中英鴉片戰爭過後(1842)，在秘密會黨與走私鴉片情形的盛行下，「廣艇海盜」再度猖獗於海面之上。海盜的再起引發了一種護航制度的組織，它主要是由英國和葡萄牙兩國私人出資成立的武裝船隊，對於需要保護的船隻收取護航費，甚至是以武力威脅強取護航費，由於獲利優厚，他們便聚集在寧波口岸互相競爭；咸豐元年(1851)，當時廣艇海盜勢力最強的布興有率領了二十幾艘盜艇停泊在寧波港外，一方面與清朝水師周旋，另一方面則使得競爭激烈的護航業更加複雜化。歷史上，布興有只是一個微小的人物，不過卻在咸豐年間，起了不小的作用，雖然在與清政府談判投誠時詭譎多變，但在入營投效後，於浙江打擊盜匪和對抗太平軍，皆有所表現，因此在清政府的眼中，成為一個海盜改過自新的例子。

In 1842, after the Opium War, the samuggling of opium by secret anti-Ch'ing societies was prevalent. At this time, "Kuang-t'ing (wide boat) pirates" once again sailed unchecked upon the seas. The reappearance of these pirates triggered the organization of an institution designed to escort ships. Private citizens, mainly from England and Portugal, put forth funds to establish an armed fleet of ships. These ships received protection money from he ships that they escorted, sometimes even resorting to the threat of violence to extract their fee. Owing to the generous pay, they began to assemble in Ningpo to compete for work. In 1851, the most powerful of the Kuang-t'ing pirates, Pu Hsing-yu, held command over twenty small raiding ships that were moored in Ningpo harbor and exchanged formal greetings with Ch'ing sailors. This made the task of escorting private ships even more complicated. Historically speaking, Pu Hsing-yu is a small figure, but in those few years he was very active. Although he was obth cunning and deceitful in his negotiations with the Ch'ing government, once he agreed to join the army he helped to attack the bandits in Chekiang and to withstand the T'ai-p'ing army. Therefore, in the eyes of the Ch'ing government, he became an example of a pirate that made a fresh start for himself.