In 1842 and 1845, the royal court gave great rewards to military officials with meritorious services such as Doan Uan and Nguyen Tri Phuong.
The treatment of the army under the reign of King Tu Duc is reflected in volumes 7 and 8 of this official history. Notably, the court adjusted the salary and allowances for military officers downward. However, the subsidies for military officers and soldiers as well as their relatives received more attention from the court than in previous kings. Through the above documents, the author of the thesis can assess the impact of this regime on the strength of the army in the resistance war against the French to protect national independence.
In addition to the specific content of the treatment policy, through the documents in the Annals, the author of the thesis can systematize in chronological order the contents related to the treatment regime for the army of each dynasty such as: the context of its birth, policies, content and changes of each policy including the causes and effects of those changes on the army and the country.
This can be considered the most important source of material for the thesis.
The Imperial Code of Dai Nam (translated version, 8 volumes, published by Thuan Hoa Publishing House, Hue in 2004) is a set of books that record the laws from the reign of King Minh Mang onwards. The book is written in the Hoi Dien style, compiled by the Nguyen Dynasty Cabinet. The content of the book includes regulations, statutes and the implementation of regulations for the administrative system including ministries, prefectures, institutes, companies, temples and supervisors. Within the framework of the thesis, the author mainly exploits the materials in volume III written about the Ministry of War and volume V written about the Ministry of Finance.
Volume III of the Code includes many documents recording the Nguyen Dynasty's military treatment regime implemented under the reigns of King Gia Long, Minh Mang and Thieu Tri and the first four years of the Tu Duc Dynasty. These are the salary and allowance regimes for military officers and soldiers when they are on duty, participating in production activities, and bonuses on Tet holidays and major national holidays.
In volume V of the Code, the author of the thesis can exploit documents on military organization. Regarding rewards, it includes: rewards for military officers and soldiers who directly participated in battles and made achievements, and the subsidy regime of the first three kings of the Nguyen Dynasty for soldiers who were sick, wounded, died in battle, and suffered from storms while on duty.
With this source of information, the author of the thesis can study a welfare regime that was implemented throughout the Nguyen Dynasty. The limitation of this document is that it does not exploit the historical value, the reason and purpose of the promulgation, so it is difficult to objectively evaluate the significance and impact of the Nguyen Dynasty's welfare regime on contemporary politics and society.
The Imperial Code of Dai Nam (translated version, 10 volumes, published by Thuan Hoa Publishing House, Hue in 2004, 2007, 2009, 2012) is a book series about the laws of the Nguyen Dynasty kings from the 5th year of Tu Duc (1852) to the 1st year of Thanh Thai (1889). In the Code of Laws, the author exploits the main historical sources in volume III (from volume 11 to 16 about the Ministry of Finance) and volume VII (from volume 34 to volume 37 about the Ministry of War) with the contents about the treatment regime for the Nguyen Dynasty army in the second half of the 19th century from 1852 to 1889 under the reign of kings from Tu Duc to Dong Khanh. However, within the scope of the thesis, the author only stops at studying the regime of the Nguyen Dynasty towards military officers and soldiers implemented under the reign of King Tu Duc.
Nguyen Dynasty Royal Records: is a collection of administrative documents issued by the Nguyen Dynasty kings during the process of governing the country. This is considered a block of original documents that fully and comprehensively reflects the political, economic, cultural and social activities of Vietnamese society from the first half of the 19th century to the mid-20th century. The Royal Records are an important source of historical data for compiling historical books and official legal books of the Nguyen Dynasty.
The entire block of Nguyen Dynasty Royal Records is currently stored and preserved at the National Archives Center I. Due to the limitations of the previous storage and preservation process, this block of Royal Records is no longer complete compared to the original. Many volumes or pages of the Nguyen Dynasty Royal Records have been lost or torn and cannot be restored to their original state. It is not possible to fully understand the content of the documents, and there are even periods of time when documents cannot be found, especially the 25-year period (from the 11th year of Tu Duc (1858) to the 36th year of Tu Duc (1883)), which is now very limited.
