Construction
The French officers recruited by Pigneau were used to train Nguyen Anh's armed forces and introduce their technological expertise to the war effort. Olivier de Puymanel was responsible for the construction of fortifications. One of Nguyen Anh's first actions was to ask the French officers to design and oversee the construction of a modern European-style citadel in Saigon. The citadel was designed by Theodore Lebrun and de Puymanel and 30,000 people were used to construct it in 1790. The townfolk and their mandarins were heavily taxed for the work, and the labourers were worked to the extent that it provoked a revolt.
Read more about this topic: Citadel Of Saigon
Famous quotes containing the word construction:
“Striving toward a goal puts a more pleasing construction on our advance toward death.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“The construction of life is at present in the power of facts far more than convictions.”
—Walter Benjamin (1892–1940)
“When the leaders choose to make themselves bidders at an auction of popularity, their talents, in the construction of the state, will be of no service. They will become flatterers instead of legislators; the instruments, not the guides, of the people.”
—Edmund Burke (1729–1797)