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
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