The story of the Nguyen Dynasty king who had no children despite having more than 300 wives

Tu Duc (1829-1883) was the fourth king of the Nguyen Dynasty, the son of King Thieu Tri. Reigning the country for 36 years (1847-1883), he was the longest-reigning king among the 13 kings of the Nguyen Dynasty.

According to the bookNine generations of lords and thirteen generations of kings of the Nguyen DynastyTu Duc was a hard-working, diligent, benevolent person, always devoted to the country and the people.

The Dog Bites the Crane King Sentence

That day, when the Qing emperor gave him a rare crane, Tu Duc loved it so much that he had a tag around his neck that read "Thien Tu Hac" - the king's crane. "Thien Tu Hac" was used to people so he was released in the royal garden without fear.

One day, a crane flew out of the palace, got lost in the garden of a commoner family, and was bitten to death by the family's dog. King Tu Duc lost his beloved crane, which he had spent a lot of effort raising, so he ordered his ministers to investigate.

After learning that the crane had been bitten to death by a local dog, King Tu Duc became angry and ordered the Ministry of Justice to prosecute the dog. The Ministry of Justice sentenced the dog's owner to death and confiscated all his property.

The news of the Ministry of Justice's trial reached the ears of the Censor Pham Dan Que. After reviewing the details of the case, he met with King Tu Duc and presented a memorial written in verse:

Cranes cannot speak / Dogs cannot read / Cranes enter people's gardens / Dogs are loyal to their owners / Birds and animals fight / Dark and light are unclear / Dog bites crane to death / Crime is attributed to owner / Crane pecks dog to death / How is the law handled?

After reading the memorial, King Tu Duc quickly ordered the verdict to be annulled and no longer discussed.

Pham Dan Que's words were not only emotional but also very reasonable: Dogs and cranes are both animals, they cannot understand the card with the words "Thien Tu Hac".

If the above sentence is carried out as concluded by the Ministry of Justice, it will become a precedent in the future. If one day a royal dog bites a domestic animal or a person to death, who knows how the verdict will be decided? Should the king be arrested to punish him?

Verse of the Day

As the most talented poet of the Nguyen Dynasty, King Tu Duc often used poetry in his edicts and government manifestos, even when sentencing criminals.

At that time, the honest and upright mandarin Vu Dinh once had his soldiers follow and catch the warehouse keeper stealing money, hiding it in his pocket and then running off to a bar to drink. Although the amount of money was not much, the news reached Tu Duc, who believed that if embezzlement was not severely punished, one day the treasury would be empty.

Mean:One coin a day / A thousand days a thousand coins / A saw wire breaks / Water flows, stone wears away / Unforgivable crime / Order to be executed.

King Tu Duc wrote a poem condemning the corrupt:One day one money / A thousand days a thousand money / The one who cuts wood / Water picks stone / His crime is not punishable by death / He should be executed.

According to the content of King Tu Duc's poem, the petty corrupt official was later executed by the Ministry of Justice.

Offer a rattan cane for mother to beat

BookNine generations of lords and thirteen generations of kings of the Nguyen DynastyIt is said that one day, when King Tu Duc had no work to do, he went hunting in Thuan Truc forest (Kim Long), encountered a flood and could not return, while there were only two days left for King Thieu Tri's funeral. Seeing that the king had not returned, Duc Tu Du was impatient and had to send the high-ranking mandarin Nguyen Tri Phuong to pick him up.

Knowing that he had made the Queen Mother worried, after returning to the palace at midnight, the king quickly got on his palanquin and went straight to the palace, bowed and begged for forgiveness. Empress Dowager Tu Du sat facing the curtain, not saying a word.

King Tu Duc then took a rattan whip, placed it on the plastered chair, and then lay down to accept the beating. After a while, Duc Tu Du turned around, waved the whip away, and said: “Okay, forgive me! If you go out to play and make the soldiers suffer, you must reward them, and then go to serve the cavalry tomorrow morning.”

After leaving the palace, that very night, the king stayed up very late at Can Thanh palace to carry out what his mother had taught him.

During his lifetime, King Tu Duc highly valued the advice of Queen Mother Tu Du. All of his mother's teachings were recorded in books.From the training recordDuring his 36 years as king, on odd-numbered days the king held court to discuss state affairs with his ministers, and on even-numbered days he went to court to pay respects to the queen mother.

With special affection for his mother, Tu Duc is considered the most filial king in Vietnamese feudal history.

Tu Duc was the most literate king of the Nguyen Dynasty. According to some documents, during his lifetime, the king composed more than 4,000 poems. He was good at literature and worked hard, but in contrast to the previous period, the Nguyen Dynasty under Tu Duc became increasingly weaker. During his reign, Tu Duc let our country fall into the hands of French colonialists.

Due to illness since childhood and a weak body, Tu Duc was also the only king of the Nguyen Dynasty who had no heir, even though he had more than 300 wives.

Losing the country and having no heir were considered the great crimes of King Tu Duc. He himself admitted this in the stele erected by the king himself in front of his tomb./.