄭一嫂和張寶同意了， 但前提是要依他們的條件。

Their confederation was successfully and peacefully dismantled in April 1810,

1810 年四月，他們的聯盟 成功地、和平地解散了，

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

而張寶可以保留 120 艘帆船做個人用途，

and became an officer in the Chinese navy.

並成為中國海軍的軍官。

Now fighting pirates himself,

現在張寶自己在

Zhang Bao quickly rose through the ranks of military command,

對抗海盜，他的軍階爬升得很快，

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

而鄭一嫂則在享受她丈夫 身分地位所帶來的所有特權。

After Zhang Bao died in 1822,

1822 年，張寶過世，

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

之後鄭一嫂就帶著他們 11 歲的兒子返回廣州，

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

她在那裡開了一間賭場， 安靜地度過餘生。

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

她死時 69 歲。

就海盜來說， 這麼和平的結局非比尋常。