When it comes to pirates, many people first think of Pirates of the Caribbean. However, some of the leading figures of British pirates, Arab pirates, Japanese Oriental pirates, and Chinese Guangdong pirates are also famous in history.
1. British pirates – Francis Drake and Henry Morgan
Sir Francis Drake is hailed as the pinnacle of piracy history. He was also the first person in history to personally complete a circumnavigation of the globe. In 1579, Drake and the Golden Deer set out along the west coast of South America, sailing west across the Pacific Ocean, through the Philippine Archipelago, through the Strait of Malacca, across the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope and across the Atlantic Ocean again.
On this three-year voyage, Drake's fleet not only plundered Spanish colonies in South America, but also attacked Spanish ports in Europe. For other countries he was a veritable pirate by selling slaves and snatching treasures, but for England he was a true hero. With his honor and achievements, he is really qualified to compete for the first place of the Pirate King.
Henry Morgan was similar in positioning to Sir Drake, both pirates who accepted British acquiescence in their attacks on Spain. Henry Morgan fought against Spain all his life, ransacked merchant ships in the harbor, and achieved a lot of success, far more than pirates like Blackbeard, and honored him as the pirate king. He used a despicable tactic when he attacked Panama, using the captured priests and nuns as shields in front of him and invading the town while they escaped chaos.
2. Pirates of the Caribbean – Bartholomew Roberts and Edward Titch the Blackbeard
Bartholomew Roberts, known as one of the most successful pirates in the golden age of piracy, was also the strongest of the late Western pirates, and since his death, the golden age of piracy has also come down.
He controlled a wide range of waters from Africa all the way to the Caribbean Sea. In just four years, his pirate fleet had a total of 400 pirate ships at its peak. Roberts was known for his cold-bloodedness, never leaving a living mouth after hijacking a ship.
Roberts formulated the famous "Roberts Ship Rules", which ruled the pirates with 12 strict and somewhat democratic rules, including that every pirate had the right to vote, forbidden gambling, prohibition of alcohol, prohibition of private fighting, prohibition of women on board (do you know how to commit fouls by men?), and work-related retirement can also claim subsidies on the ship.
Edward Titch the Blackbeard was known as "the most notorious pirate", fierce and bold. After the British Empire became the hegemon of the seas, trade was in full swing, and many maritime merchants became rich as a result, and the militias transformed into plundering other people's caravans to robbing their own country's merchant ships.
Blackbeard rose in this situation and attacked the British Royal Navy in the blue sky and daylight, and became famous in world war I. The whole Atlantic heard the name of Blackbeard, and everyone was frightened.
3. Spanish pirate queen Caterina Dibo
Spanish pirate queen Caterina Dubo has been hailed as "the most vicious female prisoner in history". Born in the middle of the 18th century, she was the king of barcelona ships, and she did not become a noblewoman since she was educated as an aristocrat. On the contrary, under the rendering of his brother, he likes to ride horses and row a series of boys' activities. While practicing a martial art, it also creates a strong personality.
After joining the Spanish Army in Peru, Caterina Dipo, who successfully concealed the identity of the woman, was dissatisfied with the officer's seizure of military food and other behaviors, and there was a large-scale clash between the soldier and the officer that night, and in a fierce fight, she killed an officer, only to find out that it was her brother who had been in the army for many years.
After the death of the captain, the people below her were elected as the captain of the ship with her superb naval skills and combat effectiveness, and only then did she reveal herself to be a big lady who ran away from home.
Since then, she has led more than ten ships and thousands of pirates to plunder everywhere. But there was a rule that she never snatched A Spanish ships, and even gave rescue to Spanish ships that were shipwrecked.
4. Chinese pirates - Zheng Yi, Zheng Yi and Zhang Baozai
Zheng Yiqi, a man with great ambitions, has been committed to unifying the various gangs of thieves in the Pearl River Estuary into a pirate alliance with him as the leader, and Zheng Yiyi can be called a virtuous helper, and has participated in her affairs from beginning to end, and the pirates have called her "Dragon Sister-in-law".
