Tai-Pan (The Asian Saga, Bk. 2)

Set in the turbulent days of the founding of Hong Kong in the 1840s, Tai-Pan is the story of Dirk Struan, the ruler--the tai-pan--of the most powerful trading company in the Far East. He is also a pirate, an opium smuggler, a master manipulator of men, a ruthless intriguer and a might lover.