Lord Nguyen Phuc Nguyen

If Doan Quan Cong Nguyen Hoang - the son of Gia Mieu land in Thanh Hoa province - was the pioneer in opening up the Fatherland to the South, his son - Nguyen Phuc Nguyen was praised as the lord of "the feats of opening up the country... freeing himself from dependence on the Le and Trinh kings' court". He was also called Lord Sai, Lord Buddha by people because of his compassion and charity.

Lord Nguyen Phuc Nguyen Gia Mieu village in Thanh Hoa is the homeland of the lords and kings of the Nguyen Dynasty. Photo: Khanh Loc

After deciding to go to the South to open up the country and build a career, in addition to avoiding the "restraint" of Lord Trinh, Nguyen Hoang also nurtured the desire to build his own career. However, in the situation at that time, although he had gone to the South, he was still a general of the Le - Trinh dynasty, still had to lead troops to fight against the remnants of the Mac dynasty in the North when mobilized. The Le - Trinh court also somewhat knew the intention of "Nguyen Kim's son", so later they tried every way to keep Nguyen Hoang in the North. However, in 1600, taking the opportunity to lead troops to fight the rebels, he returned to the South by sea, officially "escaped the cage", and never returned to the North again.

In 1613, knowing that his health was failing, Lord Nguyen Hoang immediately called his sixth son, Nguyen Phuc Nguyen, and his high-ranking officials and confidants to his bedside and instructed them: “You and I have shared the same fate for a long time, wanting to build a great career. Now I leave the burden to my son, you should all work together to help him succeed.” Then the Lord turned to his son, Nguyen Phuc Nguyen, and admonished him: “As a son, you must be filial; as a subject, you must be loyal; brothers must first love each other. If you can keep this advice, I will have no regrets.” And before his last breath, Lord Nguyen Hoang left a will: “In the North of Thuan - Quang land, there is Ngang mountain (Hoanh Son) and Gianh river (Linh Giang) which are dangerous, in the South there is Hai Van mountain and Da Bia mountain (Thach Bi mountain) which are strong. The mountains have gold and iron, the sea has fish and salt, it is truly a land of heroes. If you know how to teach people to train soldiers to fight against the Trinh family, it will be enough to build a career for all generations. If your power cannot be defeated, try to hold the land firmly to wait for the opportunity, do not ignore my advice” (according to Dai Nam Thuc Luc Tien Bien).

After Lord Nguyen Hoang passed away, his sixth son, Nguyen Phuc Nguyen, succeeded him. Nguyen Phuc Nguyen was born in 1563. According to Nguyen Dynasty history books and folklore, when Nguyen Phuc Nguyen's mother was pregnant with him, she had a strange dream. A deity gave her a piece of paper with the word "Phuc" written on it. When she woke up, she told the story to everyone and was told that it was a lucky omen and she received advice that when the baby was born, she should name him "Phuc". However, "She thought for a while and said that if she only named the baby "Phuc", only he would enjoy it, so that many people in the family could enjoy the blessing, she suggested taking this word as the middle name. And when the Crown Prince was born, she named him Nguyen Phuc Nguyen. From then on, the Nguyen family used the word Phuc as the middle name. Therefore, the year Quy Hoi (1563) was the year the word Phuc began in the Nguyen family" (Nine Lords and Thirteen Kings book).

After succeeding, Lord Nguyen Phuc Nguyen moved his residence from the narrow, open land of Vu Xuong to Phuoc Yen, Quang Dien district. The new residence was solid, with high walls and deep moats, to guard against enemy attacks. Regarding internal affairs, he inherited his father's way of governing with virtue, appeasing the people, recruiting and treating talented people... his reputation spread far and wide, and heroes from everywhere came to Lord Nguyen in increasing numbers every day. Thanks to that, the Lord met Dao Duy Tu, an outstanding talent of Thanh Hoa at that time.

Fulfilling the will of his father, Lord Tien Nguyen Hoang, after succeeding, Lord Sai Nguyen Phuc Nguyen strongly realized his desire to "escape" from the Le - Trinh government in Dang Ngoai with a series of actions, such as: Not paying taxes, not returning to the court... In particular, when he came to power, he abolished the Do Ty, Thua Ty, and Hien Ty according to the institutions of the Le dynasty. Instead, he established his own institutions.

According to historical records, Lord Sai Nguyen Phuc Nguyen himself was a talented person but not arrogant. He also knew how to "recruit and treat talented people well", so in addition to Dao Duy Tu, he also gathered many other wise men to help him, such as Nguyen Huu Dat, Nguyen Huu Tien...

The Southern land controlled by Lord Nguyen grew stronger every day, which was also a concern for Lord Trinh in Dang Ngoai. Using the excuse that the Nguyen family in Dang Trong was late in paying taxes, Lord Trinh in Dang Ngoai raised an army to "examine the crime". Among them, the story "Du bat thu sac" - Lord Nguyen Phuc Nguyen returned the royal decree to King Le is still circulated today. Returning the royal decree to King Le was a decisive action, affirming Lord Sai Nguyen Phuc Nguyen's aspiration to establish a "private sky".

To build a strong government in both economic and military potential, Lord Sai Nguyen Phuc Nguyen expanded trade relations with foreign countries, promoted the development of commodity economy, and built Hoi An into the most bustling international trading port at that time. Along with that, the Lord also promoted the crossing of mountains, expanding the territory to the South deeper and wider. "The work of opening and defining the Southern region in the 17th - 18th centuries was a great feat of Vietnamese history, and Lord Nguyen Phuc Nguyen was not only the one who opened and laid the initial foundation, but also planned the goals, methods and specific, precise measures for future generations to continue and succeed."

With a stable career and a compassionate heart, Lord Nguyen Phuc Nguyen was admired by his officials and confidants, and respected by the people of Dang Trong. Therefore, he was often respectfully called Lord Sai or Lord Buddha.

Commenting on the contributions of Lord Sai Nguyen Phuc Nguyen, according to Professor Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoc in the article Nguyen Phuc Nguyen: The Lord of the great feats of opening up the land in the early 17th century: “Nguyen Phuc Nguyen was famous for his intelligence and bravery from a young age. At the age of 22, he was the commander of a naval force that defeated 5 foreign ships that came to plunder the Cua Viet region, and was praised as a “hero”. At the age of 40, he was assigned to be the governor of Quang Nam . He expanded trade with Eastern and Western countries (especially Japan), and built Hoi An into a prosperous international port - which is now recognized as a World Cultural Heritage. At the age of 51, he became the head of the Nguyen Lord's government. He reformed the administration, developed the country in all aspects, expanded the territory down to Mo Xoai, Dong Nan, Saigon, Ben Nghe... in the Southeast region - establishing the shape of the current Vietnamese Fatherland. He was the first person to set up Hoang Sa team is responsible for exploiting and protecting the East Sea from the outer line - a unique form of the process of occupying, establishing and exercising sovereignty over the archipelagos in the middle of the East Sea. Under the new historical perspective, we can increasingly see more clearly, fully and accurately his perfect portrait...”.

Khanh Loc

(The article refers to and uses content from the books Geography of Ha Trung district; Nguyen dynasty, nine lords and thirteen kings; and some articles by researchers).

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