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At the height of their power, infamous Caribbean pirates like Blackbeard and Henry Morgan
臭名昭著的加勒比海盗，如黑胡子和亨利·摩根，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, made enemies of several empires, and still lived to old age.
郑一嫂曾统帅1800只舰船，与数个国家为敌，并且长寿终老。
Madame Zheng began her life as a commoner working on one of the many floating brothels, or flower boats, in the port city of Guangzhou.
郑一嫂是平民出身，在港口城市广州的一艘水上妓院（也称花船）工作。
By 1801, she had attracted the attention of a local pirate captain named Zheng Yi, and the two soon married.
直到1801年，她引起了郑一的注意，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 to supplement their meager incomes in the offseason.
广州的渔民长期从事小规模的海盗行为，以此补充捕鱼淡季的微薄收入。
But a successful peasant uprising in neighboring Vietnam at the end of the 18th century had raised the stakes.
但在18世纪末，邻国越南一场农民起义的成功，提高了海盗活动的风险。
The victorious Tay Sơn rebels had unified their country only to face a Chinese invasion
胜利的西山反叛军统一了越南，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 and join the fight against their enemies.
因此他们为广州海盗提供佣金，令其突袭沿海地区，加入到对抗敌人的斗争中。
Serving their Vietnamese patrons turned the Zhengs and other pirates from ragtag gangs aboard single vessels
为越南人工作，使得郑家人和其他海盗从杂乱散漫的单船组织，
into professional privateer fleets with dozens of ships able to hold their own at sea.
变成了专业的海军舰队，拥有十几艘能够自主航行的船只。
In 1802, the Tay Sơn were overthrown and the pirates lost their safe harbor in Vietnam.
1802年，西山政权被推翻，这些海盗失去了越南的庇佑。
But instead of scattering, the Zhengs met the crisis by uniting the rival Cantonese pirate groups into a formidable alliance.
但郑家并未四分五裂，而是联合了敌对的广东海盗，双方结成坚定同盟。
At its height, the confederation included 70,000 sailors with 800 large junks and nearly 1,000 smaller vessels.
在全盛时期，这个联盟有多达7万名水手，拥有800只大型帆船，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, such as Henry Morgan or Barbarossa,
郑家与历史上的知名海盗不同，例如亨利·摩根和巴博萨，
who acted on behalf of various naval powers.
他们代表着多种军事力量。
Instead, the Zhengs were now true outlaws, operating without support or approval from any government.
郑家成了真正意义上的违法分子，没有任何政府支持或允许他们的活动。
Zheng Yi met an untimely end in 1807, but his widow didn't hesitate to secure their gains.
郑一最终于1807年去世，但在稳固现有所得这一问题上，他的妻子毫不犹豫。
Through skillful diplomacy, Madame Zheng took charge of the confederation,
郑一嫂通过高超的外交技能，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 combined with a surprisingly progressive code of laws.
郑一嫂通过严格的军事纪律，结合出奇先进的律法准则来巩固自己的权力。
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, mistreatment or infidelity towards them was punishable by death.
尽管海盗可以娶这些女子为妻，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, the pirates greatly increased their power,
在郑一嫂的领导下，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 spent most of their time ashore,
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，
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, raids on garrisons, villages, and markets throughout the coast.
他们对沿海地区的驻防部队、村庄和市场等发起快攻，突袭往往能够成功却同样残忍。
Using her administrative talents, Madame Zheng established financial offices in cities and villages,
郑一嫂通过自己的管理才能，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 whose influence reached far beyond the South China Sea.
这实际是在一国之内建立了新国家，它的影响远不止中国南海区域。
At the peak of her power, Madame Zheng's confederation drove five American schooners to safe harbor near Macao,
在郑一嫂实力鼎盛时期，她的联盟将五艘美国纵帆船驱逐到靠近澳门的安全港，
captured a Portuguese brig, and blockaded a tribute mission from Thailand -- all in a single day.
占领一只葡萄牙横帆双桅船，截断了泰国的进贡船只，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隐。
By 1810, increasing tension between the Red and Black Flag Fleets weakened the confederation from within
1810年，红旗帮和黑旗帮的对立愈发剑拔弩张，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, Madame Zheng and Zhang Bao agreed, but only on their own terms.
当他们提出对海盗进行招抚时，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 and became an officer in the Chinese navy.
张宝仍可保留120只帆船自用，他成为了中国海军的将领。
Now fighting pirates himself, Zhang Bao quickly rose through the ranks of military command,
张宝现在成了打击海盗的一方，他迅速升官，
and Madame Zheng enjoyed all the privileges of her husband's status.
而郑一嫂享受着丈夫地位带来的一切特权。
After Zhang Bao died in 1822, Madame Zheng returned with their eleven-year-old son to Guangzhou,
1822年，张宝去世后，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，这对海盗来说可是罕见的善终了。
