Express shop, Shuima post office and delivery office, also known as the three major post offices in Ming Dynasty, served the country's politics, military affairs, economy and culture day and night and played a great role in consolidating the feudal regime. It is also one of the important topics in the study of ancient postal culture in China. Unfortunately, the main historical materials such as Shi Ming Road and Daming Huidian lack a complete record of express delivery. Some questions are clear, while others are not. For example, its quantity and delivery means, the burden of laying soldiers and the commitment period. , either not involved at all, or vague. So that future generations can't understand the whole picture, and some even cause misunderstandings. Therefore, it is necessary to sketch and study it. This paper tries to express my views on the above issues. What's wrong? I hope it's right.
The number and distribution of express delivery stores are related to their position and function in Ming Dynasty. Its number is not unrelated to the laying distance.
Some people say, "Emperor Gao () lives in a mixed place, and the territory of Wan Li is thousands of miles away, which is connected with each other. He will be the minister of life, serving the public, but he will never stop blaming. Since the capital is located outside the Tongguan Pavilion, every time in the border counties and towns, all towns and villages must meet the real estate, set up water horse stations and delivery stations, and deliver transshipment services. This is a top priority for all military and state maintenance. " [7]. Others said, "Express delivery is the thread of the country, and there is no room for any delay. Therefore, at the beginning of the country (early Ming Dynasty), there was more than one cotton in the water horse post, which was more than enough "[8].
Seventy-two Official History of the Ministry of War in the History of the Ming Dynasty said: "All postal transmission is carried out in the capital, the same family, foreign postal service and delivery office, and there are vouchers."
The above only mentioned Shuima Post and Delivery Office. Wanli Daming Canon (Volume 145), Volume 146, Volume 147, Volume 145, Volume 145, Volume 146, Volume/kloc-. There is 1032 Shuima Post, 146 delivery station. Book scroll 149, express delivery shop, only a few words, no store name and store number. The History of Yuan Dynasty and Yongle Dadian were compiled in the early Ming Dynasty. These two books record the name and quantity of Shuima Post in Yuan Dynasty in great detail, but the name of express shop in Yuan Dynasty is blank. It can be seen that the practice of Lulu and Minghui Store is also based on the "Yuan Mingcheng system" [9].
2. Some problems about express delivery shops in Ming Dynasty
Made in the Han Dynasty, there is a post station every thirty miles. Like the Han Dynasty, there were 1639 water stations in the Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the distance between stations was updated to 60 miles, which was not as dense as in the Han and Tang Dynasties. The organizational system of its express delivery store is 10, which is 25 miles, one store. From a distance, there is no doubt that there are more express shops than Shuimagang.
Before the founding of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan of Yuan Shizu wrote in the first year of the unification of China (1260): "Take clothes everywhere, set up delivery shops", and urgent delivery shops were widely established. In the thirty-first year of Yuan Dynasty (1294), a general express shop was further set up in Dadu, and nine bronze seals were lowered, and three employees were set up to strengthen the management of the express shop. According to "History of Yuan Dynasty, History of the Fourth Army, Standing Red", all the roads in the abdomen under the jurisdiction of Zhongshu Province in Yuan Dynasty, as well as nine provinces in China such as Henan, Jiangbei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu, had a total of 14065438. There is no explicit record about the distance of the post stations in Yuan Dynasty in historical books (including Yongle Dadian). However, judging from the distance between post stations in Song and Ming Dynasties, the distance between post stations in Yuan Dynasty is not far from that in Song and Ming Dynasties. In the Yuan Dynasty, the distance of express delivery shops was generally: "Set a shop every ten miles or fifteen miles or twenty-five miles" [⑩], and set up five soldiers. From this point of view, the number of express delivery shops in the Yuan Dynasty will also be above Shuimayi.
The post-delivery system in Ming Dynasty basically followed the post-delivery system in Yuan Dynasty. This is especially true for express delivery stores. From shop floor, internal manager, document inspection, packaging, handover procedures, to the method of urgent delivery and the specific requirements of laying soldiers. , almost from the same model. The distance of Shuima Post in Ming Dynasty was "60 or 80 miles from the land station"; Water stations are generally longer than land stations.
Laying distance of express shop. In the first month of the first year of Hongwu, it was stipulated that "the shop should be delivered urgently, and a shop should be set up every ten miles". Although it is not so uniform in practice, it is well founded that most of them are 10 plums.
For example, there were 12 express delivery stores in wanping county, Shuntianfu, North Zhili in Wanli. Its regulations, responsibilities, number of troops deployed, spacing, orientation and postal route are: 1 paving company (paving length), which will be sent to the official book in a few minutes. Three soldiers took turns to lay down and transport 46 people.