Nguyá» n Phúc Nguyên (é®ç¦ÂæºÂ; 16 August 1563 – 19 November 1635), temple name Nguyá» n Hy Tông, was the second of the Nguyá» n lords, ruling all of southern Vietnam from 1613 to 1635. During his time in office, the Nguyá» n lords established a settlement in what is now modern-day Saigon. Later, his refusal to pay tribute to the Trinh lord court sparked the Trá»ÂnhâÂÂNguyá» n War.
Nguyá» n Phúc Nguyên was the sixth son of Nguyá» n Hoàng. Upon the death of his father, Nguyá» n Phúc Nguyên succeeded his father as ruler of all of southern Vietnam. He continued his father's policy of refusing to submit to the authority of the court in Hanoi, dominated at this time by his cousin Trá»Ânh Tùng. Unlike his father he did not take the title Vðáng (çÂÂ) but instead called himself Nhán quá»Âc công (ä»ÂÃ¥ÂÂå ¬) which translates roughly to Duke of Nhán.
From 1615 Nguyá» n Phúc Nguyên allowed Portuguese merchants to set up a trading post at Faifo (modern-day Há»Âi An). The Nguyá» n purchased advanced European cannons from the Portuguese and learned something of European ship design. This would help them enormously in later years. As time passed, Faifo became a major trade port for the south-west Pacific where traders in the region came to sell and acquire goods. Chinese, Japanese, Europeans, and South Asians all came to trade at Faifo. Originally the land of Faifo itself was not valuable, but later on the Nguyá» n lords established various sugarcane and mullberry plantations to produce goods for overseas export. Traders from Japan came all the way to Vietnam because the Ming and later Manchu emperors forbade trade with Japan. In order to obtain highly desirable Chinese silks and ceramics, the Japanese too had to come to Faifo. The Japanese often bought local silks, which were high-quality and desired by the Japanese to the point that they would purchase whole batches months prior to their annual arrival. In time, Faifo's local silk prices became attuned to the whims of the Japanese market. The Nguyá» n lords also imported massive quantities of Japanese coins to either melt down for their cannons or circulate as currency, as southern Vietnam lacked gold and copper and the Japanese had much to export.
Nguyá» n Phúc Nguyên maintained friendly relations with Cambodia. Around 1620, Nguyá» n Phúc Nguyên's daughter Nguyá» n Phúc Ngá»Âc Vạn married the king of Cambodia, Chey Chettha II (the marriage seems to have been contracted years earlier). As a result of this marriage, the Cambodian King allowed the Nguyá» n to establish a small trading and tax post at Prei Nokor what is now Saigon in 1623. Additionally, the Nguyá» n lords supplied the Cambodians with weapons for their expeditions against the Ayutthaya Kingdom. The Vietnamese settlement at Prey Nokor was the start of a major expansion by the Vietnamese beyond the southern border established by Lê Thánh Tông in 1471.
In 1631, the Italian missionary Christoforo Borri who was living in Quy Nhán witnessed the military support of NguyỠn Phúc Nguyên to the Cambodians and recorded it as so:
<blockquote> Lord Nguyá» n Phúc Nguyên sent his military support to his son-in-law Chey Chettha II twice to against Siamese. In 1623, the mission from Nguyá» n was dispatched to Oudong, with a lot of treasures and gift to strengthen the relationship between two government and confirm the alliance of Cambodia and Nguyá» n. After the negotiation, Chey Chettha II allowed to let them established the trading post which were namely Kas Krobei (Và ©ng Tàu) and Prei Nokor (Saigon) for taxation. Nguyá» n lords can bring their private army to protect the post and their citizens as well as the public security of the city of Prei Nokor. </blockquote>
In 1623 Trá»Ânh Tùng died and was replaced by his son Trá»Ânh Tráng. At his behest the imperial court in Hanoi sent a formal demand to Nguyá» n Phúc Nguyên to pay tribute and acknowledge the Lê emperor (and by extension, the Trá»Ânh family) as his superiors. In 1624, Nguyá» n Phúc Nguyên formally refused. Three years later, the Trá»Ânh-led royal army marched south and attacked the Nguyá» n. The first set of battles lasted for four months but the Nguyá» n armies were not defeated and Phú Xuân remained in Nguyá» n hands. The Trá»Ânh army withdrew north to regroup. The Nguyá» n immediately began construction of a massive pair of walls to defend their lands. This pair of walls, just south of the Linh River, eventually grew to a length of 11 miles, stretching from the sea to the mountains. The walls were each 20 feet tall and equipped with many cannons of European design.
In 1633, the Trá»Ânh tried to outflank the walls with an amphibious invasion but the Nguyá» n fleet was able to defeat the Trá»Ânh-led royal fleet at the battle of NháºÂt Lá»Â.
Nguyá» n Phúc Nguyên died in 1635 while his war with the Trá»Ânh was still ongoing. Still, the defensive measures he had put in place served the Nguyá» n well. Phú Xuân was not taken by the Trá»Ânh until 1774. Further, his defensive success in these first battles was a credit to his ability to attract talented men to his cause and make use of expert military advice and technologies, even if it came from foreign countries.
Until Gia Long's era, NguyỠn Phúc Nguyên was posthumously conferred the temple name Hy Tông.