Government of the Nguyễn dynasty

Ministries of the Nguyễn dynasty

Administration

Finance

Ritual

Public works

Justice

The Lục Bộ (Council of Six Ministries) was a collective term for six royal agencies that held ministerial and judicial functions, administering the kingdom.[5] Each ministry had a thượng thư (president), two tham tri (vice-president), two thị lang (minor-president). Under all above positions, the ministry divided itself into several thanh lại ty (panels), which their staffs were lang trung (directors), viên ngoại lang (vice-directors) and chủ sự (secretaries). All members of the whole six ministries always totally numbered 100 people.[8]

• Bộ Lại - Ministry of Administration, supervised the specific appointments, transfers, promotions, and dismissals of individual civil officials in the bureaucracy.
• Bộ Lễ - Ministry of Rites, provided classical texts, helped the system to recruit officials through education and examinations, court rituals, festivals, and also was responsible for diplomatic relations with China and other states.[9]
• Bộ Hộ - Ministry of Finance, had obligations to asset and collect taxes; print and spend money; watch the economy, particularly agriculture; adjust currency, salaries, price; and preserve imperial treasuries.
• Bộ Hình - Ministry of Justice, worked along with Đại lý tự (Grand Tribunal) and Viện đô sát (Censorate). It supervised the judicial system. At the end of each year, it reported to the emperor the numbers of inmates in jails and the numbers of unsolved cases on a list called hình danh sách.
• Bộ Công - Ministry of Public Works, managed workers and artisans to construct the imperial palaces, roads, bridges, buildings, and ships.
• Bộ Binh - Ministry of Military, controlled the military bureaucracy, proposed the promotions, demotions, and assignments of military officers, managed the deployment of army, and records imperial military activities.

The Viện đô sát (Censorate) was an important organ that observed the government and then reported to the Emperor. The Viện đô sát's senior officials were called Tả đô ngự sử (Censor-in-chief of the Left) and hữu đô ngự sử (Censor-in-chief of the Right). The Vietnamese censorate comprised six lục khoa ("office of scrutiny"), each headed by an Cấp sự trung (senior supervising secretary) official.[10]

• Lại khoa, watching the Ministry of administration and the Viện Hàn Lâm.
• Hộ khoa, watching the Ministry of finance, the Phủ nội vụ, tào chính (transport administration).
• Lễ khoa, watching the Ministry of rites, Thái thường tự (Court of Imperial Sacrifices), Quang lộc tự (Court of Imperial Entertainments), and the Quốc Tử Giám.
• Binh khoa, watching the Ministry of military, Thái bộc tự (Court of the Imperial Stud) and Vũ khố (Armory arsenal).
• Hình khoa, watching the Ministry of justice and the Đại lý tự (Court of Judicial Review).
• Công khoa, watching the Ministry of public works.

During the reign of Gia Long, the kingdom was divided into twenty-three quasi-militant protectorates trấn and four military departments doanh.[17] Each protectorate, besides having their own separated regional governments, were under patrol of one greater, powerful unit called Overlord of Citadel, or the Viceroy. For examples, the northern protectorates had Bắc thành Tổng trấn (Viceroy of Northern Protectorates) in Hanoi, and southern protectorates had Gia Định thành Tổng trấn (Viceroy of Gia Định Protectorates) resides in Saigon.[18] Two famously viceroys during Gia Long's reign were Nguyễn Văn Thành (Hanoi) and Lê Văn Duyệt (Saigon). By 1802, these were:

• 16 protectorates under joint-governance from the Viceroys.

• 7 Central protectorates

• 4 departments surrounding Huế, directly ruled by Gia Long.

1. Quảng Đức
2. Quảng Bình
3. Quảng Trị
4. Quảng Nam

In 1831, Minh Mạng reorganised his kingdom by converting all these protectorates into 31 provinces (tỉnh). Each province had a series of smaller jurisdictions: the prefecture (phủ), the subprefecture (châu, in areas whereas having a significant population of ethnic minorities). Under prefecture and subprefecture, there was the district (huyện), the canton (tổng). Under district and canton, the bundle of hamlets around one common religious temple or social factor point, the village làng or the commune (xã) was the lowest administrative unit, which one respected person nominally took care of village administrative, which called lý trưởng.[19]

Two nearby provinces were combined into a pair. Every pair had a governor-general (Tổng đốc) and a governor (Tuần phủ).[20] Frequently, there were twelve governor-generals and eleven governors, although, in some periods, the Emperor would appoint a "commissioner in charge of patrolled borderlands" (kinh lược sứ) that supervising entire northern of the southern part of the kingdom.[21] In 1803, Vietnam had 57 prefectures, 41 subprefectures, 201 districts, 4,136 cantons and 16,452 villages, and then by 1840s its had been increased to 72 prefectures, 39 subprefectures and 283 districts, which an average 30,000 people per district.[19] Cambodia had been absorbed into the Vietnamese administrative system, bore the name Tây Thành Province from 1834 to 1845.[22] With areas having minority groups like Tày, Nùng, Mèo (Hmong people), Mường, Mang and Jarai, the Huế court imposed the co-existing tributary and quasi-bureaucratic governance system, while allowing these people to have their own local rulers and autonomy.[23]

Map of 1883 Indochina Peninsula, shows three Vietnamese regions and client territories (Pays des Mois and Royme de Tran-ninh) of the Vietnamese Crown.

In 1832, there were:

• Three regions and 31 provinces (encompassed modern-day Vietnam):[24]

• Client/dependent territories:[25]

1. Luang Phrabang
2. Vientine
3. Cambodia
4. Jarai chiefdoms

• Chief cities:

1. Huế, capital city, population (1880): 30,000
2. Hanoi, major city, population (1880): 120,000
3. Saigon, major city, population (1880): 100,000