Four products
All of the above provisions aim to establish and affirm the role and dominant power of the bureaucratic class, maintaining and consolidating class interests.
But because they were a class that enjoyed many privileges, the mandarins and aristocrats of Thang Long used many tricks to exploit and economically coerce the people of the capital. In principle, mandarins in the capital were not allowed to participate in production or trading activities. However, the court's ban was not strictly enforced. Some mandarins sought to earn more money by conducting clandestine, illegal business activities. British tourist W. Dampier commented: "The mandarins easily became merchants when they could get any profit. The mandarins bought large and expensive things, and for things of lesser value, the mandarins had trusted women who were very good at trading, who accepted one or two shipments to earn some profit."
It was quite common in Thang Long at that time that officials used servants and guards to go to the streets to look for delicious and strange things, to forcibly seize or buy cheaply from the people. To limit this, the court repeatedly issued orders to prohibit, arrest those who abused their power, and even punish criminals. In the year Duc Long 6 (1634), the court issued an order: “Markets and shops in the capital, buying and selling, to circulate goods and daily necessities. From now on, noble families and offices must strictly prohibit their relatives from stealing other people's property in the market, to calm people's hearts. Anyone who violates this order will be allowed to be investigated by the Xa Nhan, and witnesses will be allowed to arrest the main culprit along with the evidence to submit, to examine the facts, and convict the criminal with a serious crime” [16, 75]. In the 5th year of Phuc Thai (1647), this request was repeated: "The capital is a place of culture, people in the streets and merchants, all have goods stored in the markets, so the offices must be strictly prohibited from taking money from the markets in the capital, so that the people can all live and work in peace." [16, 79]
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- Confucian scholars: During the Mac and Le - Trinh dynasties, the imperial examinations were still the main path for Confucian scholars to enter the mandarinate. Education and imperial examinations were important methods for the state to train and select a team of Confucian scholars and intellectuals. Therefore, it can be said that there was always a close relationship between the mandarin apparatus in Thang Long and the Confucian scholar class.
As a political and cultural center, Thang Long in the 16th century
- XVIII continued to be the locality with the largest concentration of intellectuals and Confucian scholars in the country.
Despite many political upheavals, the Mac and Le - Trinh dynasties both tried to maintain the examination system. Except for a few years of interruption, normally every three years, the capital Thang Long held the Hoi and Dinh examinations. On these occasions, scholars - most of whom were truly commoners and came from villages in all regions of the country - flocked to the capital to take the exams, with tens of thousands of people in some exams. Only a very small percentage of them passed. The rest mostly found ways to stay in the capital to study, waiting for the next exam.
In Thang Long, in addition to the local school system, private schools taught by retired mandarins or Confucian hermits, the Imperial Academy (Quoc Tu Giam) was a high-level Confucian school organized by the state. During the Mac and Le - Trinh dynasties, the Imperial Academy continued to be renovated and expanded many times. According to the official system from the Hong Duc period, the head of the Imperial Academy, whose task was to "train scholars and cultivate talents", was the Te Tuu (fourth-rank), Tu Nghiep (fifth-rank), in addition to the Truc Giang, Bac Si, Giao Thu...
At Quoc Tu Giam, there are usually about 300 boarding students, who are selected mainly from the following sources:
- En giam: A student granted by the royal court to study at the National School.
- Emperor's family: children of officials in the capital, civil mandarins from the fourth rank and above, and mandarins from the second rank and above.
- Cu Giam: after passing the Huong Cong (Bachelor) exam of the Huong exam, waiting for the Hoi exam to enter the Quoc Tu Giam to study.
- Tribute student: student with military merit, gets priority to enter school.
The National University's students are divided into 3 levels (including upper-class students, middle-class students, and lower-class students). Each quarter, according to each class, students are given scholarships and school supplies (money, rice, and lamp oil) by the state.
