The Most Powerful Pirate In History

0:07 Flames light the sky over the Pearl River

0:10 Delta as war junks swarm the banks of Sanshan,

0:13 a fishing village in southern China.

0:16 It is 1809.

0:17 The attackers captain has promised ten silver coins for every villager's head.

0:22 By now, the villagers know it was a mistake

0:25 not to pay the pirate confederation protection money.

0:28 They have built a wooden palisade and armed every man between sixteen and sixty,

0:32 but now everything goes wrong:

0:35 Their only cannon explodes in their faces and their leader

0:40 gets stabbed in the back in the turmoil.

0:42 One man makes a last stand from a rooftop,

0:45 hurling dust onto the attackers, until they bring him down with spears.

0:50 The looting lasts three days.

0:52 Two thousand are dead.

0:54 And when the pirates finally sail away, they set the village on fire and leave

0:59 eighty severed heads hanging from a banyan tree,

1:02 staring blankly across the water as a warning.

1:05 The southern Chinese coast is living in fear and no one comes to help.

1:10 The Chinese empire, the largest and wealthiest state on Earth,

1:15 can’t protect its people.

1:17 How?!

1:20 The Middle Kingdom Around 1800 China governs 300 to 400 million people,

1:26 a third of the world's population, and its economy is the largest on Earth.

1:31 While European powers fight over colonies and trade routes,

1:35 Imperial China has been running the same operating system for over 2,000 years.

1:40 When their Western contemporaries were still hacking at each

1:43 other with swords and hauling chests of gold,

1:46 they had already invented gunpowder and used paper money.

1:49 Their compass helped Europeans “discover” already-inhabited lands and eventually

1:55 led them back to China for tea and porcelain.

1:59 China sees itself as the Middle Kingdom, the center of civilization,

2:03 while everybody else are barbarians,

2:06 slowly learning what it has known for centuries.

2:09 The current dynasty running this ancient machine is the Qing,

2:12 but to most people, they’re still outsiders.

2:15 They’re Manchu, descendants of horse-riding warriors from the north

2:19 who smashed through the Great Wall in 1644,

2:22 realized the Chinese system was too sophisticated to replace,

2:26 and simply kept it running with themselves in charge.

2:29 Imagine this realm as a gravitational field.

2:32 At its center sits the emperor in Beijing,

2:36 like a supermassive black hole, bending the fabric of society around him.

2:40 His pull extends through a vast bureaucracy of governors, magistrates,

2:44 and inspectors keeping hundreds of millions of people

2:47 in their place in the cosmic hierarchy.

2:50 But the farther you get from Beijing,

2:53 the weaker that gravitational pull becomes.

2:56 Two thousand kilometers south lies Guangdong,

2:59 a subtropical province between the mountains and the ocean.

3:02 Here, the empire fractures into the Pearl River Delta, a maze of channels,

3:07 swamps and islands that hum with trade, people, boats,

3:11 and markets, some so crowded they spill onto the water.

3:15 China’s population has tripled in a century, and land is running out.

3:19 The size of the bureaucracy, however, remains almost the same.

3:24 Its grip is slipping, and corruption spreads.

3:27 The first to feel it are those already on the edge,

3:30 like the boat families who live season to season.

3:32 Fishing only works half the year, and when the nets come up empty,

3:37 they haul cargo, ferry passengers, or smuggle rice or salt.

3:41 And some turn to piracy part-time,

3:44 raiding along the coast until the monsoon season turns.

3:48 The difference between fisherman and pirate

3:51 sometimes is simply seasonal employment.

3:54 Somewhere in this drifting world, in 1775, a girl is born.

4:00 Nobody pays much attention, but one day, empires will know her name.

4:05 She’ll grow up to become the most powerful pirate in history.

4:13 Water World It’s likely she is part of the Tanka boat people,

4:18 living on a wooden junk patched with tar and cloth.

4:21 A few metres of creaking planks in a cluster of boats,

4:24 with floating kitchens, markets, and temples.

4:27 Some families go years without touching land.

4:30 By the time she can handle a paddle,

4:33 she’s working– fishing or ferrying, whatever pays.

4:36 While land-women crush their feet into "lotus buds" to attract husbands,

4:40 she hops barefoot from plank to plank.

