The Pirate Lady

Zheng Shi, Pirate Lady of China郑氏，中国的女海盗

The most successful pirate in history was not Blackbeard (Edward Teach) or Barbarossa, but Zheng Shi or Ching Shih of China. She acquired great wealth, ruled the South China Seas, and best of all, survived to enjoy the spoils.

历史上最成功的海盗不是黑胡子(爱德华·迪奇饰)或巴巴罗萨，而是中国的郑氏或清史。她获得了巨大的财富，统治着南中国海，最重要的是，她活到了最后享受着所有的战利品。

We know next to nothing about Zheng Shi's early life. In fact, "Zheng Shi" means simply "widow Zheng" - we don't even know her birth name. She was likely born in 1775, but the other details of her childhood are lost to history.

我们对郑氏的早年生活几乎一无所知。事实上，“郑氏”的意思就是“郑寡妇”——我们甚至不知道她的本名。她可能出生在1775年，但她童年的其他细节没有被记录下来。

重点词句：

next to nothing adv. 几乎没有

例句：

Charles knew next to nothing about farming.

查尔斯对耕作几乎一无所知。

"They are eating next to nothing," said the nurse.

“他们几乎都没吃什么。”奶妈说。

Zheng Shi's Marriage郑氏的婚姻

She first enters the historical record in 1801. The beautiful young woman was working as a prostitute in a Canton brothel when she was captured by pirates. Zheng Yi, a famous pirate fleet admiral, claimed the captive to be his wife. She pluckily agreed to marry the pirate leader only if certain conditions were met. She would be an equal partner in the leadership of the pirate fleet, and half the admiral's share of the plunder would be hers. Zheng Shi must have been extremely beautiful and persuasive because Zheng Yi agreed to these terms.

关于她的首次历史记录是1801年。这名年轻美丽的女子在广州一家青楼当艺女时被海盗抓获。郑毅，一位著名的海盗舰队司令，声称这名俘虏将成为他的妻子。在满足某些条件的情况下郑氏表示愿意嫁给这名海盗头目。她想在海盗团中与郑毅平起平坐，而且这名海盗头子所掠夺的财物的一半要归她所有。郑氏一定是非常漂亮和有说服力，因为郑毅同意了这些条件。

Over the next six years, the Zhengs built a powerful coalition of Cantonese pirate fleets. Their combined force consisted of six color-coded fleets, with their own "Red Flag Fleet" in the lead. Subsidiary fleets included the Black, White, Blue, Yellow, and Green.

接下来的六年内，郑氏打造了一个广东海盗舰队联盟，他们的舰队有六种不同颜色的旗帜，领头的是“红旗舰队”其他的随从舰队分别是黑旗、白旗、蓝旗、黄旗和绿旗。

重点词句：

in the lead

领先；主要的；占主导地位的

例句：

The Democrats now appear to be in the lead.

现在看来好像民主党人占优势。

By this time, everything was ready and the boys entered the hole, Tom in the lead.

这时，一切准备就绪，两个男孩进了洞，汤姆走在前面。

In April of 1804, the Zhengs instituted a blockade of the Portuguese trading port at Macau. Portugal sent a battle squadron against the pirate armada, but the Zhengs promptly defeated the Portuguese. Britain intervened, but did not dare take on the full might of the pirates - the British Royal Navy simply began providing naval escorts for British and allied shipping in the area.

1804年4月，郑氏封锁了葡萄牙在澳门的贸易港口。葡萄牙派出了一个战舰中队对抗海盗舰队，但郑氏迅速击败了葡萄牙人。英国进行了干预，但却不敢全力对抗海盗——英国皇家海军只能开始为该地区的英国和盟国船只提供护航。

重点词句：

take on

承担；呈现；具有；流行；接纳；雇用；穿上

例句：

I can't take on any extra work.

我不能承担任何额外工作。

Small builders cannot see their way clear to take on many trainees.

小建筑商认为不可能招收很多见习生。

the full might of

全力；充分的力量

例句：

He has thrown the full might of his company's resources at the problem, sending 2,500 people to help with the clean-up and chartering a sizeable Armada.

他已经最大限度的调动公司资源处理这个问题，派出2500人协助清理油污，并包下了一支庞大的船只。

The Death of Husband Zheng Yi失去郑毅之后

On November 16, 1807, Zheng Yi died in Vietnam, which was in the throes of the Tay Son Rebellion. At the time of his death, his fleet is estimated to have included 400 to 1200 ships, depending upon the source, and 50,000 to 70,000 pirates.

1807年11月16日，郑仪死于泰子叛乱的越南。他死时，据估计，他的舰队包括400到1200艘船(取自史料记载)，以及5万到7万名海盗。

As soon as her husband died, Zheng Shi began calling in favors and consolidating her position as the head of the pirate coalition. She was able, through political acumen and willpower, to bring all of her husband's pirate fleets to heel. Together they controlled the trade routes and fishing rights all along the coasts of Guangdong, China, and Vietnam.