Studying at the Imperial Academy was regulated very specifically. In the year Hong Thuan 3 (1511), the court stipulated as follows: "The students, scholars, and scholars, on the first and fifteenth day of each month, must wear their uniforms and hats properly. They must follow the rules of study and practice their studies to become successful and contribute to the country. Anyone who seeks luck, wanders around, or neglects their studies, misses the exam once will be fined 140 sheets of paper, misses the exam twice will be fined 200 sheets of paper, misses the exam three times will be examined and reported to the Ministry of Justice for questioning, misses the exam five times will be conscripted into the army." [25, 60]
At the Imperial Academy, every month, the mandarin issued a small essay to evaluate the learning results of the students, and in the four important months of the year (February, May, August, and November), the mandarin issued a large essay. Those who passed the four large essays were eligible to take the Royal Examination if the year was the year of the examination, or were nominated by the Imperial Academy to be recruited by the Ministry of Personnel. In addition, every month, on the first and fifteenth of the month, the Imperial Academy held a literary commentary, not only for the students but also attracting a large number of Confucian scholars and scholars who were staying and studying in the capital waiting for the day of the examination to listen.
Many wards near Quoc Tu Giam as well as in Thang Long became crowded places for Confucian students to study such as Bich Cau, Van Chuong, Phat Loc...
- Soldiers : This was a period of many military activities. The Mac Dynasty, especially the Le - Trinh Dynasty - with the nature of a military state, often had to wage wars against opposing feudal groups and suppress peasant uprisings, the role of the army was especially valued. The Thang Long citadel was a key place, always with a large military force. According to Phan Dinh Khue's estimate, the army stationed in Thang Long at this time could have reached about 100,000 soldiers. [47, 80], meanwhile, around the Quang Hung era (1588 - 1600), "after conquering the country, reviewing all the navy and army (the whole country) totaled 120,000". [7, 13]
Also in Thang Long, in addition to this large number of troops stationed, military facilities such as barracks, lecture halls, parade grounds, warships, gun depots, elephant stables... were also established.
During the Trung Hung period, the Trinh family especially trusted and valued the soldiers in the two regions of Thanh and Nghe. At the beginning of the Le - Trinh period, when setting up the guard army in the capital, they only took soldiers from the three prefectures of Thanh Hoa (Thieu Thien, Ha Trung, Tinh Gia) and 12 districts of Nghe An (6 districts in Duc Quang prefecture, 3 prefectures of Dien Chau, Anh Do, Ha Hoa, each prefecture had two districts) according to the rule of choosing 1 person for every 3 strong men.
In the year Vinh Tho 3 (1660), when the recruitment review was re-established, "the wards in Phung Thien, out of 100 people, only recruited 20 people into the military category" [7, 26]. Except for the Thanh - Nghe soldiers called internal soldiers, the rest were all foreign soldiers. During the early period of the Le - Trinh dynasty, there were two different ways to select soldiers. Internal soldiers stayed in the capital as guards, organized according to clear quotas. As for foreign soldiers for defense in the localities, only people from the two prefectures and four internal towns were recruited into the ranks. The rest were only registered in the quota, called out when there was a job, and then sent back to farming, acting as a reserve force.
In the year Canh Tri 2 (1664), when the recruitment review method was re-established, in Thanh - Nghe, 3 men were taken for one, in the four towns, 5 men were taken for one. In the year Bao Thai 2 (1721), Trinh Cuong re-established the old recruitment review method, reorganized the foreign soldiers, selected soldiers from the four towns to join the same quota as the internal soldiers. The following year (1722), it was stipulated that in both Thanh - Nghe and the four towns, every 5 men were taken for one, the soldiers in the two Thanh - Nghe regions were called "uu binh", in the four towns were called "nhat binh", and on that occasion, six more military camps were established to organize the newly recruited soldiers in the two regions and four towns next to the five prefectures.
