In modern society, the postal transportation network is well developed. There are various kinds of items that can be shipped by postal, and the transportation speed is fast, and the scope of transportation can reach all parts of the world.

The transportation routes and modes of transportation in ancient times were very limited. What should people who lived in ancient times need to deliver goods by post? Today, let’s take a look at how postal transportation was carried out in ancient times.

The postal industry in ancient China

Ancient China very early Postal service was established, but at that time it was largely not used in daily life. The ancient postal industry was mainly used to transmit information for government departments, usually called Post Office, also known as Post Chuan strong>, the mail items are mostly letters, and various types of official documents.

China’s postal system can be traced back to more than 3,000 years ago. There are related records in oracle bone inscriptions. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, rulers were also passed through postal posts. system of orders. The historical materials of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period also mentioned that there were three ways of sending messages on foot, by car and on horseback, which were called “post”, “biography” and “post”.

Because of the high cost of sending messages by car, they gradually stopped using them. As common, therefore, the early system of this kind of communication was called the post. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the postal system formed a complete system. Documents requiring postal service were divided into different grades, and specialized personnel and horses were dispatched to deliver the documents. Also signature registration.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the scale of the post office business was unprecedented. The post-post line radiates outward from Chang’an to the border areas. Water Station, Luyi There are lines. There is a posting station on the postal route about every 30 miles. There are post houses for accommodation, as well as a large number of donkeys, horses, boats and other means of transportation. .

The inn is not only responsible for providing convenience for the rest, eating and changing of means of transportation for the post-passengers, but also for the reception officials. task. During the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the number of post stations reached 1639, the number of post soldiers responsible for delivering letters and official documents reached 17,000, and the total number of post office workers< strong>Over 20,000.

In addition to delivering official documents and letters, the inn also transports some items needed by the government, but the number of transports is not large. Tang Xuanzong was very fond of Bo Yang Guifei, and the way to transport lychees from Lingnan to Chang’an was through the post.

Why don’t the bandits rob the “Eight Hundred Miles of Urgent”

The most important thing is to deliver official documents from the station The mode of transportation is horse riding, usually the speed of the courier to pass the documents on horseback is 300 miles per day. When the documents to be passed are urgent, the courier will speed up the speed as appropriate, and travel 400 miles or 600 miles a day.

in most urgent situations, eg borders When a war breaks out, or there is a rebellion or rebellion somewhere, the post envoy will use the eight hundred li rush method to deliver the message.

“Eight-hundred-mile rush”, as the name suggests, means that the courier needs to travel eight hundred miles every day. In this case, the food and drink of the post envoys were carried out immediately, and they could not rest for a moment, and they rushed forward without stopping. It is strange that in the ancient society where bandits were rampant, “Eight Hundred Miles of Urgent” never will not be robbed.

Why don’t the bandits rob the “eight hundred miles urgently”? If they were “interviewed”, they would definitely say: Look at those people’s waistsWhat is tied?

It turned out that every courier who sent urgent documents for 800 miles had a yellow flag tied around his waist, which read:

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This yellow flag is specially set up to ensure the rapid delivery of emergency information for 800 miles. The yellow flag is exclusive to the emperor. The use of color symbolizes the authority of the emperor. On the way of the 800-mile expedited information delivered by the courier, everyone must consciously give way when they see this yellow flag. It is a capital crime if someone blocks the way of the courier.

For the bandits, robbery is for the sake of money, and rushing information for eight hundred miles will not bring benefits to the bandits, but will bring destroy

to the bandits

span>. Bandits robbing “eight hundred miles in a hurry” is not worth the loss, so they won’t do it.

Other postal methods other than the post station

In ancient China, in addition to transferring files through the post station , the form of the item, and the methods of Flying Pigeon Biography, Hongyan Biography. Su Wu once used the method of sending books to the outside world to ask for help.

Flying pigeons are more commonly used than flying geese, but both methods can only transmit short letters, and their uses are very limited , the range that can be used for letter delivery is also very small.

In addition, geese and pigeons may be killed by mistake during the transmission of letters, or encounter extreme weather, accidental shocks Other situations lead to getting lost, resulting in the loss of letters. The stability and security of these two methods are poor, so they are not widely used.

Later, the folk developed the escort bureau, this way of delivering goods. Escort charges are high, and people usually only use it to transport valuables. The person who wants to transport the item will hand over the item to the escort agency and pay the transportation fee to the escort agency. The escort agency will send a highly skilled escort to deliver the item to the designated location.

During the process of transporting items by the escort bureau, there are people taking care of the items along the way, and the risk of item loss is small. However, the transportation of the escort agency is a private behavior, and it is very easy to be robbed by bandits during the transportation.