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Economic Development Associated with National Security and Defense





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Economic Development Associated with National Security and Defense

Although busy dealing with domestic security issues, the Nguyen Dynasty was still aware of the risk of foreign invasion, so it actively prepared countermeasures. Along with building an increasingly disciplined and elite army, a system of ramparts was also built in border areas to counter the risk of invasion from outside. The court also regularly assigned troops to guard the border in the hope of "keeping the narrow border peaceful".

3.1.3. Dealing with bandit groups

In the history books of the Nguyen Dynasty, names such as “ Thanh dia co phi ” (bandits from China), “ Thanh lich y phi ” (bandits from China hiding), often appeared in events taking place in Bac Ky. These were the names of Qing bandit groups that infiltrated Vietnam through the land border in large numbers, equipped with quite strong weapons, creating instability along the Vietnam - China border, especially in the provinces of Cao Bang, Thai Nguyen, Hung Hoa, Tuyen Quang of Vietnam and the provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan of China. This was a favorable location for the activities of bandit groups. This was an area far from the central government, a border area that was difficult to control, bandit groups could operate and flee into the mountains to avoid being pursued by the military. In many cases, they could even flee by crossing the border. Therefore, the

The cooperation of local authorities in border areas to deal with these bandit groups is especially important.

In 1804, Nguyen Dang Giai submitted 5 reports discussing the border plan, including the cooperation with the Qing army in suppressing the Qing bandits who crossed the border. He proposed to write a letter to the Qing province of Guangxi, requesting the governor of that province to cooperate in fighting the bandits to keep the border peaceful.

During the Gia Long period, in 1810, the Qing invaders, including Wu Shi Er, Dong Hai Ba, and Li A That, were chased by the Qing Governor of Liang Guang, and had to flee to the sea in the four prefectures of Cao, Liem, Quynh, and Loi. Kham Chau sent a letter to Bac Thanh to arrange for troops to stop them. Thanh Than reported the matter. The King told Tong Phuoc Luong: “The pirates are hiding in Bach Long beach, just living temporarily. Now the Qing are chasing us, we should join forces to calm the sea. Nhan ordered Van Hanh to bring troops and boats straight to Van Ninh. Thanh Than took more troops and boats to follow his orders. Moreover, seeing that Van Ninh was adjacent to Kham Chau, he had a literary person to write letters and travel, and ordered Ngo Khan to act as a clerk to help with the military's administrative work. After more than a month, all of Wu Shi Er were captured by the Qing army. Ly A That and his gang of more than twenty people also surrendered to our army [76, p. 786].

Also in 1810, Le Du and An On Bich, who had previously gathered with pirates Truong Bao Tu and Trinh Nhat Tao, were chased by the government and fled to the Qing Dynasty. The Governor of Liangguang brought them back to the Northern City to be punished [76, p. 804].

In 1813, the Qing brought Hoang Van Thai, a bandit hiding in Tuyen Quang, to Bac Thanh. Previously, Hoang Van Thai had gathered a group to rob in the Tu Long and Thuy Vi areas, was surrounded and attacked by the imperial army, and had to flee to Van Nam. The Qing captured him and returned him to the Nguyen Dynasty. At the same time,

The Nguyen Dynasty also returned to the Qing invaders Truong The Nguyen, Truong Lao Muc, and Truong Lao Nhi [76, p. 863].

The activities of the bandit groups also have their own characteristics. The first type is small bandits, operating secretly on both sides of the border, not fixed. During the Gia Long period, this group joined the anti-court groups led by the descendants of the Mac family. During the Minh Mang period, a Thanh bandit group led by Ma Trieu Chau, Vuong Vinh Phat, and Hoang Hung Phat gathered more than a few thousand people to join the anti-court organization led by Ly Khai Ba, who claimed to be descendants of the Ly dynasty kings, who rose up in Hung Hoa in the Ming year 1822.

In 1832,








.

During the Thieu Tri and Tu Duc dynasties, bandit groups became increasingly active, especially in the later periods. The characteristics and activities of the Thanh bandit groups were also greatly influenced by the political and social situation in China at that time. The upheavals in the South China region had a great impact on these bandits. The first group were farmers who were impoverished by war and economic recession and flooded into the North of Vietnam to become bandits; the second group were officials and soldiers who were dissatisfied with the Manchu court, were persecuted, fled to the border of Vietnam and seceded to become bandits. In particular, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement failed, some leaders and remnants of the army

of this movement fled to the border of Vietnam to avoid the pursuit of the imperial army. When they reached the border of Vietnam, these bandit groups looted and destroyed people's houses, causing heavy losses to the local people. Typical groups were the Black Flag army led by Liu Yongfu, the Yellow Flag army led by Hoang Sung Anh, and the White Flag army led by Ban Van Nhi.