4:43 Boys on shore spend years memorizing ancient

4:46 texts for a shot at becoming officials.

4:48 But the Tanka can’t own land, take imperial exams, or marry into shore families.

4:54 They’re classified as "mean people", “impure” like actors and prostitutes.

4:58 And so, like many before her, as she gets older,

5:02 she finds work on a flower boat, a floating brothel.

5:06 These boats serve sailors, merchants and pirates.

5:09 Most are poor, but lately,

5:11 more and more show up with serious silver and military weapons from Vietnam.

5:16 For years, the Tây Sơn rebels there fought in a civil war and handed out ships,

5:21 cannons, and military ranks to Chinese pirates to raid the Qing Empire,

5:26 and share the profits.

5:27 Now they are losing, and the jobless pirates are returning to China.

5:32 One night in 1801, a pirate named Zheng Yi visits the flower boat.

5:37 He's powerful and commands his own fleet.

5:41 The record gets vague as to how– but within months,

5:44 the girl is his wife and sails with his fleet.

5:48 From here on, she’s known as Zheng Yi Sao,

5:51 literally "wife of Zheng Yi." The Confederation She’s

5:59 entering the pirate world at the perfect moment.

6:02 With veterans flooding back from Vietnam,

6:04 the Sea is swarming with more pirates than anyone has seen in living memory.

6:09 Also, the Delta has become one of the world’s most valuable trade corridors,

6:13 with Guangzhou, called Canton by Europeans,

6:16 as the only legal port for foreign trade.

6:19 An open buffet of silver, tea, silk, opium and porcelain for pirates.

6:25 Meanwhile the Empire is having what you might call a bad century.

6:29 Inland, they’re fighting bloody uprisings like

6:31 the White Lotus Rebellion and on the coast,

6:34 corruption is rampant, patrols are underfunded, and their navy is a joke.

6:40 By 1805, the pirates are fighting each other more than robbing merchants,

6:44 which is bad for business.

6:46 So they do what any sensible criminal would and incorporate.

6:51 Six main fleets share loot,

6:53 settle disputes in a central court and are led by Zheng Yi,

6:57 captain of the most powerful Red Flag Fleet.

7:00 To keep control, he uses the methods of mafia and aristocracy.

7:04 His brother commands squadrons, his sister marries an ally,

7:08 and promising young pirates are adopted.

7:10 And beside him is Zheng Yi Sao, running the numbers and managing alliances.

7:16 Together, they command one of the largest naval forces in the world.

7:20 They even dominate government monopolies.

7:23 Salt merchants start paying pirate convoys instead of imperial ones.

7:27 A silver fee gets you a pirate passport and real protection.

7:32 When some convoys resist,

7:33 pirates torch hundreds of government ships to make it clear who’s boss.

7:38 Portugal and Britain would love to send their warships,

7:41 since their profits are evaporating too.

7:43 But the Qing refuse to let foreign gunboats past the Tiger’s Mouth,

7:47 the entrance to the Pearl River.

7:49 They're more afraid of British “help” than pirate domination,

7:53 which is probably fair.

7:55 By now, even fishermen need a pirate-signed pass.

7:59 The waterways belong to the confederation.

8:02 They are fast, brutal and operate with military precision.

8:09 The Pirate Playbook Let’s board one of their ships:

8:15 a former cargo junk, twelve meters long, and never built for war.

8:19 Now it sails under patched canvas and a black-and-white hull,

8:23 flaunting a dozen cannons.

8:25 Below deck is a village compressed into a dark wooden tube.

8:30 Some pirates share a mat with their wife and children,

8:33 while new recruits and prisoners fight for space– 200 people in total.

8:39 Only the captain lives with any comfort,

8:42 in the raised stern cabin with his wives.

8:46 Scouts spotted a convoy,

8:48 their escort’s imperial banners proving they haven’t paid for protection.

8:52 At a signal, dozens of pirate war junks explode from behind the rocks,

8:57 surrounding the convoy.

8:58 When their guns erupt,

8:59 grapeshot made from nails and coins shred through wood and flesh.

9:04 Three-man teams work the massive gingal guns,

9:07 while others hurl 9 meter long bamboo pikes.

