But perhaps nowhere else have I seen a person respected by the people and worshiped by the government like Ambassador Nguyen Cong Tru in the land of Kim Son (Ninh Binh). After nearly 200 years of establishment, Kim Son is truly a shining “mountain of money”.
From compassion for hungry people…
Mr. Tran Quoc Viet (71 years old) – a 15-year-old priest at the Doanh Dien Su Temple in Hamlet 16, Quang Thien Commune, Kim Son District, slowly opened the gate of the temple worshiping Mr. Nguyen Cong Tru to let me in to worship. . Mr. Viet burned incense, lit a lamp for the guests to pay their respects, then respectfully began the story regarding a flesh and blood man, the Doanh Dien Ambassador Nguyen Cong Tru…
Going back in history, starting in 1827 when Nguyen Cong Tru participated in suppressing Phan Ba Vanh’s uprising in Thai Binh, he realized that the “rioters” were not strangers but the people themselves. hungry, in exile, without land. If we want to completely overcome the problem of dispersal and uprising, we must solve the need for land and food for the poor. With the vision of a good mandarin, Nguyen Cong Tru sees that the coastal alluvial areas are the generosity of nature.
He presented a document to the court clearly stating the root cause of the peasant uprising and proposed that the court organize for poor farmers to conduct large-scale land reclamation in the Tien Chau beach area. In March 1828, serving the court, Ambassador Nguyen Cong Tru sailed to Tien Chau beach to directly command the great reclamation with unique and bold plans to calm the people. In September 1828, the reclamation work was completed. According to Nguyen Cong Tru’s memorandum, the royal court approved the establishment of Tien Hai district.
A river in Kim Son. Photo: TL
Legend has it that King Minh Menh asked Nguyen Cong Tru what to name a new district, then Nguyen Cong Tru reported: “If your Majesty has given the name Tien Hai to a coastal district of Nam Dinh, then the new district will be in the Ninh region.” Binh’s name is Kim Son. One side is the Tien Sea, the other side is the Golden Mountain”…
On the way back to the capital, Nguyen Cong Tru passed through the land of Truong Yen district (Ninh Binh town), seeing wilderness, dense reeds, and swamp. Nguyen Cong Tru rested, then sent his entourage to inspect the area and decided to report to the court to reclaim this land. After nearly 5 months of very hard and arduous reclamation, in November 1828, Nguyen Cong Tru established 53 villages, hamlets, and camps, bordering 1,260 people, reclaiming 14,620 acres of fields. In March of Ky Suu year (1829), the 10th year of Minh Menh, Kim Son district was established…
“Mountain of money” shines
As a commune cultural officer, Mr. Tran Quoc Viet worked hard to learn and research historical documents related to Mr. Nguyen Cong Tru. Mr. Viet said: This is the downstream area of the Red River Delta, with alluvium encroaching on the sea, Kim Son’s sedimentation rate is very strong compared to other neighboring areas.
During the reclamation process, Nguyen Cong Tru dug up the An River to connect the Cai River with the Can River, 13.5km long, 15m wide and 3m deep to get fresh water. This is the river that flows through all the villages and hamlets in the district when it was first established. It is like a backbone from here, small rivers radiate to the villages. On the other hand, canals connecting small villages in the shape of a herringbone were built to carry water for irrigation, waterlogging, and salt-washing to develop agriculture as well as build roads.
Temple of Nguyen Cong Tru.
Mr. Viet also shared that many people who visit Kim Son wonder that 200 years ago, there were no machines to make sights, but how might the envoy Nguyen Cong Tru be able to develop a straight river and canal system. so? In fact, Mr. Tru directed the use of bottle lamps as a measuring stick. Every night, he had people light the bottle lights, then brought out a wire to measure according to the position of the bottle lights, thus creating dozens of kilometers of straight rivers. so. It is this irrigation system and waterway that makes Kim Son never suffer from floods.
Mr. Nguyen Cong Tru’s imprint is also recorded in the places in Kim Son named by him with 60 villages, farms, hamlets, in 7 cantons. Mr. Viet said: For example, Lac Thien land is a happy land, here people live happily and peacefully, rarely quarreling with each other. Or in Luat Village, people often send people to study to pass, become mandarins, become cadres…
The profession of making sedge mats in Kim Son. Photo: GT – Manh Thang
What Nguyen Cong Tru did for Kim Son people was not only economic development but also promoting people’s learning. He encouraged the opening of classes. That’s why today, every time it’s time for an exam, children of Kim Son people often go to his temple to burn incense and ask to pass their wishes. Anyone who has studied for a master’s degree or a doctorate now goes to the temple. of him burning incense and offering thanks.
Kim Son is now more and more changing, rich and beautiful every day. Just recently, at the end of November 2023, Kim Son reached the finish line of the new rural district. Mr. Tran Xuan Truong – Chairman of Kim Son District People’s Committee said that currently the value of each cultivated hectare in the district has reached an average of 196 million VND/year; The average income per capita reaches nearly 60 million VND/year, the poverty rate is less than 1.5%.