Despite changes in the recruitment system, at any stage, the Thanh - Nghe elite soldiers with the task of guarding the capital always received more preferential treatment than the soldiers from other localities. They were exempted from all taxes and corvee labor. The annual salary of soldiers was paid in money, not in rice like previous dynasties. In particular, the salary of elite soldiers in the capital was higher than that of soldiers in towns. The annual salary of soldiers in foreign military units was 7 quan, while the annual salary of elite soldiers, depending on each unit and team, was from 8 to 15 quan [7, 31-32]. In the year Vinh Huu 6 (1740), Trinh Doanh continued to increase the rations for soldiers in the dinh, co, teams, and boats serving the lord's palace, each ration was 2 quan of precious money. [7, 35]
In addition, the elite soldiers were also given ration fields in their hometowns (Thanh - Nghe) as supplementary wages. In the year Canh Hung 2 (1741), an edict was issued to provide public fields as supplementary wages for the elite soldiers: "To raise soldiers, it is necessary to provide enough, and to show gratitude, it is necessary to give them equally... elite soldiers from both regions, to give public fields and deltas in their hometowns as supplementary wages...". [7, 35] However, because of complicated land litigation, the court took back the supplementary fields to pay the villagers to cultivate and pay public land tax. The tax money would be paid as supplementary wages for the elite soldiers. [7, 35]
The elite soldiers also enjoyed many other benefits in terms of health care and medicine when they were sick. From the year Canh Tri 4 (1666), it was stipulated that the internal soldiers were allowed to have medical clinics in the front, back, and left military headquarters, and public medicine was stored at the supervisory authority. Minor illnesses were treated by the local authorities, and serious illnesses were treated at the hospital in their headquarters. Soldiers from 53 to 60 years old or under the age of 50 but were “sick, disabled, and unable to keep up with the ranks” were allowed to return home. [7, 36]
Regarding the granting of pensions, in the year Thinh Duc 3 (1665), regulations were established for giving and paying pensions to soldiers who died in battle. Depending on their position, soldiers were given from 5 to 20 mau of quan dien and their children were exempted from corvée labor [16, 351]. These regulations on giving and paying pensions continued to be amended and supplemented in the years Vinh Khanh 4 (1732) and Canh Hung 5 (1744).
In addition to the elite soldiers, which were the main force responsible for protecting the capital and the central government apparatus stationed in the capital, according to the military organization regulations, Thang Long also had a militia and village soldiers. In the sources of literature of this period, the militia and village soldiers in the capital were rarely mentioned. Entering the 18th century, perhaps due to the increasingly unstable social situation and the need to suppress uprisings, this force was given importance. The village soldiers were now recruited from districts near the capital, with the task of coordinating with the regular army in protecting the security of the Thang Long area. The chronicle mentioned the year 1742: "In August, the village soldiers were recruited from 11 districts near the capital. At this time, bandits secretly arose, and the army divided to fight and suppress them, and there were not many left in the capital. The army in charge requested the right to choose soldiers from the people near the capital, taking every five men."
One, the soldiers were sent to train according to the military regulations. They were stationed outside the city to prepare for unexpected events. [8, 186]
In addition, the Chronicles of the Dynasties and the Complete Annals of Dai Viet also stated that during the Le - Trinh period, Dang Ngoai also had "volunteer" armies: "Previously, when the provinces had to fight the enemy, the number of soldiers was small, so they only recruited healthy young men to increase the number of soldiers, called volunteer armies" [7, 41], [8, 167]
Not to mention the village soldiers and volunteer soldiers, just the concentration of a large number of elite soldiers in the capital has caused many complicated problems in managing this group. Except for high-ranking officials, the majority of the remaining soldiers came from the common people, many of whom were peasants and farmers who were drafted under the military service system, and were not interested in the military career. Therefore, desertion or the borrowing of replacements by soldiers was quite common. Therefore, among the punishments for soldiers, desertion was often severely punished. In the year Canh Tri 8 (1670), "the rule was that elite soldiers and volunteer soldiers in the four towns who had been granted land allowances and were exempted from precious money but who deserted without reason would be required to report to the local mandarin, then together with the town mandarin, send someone to personally arrest that person and hand him over, and if the investigation was true, then execute him to strictly enforce military discipline" [7, 41]. In the year Bao Thai 9 (1728), it was stipulated that if soldiers arbitrarily borrowed a replacement, they would be punished with "60 lashes and still be added to the army, the replacement would also be punished with 30 lashes. Soldiers who had not yet reached their term and used their own contract to arbitrarily leave would be punished as criminals". [7, 41]
But perhaps the above prohibitions were not strictly enforced, so in the years Vinh Khanh 2 (1730), Canh Hung 2 (1741), Canh Hung 5 (1744), the court continued to repeat the orders on the prohibition of desertion and soldiers. [7, 42 - 43]
Not only did they avoid military service, soldiers in the Le - Trinh period also committed many acts that disturbed the peace and order in the capital. Also because they relied on their contributions in supporting the Le Dynasty's restoration and enjoyed many privileges, the elite soldiers became increasingly "corrupt, negligent, and lazy", gradually disregarding the law, acting recklessly, not in accordance with their duties, causing the arrogant soldiers to be unruly, which even the royal court could not manage or control. During the 17th - 18th centuries, the arrogant soldiers caused 4
The coups in 1674, 1741, 1782, 1784 caused chaos in the capital, causing fear among the king, mandarins and people of Thang Long.
