Abstract
This essay examines the financial organization of the Six Departments (Luc Phien) established by the Princely Court of Trinh at the beginning of the 18th century, which corresponded to the Imperial Court's six Ministries of Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Justice, and Works. First, it is shown that although each department carried out the business of its corresponding ministry, it had its own financial organization for doing so, making for a characteristic situation. The essay then examines the personnel composition of the Six Departments, using personal titles rubbed from stone monuments, to show that eunuchs filled important posts and played critical roles in the finances of the Princely Court. Significantly, most upper level bureaucrats of the Six Departments served concurrently as commanding officer of the army, while lower level bureaucrats actually worked in the garrison with the title of local government official. This examination indicates that the financial and military organization of the Princely Court was unified in the rank and file of the local administration and explains the activities of eunuchs as both financial bureaucrats and military men in the Le-Trinh government. It is argued that such a situation occurred because the Princely Court expanded its financial organization, using its own military organization, with no distinction between “inner court” and “outer court.”