During the process of searching and collecting documents, the author of the thesis found in the summary list of the Nguyen Dynasty's Imperial Records many documents with content related to the topic. Most of them were local petitions and petitions from the Ministry of War asking the king to explain.
Resolve issues of salary, rewards and allowances for military officers and soldiers on assignment, deaths in battle, injuries, deaths from illness and treatment for soldiers' families... Specifically as follows:
Classification by aspect Content | Number of related royal documents classified by dynasty | |||
Family Long | Minh Menh | Thieu Tri | Tu Duc | |
Wage | 10 | 80 | 20 | 54 |
Scholarship | 3 | 180 (20 sheets of special grace, 10 penalties) | 214 (4 sheets on fines, 3 (paper for military officer who committed crime) | 263 |
Subsidy | 44 | 109 | 24 | 73 |
Treatment | 90 | 29 | 213 | |
Total | 57 | 459 | 603 | |
Maybe you are interested!
-
Evaluation of Research Situation and Issues Raised for the Thesis -
Research on treatment of rotator cuff tears using modified Mason-Allen tendon endoscopic suturing technique and creating micro-damage at the attachment area - 2 -
Research on the treatment of seafood wastewater by electrocoagulation method combined with USBF - 19 tank -
Issues That Need Further Research in the Thesis -
The Research Results of the Thesis Are Consistent with the Stated Scientific Hypothesis, and the Tasks of the Topic Have Been Solved.
287
1406
Thus, the number of documents related to the state's salary and allowance regime for the army in the Royal Records has more than 1,400 documents (some documents have duplicate content in the issuance to one subject). The thesis currently uses 60 citations from this source of documents. In particular, there are 2 documents with content about rewarding soldiers who went to draw maps in the Hoang Sa archipelago (out of a total of 9 documents still preserved about our country's sovereignty over this archipelago through the Royal Records).
The documents in the Royal Records are of great value to the thesis because of their authenticity and reliability. They not only reflect the institutions, policies on salaries, allowances and rewards for soldiers under the Nguyen Dynasty, but also demonstrate the implementation of those policies and regimes in localities. The Nguyen Dynasty's approval or disapproval of local documents requesting additional allowances and rewards for individual soldiers or military units more or less reflects the flexibility or consistency in the Nguyen Dynasty's military policies when applied to specific cases. This can be considered a source of documents that the official histories of the Nguyen Dynasty do not or rarely mention.
Dai Nam Liet Truyen is a historical book that records relatively fully the stories and achievements of meritorious mandarins, female heroes, famous monks, kings, and lords in the genealogy of the Nguyen Dynasty before and after the "Gia Long nation's founding". In this document, the author of the thesis can look up and collect documents on the Nguyen Dynasty's rewards and punishments for military officers. From there, it is possible to evaluate the purpose and significance of this policy for individual military officers and for the building of the army.
Minh Mang Chinh Yeu (translated by Thuan Hoa Publishing House, Hue, published in
1994) is a historical book that summarizes all the thoughts and policies of King Minh Mang during his reign of the country (1820-1841). In this book, the content of the salary system, allowances for war casualties is reflected in volume 3, chapter 4 (The Than), volume XIV, chapter 13 on Military Administration, volume XVIII, chapter 16 (Law Degree) on rewards and punishments of the ministries, volume XXI, chapter 18 (Phan Vo) on military activities under the Minh Mang dynasty. The documents in this historical book are the basis for the author to supplement information or compare the authenticity of events recorded in other historical books such as Thuc Luc or Hoi Dien. At the same time, the documents in Minh Mang also mainly contribute to supplementing a number of events that other historical books do not mention.