9:10 From the masts, pirates fling stinkpots full of liquor and gunpowder.

9:16 They leap from boat to boat with long-handled knives,

9:20 tridents and rattan shields.

9:21 Some sailors try to surrender, while others jump overboard.

9:26 But captured navy crews get no mercy.

9:29 The pirates nail their feet to the planks, and hack them apart.

9:34 One pirate steps forward and cuts open an officer's chest,

9:38 pulls out the heart and bites into it like a fruit.

9:42 To him it's practical magic: consume the enemy's courage, steal his strength.

9:48 The merchant ships surrender instantly.

9:51 Once their convoy’s silver, silk, and opium is taken,

9:55 a squadron sails upriver to strike the nearest town.

9:59 The strategy is similar: spread fear and name a price.

10:03 If they refuse: everyone dies.

10:06 Some bargain, others pay early, sending silver, rice,

10:10 and roasted pigs for the fleet’s floating temple.

10:13 As it grows, the confederation opens protection offices along

10:16 the coast and even a tax bureau in Guangzhou,

10:20 where you can pay your pirate fees, like renewing a license.

10:24 They set up supply deals across Guangdong for food,

10:27 fuel, and ammo, paying above market and sparing their merchants.

10:32 By 1806, fishermen with empty nets and peasants

10:35 with no land are signing up en masse.

10:42 The Floating State But on November 16, 1807, pirate captain Zheng Yi dies,

10:48 either in a storm or struck by a cannonball, leaving a power vacuum.

10:54 Before anyone else can make a move, his widow Zheng Yi Sao takes control.

10:58 Unlike most rivals, she already has legitimacy.

11:02 She sailed alongside her husband, helped lead campaigns,

11:05 has children with him, and is widely known in the fleet.

11:09 First, she secures the family’s loyalty.

11:12 Then comes her boldest move: she marries Zhang Bao,

11:16 a young captain who had become Zheng Yi's adopted son,

11:19 and puts him in charge of the red fleet.

11:22 By Confucian standards,

11:23 a widow marrying is absolutely scandalous– let alone her stepson!

11:27 But by marrying Zhang Bao, she makes the chain of command unmistakably her own.

11:34 Her next step is to tighten discipline,

11:36 so she issues a new pirate law: Loot has to be registered and inspected.

11:42 The original captor keeps 20%,

11:44 the rest goes into a common treasury to support the fleet.

11:48 Anyone disobeying a superior is decapitated

11:51 and pirates who rape captives are executed.

11:54 She runs the confederation like a CEO with cannons:

11:58 nothing moves without her signature,

12:00 injured pirates get healthcare, brave ones get bonuses,

12:04 and the accounting is impeccable.

12:06 The confederation has become a parallel state, complete with law,

12:10 welfare and a strategy of violent wealth redistribution.

12:14 A floating shadow empire alongside the Qing.

12:18 At her peak Zheng Yi Sao commands about 70,000 pirates on 1,800 ships,

12:24 dwarfing the Spanish Armada–, while Blackbeard,

12:27 the most feared pirate in Western history,

12:30 had maybe four ships and 300 drunk men on his best day.

12:35 Somehow, a former sex worker has constructed a floating pirate

12:39 state more efficient than the government trying to destroy her.

12:47 Endgame In 1809 the Qing impose a coastal embargo,

12:52 reroute salt shipments overland,

12:53 and prevent ships from leaving ports to starve the pirates out.

12:58 But these fleets are full of fishermen who built their own

13:01 state because the official one had nothing to offer anyway.

13:05 When the same empire now tries to take this bandaid away, they turn to revolt.

13:10 Raiding squadrons pour inland like floodwater into rivers and creeks,

13:14 overrunning garrisons, looting markets,

13:16 and clashing with militias funded by the Qing.

13:20 Zhang Bao’s Red Flag Fleet creeps closer to Guangzhou,

13:23 disrupting trade, blocking river traffic,

13:25 and sending cannon fire echoing into the city

13:28 on a daily basis to extort silver and supplies.

13:31 This hits the Qing where it hurts.

13:34 Losing Guangzhou's customs office would be like losing the empire's credit card.

