At the height of their power, infamous Caribbean pirates like Blackbeard and Henry Morgan commanded as many as 10 ships and several hundred men.

在他們最強盛的時候，像黑鬍子和亨利·摩根那樣臭名昭著的海盜指揮著十多艘船和上百餘人。

But their stories pale next to the most successful pirate of all time:

但他們的故事與有史以來最成功的海盜相比，可是遜色許多。

Madame Zheng commanded 1,800 vessels, made enemies of several empires, and still lived to old age.

鄭夫人指揮 1,800 艘船，與幾個帝國為敵，卻還能活到終老。

Madame Zheng began her life as a commoner, working on one of the many floating brothels, or flower boats, in the port city of Guangzhou.

鄭夫人一開始只是位普通人，在港口城市廣州的許多漂浮妓院或花船上工作。

By 1801, she had attracted the attention of a local pirate captain named Zheng Yi, and the two soon married.

到了 1801 年，一名叫鄭義的當地海盜船長被她吸引，兩人很快便結了婚。

Guangzhou's fishermen had long engaged in small-scale piracy to supplement their meager incomes in the off-season.

廣州漁民長期從事小規模的海盜活動以補貼他們在淡季的微薄收入。

But a successful peasant uprising in neighboring Vietnam at the end of the 18th century had raised the stakes.

但是，到了 18 世紀末，鄰國越南成功的農民起義舉足輕重。

The victorious Tây Sơn rebels had unified their country only to face a Chinese invasion and ongoing maritime battles with the Vietnamese rulers they had overthrown.

為了面對中國的侵略以及和被他們推翻的越南統治者的海戰，起義成功的叛軍 Tây Sơn 將他們的國家統一起來。

So, they commissioned Guangzhou's pirates to raid the coast and join the fight against their enemies.

於是，他們委託廣州的海盜劫掠沿海，並共同加入打擊他們敵人的戰鬥中。

Serving their Vietnamese patrons turned the Zhengs and other pirates from ragtag gangs aboard single vessels into professional privateer fleets,

為越南客人服務讓鄭氏等從一艘破船上衣衫襤褸的海盜團伙變成了專業的私人船隊，

with dozens of ships able to hold their own at sea.

以及數十艘能夠在海上堅守的船隻。

In 1802, the Tây Sơn were overthrown and the pirates lost their safe harbor in Vietnam.

1802 年，Tây Sơn 被推翻，而海盜們失去了在越南安全港灣的庇護。

But instead of scattering, the Zhengs met the crisis by uniting the rival Cantonese pirate groups into a formidable alliance.

但是，鄭家軍沒有分散力量，而是將敵對的廣東海盜合作團結成一個強大的聯盟來應對這次危機。

At its height, the confederation included 70,000 sailors with 800 large junks and nearly 1,000 smaller vessels.

在其最鼎盛的時期，該聯盟有 7 萬名水手以及 800 艘大船和近千艘小型船舶。

Those were organized into 6 fleets marked by different-colored flags.

這些人被組織成六支艦隊，用不同顏色的旗幟標記。

The Zhengs were unlike many other historically-known privateers such as Henry Morgan or Barbarossa, who acted on behalf of various naval powers.

鄭氏家族與其他許多歷史上著名的武裝民船不同，像是亨利·摩根或巴巴羅薩，他們代表各海軍強權行事。

Instead, the Zhengs were now true outlaws, operating without support or approval from any government.

相反地，現在的鄭氏家族是真正的亡命之徒，在沒有任何政府支持或準許的情況下運作。

Zheng Yi met an untimely end in 1807, but his widow didn't hesitate to secure their gains.

鄭義在 1807 年英年早逝，而他的遺孀毫不猶豫地接下了他們的事業。

Through skillful diplomacy, Madame Zheng took charge of the confederation, convincing the captains that their best interests lay in continued collaboration.

通過巧妙的外交手段，鄭夫人掌管了海盜聯盟，說服船長們相信只有繼續合作才能維持最大利益。

Meanwhile, she appointed Zhang Bao, the young protege of her late husband, as the commander of her most powerful squadron, the Red Flag Fleet.

同時，她還任命了鄭義的年輕門徒張寶作為她最強大的中隊──紅旗艦隊的指揮官。

Zhang became not only her right-hand man but her lover, and soon, her new husband.

張寶不僅成了她的得力助手，也成了她的情人，不久，還成了她的新丈夫。

Madame Zheng consolidated her power through strict military discipline combined with a surprisingly progressive code of laws.

鄭夫人以嚴明的軍紀鞏固政權，再加上先進的令人驚訝的法典。

Female captives were theoretically protected from sexual assault.

