Kings of Dai Viet and the story “The Son of Heaven is not joking”

From a current perspective, these appointments seem unusual. But, going back in time, we have to understand the feudal period, in the standard of the scholar is to be fluent in the Four Books and the Five Classics, among which, there is the “I Ching”, to be fluent in this Sutra is to know how to divination Yi. , speculate.

And Tran Thi Kien was also a good mandarin of the Tran dynasty, straightforward, good at judging and adjudicating lawsuits, had been told the story of “Toan Thu” by “Toan Thu” who wrote the story of spitting up the meal people gave him when he knew he had a request. . After that, he was also appointed as a political consultant, and then promoted to Enter Introductory Action to control the Doctor of Friendship.

Or, like at the end of the Le Mat Dynasty, the official history also records the event in 1776, when Lord Trinh Sam made Nguyen Hoan the Duke of Hoan. Originally, when Trinh Sam was still the crown prince, Nguyen Hoan was promoted to the position of Tu preacher, specializing in teaching the crown prince. Prince Trinh Sam was an extravagant young man, often jokingly writing a few words “Thuong Thu, Quoc Su, Duke Hoan” and gave it to Nguyen Hoan. When Trinh Sam ascended the throne to succeed his father, Trinh Doanh, Nguyen Hoan brought these words up, and Sam gave him this title.

In ancient times, the word of the king was the law, all officers and people had to obey. Like the October event in the 4th year of Nguyen Phong (1254), King Tran Thai Tong gave money to Pham Ung Mong, telling him to eunuch to enter the palace. The reason is that before, the king dreamed that he was going out to see a god who pointed to one person and said to the king: “This person can do mischief”. Waking up, the king still does not know who it is. One day after the adoration, the king went out of the city, saw a son studying at the south gate of the city, the figure was exactly like the person in the dream, the king called to ask, that person responded like the words in a dream. The king wanted to give the position of executive officer but found it difficult, so he gave 400 mandarins of money to protect himself, given the name Ung Mong. Then gradually promoted to the executive position. The historians of the Tran Dynasty explained that King Tran Thai Tong’s actions were to imitate the old laws of the Ly dynasty, using Ly Thuong Kiet and Ly Thuong Hien.

In the same way, a word from King Tran Anh Tong caused his student Doan Nhu Hai to be immediately promoted to the position of central court, making the courtiers jealous that Nhu Hai was a great mandarin at a young age, and wrote a poem to mock that: “Taiyu history review ancient saying / Doan Trung’s mouth spread milk still Hoi”.

Of course, King Anh Tong used Doan Nhu Hai to recognize his talent. Later, history books recorded that, Doan Nhu Hai sent an envoy to Champa, then followed the army to fight the enemy, all had great merit.

The way that the first Emperor of the Tran Dynasty (Tran Thua) acknowledged his fallen son, Ba Liet, was simply through a word. When she saw Mrs. Liet wrestling and was nearly strangled by her opponent, the Emperor immediately exclaimed, “That’s my son”. With just that one word, Madame Liet was crowned king, granted her own royal palace no less than the king’s main sons.

Can the word of a king be corrected?

Not every king’s word is immutable. Like when Chieu Minh, King Tran Quang Khai, was born, he suffered from a seizure and was about to die. King Tran Thai Tong took care of his son, took the emperor’s robe and the national treasure sword and placed it in front of the little prince, saying: “If you come back to life, give these things.” When the prince came back to life, the king said: “The treasured sword of the country cannot be given away, only the clothes of the emperor”.

The king said it, but it was still possible to fix it, so in later generations, he often discussed about the Supreme Emperor Tran Nhan Tong when he came to Champa, promised to marry Princess Huyen Tran to the king of this country, Che Man, and then had it executed. Although the emperor’s work kept its credibility, writers in the court outside the home borrowed the classics of the Han king to marry Chieu Quan to the Xiongnu king to write ridicule. This, with a Confucian point of view, the historian of the Le Ngo Si Lien period vehemently criticized: “If it is said that a king goes out to play but promises to marry, he is afraid of losing faith, why not change his life?” This historical god thought of a way to change his life as follows: “The king keeps the throne of heaven, but the emperor has already left home. It is difficult for the king to change his life, but he will marry someone who is not of the same race as promised.”

