The Pirate Queen Who Defied an Empire In the early 19th-century, as the Qing Dynasty struggled to maintain control, the South China Sea fell under the absolute dominion of one person: Ching Shih. Born into poverty and rising from a life of marginalization, she became the commander of the Red Flag Fleet, an organized naval state comprising nearly a thousand ships and seventy thousand crew-the most formidable pirate organization in global history. Ching Shih was more than a raider; she was a strategic genius, an administrative mastermind who enforced a strict Code of law and amassed staggering wealth. She fought the combined navies of Imperial China and Portugal to a standstill, crippling the lucrative Canton trade and holding an empire hostage. But her greatest feat was not achieved in battle. This book chronicles the unparalleled story of her final, audacious act: forcing the Emperor to grant an unconditional amnesty for herself and seventeen thousand pirates, allowing her to retire peacefully with her fortune intact. Explore the life of the woman who transcended gender and class to become history's most successful pirate commander, securing her legacy not with a sword, but with a pen, and dying in her own bed as a wealthy, respected elder. Approx.174 pages, 31800 word count