13:40 After centuries of treating foreign powers like annoying tribute states,

13:44 they are running out of options and turn to the “barbarians” for help.

13:49 They don't trust the British, who just recently landed troops in Macao

13:52 and pushed warships up the Pearl River without permission,

13:55 claiming to protect it from the French

13:57 in a sort of proxy of the Napoleonic Wars.

14:00 So they turn to the Portuguese,

14:03 who have been squatting in Macao since the 1500s under lease from China.

14:07 For a mountain of silver, they send warships to patrol alongside Qing junks

14:12 and play whack-a-mole with pirates at the Tiger's Mouth.

14:15 And fail.

14:16 In December, the Qing switch strategies: they offer full amnesty,

14:21 government jobs and silver for any pirate leader who flips.

14:25 Now cracks start to show.

14:28 The Black Flag commander, Guo Podai, smells opportunity.

14:32 He has spent years resenting Zhang Bao– he envies his rise,

14:37 his victories and the fact that Zheng Yi Sao picked him.

14:41 So when the Red Flag calls for backup, he ghosts them;,

14:44 then the two fleets clash, and the Black Flag wins.

14:48 A thousand pirates are killed, and 16 ships captured.

14:52 Within weeks, Guo Podai surrenders to the Qing,

14:55 waving his trophies like a job application.

14:58 Other leaders follow, hoping to cut a deal before it is too late.

15:03 Zheng Yi Sao reads the room perfectly.

15:05 In early 1810, she walks to government officials in Macau,

15:09 leading thousands of followers behind her.

15:12 Entire families who have spent years living aboard pirate ships,

15:16 now come to ask for peace.

15:18 Their petition reads like this: “[we are] insects and ants:

15:24 save us from the flood and fire; pardon our former crimes and open for us

15:28 a new way of life from this day forward.

15:31 We solemnly promise to sell our swords and buy cows.

15:35 If we dare to act with duplicity,

15:37 you may kill us at once.” Beneath the humble tone is sharp timing:

15:42 Zheng Yi Sao is still holding the cards.

15:45 The Qing need the violence to stop and accept a remarkable deal:

15:50 She keeps her ships,

15:51 17,000 pirates are granted amnesty and Zhang Bao is made a naval officer.

15:57 The two are allowed to marry legally, and turn to legal maritime trade.

16:01 Zheng Yi Sao retires near Guangzhou,

16:04 runs a gambling house, possibly dabbles in smuggling.

16:08 She outlives Zhang Bao by two decades and dies peacefully around 1844, at 69.

16:18 The End of a Dynasty Zheng Yi Sao was a remarkable woman— and a ruthless killer.

16:25 Her pirate state could rise because rich trade lanes met weak

16:29 defenses and famine turned hungry sailors into an army on sea.

16:34 When the empire left a vacuum on the water, she filled it.

16:38 For the Qing, it is a disaster.

16:40 They had to borrow foreign gunboats, offer amnesty, and call it a win.

16:45 But when British warships return thirty years later in 1839,

16:48 they force open China’s markets.

16:51 Foreign powers carve out treaty ports,

16:53 run their own trade zones and “anti-piracy” becomes their favorite excuse.

16:59 Their merchants even sell weapons to pirates,

17:02 fueling the problem to justify colonial expansion,

17:05 while Beijing’s control of the coast keeps shrinking.

17:08 The Qing fall in 1911, and it takes their successors decades to undo the damage.

17:14 Most legal privileges for foreigners are only abolished during

17:17 World War II while the last European colony in China,

17:22 Macao, isn’t handed back by Portugal until 1999.

17:26 All this time, piracy never disappeared.

17:29 It’s still happening in crowded chokepoints like

17:31 the Singapore Strait and the Gulf of Aden.

17:33 In the late 1990s, attacks spike after

17:36 the Asian Financial Crisis and a decade later,

17:39 Somali fishermen fill the power vacuum left by a collapsed state.

17:43 Pirates were never only bandits.

17:45 They tax trade, enforce rules, and redistribute wealth.

17:49 But they also take hostages, use terror,

17:52 and enforce control through violence whenever the state

17:55 leaves space for someone else to step in.

17:58 Zheng Yi Sao was not the first to take

18:01 advantage of this, and she wasn't the last.

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