China's Last One Piece
Pirate in the first half, gambler in the second half.
This woman has been walking on the edge of "evil" all her life, but she has been recorded in the annals of history by the British scholar Constance and has become one of the top two big figures in the eyes of Westerners.
In Pirates of the Caribbean 3, she is the only woman in the world's nine pirates.
What's more, her nationality is still the Qing Dynasty in China.
The identity of oriental women and wild deeds have made her famous all over the world, but they have been forgotten by history in their own country.
She is Zheng Yiyi, known as the "Wu Zetian" on the sea.
Figure | "Lady Qing" in Pirates of the Caribbean: The End of the World (2007)
In 1775, coinciding with the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, the Qianlong Emperor's concubine died of illness, and Zheng Yi's sister-in-law was born in Bao'an, Shenzhen.
Her parents were both from the Yan family, and gave her a nickname, called Xianggu.
The history of the Yan family does not know when it began, but after knowing that they were sinners of the imperial court, they were not allowed to live ashore, participate in the imperial examination, and were not allowed to intermarry with people on the shore.
They are the lowest under oppression, living and working in narrow boats, wandering on the sea for life, living a precarious life.
Xianggu's father died when she was very young.
My mother soon died of illness in the midst of suffering.
And she, in order to survive, became a prostitute.
Figure | Zheng Yiyi in the movie "Singing Behind the Screen"
The so-called prostitutes are boat prostitutes who are wandering in various boats, and even ordinary Women in the Qinglou Are not ashamed.
She has dark skin but is naturally beautiful, known as the Black Rose.
This black rose has been dormant in the darkness for a long time, living a life where there is no hope at all.
It wasn't until a pirate robbery in 1801 that she met the pirate leader Zheng Yi.
She seized the opportunity to accept this man, and from then on people called her Zheng Yiyi.
The transformation from a prostitute to a pirate lady is still unbearable in the eyes of people.
But this may be one of the few opportunities in her suffering life that can change her destiny.
So she clung to it and climbed up desperately.
Figure | Stills from "The Song Behind the Screen Cantando dietro i paraventi"
Pirate life is not as romantic as people think.
They often eat caterpillar stew and like to raise rats in the cabin, like pigs;
Before the robbery, gunpowder would be sprinkled in the wine, and after a mouthful, "Whoa-la-la-la" shouted and started working...
In the midst of death and violence, Zheng Yiyi survived.
Not only that, she was not willing to hide behind her husband.
Years of suffering have made her realize that life is full of many accidents, and only by relying on herself can she truly obtain the favor of fate.
Figure | Illustration of Zheng Yiyi's sister-in-law being plundered in A History of Global Piracy (1836).
She followed the pirates to learn to see the weather, identify the direction of the wind, read the charts, and understand the range of the artillery and the types of muskets.
She did all this better than anyone else, and she was able to lead her men to hijack ships on her own.
Gradually, she used her wisdom and courage not to lose men to win the respect of the pirates, who called her Dragon Sister-in-law.
At that time, the pirates at the mouth of the Pearl River were divided into six major factions: red, yellow, blue, white, black, and purple.
Zheng Yi is the boss of the Red Flag Gang.
He had a great dream of integrating the pirate team and forming a pirate alliance.
Zheng Yiyi saw her husband's ambition.
In addition to helping with affairs, he also actively contributed to the cause of unifying pirates.
With the help of Zheng Yiyi, it took less than two years for the six gangs to form a grand alliance of Chinese pirates.
Zheng Yi served as the leader of the alliance and became one piece.
Zheng Yiyi, on the other hand, became one Piece's woman.
Figure | Originated from the Network - Zheng Yiyi's illustration
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long.
Shortly after the reunification of the Six Gangs, Zheng Yi died unexpectedly in a typhoon.
Zheng Yiyi, 32 years old, became a widow.
These 6 years of marriage should still have feelings, but she is too late to grieve.
The Pirate Alliance was immediately disbanded with the fall of Zheng Yi, and the Red Flag Gang was also leaderless, and the wind and rain were shaking.
If she doesn't seize the opportunity, as a helpless widow, where will she go?
Although Zheng Yiyi established some prestige in the Red Flag Gang during her husband's lifetime.