Minh Mang's Royal Edicts (Edicts to the King), consisting of 2 volumes, translated and annotated by Tran Van Quyen, published in 2000 by the National Center for Social Sciences and Humanities, Institute of Han Nom Studies, Hanoi. This is a collection of edicts - part of the king's administrative documents for agencies (ministries, Councils of Ministers, military units...) - for soldiers and individuals, etc. to express views on social issues or to demonstrate the king's education and teachings. In the 2 volumes of the Royal Edicts, the content of the king's edicts for the Ministry of War, military districts such as Gia Dinh and Tran Tay military districts, stated King Minh Mang's policy on paying salaries, giving rewards to soldiers according to regulations or giving additional rewards to soldiers. Specifically, rewards for soldiers when they go on duty (for example, edicts No. 7, 27, 32, 39 .... in volume 1, edicts No. 444, 486, 490, 501 in volume 2), subsidies for soldiers who are sick and injured while stationed and participating in suppressing uprisings (for example, edicts No. 5, 6, 36, 106, 116, 157 in volume 1; edicts No. 420, 509 in volume 2); demonstrating humanitarian thinking (grants to soldiers who are prisoners (for example, edict No. 52 in volume 1). This is a source of material that contributes to supplementing the missing content, especially in the Royal Records on the Nguyen Dynasty's policies towards the army.
Content
Total | Specific document number | |
Wage | 3 | 16, 329, 386 |
Scholarship | 32 | 32, 63, 71, 83, 116, 156, 160, 196, 198, 227, 234, 257, 266, 283, 284, 289, 294, 307, 345, 364, 437, 440, 444, 477, 547, 550, 560, 562, 569, 582, 588 |
Subsidy | 8 | 15, 27, 39, 77, 191, 195, 202, 242. |
Treatment | 28 | 5, 6, 11, 54, 55, 64, 70, 81, 104, 128, 133, 151, 153, 157, 171, 212, 224, 229, 247, 249, 366, 379, 394, 395, 396, 445, 507, 509 |
Total | 71/588 example | |
National Dynasty History Summary includes National Dynasty History Summary and National Dynasty History Main Text.
Summary of the Annals is a simplified history, summarized from the Dai Nam Thuc Luc. The National Dynasty Summary consists of 6 volumes, summarizing major events from the time Nguyen Anh raised an army in Gia Dinh in 1778 until King Thanh Thai ascended the throne in 1889. The book summarizes historical events in a chronological manner, so that events in the content of the thesis can be easily looked up over time.
In addition, the thesis also uses materials from a number of historical books compiled under the Nguyen Dynasty but the content is about previous dynasties.
The Complete Annals of Vietnam is considered the second largest historical book of Vietnam (the first largest historical book of the nation is the Complete Annals of Dai Viet ) compiled by Nguyen Dynasty historians under the reign of King Tu Duc, edited by Phan Thanh Gian. The book consists of two parts: the pre-bien and the main part. In which, the main part records from 968 to the last years of the 18th century under the Later Le Dynasty. This is an important document for the study of feudal history before the Nguyen Dynasty.
The book "Lich Trieu Hien Chuong Loai Chi" is a book series researched and compiled by scholar Phan Huy Chu in 10 years (1809-1819). This is considered the first encyclopedia of our country. The book is classified and systematized according to scientific methods, including 10 contents (called chi). The documents directly related to the thesis are the section "Quoc Dung Chi" which talks about the tax and financial regimes of dynasties in history and the section "Binh Che Chi" which talks about military organizations through dynasties from the Le dynasty onwards.
In addition, the thesis also consults and uses family genealogy documents, steles or royal decrees preserved locally such as the royal decree stele of Hien Luong village (Thua Thien Hue), the genealogy of the Do family in Vietnam, the genealogy of the Nguyen Cong Tru family, the genealogy of the Doan family and the royal decree of An Tay strategic general of the famous general Doan Uan at the Doan family temple (Song Lang, Vu Thu, Thai Binh).
In addition to the above historical sources, the thesis also consults and inherits a number of research documents related to the content of the topic that have been published in the form of general history books, monographs, references, and articles in specialized research journals by domestic and foreign scholars. However, the source of bibliographical and official historical materials remains the same for the thesis research, the author uses
The official historical books and documents written about the dynasties before and under the Nguyen Dynasty. The most important source of the thesis is the historical books compiled under the Nguyen Dynasty such as Thuc Luc, Hoi Dien (main and subsequent books). These are the main documents for the thesis author to reconstruct the content of the thesis and present related scientific arguments. Other documents such as Chau Ban, Minh Menh Chinh Yeu and Minh Menh Ngu Che Van are supplementary documents to enrich and make more specific the content of the thesis. The historical books written about the dynasties before the Nguyen Dynasty serve as a basis for comparison with the policies issued under the Nguyen Dynasty. In addition, the author also inherits a number of research works of other scientists related to the topic as presented in the overview of the research situation. All of these sources help the thesis author to reproduce the research problem of the topic as fully and objectively as possible .