Similar cases also occurred in the village soldiers and volunteer soldiers. Volunteer soldiers were recruited to increase the number of soldiers, but "most of them were children of village ruffians, who also applied to live in the capital, and together they committed crimes and thefts." Therefore, in 1740, the court had to issue an order "Forbidden recruited soldiers from entering the capital... From now on, select soldiers, record them in the register, distribute food rations, and military insignia must not be brought into the city to live in the houses of the soldiers and civilians. Anyone who disobeys the order will be punished." [8, 167]
Phan Huy Chu in Lich Trieu Hien Chuong Loai Chi once evaluated the use of people, including the effectiveness of military management during the Le Dynasty: “I once considered that the Le Dynasty built its foundation thanks to the strength of the two regions, and when the country fell, it was also caused by the arrogant soldiers of the three palaces. Thanks to that army, it rose, and thanks to that army, it fell, the successes and failures have been clearly demonstrated. This is because if you are skillful in holding the reins, even the greedy and treacherous can be used, if you are lax in holding them, even the guards will be separated. Success or failure depends on that...”. [7, 6]
3.1.3 Craftsmen - merchants, farmers
Thang Long - Ke Cho in the 16th - 18th centuries was a period of prosperous development of the commodity economy, the majority of the urban working class were craftsmen - merchants. Marini once commented that the streets of Ke Cho were "full of craftsmen and merchants". [45, 111]
In terms of socio-economic relations, a craftsman of Thang Long - Ke Cho, in addition to being a member of the village community where they lived, was also a subject of the royal court and local governing government, obliged to pay taxes and perform other obligations.
State management of this urban population is demonstrated through policies and measures that stipulate the obligations that craftsmen must fulfill towards the state.
As in other localities throughout the country, craftsmen and merchants in the capital were subject to various tax, military and labor obligations, which could be in the village.
native village or in the local villages. However, the tax rate in the capital was reduced. In 1724, according to Trinh Cuong's order, "the wards and camps in the capital are where the people live right under the palanquin of the king, so the taxes of those places should be lenient and reduced to show that there is (discriminatory) treatment... Therefore, the personal tax for each male is 8 tien (other places are 1 quan and 2 tien) and is paid in two times. The male male of each year, the original resident of the towns has already paid the personal tax and the tax in his hometown, then he is exempted from paying (in the capital). The land classes and the male male classes in the wards and streets each year pay 10 tien and 10 van". [15, 76]. As for corvee labor, "according to the old custom, in the capital, each row of houses must annually pay a portion to repair and re-cover the foundation, plant flags and walls, clear the grass around the palace, and provide for architectural works". [11, 14]
However, there were special cases, if craftsmen or merchants residing in the wards granted by the court as "customary" citizens - worshiping gods at temples and shrines such as the three hamlets of Ha Khau ward, Yen Lang camp, Thu Le, Quang Ba ward... were exempted not only from personal tax but also from military service and labor.
A form of state management over craftsmen in Thang Long - although not new - but much more developed in scale and quantity than in previous periods, was the bureaus of hundred works, quan xoai (coin mints, shipbuilding workshops, state construction sites...) and through the statue bureaus.
Organizing production into mandarin workshops and bureaus, in which craftsmen were recruited by the court to work under the public statue system, was considered an effective form of management, both meeting the court's needs for high-end products and allowing direct control of a large number of craftsmen in Thang Long - Ke Cho.
According to the regulations, craftsmen working in the mandarin workshops were exempt from all tax, military and labor obligations. However, in essence, the public statue system itself was a type of forced labor that subjects had to pay to the state.