The richest man in old Saigon, the story of hiring workers to dry money to keep it from getting moldy

During its heyday, Huyen Sy's family held all the fertile land in Go Cong, Long An , Tien Giang, stretching all the way to the Cambodian border.

EDITORIAL NOTES For over 100 years, Ho Chi Minh City residents have been reciting the famous saying: first Sy, second Phuong, third Xuong, fourth Hoa (or fourth Dinh) when referring to the four richest tycoons in old Saigon. Owning vast lands and huge assets, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the wealth of these four characters was not only limited to Saigon but also ranked first and second in Indochina. The article series The Four Great Tycoons of Old Saigon opens up information for readers to visualize some of these four famous characters.

The fields are vast, the storks are tired of flying

On a hot March afternoon in Ho Chi Minh City, we visited Huyen Sy Church (District 1). This is one of the churches with the most spacious and airy campus in Ho Chi Minh City.

With the main bright white color, the architectural block exudes a solemn beauty. Up to now, the church is over a hundred years old and is a place to remember Huyen Sy, the leader of the four great tycoons of ancient Saigon.

Huyen Sy's real name was Le Nhut Sy (1841 - 1900). He was born in Saigon into a Catholic family. As a child, he was sent to Malaysia to study by French priests.

During this time, Le Nhat Sy changed his name to Le Phat Dat because his old name was the same as the name of one of his teachers. Returning to Saigon, he was appointed as an interpreter, then became a member of the Council of Management of Cochinchina.

*Huyen Sy Church, a place that preserves the memory of the richest man in ancient Saigon. Photo: Ha Nguyen*

Not long after, he was promoted to the district level. Although he changed his name, people still called him by the name Nhut Sy. The title Huyen Sy has been associated with him ever since.

The richness of Huyen Sy was not due to titles or salaries. In the book Saigon in the past , scholar Vuong Hong Sen said that Huyen Sy became rich thanks to collecting money to buy cheap plots of land with good locations that were auctioned off by the French government.

After buying back the land, he planted rice on these plots. The rice harvest was good, Huyen Sy earned a large amount of rice. Realizing that the investment was profitable, he continued to borrow money to buy land throughout Tan An, Duc Hoa, Duc Hue in present-day Long An province.

Having land, he hired people to cultivate and grow rice. The rice harvest was good, Mr. Sy became rich quickly and continued to have money to buy more land in many places.

During its heyday, Huyen Sy's family held all the fertile land in Go Cong, Long An, Tien Giang, stretching all the way to the Cambodian border.

During this period, there was a popular saying that "even a stork flying with tired wings would not cover the land of Huyen Sy". Huyen Sy's family was so rich that there was a legend that he had a secret vault. To ensure that the money did not get moldy or spoil, he hired a group of people to preserve it, dry it in the sun, and then put it back in the vault.

Being wealthy, Huyen Sy Le Phat Dat sent his children to study abroad at prestigious schools in France. When they grew up and returned to the country, he divided up a portion of his assets in different regions for them to manage.

Later, his descendants including: Le Thi Binh (mother of Queen Nam Phuong), Le Phat An, Le Phat Thanh, Le Phat Vinh, Le Phat Tan were all famous landowners with many lands in Tan An, Duc Hoa, Duc Hue and Dong Thap Muoi (present-day Long An province). Among them, his son Le Phat An was the most famous.

The family is richer than King Bao Dai

Not only owning vast lands in the Western provinces, Huyen Sy also bought a series of suburban lands in Saigon, especially in today's Go Vap district, to build warehouses and factories and then lease them to others.

Here, he also built thousands of houses for rent. Anecdotes all confirm that Huyen Sy's land covered a large area of Saigon, stretching from the suburbs to Districts 1, Tan Binh, and Go Vap.

Until now, even though more than 100 years have passed, the traces and evidence for the above statement still exist in Ho Chi Minh City, including: Huyen Sy Church (District 1), Hanh Thong Tay Church (Go Vap District), Chi Hoa Church (Tan Binh District).

All of these churches were built on Huyen Sy land. Among them, Huyen Sy church, also known as Cho Duoi church, is the most famous.

According to the remaining documents, Huyen Sy Le Phat Dat donated land and 1/7 of his fortune to build this church. According to the price at that time, the cost of building Huyen Sy church was over 30,000 Dong Duong silver coins. This was considered a huge amount of money at the time he lived.

Huyen Sy Church was built from 1902 to 1905. It was built in Gothic style and used Bien Hoa granite to cover the facade and main pillars. After more than 100 years, this architecture has stood the test of time, becoming a famous tourist destination in Ho Chi Minh City.

In addition to the above-mentioned traces, the ancients also passed down the legend that Huyen Sy's family was richer than King Bao Dai. This information appeared when his granddaughter, Mrs. Nguyen Huu Thi Lan, married the last emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty.

The story goes that when Mrs. Nguyen Huu Thi Lan went to Hue to organize her wedding with King Bao Dai, Mr. Le Phat An, Huyen Sy's son, gave his niece 1 million VND in cash as a dowry.

At that time, the price of gold was only 50 dong/tael. If converted, 1 million dong at that time was equivalent to 20,000 taels of gold. From this dowry, people rumored that the Huyen Sy family's assets were much richer than King Bao Dai's.

*Nowadays, many people come to Huyen Sy church to learn about the life and overwhelming wealth of tycoon Le Phat Dat. Photo: Ha Nguyen*

There is even information that the last king of the Nguyen Dynasty married Queen Nam Phuong just to be able to use her family's huge fortune. While he was king, Bao Dai was always accused of spending money from his wife's family.

The above comment was recorded by Mr. Pham Khac Hoe, Director of the Imperial Court Office at the Hue Court in his memoir From the Hue Court to the Viet Bac War Zone . He wrote: “Miss Lan married Bao Dai mainly to become Queen. Bao Dai married Miss Lan mainly to dig for gold…”.

The wealth of Huyen Sy's family is also shown in the fact that Mr. Nguyen Huu Hao (Huyen Sy's son-in-law, father of Queen Nam Phuong) left a huge fortune to his daughter when she left Vietnam to live in France.

The book Nam Phuong - The Last Queen by author Ly Nhan Phan Thu Lang wrote: "The private property bought for her by Nguyen Huu Hao's family includes a large apartment in Neuilly and an apartment on Opera Avenue. In addition, she also has many properties in Morocco, Congo...".

Although there are no specific statistics on Huyen Sy's assets and land, his wealth is shown through the works that still exist in many districts of Ho Chi Minh City after more than 100 years.

Not to mention the family owning vast estates in the Western provinces, just owning large areas of land stretching from District 1 to Binh Tan, Go Vap, and Huyen Sy districts was enough to make the family one of the richest people in old Saigon.

However, Huyen Sy was still not the most famous person in the six provinces of Nam Ky.

Instead, another character, though ranked one level below him in terms of wealth, was extremely famous. In fact, this person's fortune not only made the people of the six provinces of Cochinchina admire, but also surprised the French.

Next: Saigon's tycoon owns a fortune that surprises even the French

Ha Nguyen - Vietnamnet

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