Because Tran Nhan Tong kept his faith, our country received a betrothal gift from Champa, namely Chau O and Chau Ly, which were later changed to Thuan and Chau Hoa pots, ie the land of Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien today.

However, the incident after Che Man died, King Tran Anh Tong let Tran Khac Chung plot to rob Princess Huyen Tran, making the historian Ngo Si Lien very angry, having to swing his pen to comment in the political history “to use it again.” fraudulent scheme to rob it later, then where to believe?”.

The king trusts me even more

When monarchs uphold trust and act with respect, this servant will always be trustworthy. As King Tran Thanh Tong and Supreme Emperor Tran Thai Tong respected the merits of Hung Dao Dai Vuong, allowing the king to confer a title for others, from the title of Minh Tu down, only the marquis only needed to be conferred first. but Hung Dao Vuong did not because of that order but conferred a title for anyone. When the Yuan army invaded, the king ordered the rich to pay wages, but only told them that they were pretending to be generals, not the real ones.

Especially, when he was right next to the king in trouble, the loyalty of Hung Dao Dai Vuong was even more evident. That was when the king was avoiding the Yuan army, and there was only one king on the boat, holding a stick with a sharp iron in his hand. The courtiers saw that the king was inherently talented, and he still had an old grudge against his father, An Sinh Vuong, so many people were suspicious, everyone glared at him. Hung Dao Vuong knew the intention, immediately pulled out the sharp iron tip and threw it away, only walking with a walking stick. When writing history to this passage, historian Ngo Si Lien commented: “When a minister is in a dangerous situation of suspicion, he must honestly believe in each other, be wise and act wisely, just like the nine and four of the Sui hexagram. can keep the honor, make a career. Otherwise, there will be disaster. Quach Tu Nghi of the Tang Dynasty, Tran Quoc Tuan of the Tran Dynasty did so.”

During the Tran Dynasty, King Chieu Van Tran Nhat Duat was also famous for being faithful. When Trinh Giac Mat on Da Giang rebelled, the king sent Chieu Van Vuong to lure the goods, because the king was the governor of Da Giang. Knowing that King Chieu Van was coming, Trinh Giac Mat sent someone to the military camp to express his sincerity: “Mat does not dare to disobey his orders. If the grace of the Lord comes alone, then Mat asks for the goods.” However, Tran Nhat Duat accepted, taking only 5-6 small dongs with him. His subordinates stopped him, and the king confidently said: “If it’s going to play with me, then it will. The court has another king coming.”

When they arrived at the camp, the Man people surrounded dozens of layers and all held their spears and pointed them inside. Nhat Duat went straight in and climbed up the camp. Tran Nhat Duat is fluent in languages ​​and understands the customs of many countries, eating and drinking with his nose with Mat, so the Man people like it very much. When Nhat Duat returned, Mat took his family to the barracks and surrendered. Everyone is pleased to respect because without losing an arrow, it won Da Giang. When he returned to the capital, Tran Nhat Duat brought Mat and his wife and children to adoration, the king highly praised him. After that, the king sent Mat home, keeping his son in the capital. Nhat Duat loved and cared for him wholeheartedly, asked the court to grant him the title of high rank and let him take care of the fish pond, and then let him go home.

Sometimes, because of the great cause, the general did not listen to the king’s orders. That is the story when Tran Anh Tong led his army to attack Champa, stationed in Cau Chiem, and Minh Hien Vuong Uat (the youngest brother of Tran Thai Tong) was in the military palace arguing and arguing, making the hearts of the army suspicious. The king was angry, kicked him out of the palace, and ordered the troops not to be tolerated.

However, the Emperor Pham Ngu Lao still invited Minh Hien Vuong to join the army, telling everyone that: “The Holy Emperor is rebuking the Lord’s grace and sending him out. If they are caught by the enemy, they keep saying they have captured the emperor. death, but who knows where the king rebuked. I would rather be guilty of disobeying orders than benefiting the enemy.” King Anh Tong knew about it but did not rebuke Pham Ngu Lao. If you go against the king’s orders and work for the good of the whole like Ngu Lao, who can be blamed?