Ching tsih being a man who had lived all his life on the water, behaved himself, as soon as he got possession of the bay of Annam, in a tyrannical way to the inhabitants; he took what he liked, and, to say it in one word, his will alone was law. His followers conducted themselves in the same manner; trusting to their power and strength, they were cruel and violent against the people; they divided the whole population among themselves, and took their wives and daughters by force. The inhabitants felt very much annoyed at this behaviour, and attached themselves more strongly to Fuh ying. [sd: (2 v.)] They fixed a day on which some of the king's officers should make an attack on the sea-side, while the king himself with his general was to fight the van of the enemy, the people to rise _en masse_, and to run to arms, in order that they should be overwhelming by their numbers. Fuh ying was delighted at these tidings, and on the appointed day a great battle was fought, in which Ching tsih not being able to superintend all from the rear-guard to the van, and the people pressing besides very hard towards the centre, he was totally vanquished and his army destroyed. He himself died of a wound which he received in the battle. His younger brother Ching y[)i]h, the usurper, King shing, and his nephew Pang shang, with many others ran away. Ching y[)i]h, their chief, joined the pirates with his followers, who in these times robbed and plundered on the ocean indiscriminately. This was a very prosperous period for the pirates. So long as Wang pëaou remained admiral in these seas, all was peace and quietness both on the ocean and the sea-shore. [sd: (3 r.)] The admiral gained repeated victories over the bandits; but as soon as Wang pëaou died, the pirates divided themselves into different squadrons, which sailed under various colours. There existed six large squadrons, under different flags, the _red_, the _yellow_, the _green_, the _blue_, the _black_, and the _white_. These wasps of the ocean were called after their different commanders, _Ching y[)i]h_, _Woo che tsing_, _Meih yew kin_, _O po tai_, _Lëang paou_, and _Le shang tsing_. To every one of these large squadrons belonged smaller ones, commanded by a deputy. Woo che tsing, whose nick-name was _Tung hae pa_, the _Scourge of the Eastern Sea_,[30] was commander of the _yellow_ flag, and Le tsung hoo his deputy. Meih yew kin and Nëaou shih, who for this reason was called _Bird_ and _stone_, were the commanders of the _blue_ flag, and their deputies Meih's brethren, Yew kwei and Yew këe. [sd: (3 v.)] A certain Hae kang and another person Hwang ho, were employed as spies. O po tai, who afterwards changed his name to _Lustre of instruction_,[31] was the commander of the _black_ flag, and Ping yung ta, Chang jih këaou, and O tsew he, were his deputies. Lëang paou, nicknamed Tsung ping paou, The _jewel of the whole crew_, was the commander of the _white_ flag. Le