Zheng Yi's Red Flag Gang pirates are the most powerful of the pirate alliances, with a total of 600 to 1,000 ships and a number of 20,000 to 40,000 people. The more famous leaders under his subordinates were Liang Pobao, Xiang shan er (Xiao Jilan), Xiao Buao, Zheng Guohua, Chen Wu, Ya Xuanyi, Chen Yanan, and Cannon Shu. Helplessly, in 1807, when this pirate grand alliance was difficult to sign, Zheng Yi fell into the sea in a strong typhoon and died, only forty-two years old.
Zheng Yiyi (1775-1844), originally surnamed Shi, milk name Xianggu, was a daughter of the Guangdong Xinhui family and the wife of Zheng Yi. After Zheng Yi's death, Zheng Yi became the leader of the Red Flag Gang. Zheng Yiyi, who had attained a legal leadership position, immediately established her authority by strengthening the organizational discipline of the fleet. Under the management of Zheng Yiyi, the Hongqi Gang had 500 or 600 large and small ships, and 30,000 or 40,000 people.
They have Lantau Island as their main base, camps on Hong Kong Island, and shipyards. Zheng Yiyi learned from the West early on advanced science and technology.
The weapons used by the Red Flag Gang are foreign goods that they have obtained by all means. The Hongqi Gang led by Zheng Yiyi was not as well equipped as the Da qingshui Division, so it not only repeatedly defeated the officers and soldiers, but even achieved a brilliant record of severely damaging the Portuguese and Macao fleets (including American mercenaries) and besieging Macao to the point of almost starvation.
In the face of british ships rampaging through Chinese waters, Zheng Yiyi also attacked the British ships in the inland river of Guangzhou in 1809, captured a British ship, and killed dozens of British soldiers, shocking the British army.
Zhang Baozai, a native of Xinhui in Jiangmen, was a famous pirate or a pirate in South China along the coast of Guangdong before 1810, and is still a familiar historical figure in Hong Kong. In the image of the pirate, Hong Kong movies mostly portray him with the image of a righteous thief. Zhang Baozai forbade the rape of women who had been robbed, and when he went to the shore to purchase goods, he would certainly give money, and the targets of robbery were all official ships and foreign ships. Later, Zhang Baozai and Zheng Yiyi both accepted the Qing court's offer.
5. Oriental pirates - Nine Ghosts Jialong
Kūgō Kataka (1542–1600) was a vassal of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, daimyō of the Sengoku Azuchi Momoyama period, and the eighth generation of the Nine Ghosts clan's water army. In 1574, Oda Nobunaga was instrumental in his efforts to suppress Ise Nagashima and shot at the sea to aid the Oda army.
Later, in the Second Battle of Kizukawaguchi, ironclad ships were built to crush the water army of Murakami Takeyoshi, a subordinate of the Maori clan, and for this merit, he was given a 35,000 stone domain and was known as the Pirate Daimyo. Later, he belonged to the Western Army in the Battle of Sekigahara, lost, committed suicide, and died at the age of 59.
In 1592, Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched a war of aggression against Korea, and the Ming Dynasty entered Korea. In September, Jiu Ghost and Fujido Takaho, who had been appointed as admirals of the navy, attacked the Korean Navy with 300 ships and 20,000 troops, and Li Shunchen secretly set up iron cables and wooden stakes at the east and west exits of the Mingliang Strait, waiting for the Japanese army to enter when the tide was rising, but could not exit at low tide, and ambushed the Japanese army, beating the Japanese army to the point of being unable to take care of itself.
At that time, There were also famous Goto, Mishima, Tsufang water army, etc. in Japan, and when various daimyōs were fighting for territory, these water army leaders were also vying for the dominance of the sea trade on behalf of Japan, and the battle was also very fierce. Due to the design of the ironclad ship, he was awarded a fief of 35,000 stones by Oda Nobunaga and Ise and Shima, becoming a veritable daimyō.
The Kumano Water Army of the Nine Ghosts is not necessarily considered pirates in the strict sense of the word, they are armed water armies that are officially recognized, and the Nine Ghosts are appointed by Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi to carry out military activities. The armored iron warship designed by the Nine Ghosts not only achieved great success in China, but also was a model for Japan's early armored warships. It is said that he designed it based on Ming warships and European ships.