But with your toes you can think of:
In that terrible sea of the weak and the strong, a woman faces a group of pirates who want to seize power, and the situation will be uncontrollable at any time.
At the critical moment, Zheng Yiyi found a patron.
That is Zheng Yi's dry son, Zhang Baozai.
Figure | Originated from the network - Zhang Baozai portrait
Zhang Baozai was taken captive to the ship at a very young age.
Zheng Yi saw that this boy was young and beautiful and smart, so he recognized him as a son.
Zhang Baozai is very good at pinching human nature and teaching morality, and quickly became the second most powerful person in the gang.
After Zheng Yi's death, Zheng Yi and Zhang Baozai quickly reached an alliance and a couple.
It doesn't matter what the sister and brother love, the main thing is to facilitate the career.
Then he set out to suppress factional rivalries, keeping only his loyal men.
She began to take over the Red Flag Gang.
Zheng Yiyi stood in front of the pirates, a group of outlaws.
They are free and indulgent in the ocean, and their sins are inseparable from them.
She knew that her identity as a female stream was difficult to convince the public.
In order to consolidate her position, she issued each member with the Code of Piracy Code of Conduct and asked them to memorize:
Those who do not obey the command and act without authorization shall throw them into the sea to feed the fish;
Whoever steals public property and robs and kills the masses shall throw them into the sea to feed them to the fish;
......
What is particularly valuable is that as a woman, she also stipulates:
You must not mess with beautiful girls, if you want to marry, you must ask for the consent of the other party, otherwise, throw the sea to feed the sharks.
With this set of rules, the organizational cohesion of the Red Flag Gang has rapidly improved.
Zheng Yiyi realized the concentration of power and tightened the leadership.
Figure | Originated from the network - Zhang Baozai and Zheng Yiyi were given marriage, Zhang Baozai changed his name to Zhang Bao, and Zheng Yiyi was named Lady of the Commandment
Zheng Yiyi also has the idea of continuous learning.
In several sea battles, she came into contact with foreign guns and cannons and learned about the fruits of the Industrial Revolution.
When the Qing Dynasty was still twisting and turning, she boldly introduced advanced weapons from the West.
Not only that, Zheng Yiyi also actively contacted foreigners and learned how to produce arms.
According to records, the Hongqi Gang set up a base in Hong Kong and had its own shipyard and arms factory.
Make your own!
Under the leadership of Zheng Yiyi, the Hongqi Gang went to its full glory.
According to the British scholar Constance's History of Piracy:
The scope of the Red Flag Gang's activities expanded from the pearl river estuary to the Qiongzhou Strait, forming a terrible pirate empire.
It has more than 800 large ships and as many as 70,000 pirates.
Its scale was the largest in the world at that time, and it was even larger than the famous Vikings.
I have to say, it hurt my sister-in-law!
As the saying goes, the gun strikes the head bird.
The red flag gang's power soon attracted the attention of the authorities.
They specifically charge protection fees for coastal salt carriers and foreign cargo ships.
If protection money was not paid, ships would be robbed, even for the British fleet.
In 1809, Zheng yiyi kidnapped seven seafarers and an executive of the East India Company.
By then Britain was proudly proclaiming itself to be the "Empire of the Sun Never Sets."
Can you bear this humiliation?
Sent an official letter directly to the Jiaqing Emperor:
You don't care about this?
Can it be ignored?
The Qing government and the British formed a combined fleet and vowed to eliminate the Red Flag Gang and throw Zheng Yiyi into the sea to feed the fish.
However, Zheng Yiyi's sister-in-law has been mixed up among pirates for so many years, and she is no longer the dusty woman she was.
Figure | Derived from the stills of "Zhang Baozai"
The Combined Fleet was to attack lantau island in Hong Kong.
Zheng Yiyi, who received the information, personally sat in Hong Kong and entangled the enemy army.
No matter how the enemy scolds, it is not to shoot.
I couldn't hold out for eight days in a row.
But what the enemy could never have imagined was:
Zheng Yiyi had already let people sneak into Guangzhou City with a boat.
Dozens of sailors in Guangzhou City ran out of ammunition and food, and the general soldiers of Humen were killed.
