About this episode

This episode explores the life of Zheng Yi Sao and the significant events surrounding piracy in the early 19th century.

Please check out this entire series-arc, re-written, expanded, & re-recorded as of Aug 2026:- Ep. 306: Dead Men Tell No Tales: https://megaphone.link/ARML5251369441- Ep. 307: Murders & Acquisitions, Mostly: https://megaphone.link/ARML6215286599 - Ep. 308: The Shadow State: https://megaphone.link/ARML7890860851 Bottled up in Tung Chung Bay, subsisting for three weeks on caterpillars & boiled rice, the largest pirate fleet in the history of the world meets six Portuguese ships and the arithmetic that finishes it. What follows is the biggest criminal amnesty the world had yet seen, and a question very few pirates ever get to ask themselves: what does a cutthroat do with retirement? Time Period Covered: 1809–1844 CE Major Historical Figures: Red Flag Confederation: Zheng Yi Sao (AKA Ching Shih, née Shi Yang), Commander of the Red Flag Confederation [1775–1844]Zhang Baozai (Cheung Po Tsai), Fleet Commander of the Red Flags, later Qing navy vice-commander at Penghu [1783–1822]Guo Podai, Commander of the Black Flag Fleet [178?–181?]Mei Ying, a captive of the Red Flag Fleet [d. 1809] Qing Empire: The Jiaqing Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Yongyan) [r. 1796–1820]The Daoguang Emperor…

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