Warring Societies of Pre-colonial Southeast Asiathe presence of pirate networks along the southern Chinese coasts and
the Gulf of Tonkin, providing the pirates with bases and official appoint-
ments. Many sea bandits characterized him as the “big boss of Yueh Nan”
or “rebel patron of pirates”.^66 In 1796, a pirate called Wang Yaer received
“certificates” (zhao) from Tayson leaders authorizing him to build ships
and recruit gangs. Others had seals and official titles identifying them as
armed chiefs of the Tayson navy.^67 When Quy Nhon became the centre
of the movement, Thi Nai was established as a formidable naval base to
protect the Tayson capital and control the central coast.
The Tayson’s first large-scale naval campaign targeted 20,000 Siamese
and their fleets on the Mekong River that supposedly supported Nguyen
Phuc Anh’s efforts to reclaim the throne.^68 In 1785, Nguyen Hue em-
ployed a traditional Vietnamese naval strategy to draw enemy ship into
unfamiliar terrain. He hid his warships in river-islands from which the
fleet successfully ambushed 300 Siamese vessels.^69 The battlefield ex-
tended several kilometers on the Mekong, between Rach Gam and Xoai
Mut (present-day Tien Giang). Less than 10,000 Siamese survived and
fled via Cambodia back to Siam. The Nguyen chronicle observes that,
“after the defeat ... although the Siamese were boastful, they feared the
Tayson like tigers.”^70
The Tayson’s second large-scale naval campaign was their victory
over the Le-Trinh army in 1786. The northern navy was mostly used
in launching campaigns against Nguyen Cochinchina and was perma-
nently stationed in lakes connected to the Red River, not far from the
Trinh palace in the center of Hanoi. On 6 June 1786, a Tayson fleet of
1,000 warships set sail for a surprise operation up the Red River.^71 The
- Pierre-Yves Manguin, Les Nguyen, Macau et le Portugal: Aspects politiques et commer-
ciaux d’une relation privilégiée en Mer de Chine 1773–1802 (Paris: l’École Française
d’Extrême–Orient, 1984): 100. - Robert Anthony, “Giang Binh: Pirate Haven and Black Market on the Sino–
Vietnamese Frontier, 1780–1802”, in Kleinen & Osseweijer (eds), Ports, Pirates
and Hinterlands in East and Southeast Asia, 43. - DNTL, vol. 2, quyen 2, 37; MTGP, however, claims that Siamese troops numbered
fifty thousand. MTGP, 75. - Nguyen Nha, “Tai dung binh cua Nguyen Hue [Nguyen Hue’s talent in command-
ing army]”, Su Dia 13 (1969): 207. - DNTL, vol. 2, quyen 3, 43.
- HLNTC, 83.