Zheng Yi

Zheng Yi (also romanised as Cheng Yud or Cheng I ; born Zheng Wenxian, courtesy name Youyi; 1765 – 16 November 1807) was a powerful Chinese pirate operating from Guangdong and throughout the South China Sea in the late 1700s. History He was born Zheng Wenxian in 1765 in Xin'an County, Guangdong, Qing China. His family, including his father Zheng Lianchang and his younger brother Zheng San had been pirates for generations, he and other pirates were recruited as mercenaries by Tây Sơn dynasty up until 1801. In the year of about 1798, Zheng Yi kidnapped Cheung Po, a 15-year-old son of a Tankan fisherman and pressed him into piracy. Cheung Po's natural talent helped him adapt well to his unplanned new career, and he rose swiftly through the ranks. In 1801, the nefarious intrigues of the 26 year old Cantonese floating brothel madame or prostitute known as Shi Xianggu, known for her shrewd business savvy and trade in secrets through the pillow talk of her wealthy and political clientele, caught his attention. Either he became infatuated with her or purely as a business move, Zheng Yi made a proposal of marriage to Shi Xianggu to consolidate the powers of intrigue, as it were, which she is said to have agreed to by formal contract granting her a 50% control and share. Shi Xianggu was known as "Zheng Yi Sao" (. They adopted Cheung Po as their step-son, making him Zheng's legal heir. She also bore him two sons; Zheng Ying Shi and Zheng Xiong Shi.