The shocking case of prisoners rebelling during the reign of King Minh Mang

BookDai Nam Thuc Luc(main text, second period) says that in the yearMinh Mang 18th year (1837), Quang Ngai province soldiers escorted 42 prisoners by water to Tran Tay plantation to do hard labor. However, the guards only kept 13 people.

Captain Nguyen Van Luc took bribes and dismissed six soldiers. Due to the thin force, when the boat arrived at Cau Huan estuary (Khanh Hoa province) to receive more firewood, the group of prisoners beat and pushed the guards into the water to hijack the boat and escape.

The incident was reported to the king. Nguyen Van Luc was sentenced to hang himself. The court assigned the Ministry of Justice to find a way to capture these people. In the coastal provinces from Binh Dinh to Ha Tien, whoever captured the whole gang would receive a reward of 300 quan, and whoever captured one person would also receive a generous reward. The order also stated that anyone who harbored or hid them would be punished like fugitives.

King Minh Mang advised the Ministry of Justice: "Most of those prisoners were criminals who were given leniency and reduced sentences, sent to serve as soldiers, assigned to the plantations in Tran Tay citadel, had land to live on, had fields to work on, and were not suffering at all, so why disobey orders and accept the punishment of death for the whole family?"

After that, to prevent similar incidents, the king ordered the provinces from Thua Thien to Binh Thuan to carefully lock the prisoners when escorting them to Tran Tay citadel. The number of soldiers on duty must be equal to the number of prisoners, to avoid any unexpected incidents due to lack of manpower.

The generals guarding the Tran Tay citadel, when receiving prisoners, had to calculate and divide them equally among the localities, not allowing them to gather in one place. The edict clearly stated: “If anyone is found to be unsatisfied with his duty, dishonest, or has a treacherous heart, they must be beheaded first and then reported, do not be careless.”

The court also announced that every time soldiers were dispatched, the person in charge had to check the number of soldiers himself, and if one person was missing, he would be punished.Officials who are assigned responsibility but neglect this will be severely punished.

Shortly after, the court dismissed the Quang Ngai provincial judge Dang Kim Giam for the reason that "There were cases of prisoners beating up the guards, working clumsily, with mediocre knowledge, it was difficult to expect to make any achievements.

The edict of King Minh Mang also criticized: "Dang Kim Giam had a small merit, was promoted to the position of provincial chief, but did not do many good things, was notorious for being messy, made many mistakes, was temporarily punished lightly many times, did not have the heart to fire him immediately".