Lê Hoàn
The economic life of an independent Vietnam should perhaps started with Lê Hoàn (941-1005)–the founding king of the First Lê Dynasty—who was rising to the kingship during the context of the demise of Đinh Tiên Hoàng and the threat of invasion by the Chinese Song Dynasty in 982. Being a king, Lê Hoàn was interested in developing the local economy and improving people's wealth. He had set himself to be an early example of a king participating in rice cultivating in Spring, right after Tết Holiday, an act that many later kings followed, to show that agricultural economy is very important to all Vietnamese. Also, perhaps in his understanding trade was equally important. He ordered to build several canals (Ba Hòa Canal to Thanh Hóa, Da Cái Canal to Nghệ An), with which not only farmers could later have a better irrigation system but merchants could conveniently develop their transport routes as well.