Starting from Hoa Lu in
present-day Ninh Binh, Dinh Bo Linh defeated all 12 warlords, one after
another, and unified the country in 967. The next year he made himself king,
named the country Dai Co Viet, established his capital at Hoa Lu, reorganized
the army and administration, and appointed renowned Buddhist monks as advisers.
The murder of Dinh Bo Linh in 979 brought a six-year-old child to the throne.
Meanwhile the Sung dynasty had taken power in China
where order was restored. A Sung expeditionary corps was sent to reconquer Vietnam,
which was also being attacked from the south by the Cham.
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