In 1826, the 7th year of Minh Mang emperor reign, he ordered all the mandarins who were skilled in geomancy to find good land for the construction his tomb. It was only in 1840 that he could select the most satisfactory site and design for Minh Mang emperor as we see today. Mandarin Le Van Duc found the suitable site and was promoted two ranks. In April 1840, Minh Mang emperor visited the site and gave the mountainous area of Cam Ke the new name of Hieu Son. He then ordered two high- ran emperor mandarins: Truong Dang Que and Bui Cong Huyen, to take a unit of the Royal Engineers to the site to make a survey. They drew a topographical map of the mountains, hills, rivers. and streams. In addition, they also made a full design of the tomb, which included an outer rampart, the Emperor's tomb, temples, pavilions, halls, monasteries, bridges and artificial lakes. The Emperor was fully satisfied with the layout and design and rewarded them with money and cloth. Read more: Story of Minh Mang Emperor In September 1840, the Court mobilized 3000 soldiers and building workers to level the ground and build the outer rampart. The two high-ranemperor mandarins Truong Dang Que and Ha Duy Phien took turns supervising the construction. On 20 Jan 1841, the emperor died. He was only 50 years old at the time of his death. A month later, the construction was resumed by order of Emperor Thieu Tri. The high-ranemperor mandarins Ta Quang Cu, Ha Duy Phien, Nguyen Huu Le, Nguyen Tri Phuong and Ton That Duong were assigned to take charge. The Court mobilized nearly 10000 soldiers and building workers from the Ministries of Military Affairs and Public Works for the construction. Only the soldiers were allowed to take leave, every two months
In 1826, the 7th year of Minh Mang emperor reign, he ordered all the mandarins who were skilled in geomancy to find good land for the construction his tomb. It was only in 1840 that he could select the most satisfactory site and design for Minh Mang emperor as we see today.
