Pirate

I may have been the most successful pirate in history. At my height, I commanded 2,000 ships.
I assumed command of my pirate fleet in the early 1800’s. We plundered the South China Sea, and had a massive banking system of our own.
I developed a code of laws that were strictly enforced. For example, it was a capital offense to steal from a village that help my pirates. It was a capital offense to steal from the treasury. Raping female captives was a capital offense. Even if there was fornication with a female captive at her supposed consent, the sailor was beheaded and the female cast overboard with a weight tied to her legs. If a sailor was absent without leave, or deserted and was caught, one of his ears was cut off and he was shown off through the squadron as an example.
My fleet committed many varying kinds of piracy, from the traditional weak merchant ships, to sacking and pillaging villages inland along rivers. The Chinese government* tried to destroy the pirates in a series of battles in January 1808, however all they managed to do was to give the pirates even more ships for the fleet. The damage was great enough that the Government had to use private fishing vessels.
The government eventually became threatening enough that I asked for a pardon and received it. I died at the age of 60 in 1844, running a brothel and gambling house in Guangzhou.
*my history is weak, not sure exactly what government was in place at the time.