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Cheng was the leader of the infamous Red Flag
Fleet, a confederation of pirates with over 1500 ships that ranged the whole
Chinese coast and South to Malaysia. When he died in 1807, Cheng I Sao (wife
of Cheng) took charge as a sort of admiral and placed Chang Pao, formerly
her husband's right-hand man, in command of the operation of the fleet.
Shortly, they became involved with each other and later married. The
discipline Cheng I Sao imposed was formidable, with punishments much more
severe than the pirate "articles" of the Caribbean. Most offenses were
punishable by beheading. Her battle plans were just as ruthless. Many
engagements of the Red Flag Fleet were conducted by hundreds of ships, each
with twenty to twenty-five cannons, and upwards of two-thousand pirates. The
pirate ships were shallow-hulled junks that had wide sails, but had as many
as twenty oars to be rowed up rivers. Not only was her fleet engaged in acts
of piracy, they also extorted money as "protection" from the pirates
themselves.
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Chinese officials tried many tactics to bring the Red Flag Fleet to
justice, but every expedition to eradicate the pirates failed. The Chinese
navy lost sixty-three ships in the attacks. Twice, the Red Flag Fleet was
ambushed by citizens of beset villages, only to have their towns burnt to
the ground and the men slaughtered. Even the navies of Portugal and Britain
could not defeat Cheng I Sao. In desperation, a general amnesty was offered
to all pirates in 1810 and Cheng I Sao decided to take advantage of it. She
negotiated pardons for almost all of her men, and even managed to get Chang
Pao a lieutenancy in the Chinese Army. She retired with all of her fortune,
ran a gambling house and had at least one son with Chang Pao before dying in
1844. Many historians consider Cheng I Sao to be the best pirate who ever
lived. |
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