Seeing that the old nest had been raided, the combined fleet could only retreat in a hurry.
However, Zheng Yiyi had already read the weather forecast, calculated the direction of the wind, and chased the tail of the combined fleet was a fat beating.
As a result, more than twenty ships of the combined fleet were destroyed and fled back to Guangzhou with their heads in their hands.
Since then, Zheng Yi's sister-in-law has become famous.
Pirates are not terrible, they are afraid that pirates have culture.
This trick in "Sun Tzu's Art of War" "Encircling Wei to Save Zhao", Zheng Yiyi used it very beautifully.
If she wasn't a pirate, she would be an ancient Chinese female general.
And this matter has been spread by Westerners, and Zheng Yiyi's sister-in-law is famous, and her image is the frightening Eastern female One Piece.
Figure | Portrait of Zheng Yiyi
The Qing government went back and forth several times without success, and could only recruit security.
Originally, Zheng Yiyi did not intend to be recruited, but there was a slow split within the pirate gang.
She judged the situation and decided to retreat.
In 1810, Zhang Bailing was the governor of Liangguang at that time.
The first negotiation was made by Zhang Baozai, who demanded that 80 warships be retained.
Zhang Bailing disagreed.
The extremists of the Red Flag Gang immediately bulldozed a seaside town and demonstrated to Zhang Bailing.
The Guangdong Water Division showed an offensive motive.
The Pearl River Estuary War was on the verge of breaking out.
Figure | Originating from the Network - The Red Flag Gang is the most powerful of the pirates in the Pearl River Estuary
Breaking the deadlock was Zheng Yiyi's sister-in-law.
On April 17, zheng yiyi, without taking weapons or greetings, led 18 women to land on the wharf in Guangzhou and directly entered the yamen of liangguang governor.
This move is really bold!
It should be noted that after the pirate leader was captured, there was only one result, that is, Ling Chi was executed.
Zhang Bailing, the governor of Liangguang, solemnly received the female pirates.
A feudal magistrate and a woman engage in a political equality dialogue.
This is probably the first time in China's history that it has broken through the earth!
Zheng Yiyi not only has courage, but also strategy.
She voluntarily stayed in Guangzhou as a hostage, and she gave Zhang Ballanting enough face and showed sincerity.
This proactive gesture, Zhang Bailing admired, the two sides reached a settlement agreement:
Zhang Bailing agreed to allow Zheng Yiyi to keep a team of sailboats, of course, the premise is that it can only be used for business, not equipped with weapons.
Zhang Baozai brought a human ship and prepared to be recruited.
The imperial court made Zhang Baozai an official of The Three Pins, and Zheng Yiyi was made the Lady of the Second Pin Commandment.
A woman who was originally helpless, who had run away for half her life, actually completed the great class leap.
Figure | Zheng Yiyi's animation image
After 12 years, Zhang Baozai fell ill and died.
Zheng Yiyi became a widow again.
After that, she settled in Macau with her son, opened a casino, and made a lot of money.
From the perspective of origin, she is also the founder of Macau's gambling industry.
In 1844, Zheng Yi's sister-in-law died in Macau at the age of 69.
This woman's life is engraved with vicissitudes and legends.
Life always gave her a hard blow, and one who was not careful would be thrown into hell again.
She lost both of her parents at an early age, became a prostitute, and became a pirate woman, and the doom was not yet over.
Her husband died unexpectedly, and she became a faltering widow.
Imagine if Zheng Yiyi did not take the initiative to attack at that time, what would be her fate in the future?
It may return to the bottomless gutters, become playthings, and even become food for sharks...
However, with wisdom and courage to change her life against the sky, she led the Red Flag Gang, became one piece, and was named lady of the Second Pin Commandment by the imperial court.
Figure | Originated from the network - Zheng Yiyi
In the end, wealth, freedom, identity, respect...
Just as a netizen commented: I really dare not imagine how powerful such a woman is now, and may be a domineering president!
Resources:
Yang Wanxiang "Guangzhou Anecdotes"
Jiang Shengnan "Pirate Zheng YiJie"
The article is original by the National Pavilion, please indicate when reprinting.
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