1.3. Issues raised in the research topic
Through an overview of the research situation, we can perceive some issues raised in the research as follows:
1. The organization system and military forces under the Nguyen Dynasty such as infantry, navy, and defense system have been specifically mentioned by many authors in in-depth research works (such as Do Bang, Luu Trang, Bui Gia Khanh, Ha Duy Bien...). The presentation of the general situation of the Nguyen Dynasty army when placed in the context of political and social issues or the development of Vietnam's military history has mainly stopped at the general level.
2. The issue of military treatment under the Nguyen Dynasty has been mentioned in a number of contents: the institution of rewards and punishments, the calculation and payment of salaries for officials and soldiers under each dynasty (mainly research on the Minh Mang Dynasty). However, research works related to the budget for salaries, bonuses and subsidies for the army under the Nguyen Dynasty have only stopped at summarizing the policies proposed by the Nguyen Dynasty (such as the articles by Nguyen Minh Tuong and Huynh Cong Ba); mentioning part of the content of the treatment regime when researching the army under the Nguyen Dynasty (such as the articles by Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, Nguyen Phuong Nga) or more specifically mentioning the issue of salaries and bonuses for officials and soldiers in the army under a dynasty (King Minh Mang
Fate) (as in the article by authors Ha Duy Bien and Hoang Luong).
There are many other aspects that previous studies have not specifically and systematically mentioned and need to continue to be clarified such as:
What are the organization, titles, and ranks of military officers commanding the military forces from the central to local levels; the number and development or decline of the forces in the army through the dynasties? This issue will be directly related to the national treasury in paying salaries to the army and at the same time reflect the strength of the army through each dynasty from Gia Long to Tu Duc, especially in the context before and during the Nguyen Dynasty when the resistance war against the French colonialists.
The issue of using generals and soldiers such as dispatching and dividing into groups also needs to be clarified. This will also be directly related to the rewards and allowances for soldiers when they go on missions.
Regarding the treatment regime, it is necessary to clarify what aspects the salary, treatment and reward and punishment regime for the Nguyen Dynasty army in general includes? What changes were made to the salary, allowance and subsidy regulations for each subject associated with specific positions and jobs through each dynasty? What changes were made in the implementation of these policies through the reigns of the Nguyen Dynasty kings from Gia Long to Tu Duc? What similarities and differences did the treatment regime for the Nguyen Dynasty army have compared to previous dynasties? What impact did these policies have on the contemporary political, economic and social situation? These are open issues that need to be further researched in a comprehensive, in-depth and systematic manner.
Through the issues presented above, up to now there has not been any in-depth research on the issue of treatment for the army under the Nguyen Dynasty in the period 1802 - 1884. This is the basis for the author of the thesis to boldly pursue his research topic.
Chapter 1 Summary
Vietnamese history in general, and Vietnamese history under the Nguyen Dynasty in particular, has been studied by scholars. Although the treatment of the Nguyen Dynasty's army is still relatively limited, the comments of scholars on this issue more or less help the author of the thesis in comparing and evaluating the issue that the author of the thesis is studying.
In recent years, the history of Vietnam under the Nguyen Dynasty, including military issues such as organization, military structure, weapons, and defense systems, has been mentioned by historians in general history books as well as in research articles. Directly related to the issue of the state's treatment of the army, there have been a number of articles published in specialized journals. However, the systematic and comprehensive study of the treatment of the army is still an open issue.
The official historical sources compiled under the Nguyen Dynasty such as Dai Nam Thuc Luc and Kham Dinh Dai Nam Hoi Dien Su Le are the main sources for the content of the thesis. In addition, the thesis also inherits and refers to documents and research articles directly related to the content of the thesis as a basis for evaluating and commenting on the characteristics of the Nguyen Dynasty's treatment regime for the army.