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1810 AD, Guangdong, China. The Imperial Qing dynasty and Portuguese navies have been sunk. In the Pearl River Delta, a parallel government has formed, with its own forms of passports, contracts, and protection rackets. The Emperor of Qing holds court in Macau with the head of this parallel pirate state. In the halls of the Imperial Government, Zheng Yi Sao walks in, behind her 17,000 men loyal to her. Zheng Yi Sao was the queen of this parallel state, skilled in warfare, accounting, and negotiations—she was here to cut a deal.

Born in the late eighteenth century during the Manchu-ruled Qing dynasty, Zheng Yi Sao (鄭一嫂), born Shi Yang (石陽), began life among the Tanka boat people of southern Guangdong. These marginalized peoples lived almost entirely on the water, fishing and trading along the chaotic coasts of the South China Sea. Not much about her early life is known, but like most Tanka women, by the time she was an adolescent she was working on the infamous Flower Boats—floating brothels.

Around 1801, her flower boat was visited by Zheng Yi, a powerful pirate captain who had once served the Vietnamese Tây Sơn dynasty. When that regime collapsed, Zheng Yi and his fleet returned to the waters of southern China, where they made their living by raiding coastal villages and merchant shipping—especially the merchant ships of the foreign British and Portuguese. Whatever skills Shi Yang had built to that point—charisma, charm, and intelligence—were certainly tools she had developed. Shortly after Zheng Yi’s visit, he married Shi Yang and gave her charge of his accounts, negotiations, and battle strategy.

Shi Yang took the name Zheng Yi Sao, and the husband-and-wife duo subdued rival pirate fleets. Instead of impunity, Zheng Yi Sao showed her shrewd intelligence and adaptive negotiation skills. She bound the various flag fleets—the Blue Banners, White Banners, Yellow Banners, and Black Banners—together with her own, the Red Banner Fleet, leading the council.

With this confederation, a parallel society formed in the southern Guangdong province. But shortly after a year of this confederation, Zheng Yi died. The confederation broke into civil conflict immediately. Yet Zheng Yi Sao was well positioned in authority, knowledge, and respect to take complete control of the confederation. With her adopted son, Zhang Bao, she tied the fleet back together and ruled the confederation with tight accounting and strict discipline.

The official Qing historical record Jinghai Fenji (靖海氛記) estimates Zheng Yi Sao commanding nearly 17,000 pirates and thousands of ships. A single raid would commonly see the participation of 500 ships or more. For the Qing government, the situation was impossible to control. Coastal defenses were weak, and imperial fleets suffered repeated defeats against the pirates. After years of conflict, the Qing court turned to a strategy of amnesty and negotiation.

In 1810, Zheng Yi Sao entered into negotiations with Qing officials. For three turbulent years she had held the pirate confederation together. For three years she fought both the Qing navy and the Portuguese. And during those years, like many sailors of the South China Sea, she prayed to Mazu (媽祖), the shamanic goddess of the ocean who protected mariners. Now she reaped the fruits of her labour.

The deal she struck could not have been better. She and her entire 17,000-man crew were granted amnesty and allowed to keep their wealth. Many entered official service with the Qing; many others retired. Zheng Yi Sao herself left the Pearl River Delta to live out her days in Macau. The girl born upon rough seas and chaotic times died of old age on solid ground and in peace