Pirates have always been established by men in people's minds, but in the late Qing Dynasty, China's largest pirate was dominated by women, and the scale of operation involved the whole of Southeast Asia, she was - Shi Xianggu.
Shi Xianggu was born in a poor family in Guangdong in the late Qing Dynasty, and due to the turmoil of that period, many ordinary people lived a life of food and clothing since childhood. Forced by life to have no way out, Shi Xianggu, who was a teenager, walked into the fastest way to make money, and walked into the Qinglou to support herself and her family by selling herself.
In that era of hunger and panic, there were often pirates on the coast of Guangdong and other places near the sea, burning and robbing, and Shi Xianggu was robbed by the pirate Zheng Yi to the bandit nest under such circumstances and married him, which was also Shi Xianggu's first marriage, when she was 26 years old.
Because of the many years of work in the Qinglou made Shi Xianggu read countless people, the life of the bandits quickly adapted, perhaps Shi Xianggu is a Woman of Wangfu, since he followed the pirate leader Zheng Yi, the team of the two has also become larger and larger.
The day of the robber is to make a living on the tip of the sword, and Shi Xianggu has been married to Zheng Yi for a few years, relying on her clever mind and the good deeds of robbing the rich and helping the poor, to run Zheng Yi's business at sea with sound and color, and won a good reputation.
The tree is a big move, and the peer is the wrongdoer. Shi Xianggu's business attracted the displeasure of other gangs, and Zheng Yi was killed in a struggle with other gangs.
At the recommendation of the pirates, Shi Xianggu took over her husband's seat and continued to live at sea with her subordinates, although Shi Xianggu was a robber, she was a chivalrous female Haojie, and since she succeeded her as the leader of the pirate gang, she strictly required her subordinates not to rape and kill adultery and rob the poor.
Under the management of Shi Xianggu, the gang had a fleet of 40,000 or 50,000 people at the largest time, and there were terminals and warehouses in Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Southeast Asia, shipbuilding and other one-stop industries.
Shi Xianggu's power in the southeast coastal area attracted the attention of the Qing court. At that time, in order to suppress Shi Xianggu, the Qing government repeatedly sent troops to suppress her organization, but the results ended in failure.
At that time, the admiral of the Guangdong Water Division was forced to change several terms, and the Qing government was not able to do it, so it threw an olive branch at it to soften, and Zhao'an Shi Xianggu served the imperial court.
Later, because of the struggle between peers, Shi Xianggu's power gradually dispersed, and Shi Xianggu chose to serve the country after judging the situation. At that time, she accepted the invitation of the Qing government, and later during the Opium War, she gave Lin Zexu a lot of advice with senior experience, made great contributions to the sale of cigarettes in Humen, and was equal to the imperial court as a pint of lady.
It is said that in her later years, Shi Xianggu was too disappointed in the imperial court at that time and chose to live a life of retirement without asking about the world.