Cua Hoi fish sauce boat team

Developer of fish sauce fleet

During the French colonial period, in Cua Hoi area, there were not only a few boats, but a fleet of dozens of boats carrying fish sauce and seafood products of Nghe An, roaming all over the North and South. The owner of the "fleet" of "Nghe An boats" was Mr. Bat Thoan.

Offshore fishing boats anchor at Cua Hoi. Photo: Phuong Ha

Mr. Bat Thoan's real name was Tran Van Thuyen, born in 1874. He was the son of Mr. Ba On, a famous wealthy man in Cua Hoi area. Tran Van Thuyen was guided by his father to follow the path of imperial examinations. He took the exam twice at Nghe An Provincial Examination School. Both times he passed the bachelor's exam. Perhaps realizing that the time of Confucianism was no longer prosperous, Mr. Thuyen did not try to pursue the path of imperial examinations, but decided to establish himself and his career in another direction.

When he was given an early inheritance of 1/3 of his father's property, Mr. Thuyen started his own business. He noticed that in Cua Hoi area, there were many families producing and processing fish sauce and seafood, but they only sold within the area, making little profit.

Mr. Bat Thoan and his second wife, Vu Thi Xan. Photo: Document

Meanwhile, fish sauce and other products of Cua Hoi and Nghe An were famous and popular in many places. Therefore, on the one hand, he still set up a factory to process fish sauce, but on the other hand, he decided to buy fish sauce and seafood from fishermen in the area, then bought a boat to transport them to sell everywhere. When he returned, he bought local products and goods from other regions to sell locally.

From a few small boats at first, his fleet gradually grew to dozens. From Cua Hoi, the “Nghe An boats” smelling of shrimp paste went to many places in the North and South, such as: Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa, Hue, Da Nang…

InHoi GateMr. Thuyen built a very large factory and processing plant. He also spent money and bought stone to build several hundred meters of embankment along Lam River to prevent erosion in this whole area.

Starting with fish sauce and seafood, Mr. Thuyen then expanded to trading all kinds of things, as long as he saw that the item could serve the market demand and make a profit. Even his fleet of boats when returning was often not as full as when he left. Simply seeing the price, Mr. Thuyen was willing to sell the whole boat. By doing so, Mr. Thuyen soon became rich. He bought land in his hometown and also bought a house in Vinh. At the age of 33, Mr. Thuyen had 7 houses in Vinh for girls to rent.

Cua Hoi fishing port seen from above. Photo: Trung Ha

Mr. Thoan with his business career

Business was going extremely well, but suddenly one day after returning from a long trip to Da Nang, the family saw that Mr. Thuyen did not return by water, on his boat as usual. This time he returned by land, simply because he had sold all his boats. Everyone in the family was worried, but no one dared to ask.

A few days later, he said he would go to Vinh to start a business, and at the same time asked his fourth wife, Mrs. Thuoc, to follow him. In Vinh, he bought a house at 110-112 Destenay Street (now Phan Dinh Phung Street), opened Thanh Loi Trading Company and began to expand his business in many different directions. At this time, the railway from Vinh to Dong Ha, and then to Hue, was open, and by 1936, the entire North-South route was open. He still maintained a fleet of seafood trading boats as before in Cua Hoi, but gradually reduced the scale. On the other hand, he expanded the goods he traded and transported by rail such as: cereals, kerosene, cooking oil, groceries, etc.

Cua Hoi sailing boat. Photo: Document

In particular, if in 1906, Bach Thai Buoi from Nam Dinh came to collect taxes at Vinh market, this time, Tran Van Thuyen went to Nam Dinh's Rong market to collect taxes there. At Rong market, not only did he collect taxes at the market, he also opened a pawn shop, which later became very famous, that was Nam Huong.

From the experience of Cho Rong, in the 1940s, Mr. Tran Van Thuyen also contracted to collect taxes at Vinh market, until 1945. He also had trading establishments in Da Nang and a few other places. In Vinh, from seven houses for rent to geisha, by the 1940s he had a total of 36 houses for rent in Vinh. Similarly, in Nam Dinh he also had three houses for rent.

The newly opened Cua Hoi Bridge connects Nghe An and Ha Tinh in the estuary. Photo: Le Thang

When he was already a powerful industrialist and businessman, Mr. Thuyen was chosen as Chairman of the Agricultural Treasury Association, a member of the Central Advisory Council of the Agricultural Treasury Bank (Banque du Credit), a bank similar to the current Policy Bank. This was a position of "eating at home and carrying the prison and the whole village". Not only did he not have any salary, but he also had to guarantee for farmers to borrow money from the bank at low interest rates.

When the farmers were unable to repay their debts, he had to pay for them. Because of these contributions, he was awarded the Dragon Medal by the Protectorate Government and was awarded the rank of Eighth Rank by the Southern Dynasty. The name Bat Thoan originated from that rank. But perhaps the fact that many farmers became better off thanks to the bank loans was the greatest reward for him.

Although he was very rich, he was known for being a frugal person. He forced the chef not to cook leftovers, and if there was any leftovers, he asked them to store them carefully for the next meal. His frugality made everyone in the house, including his parents, quite uncomfortable. However, that frugal person, when necessary, spent money without hesitation. He did not hesitate to spend money on his children's education. In that way, all of his dozen or so children later received a solid education. If at that time he had established an economic group, then today his descendants have created an entire intellectual group.

Memorial house of Mr. Bat Thoan at Cua Hoi.

Mr. Thoan did not directly participate in the revolution, but all six of his sons participated in revolutionary activities since they were still secret. He knew, but did not stop them, only reminded them "it is dangerous". During the famine of 1945, he opened the warehouse to distribute food to the hungry in Cua Hoi and Vinh. During the Golden Week after the August Revolution, he donated 10 taels of gold to the government.

He was healthy, handsome, masculine, talented, and wealthy, so he had many women around him. During his lifetime, he had four official wives, in addition to a number of other women. Having many wives was also his way of solving the need for "high-level personnel" to manage his businesses. All the women lived with him and lived together in harmony and order.

During the scorched earth resistance war in 1947, all houses, shops, and 36 rental houses in Vinh were destroyed, and businesses in Nam Dinh and Da Nang also stagnated. During the land reform, all of his land was confiscated, and he himself was arrested and imprisoned in Anh Son. He was later released, but was still imprisoned in a tent in the corner of the garden. On October 21, At Mui year (1955), he died of hunger, illness, and loneliness.

After the land reform, Mr. Bat Thoan was recognized as a resistance landlord. His descendants have built a memorial house for him in Cua Hoi.

Pham Xuan Can