Tiền Các Thời Soán Nghịch
XIV.
Rebels.
In Annam not only those chiefs are considered rebels who
revolted in the provinces and hold out for a longer or shorter
time, but also those who succeeded in obtaining possession of
the capital of the kingdom and took their seat upon the throne,
without being recognized as true kings in the Annals. During the
Tran Dynasty, as well as during the following Le and
Nguyen Dynasties, there were insurgent chiefs without number who
raised the standard of rebellion in the An-namese provinces, but
only those who cast cash will be men-tioned. And it will not
perhaps be out of place to say that the chapters on rebel
coinage must not be taken as complete, for after experiencing
great difficulties in classifying the coins under this head,
there still remains a quantity of cash about the issue of which
no satisfactory information could be obtained.
Rebel Nhut-le. 1368-1370.
The king DU-TONG died in the 5th moon of 1368 without leaving
a successor to the throne, and NHUT-LE appeared as pretender. He
was the son of an actress, who, being enceinte, married Prince CUNG, brother of DU-TONG. When that king died, Nhut-le,
supported by his mother and by some officials of the palace, was
proclaimed king in the capital and took CAM-THIEU for the
name of his reign. His government lasted until the 10th moon of
1370, when the proper king took the palace by storm, and making
Nhut-le a prisoner, put him to death by bambooing.
No. 24. - Obverse:
Cam-thieu-nguyen-bao.
Reverse: without rim.
No. 25. - Same as before, but having the
character
Bao written in a contracted form.
Coins cast by the rebel above referred to.
Rebel Nguyen. 1381-1382.
King PHE-DE, whose treasury was exausted owing to the
heavy expenses incurred in the prosecution of the war on the
frontiers, ordered the taxes to be raised. This measure caused
great discontent among the people, and the province of
Bac-giang revolted under a man of low extraction called
NGUYEN, who in the 8th moon proclaimed himself king under the
name of HI-NGUYEN. Soon afterwards troops came to pacify
the province, and at the beginning of 1382 Hi-nguyen
disappeared.
No. 26. - Obverse:
Hi-nguyen-thong-bao. The characters
nguyen and
bao are written in the seal form.
Reverse: without rim. Coin cast by Hi-nguyen.
Rebel Su. 1391-1392.
This Su was a bonze who rose in arms in the 6th moon of 1391.
As for some time he had no royal troops to oppose him, he
proclaimed himself king under the name of THIEN-THANH, and
had time and leisure to recruit a numerous army which arrived
before the capital and surrounded it. The capital was captured
in the 12th moon of 1391, and he reigned in it three days, but
was soon afterwards defeated, and being made a prisoner by
General HOANG, was put to death by being slowly cut to
pieces.
No. 27. - Obverse:
Thien-thanh-nguyen-bao. The character
Bao written in the seal form.
Reverse: without rim.
No. 28. - Same as before, but with
Nguyen-bao written in seal characters.
No. 29. - Same as No. 28, but of
smaller size.
Coins cast by the rebel NHUT-LE.
The Ho rebellion. 1402-1407.
Rebel HO QUI-LY.—1402-1403.—When referring to the
history of the Tran Dynasty, mention was made of General Ho
QUI-LY, who in 1402 proclaimed himself king. In fact Ho Qui-Iy
was more than an ordinary rebel, and he may be styled an
usurper, as he had possession of the capital, and governed the
whole of Annam under the name of reign of THANH-NGUYEN. In
1403 he abdicated in favour of his son Ho HAN-THUONG.
Nos. 30-33. - Obverse:
Thanh-nguyen-thong-bao.
Reverse: without rim. These four coins are different in
size, and are made of white copper. No. 31 has the hole
in the middle round instead of square.
Rebel HO HAN-THUONG.— 1403-1407.
In the third moon of 1403, as mentioned above, Ho QUI-LY left
the throne he had usurped to his son HAN-THUONG, though still
keeping the reins of government for himself. The first act of
the new king was to try to obtain investiture from the Emperor
of China, and to this end he sent several embassies announcing
that the Royal TRAN family was extinct. The Court of Nanking
ordered exact information to be furnished of what had happened
in Annam, and for this purpose sent to that country the Imperial
Commissioner Li, who on his return from his journey to Annam
made a report to the Emperor in which he stated that both Ho
QUI-LY and Ho HAH-THUONG were only common rebels. In 1406, the
Chinese decided to occupy the country, taking advantage of the
great confusion existing at the time, and passed the frontiers
in groat numbers. After several battles between the Chinese
armies and the troops of the rebels Ho, in which victory
remained with the former, in the 5th moon of 1407 both Ho QUI-LY
and Ho HAN-THUONG were made prisoners by the Chinese in the
province of Thanh-hoa, and were murdered by the guard
escorting them to China.
The Chinese remained in Annam, fighting against the followers
of the TRAN Dynasty who had revolted and pro-claimed king
GIAN-DINH-DE.
No. 35. - Obverse:
Han-nguyen-thong-bao, or original coin of HAN-NGUYEN, the name
of the reign of Ho HAN-THUONG.
Reverse: plain. Coin cast of red copper.
No. 36. - Same as before, but having the
characters
Thanh-bao, or holy coin, instead of
Thong-bao.
Rebel Thien-binh. 1405-1406.
THIEN-BINH was an Annamese who had taken refuge at the
Chinese court at Nanking when the throne of his country was
usurped by Ho QUI-LY. In 1405, he ordered the standard of
rebellion to be raised in the province of Nghe-an, and
represented himself to be a descendant of the Royal TRAN Family.
His followers proclaimed him king under the name of
THIEN-BINH, but, in default of the aid promised to them by the
Chinese, they were defeated in 1406 by the troops sent against
them by Ho HAN-THUONG. The chief THIEN-BINH remained in Nanking
during the revolt of his followers and did not go to Annam.
No. 37. - Obverse:
Thien-binh-thong-bao.
Reverse: plain. Coin cast during the above-mentioned
rebellion.
Rebel Loc-binh Vuong. 1420.
A slave belonging to the TRAM Family rose against the Chinese
invaders, and presented himself as a great-grandson of king
DUE-TONG. He gathered his followers in the province of
Lang-son, and in a month had an army of ten thousand men. He was
then proclaimed king of Annam, and took the name of
VINH-NINH as the designation of his reign. He was soon attacked,
however, and defeated by the Chinese troops sent against him,
and disappeared from the country, nothing more being ever heard
of him.
No. 38. - Obverse:
Vinh-ninh-thong-bao.
Reverse: plain. Coin cast by Loc-binh Vuong. |
