1387: Hồ Quý Lý's Centralization and Political Shifts in Thăng Long under the Trần Dynasty

Timeline

1. 1381–1386Thăng Long (Thăng Long) · AnnamBetween 1371 and 1383, Champa's king Chế Bồng Nga campaigned north repeatedly, raiding Thăng Long five times and severely weakening the Trần dynasty. Around 1381, factional strife within the Trần intensified, with Nghệ Tông pitted against powerful minister Hồ Quý Lý, and both capital defenses and court order were in turmoil. No records of Ming armies marching south into Annam or besieging Thăng Long appear in this period.
2. 1387Thăng Long (Thăng Long) · AnnamIn 1387 Trần Nghệ Tông (Trần Thụ Minh) returned to Thăng Long; in the eighth month he promoted Hồ Quý Lý to Đồng bình chương sự, bestowing a sword and banner, and Hồ's power grew daily. Deposed emperor Trần Ngụy and Grand Commandant Trần Ngạc plotted to eliminate Hồ Quý Lý but the plot leaked; Hồ slandered them, and Nghệ Tông imprisoned the deposed emperor and installed Thuận Tông instead. A court purge followed the same year; ten-year-old Thuận Tông acceded, Hồ placed his confidants in office, and political power in Thăng Long further concentrated in his hands.
3. 1387–1390Thăng Long (Thăng Long) · AnnamAfter the 1387 political shifts in Thăng Long, Hồ Quý Lý gradually eliminated Trần clan members and opponents, reducing Thuận Tông to a puppet. Over the following years the Hồ family reformed the currency system, reformed officialdom, and strengthened centralization, laying the political groundwork for abolishing the Trần and establishing the Hồ dynasty (Đại Ngu) in 1400. The Ming emperor Taizu remained watchful and did not intervene militarily at once.