The high-ranking officials were all
Chinese; only subaltern posts were given to "natives". A general
census revealed that there were 3,129,500 inhabitants and 2,087,500 man
(barbarians) from mountain-dwelling tribes, i.e. a total of more than 5.2
million. But many doubtless evaded the census. "Order" was maintained
throughout the country by large military garrisons, joined by a tight network
of relays. All opposition was harshly suppressed.
There was a very heavy system of
taxation, which included land tax on rice fields and mulberry fields, and a
poll-tax. The occupiers held a monopoly over the salt trade. All able-bodied
people, aged 16 to 60, were subject to military service and multiple corvee:
road-building, mining, pearl-oyster fishing, hunting, etc. In 1419, family
records were made obligatory for control over the population.
Thousands of skilled craftsmen and intellectuals
were taken to China, among them Nguyen An, who was to become the architect of
the Imperial City in Beijing. The Ming also confiscated personal property,
animals (elephants, buffaloes and horses) and other valuables.
The people were forced to adopt the Chinese style
of dress and Chinese ways and customs. Ming troops sought to destroy all traces
of the nation's culture, they burned confiscated books that were specifically
Vietnamese. This was a true cultural disaster; almost all literary works from
before the 15th century were destroyed.