In 1848, pirate ships in Qing territory harassed Qinzhou. The governor sent a message to the governor of Wanning to hire many boats and soldiers to block off dangerous places at the border for prevention. The Quang Yen provincial official reported the matter to the authorities, approving the arrest of many boatmen, strictly guarding both land and water routes, leaving the pirates alone [82, pp. 73-74].

In April 1849, Chau Kham of the Qing Dynasty sent a notice to report that there were over 1,000 bandits in the mountains who had risen up and were looting indiscriminately, and that there were over 70 bandit boats hovering at sea to harass them. The provincial officials had to strictly guard the area according to their areas; they also sent patrol boats to surround and attack [82, p. 127].

In June 1849, more than 2,000 Qing bandits harassed Kham Chau, and moved to set up camp in Bac Luan and Na Luong streets (adjacent to Na Ba hamlet, Van Ninh Chau). Quang Yen's governor Nguyen Khoa Duc ordered the local governor to guard the area according to the area, and reported the matter to the king. The king sent 100 more provincial soldiers. Hai Duong province sent Deputy Commander Nguyen Si with 300 soldiers to Quang Yen, under the command of Deputy Commander Tran Bao Thu, to Van Ninh Chau to strictly guard [82, p. 133].

In September 1849, more than 70 Qing ships arrived at the sea of ​​Hai Duong province, and went by land to harass and rob. The army fought and killed, the enemy retreated, then took advantage of the night to sneak to the river of Quang Yen province and headed towards the city to cause trouble. The father, Nguyen Khoa Duc, went outside the city to supervise.

The army fought and defeated the bandits, beheaded them, cut off their ears, captured them alive, and captured countless boats, guns, and weapons. The king rewarded Nguyen Khoa Duc with a military rank of 1st rank, and the border guards gave him separate rewards. The captured prisoners were Tran Van and his group of 164 men, along with equipment for robbery (56 large guns, short guns, short spears, rattan shields of various grades) and were given to Giao Chau Kham of the Qing Dynasty [82, p. 140].

In July 1850, the hungry people of the Qing Dynasty flooded into Van Ninh district (Quang Yen province) and killed the acting governor of the district, Bui Van Thuy. The King sent Vu Cong Do (An Sat) to fight. When they arrived, the bandits had fled, so they chased and captured military supplies. The remaining people fled to the envoys of Bac Luan and Na Lac of the Qing Dynasty [82, p. 173].

In August 1850, a group of Qing invaders from Bang Tuong district flooded into our country's border area to plunder in Truong Dinh district (Lang Son province). The prefect Pham Duy Nhien could not resist, so the invaders advanced to Lang Son citadel. The army on the citadel shot dead a bandit leader and more than 100 bandits; the invaders fled back. The king rewarded the provincial official Truong Hao Hop as the real Governor, then sent a letter to the two provinces of Quang Hoi to attack [82, p. 177]. In the same year, many Qing groups also took refuge in Cao Bang and Lang Son regions of our country. The king ordered the governors to take care of them, and when the local chaos was over, they would return [82, p. 180].

In 1851, Qing bandits continued to invade our country's border areas to plunder, disrupt public order and security, and affect people's lives. The direct cause was crop failure and famine, and these groups of people increased especially in the last months of the year. In July 1851, Mong Thien Nguu bandits and Quan Tam gathered in Tu Lang district and invaded Thuong Long and Bang Tuong districts to harass them. The King ordered Truong Hao Hop to lead the border troops and the local people to strictly guard the area.

strictly guarding key locations along the border to guard against the enemy [82, pp. 196-197]. In August of that year, the Qing army gathered more than 1,000 people and flooded through the Vo Ngai village road (in Tien Yen district, Quang Yen province) to Ha Lau to burn houses and rob property. The district chief, Pham Kim Chung, led the native soldiers to fight the enemy. Most of the enemy were wounded and killed, while the rest escaped. Kim Chung's army captured flags, horses, knives, spears, and took back buffaloes and cows (50 heads) [82, pp. 208-209].