女俘虜受到保護，不會受到侵犯。

And while pirates could take them as wives, mistreatment or infidelity towards them was punishable by death.

而海盜可以娶她們為妻，然而虐待或對她們不忠可被處以死刑。

Under Madame Zheng's leadership, the pirates greatly increased their power, with 200 cannons and 1,300 guns in the Red Flag Fleet alone.

在鄭夫人的帶領下，海盜們的實力大增，光是紅旗艦隊就有 200 門大炮和 1,300 門槍砲。

Within a few years, they destroyed 63 of Guangdong Province's 135 military vessels, forcing their commanders to hire more than 30 private junks.

在幾年內，他們摧毀了廣東省 135 艘軍艦中的 63 艘，迫使廣東省指揮官僱傭 30 多艘私人軍艦。

Madame Zheng was so feared that Chinese commanders charged with apprehending her spent most of their time ashore, sometimes sabotaging their own vessels to avoid battle at sea.

出於對鄭夫人的恐懼，負責抓捕她的中國指揮官們大部分的時間都是在岸上度過的，有時為了躲避海上戰事，甚至會故意破壞自己的船隻。

With little to stop them, the pirates were able to mount successful⏤and often brutal⏤raids on garrisons, villages, and markets throughout the coast.

他們勢不可擋，海盜們總能夠成功而殘酷地襲擊整個沿海地區的駐軍、村莊和市場。

Using her administrative talents, Madame Zheng established financial offices in cities and villages,

利用她的管理才能，鄭夫人在城鄉設立金融辦事處，

allowing her pirates to extract regular protection payments on land and sea alike.

允許她的海盜在陸地和海上定期收取保護費。

This effectively created a state within a state, whose influence reached far beyond the South China Sea.

實際上，這是在一個國家中又建立一個國家，而其影響力遠遠超出了南海。

At the peak of her power, Madame Zheng's confederation drove 5 American schooners to safe harbor near Macao,

在鄭夫人的權力巔峰期，她的同盟會將五艘美國的帆船驅趕到到澳門附近的安全港，

captured a Portuguese brig, and blockaded a tribute mission from Thailand, all in a single day.

俘虜了一艘葡萄牙雙桅船，並封鎖了一個來自泰國的貢品代表團，這些都僅在一天內辦到。

But perhaps Madame Zheng's greatest success lay in knowing when to quit.

但也許鄭夫人最大的成功，是懂得見好就收。

By 1810, increasing tension between the Red and Black Flag Fleets weakened the confederation from within and rendered it more vulnerable to attack from without.

到了 1810 年，紅旗艦隊和黑旗艦隊之間的關係日益緊張，內耗使其更容易受到來自外部的攻擊。

So, when the Chinese government, desperate to stop the raids, offered amnesty in exchange for the pirates' surrender,

所以，當中國政府為了急於阻止海盜突襲並提出大赦時來換取海盜的投降時，

Madame Zheng and Zhang Bao agreed, but only on their own terms.

鄭夫人和張寶答應了，但那也是他們願意。

Their confederation was successfully and peacefully dismantled in April 1810,

他們的聯盟在 1810 年 4 月被和平地成功解散，

while Zhang Bao was allowed to retain 120 junks for personal use and became an officer in the Chinese navy.

而張寶則被允許保留 120 艘軍艦自用，並成為中國海軍的一名軍官。

Now fighting pirates himself, Zhang Bao quickly rose through the ranks of military command, and Madame Zheng enjoyed all the privileges of her husband's status.

現在自己打海盜，張寶很快就在軍事指揮部裡升了職，而鄭夫人則享受著她丈夫身份帶來的一切特權。

After Zhang Bao died in 1822, Madame Zheng returned with their 11-year-old son to Guangzhou, where she opened a gambling house and quietly lived off the proceeds.

1822 年張寶去世後，鄭夫人帶著 11 歲的兒子回到廣州，她在那裡開了一家賭場，靠著賭場的收益低調地生活。

She died at the age of 69, an uncommonly peaceful end to a pirate's life.

她在 69 歲時去世，對一個海盜來說以一個平靜的結局收尾是相當少見的。

Want more history?

想要看更多的歷史嗎？

Check out this playlist with 5 of TED-Ed's most popular history videos.

看看這個播放清單，裡面包含 TED-Ed 最受歡迎的 5 部歷史影片。

And if you want to help us continue to create videos like these, please consider making a small monthly contribution at patreon.com/teded.

如果你想幫助我們繼續製作此類影片，請考慮在 patreon.com/teded 上進行每個月小額捐款。