Trịnh Giang ruled northern Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 (Tonkin

Tonkin

Tonkin , also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is the northernmost part of Vietnam, south of China's Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces, east of northern Laos, and west of the Gulf of Tonkin. Locally, it is known as Bắc Kỳ, meaning "Northern Region"...

) from 1729 to 1740. His title as ruling lord (chua) was Uy Nam Vuong. He was one of the Trịnh Lords who ruled Vietnam. He was a bad ruler, being wasteful, inept, and callous.

History

Trịnh Giang was the son of his predecessor Trịnh Cương. He is considered one of the worst of the Trịnh Lords. During his years in power he spent money on luxuries and did little about the growing problem of landless peasants in the countryside. Also, a series of natural disasters struck, floods caused ruin for many villages and yet Trịnh Giang did nothing to relieve the suffering. Instead he obtained (through rich gifts) a new title from the Yongzheng Emperor

Yongzheng Emperor

The Yongzheng Emperor , born Yinzhen , was the fifth emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the third Qing emperor from 1722 to 1735. A hard-working ruler, Yongzheng's main goal was to create an effective government at minimal expense. Like his father, the Kangxi Emperor, Yongzheng used military...

 of China, Supreme King of Annam . This foolish action provoked a rash of revolts as the people felt he was usurping the title of the Lê king.

By 1737, his government had run out of money and had to put public offices up for sale.

A mandarin

Mandarin (bureaucrat)

A mandarin was a bureaucrat in imperial China, and also in the monarchist days of Vietnam where the system of Imperial examinations and scholar-bureaucrats was adopted under Chinese influence.-History and use of the term:...

 could gain a step in rank by the payment of six hundred strings of cash, and the commonest man in the kingdom was able to obtain the highest rank by the payment of two thousand eight hundred strings.

In the midst of revolts and bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

, Trịnh Giang turned the government over to a favored eunuch

Eunuch

A eunuch is a person born male most commonly castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences...

 in 1738. Two years later he was deposed and Trịnh Doanh

Trinh Doanh

Trịnh Doanh ruled northern Vietnam from 1740 to 1767 Trịnh Doanh was a younger son of Trịnh Cương, and belonged to the line of Trịnh Lords who ruled northern Vietnam...

 took over.

As far as the Lê Dynasty

Lê Dynasty

The Later Lê Dynasty , sometimes referred to as the Lê Dynasty was the longest-ruling dynasty of Vietnam, ruling the country from 1428 to 1788, with a brief interruption....

 was concerned, the king, Hôn Đức Công (1729–1732), was imprisoned shortly after assuming the throne and was then murdered after three years. He was replaced by Lê Thuần Tông (1732–1735) who was in turn replaced by Lê Ý Tông (1735–1740).

Sources

• Encyclopedia of Asian History, Volume 4. 1988. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.
• Annam and its Minor Currency Chapter 16 (downloaded May 2006)