Preserving the historical value of Vietnam's first money printing factory

(HBĐT) - Every August, tourists from inside and outside the province come to the historical site of the Money Printing Factory in Phu Nghia Commune (Lac Thuy). Coming here, tourists can visit and learn about the place where the first coins of the Vietnamese revolutionary government were produced, and feel the difficulties, hardships and sacrifices of the previous generations in the resistance war for national independence.

The historical site of the Money Printing Factory in Phu Nghia Commune (Lac Thuy) annually welcomes many tourists to visit and learn.

Historical records show that from the end of the 19th century, the French colonialists continuously granted licenses to French capitalists to enter Lac Thuy land to occupy land to establish plantations, promote tax collection and exploitation of forest products. In the years 1893 - 1899, in Lac Thuy district, there were 8 French capitalists, occupying 11,445 hectares of land to establish plantations. The area of Co Nghia commune (now Phu Nghia commune) is located in the Chi Ne coffee plantation of French billionaire Enet Bo-ren. Mr. Bo-ren spent more than 40 years to develop and build the plantation. In 1943, due to having to return to France, Mr. Bo-ren sold it to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Do Dinh Thien, a patriotic Vietnamese capitalist, for 2,000 taels of gold.

The plantation covers an area of 7,331 hectares, 13km long, 9km wide with vast forests of coffee, mahogany, tea, and rubber trees. Here, Mr. Bo-ren built many solid houses, coffee processing areas, buffalo and cow barns, etc. After September 2, 1945, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was born and had to face many difficulties, struggling with famine, illiteracy, and foreign invaders. The economy was exhausted, the treasury was empty, the country had just experienced a famine due to the policies of Japanese fascists, Chiang Kai-shek, and the French who sought to exert economic pressure...

In the face of these difficulties, Vietnamese intellectuals made many important and extremely meaningful contributions. Among the typical intellectuals of this period was Mr. Do Dinh Thien. His and his family's activities and financial contributions were related to the establishment of the Vietnamese Finance sector, to the birth of the financial currency - Uncle Ho's currency, and his Chi Ne plantation was the location where the revolutionary government placed the first money printing factory in the early days of the newly established government.

According to the introduction of the tour guide of the relic site, here, the largest denomination Vietnamese banknotes "100 Dong" or also known as "green buffalo" banknotes of the Vietnamese revolutionary government were born, affirming the position and sovereignty of the Vietnamese people. During the time the printing factory operated at Chi Ne plantation, to avoid detection, factory workers only printed money at 3-4am. From December 1946 to February 1947, the Central Printing Agency located at Chi Ne plantation provided industries and localities from the South Central Coast and beyond with about 400 million Vietnamese Dong. This amount of money provided a large resource to equip weapons, food, and medicine to serve the resistance war against French colonialism.

In 2007, the historical site of the Money Printing Factory at Chi Ne Plantation (1946 - 1947) was ranked by the State as a national historical site. Immediately after being recognized, the work of preserving and promoting the value of the site was quickly carried out. The People's Committee of Lac Thuy district established a detailed plan and was approved by the Provincial People's Committee with an area of 15.64 hectares, including the following items: Money Printing Factory, Uncle Ho's house for visiting and working, treasury, meeting hall, reception house, reliefs at the printing factory, garden, traffic system for the entire area, flower garden park, reception area and cultural, entertainment facilities...

Comrade Tran Quoc Tuan, Chairman of Phu Nghia Commune People's Committee said: "In recent years, the management and conservation of the historical relic site of the Money Printing Factory and the Memorial House for Meritorious People and Officials and Workers of the Money Printing Factory at Chi Ne Plantation have been ensured. The relic site is a meaningful project, a place to preserve historical marks of a glorious revolutionary period of the Vietnamese people. In recent times, the relic site has welcomed tens of thousands of visitors from all over to visit, study and research."

Hoang Duong

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