Nguyen Phuc Nguyen

Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên (阮福源; 16 August 1563 – 19 November 1635), temple name Nguyễn Hy Tông, During his time in office, the Nguyễn lords established a settlement in what is now modern-day Saigon. Later, his refusal to pay tribute to the Trinh lord court sparked the Trịnh–Nguyễn War.

Biography Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên was the sixth son of Nguyễn Hoàng. Upon the death of his father, Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên succeeded his father as ruler of all of southern Vietnam. He continued his father's policy of refusing to submit to the authority of the court in Hanoi, dominated at this time by his cousin Trịnh Tùng. Unlike his father he did not take the title Vương (王) but instead called himself Nhơn quốc công (仁國公) which translates roughly to Duke of Nhơn.

Foreign trade

From 1615 Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên allowed Portuguese merchants to set up a trading post at Faifo (modern-day Hội An). The Nguyễn purchased advanced European cannons from the Portuguese and learned something of European ship design. This would help them enormously in later years. As time passed, Faifo became a major trade port for the south-west Pacific where traders in the region came to sell and acquire goods. Chinese, Japanese, Europeans, and South Asians all came to trade at Faifo. Originally the land of Faifo itself was not valuable, but later on the Nguyễn lords established various sugarcane and mullberry plantations to produce goods for overseas export. Traders from Japan came all the way to Vietnam because the Ming and later Manchu emperors forbade trade with Japan. In order to obtain highly desirable Chinese silks and ceramics, the Japanese too had to come to Faifo. The Japanese often bought local silks, which were high-quality and desired by the Japanese to the point that they would purchase whole batches months prior to their annual arrival. In time, Faifo's local silk prices became attuned to the whims of the Japanese market. The Nguyễn lords also imported massive quantities of Japanese coins to either melt down for their cannons or circulate as currency, as southern Vietnam lacked gold and copper and the Japanese had much to export.

Relation with Cambodia Vietnamese expansionism to Cambodia

Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên maintained friendly relations with Cambodia. Around 1620, Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên's daughter Nguyễn Phúc Ngọc Vạn married the king of Cambodia, Chey Chettha II (the marriage seems to have been contracted years earlier). As a result of this marriage, the Cambodian King allowed the Nguyễn to establish a small trading and tax post at Prei Nokor what is now Saigon in 1623. Additionally, the Nguyễn lords supplied the Cambodians with weapons for their expeditions against the Ayutthaya Kingdom. The Vietnamese settlement at Prey Nokor was the start of a major expansion by the Vietnamese beyond the southern border established by Lê Thánh Tông in 1471.

In 1631, the Italian missionary Christoforo Borri who was living in Quy Nhơn witnessed the military support of Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên to the Cambodians and recorded it as so:

Lord Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên sent his military support to his son-in-law Chey Chettha II twice to against Siamese. In 1623, the mission from Nguyễn was dispatched to Oudong, with a lot of treasures and gift to strengthen the relationship between two government and confirm the alliance of Cambodia and Nguyễn. After the negotiation, Chey Chettha II allowed to let them established the trading post which were namely Kas Krobei (Vũng Tàu) and Prei Nokor (Saigon) for taxation. Nguyễn lords can bring their private army to protect the post and their citizens as well as the public security of the city of Prei Nokor.

Trịnh–Nguyễn wars

In 1623 Trịnh Tùng died and was replaced by his son Trịnh Tráng. At his behest the imperial court in Hanoi sent a formal demand to Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên to pay tribute and acknowledge the Lê emperor (and by extension, the Trịnh family) as his superiors. In 1624, Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên formally refused. Three years later, the Trịnh-led royal army marched south and attacked the Nguyễn. The first set of battles lasted for four months but the Nguyễn armies were not defeated and Phú Xuân remained in Nguyễn hands. The Trịnh army withdrew north to regroup. The Nguyễn immediately began construction of a massive pair of walls to defend their lands. This pair of walls, just south of the Linh River, eventually grew to a length of 11 miles, stretching from the sea to the mountains. The walls were each 20 feet tall and equipped with many cannons of European design.

In 1633, the Trịnh tried to outflank the walls with an amphibious invasion but the Nguyễn fleet was able to defeat the Trịnh-led royal fleet at the battle of Nhật Lệ.

Death Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên died in 1635 while his war with the Trịnh was still ongoing. Still, the defensive measures he had put in place served the Nguyễn well. Phú Xuân was not taken by the Trịnh until 1774. Further, his defensive success in these first battles was a credit to his ability to attract talented men to his cause and make use of expert military advice and technologies, even if it came from foreign countries.

Until Gia Long's era, Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên was posthumously conferred the temple name Hy Tông.