丈夫一去世，郑氏就开始拉拢亲信，巩固她作为海盗联盟首领的地位。凭借政治敏锐度和意志力，她成功的掌握了她丈夫所有的海盗船队。他们一起控制了中国广东和越南沿海的贸易路线和捕鱼权。

重点词句：

bring to heel

使就范;使顺从; 强迫服从

例句：

Andrew is attracted to that pretty girl and no matter what his friends said, she will always be able to bring him to heel.

安德鲁被那美丽的女孩深深吸引，不论他的朋友说什么，她永远都有办法使他乖乖就范。

In practice it"s still not clear how the president will use his power to bring the republics to heel."

实际上，总统将如何使用权利使共和党人服从还不清楚。

Zheng Shi, Pirate Lord

郑氏，新的海盗头子

Zheng Shi was as ruthless with her own men as she was with captives. She instituted a strict code of conduct and enforced it strictly. All goods and money seized as booty was presented to the fleet and registered before being redistributed. The capturing ship received 20% of the loot, and the rest went into a collective fund for the entire fleet. Anyone who withheld plunder faced whipping; repeat offenders or those who concealed large amounts would be beheaded.

郑氏对待自己人就像对待俘虏一样严酷无情。她制定了严格的行为规范并严格执行。所有被缴获作为战利品的货物和金钱都被提交给舰队，并在重新分配之前进行登记。参与抢夺的船只获得20%的战利品，其余的作为整个舰队的集体基金。谁不抢夺，就必挨打。惯犯或私藏大量战利品的人将被斩首。

A former captive herself, Zheng Shi also had very strict rules about treatment of female prisoners. Pirates could take beautiful captives as their wives or concubines, but they had to remain faithful to them and take care of them - unfaithful husbands would be beheaded. Likewise, any pirate who raped a captive was executed. Ugly women were to be released unharmed and free of charge on shore.

因为郑氏自己也曾是一名囚犯，她对女性囚犯的待遇也有非常严格的规定。海盗们可以俘获漂亮的俘虏作为他们的妻子或小妾，但是他们必须对他们保持忠诚并照顾他们——不忠诚的丈夫将被斩首。同样，任何强奸俘虏的海盗都会被处决。丑陋的女人将被安全释放，并免费送上岸。

Pirates who deserted their ship would be pursued, and if found, had their ears cut off. The same fate awaited any who went absent without leave, and the earless culprits would then be paraded in front of the entire squadron. Using this code of conduct, Zheng Shi built a pirate empire in the South China Sea that is unrivaled in history for its reach, fearsomeness, communal spirit, and wealth.

那些弃船逃跑的海盗将被追击，如果被发现，他们的耳朵将被砍去。不经许可而擅离职守的人将面临同样的命运，而那些没有耳朵的罪犯将被检举到整个骑兵中队面前。用这种行为准则，郑氏在南海建立了一个历史上无与伦比的海盗帝国，其势力之广、恐怖之深、共同的精神和财富之巨。

重点词句：

await与wait 区别

await是及物动词,后面直接加名词或代词作宾语.(一般用于书面语言）

She stationed herself at the window to await his return.

wait是不及物动词,一般与for连用,后面接宾语.（口语用词）

She stationed herself at the window to wait for his return.

In 1806, the Qing dynasty decided to do something about Zheng Shi and her pirate empire. They sent an armada to fight the pirates, but Zheng Shi's ships quickly sank 63 of the government's naval ships, sending the rest packing. Both Britain and Portugal declined to directly intervene against "The Terror of the South China Seas." Zheng Shi had humbled the navies of three world powers.

1806年，清朝决定对郑氏和她的海盗帝国采取行动。他们派出一支舰队去打击海盗，但郑氏的船队很快击沉了63艘清政府的海军舰艇，赶跑剩余的舰支。英国和葡萄牙都拒绝直接参与打击“南海的恐怖力量”。郑氏使三个世界强国的海军望而生畏。

Life After Piracy海盗之后的生涯

Desperate to end Zheng Shi's reign - she was even collecting taxes from coastal villages in the place of the government - the Qing emperor decided in 1810 to offer her an amnesty deal. Zheng Shi would keep her wealth and a small fleet of ships. Out of her tens of thousands of pirates, only about 200-300 of the worst offenders were punished by the government, while the rest went free. Some of the pirates even joined the Qing navy, ironically enough, and became pirate hunters for the throne.

迫切希望结束郑氏的海盗帝国：

她甚至还充当政府的角色在沿海村庄收税——清朝皇帝在1810年决定给她赦免机会。郑氏将保留她的财富和一支小船队。在她的数以万计的海盗当中，只有大约200-300个最严重的违法者受到了政府的惩罚，而其余的都被释放了。具有讽刺意味的是，一些海盗甚至加入了清朝的海军，并成为皇家海盗猎人。

Zheng Shi herself retired and opened a successful gambling house. She died in 1844 at the respectable age of 69, one of the few pirate lords in history to die of old age.

郑氏自己也退休了，并成功地开了一家赌场。她死于1844年，享年69岁，是历史上为数不多的几位能够善终的海盗大佬之一。