In November 1851, the Tam Duong bandits invaded Vietnam, including 3 groups: Quang Nghia Duong led by Ly Dai Xuong, Dai Thang Duong led by Hoang Van Nhi, and Duc Thang Duong led by Luu Si Anh. These groups invaded Vietnamese territory, operated independently, and openly attacked the royal citadels along the border, mainly in the upper regions of Bac Ky. This type also included Thanh bandits such as Ngo Con, Truong Can Bang, To Tu, Trung Hoa... These were Thanh bandits with quite large forces, operating strongly, and had besieged and occupied many important provinces and cities in the border area. The main purpose of this type was military activities, occupying citadels, land, and finding a foothold to plot a long-term career. After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement failed, the remaining troops fled to Vietnam and divided into the Black Flag, White Flag, and Yellow Flag bandits. The purpose of these Thanh bandit groups when coming to Vietnam was to find political support: either to find ways to befriend the French, to become lackeys for the French, or to find ways to befriend the Hue court and become lackeys to serve the court's military activities.

In 1852, the Qing bandits increasingly spread to the provinces of Lang Son and Quang Yen, harassing and robbing the people. The governor of Lang Binh, Truong Hao Hop, mobilized 4,000 soldiers from Hanoi and Bac Ninh to coordinate with the Qing Lien Chau to surround and destroy the bandits. At the same time, the district governor, Pham Kim Chung, also gathered laborers to fight and kill the bandits.

in Tien Yen district, Quang Yen province, forcing the enemy to retreat.

Thus, the infiltration and increasingly powerful activities of the Thanh bandits directly threatened the independence, security, and sovereignty of the nation, forcing the Nguyen Dynasty to propose specific, long-term measures to deal with this situation. The measure prioritized and thoroughly used by the Nguyen Dynasty was military attack, suppression, and prevention of the activities of Thanh bandits. The royal army and local army were mobilized to focus on attacking the bases of the bandits. In many cases, the Nguyen Dynasty did not directly attack the bandits but focused on attacking their support, the indigenous leaders, thereby isolating and gradually eliminating the bandits. In fact, this solution of the Nguyen Dynasty was implemented and achieved positive results.

The second measure used by the court was to provide gold, money, and food when the enemy surrendered, allowing them to cultivate or organize businesses to make a living. Many times the Nguyen Dynasty spent tens of thousands of taels of silver, tens of thousands of quan of money, and a lot of food for bandit groups such as To Tu and Truong Can Bang in exchange for their surrender. However, this measure of the Nguyen Dynasty was not very effective, and sometimes even failed miserably. To Tu, Truong Can Bang, and several other bandit groups sought to surrender, asked for food, and money, but then attacked the court's army.

The next measure used by the Nguyen Dynasty was to conduct diplomatic methods, linking with local authorities along the Chinese border to create isolation, cutting off all sources of information, food, military equipment, weapons, and hiding places to easily destroy them. The Nguyen Dynasty successfully used this measure. Since 1868, the Tu Duc Dynasty court had asked for help from the Qing Dynasty. In 1869, under the order of the Qing Dynasty, Guangxi Admiral Phung Tu Tai brought troops to our country and stationed them in

Tuyen Quang and proposed the method of suppressing the bandits by both fighting and recruiting. At the same time, Tu Duc stationed troops at key locations in Tuyen Quang to block the enemy's rear routes. In 1870, the court's army coordinated with Phung Tu Tai's army to quickly suppress the bandit groups throughout the country.

3.2. Economic development associated with national security and defense

3.2.1. Mining operations management

For the midland and mountainous regions of the North of our country, the typical economy is mining, especially coal and mineral mines. In the previous feudal dynasties, mineral resources were exploited at different levels. During the Nguyen Dynasty, the state paid special attention to mining and mine management. According to statistics from Dai Nam Thuc Luc and Kham Dinh Dai Nam Hoi Dien Su Le , during the Nguyen Dynasty, the whole country had 124 mines, including 34 gold mines, 14 silver mines, 9 copper mines, 1 tin mine, 29 iron mines, 11 lead mines, 3 pig iron mines, 20 saltpeter mines, 2 sulfur mines, and 1 cinnabar mine. It is noteworthy that these mines were concentrated in large numbers in the northern border provinces, most notably Cao Bang, Thai Nguyen, and Tuyen Quang provinces. We can see the distribution of mineral resources in the northern mountainous provinces as follows: Thai Nguyen province has 6 gold mines, 10 silver mines, 1 tin mine, 12 iron mines, 5 zinc mines, 3 lead mines, 1 saltpeter mine; Tuyen Quang has 8 gold mines, 1 silver mine, 2 copper mines, 2 iron mines, 1 lead mine; Cao Bang has 4 gold mines, 4 iron mines; Lang Son has 9 gold mines, 5 iron mines, 2 saltpeter mines; Hung Hoa has 4 gold mines, 2 silver mines, 5 copper mines, 5 saltpeter mines [62, pp. 129-154].

Based on the form of exploitation organization, we can divide it into 4 types.

mine:

The first type is mines directly managed by the state: These are mines that have

large scale, concentrated workforce including soldiers, masons and

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