Pirates 5: The Red Fleet

Grim & Mild Presents

iHeartPodcasts and Grim & Mild

History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 821 Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2022

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Many pirates viewed women aboard ships as bad luck. One woman proved they were only bad luck for the ships they targeted. Meet Ching Shih, who went from flower boat girl to the leader of the Red Fleet, one of the largest and most powerful pirate fleets in history.

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0:00.0	This episode features stories about sex work that may be a bit too grown up for some of our younger listeners.
0:05.7	Discretion is advised.
0:12.8	The larger boats floating in the harbor had upper decks and more rooms to accommodate the clientele.
0:18.6	Each boat was painted in bright shades of yellow, red, green, and blue.
0:22.9	Equally vibrant silk flags danced in the wind.
0:26.1	Prisms of every color adorned the rose-tinted glass lantern shades.
0:30.6	Aboard, two-string fiddles played while women dressed in embroidered robes sang.
0:35.6	The Sing-Sing Gurlies, as many called them, sang of love and
0:39.5	war, and beckoned the men to join them. In the early evening light, some said these boats
0:44.5	were the most beautiful in all the world. Merchant, military, and even pirate ships pulled into the
0:50.9	harbor drawn by women and their songs. Men who worked in the factories along
0:55.2	the harbor often lined up to board the small boats. Diplomats and other high-ranking officials
1:00.3	sought out the larger and more expensive ones. While some called them flower boats, others
1:05.9	refer to them simply as pleasure boats, or more bluntly, floating brothels. Parents who cannot afford to feed
1:12.3	their families sometimes sold their daughters to the boat owners, who promised to feed and
1:16.4	clothe them and give them a place to sleep. The girls, who could be as young as 13, began work
1:22.3	around five or six in the evening, continuing until the early morning hours. The more prominent boats catering to the affluent men served food and drink, their owners provided in the evening, continuing until the early morning hours. The more prominent boats catering to the
1:28.3	affluent men served food and drink. Their owners provided enough girls to fulfill every man's
1:33.5	desire, from a dinner companion and discussion partner to singing and dancing, and sex. If the girls
1:40.5	didn't contract syphilis for which there was no cure, they hoped to attract
1:44.5	a wealthy man who might keep her as his mistress. Otherwise, once they grew older, the brothel
1:49.8	owners discarded them, leaving them with little money in a world where men dominated the workforce.
	...

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